Re: Orion Skyview Pro 127, Meade 7" Mak, or ETX 125?

The Intes 6" Maks are a steal for the optical quality you get.   For some
reason they often sell at 60% of their new price on Astromart in excellent
condition.   They are extremely portable, have uniformly excellent optics,
but do take a while to cool down as Tony mentioned.   A used NexStar 8 isn't
a bad choice in the same price bracket ...

"Tony Flanders" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Brad Isley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
>
> > I want to get something as a "grab-and-go" scope which is fairly
> > portable and gives good, not just decent, planetary views...
>
> > The 18" starmaster is the scope we take out to the dark sky sites.
> > There are too many trees in our yard for it to be effective.  I want
> > something easy to take out to the back yard and sneak peeks at the
> > planets and moon between the trees....
>
> What a motley assortment!  All that they have in common is that they
> are Maks.  I presume you are aware that Maks have the worst cooldown
> characteristics of any design, and so are quick-look scopes only if
> you can store them at ambient temperature?
>
> The only one of those three that I would consider genuinely portable
> is the ETX-125.  The SVP127 takes up pretty little space, but GEMs
> are heavy and awkward to carry.
>
> If you get the SVP127 and decide it isn't enough, the obvious upgrade
> (to me) is to the Intes 6" Mak-Cas.  The SVP mount could easily handle
> that OTA.
>
>    - Tony Flanders