I've been lurking here for some time, and have found the level of
discussion
to be thoughtful and considerate. I'd like to a few questions as it looks
like I've gotten the wife's permission to get an LX-200 this summer.

Astronomy has been a love of mine since I was small, and I earned my BA in
Astrophysics with the goal of being an astronomer. During high school I
even
saved enough to get an early Dynamax SCT (since sold). Of course, the late
70's weren't great for people wanting to get a PhD in astronomy, so I got
my
MBA instead and have moved around in various businesses (always in major
light-polluted locations). I now live in the suburbs of Cincinnati
(limiting
magnitude at my house is around 3.5, although I have dark sky sites
available to me about 1 hour away), and my son is now old enough to be
pretty excited about the stars. We've gone to star parties ("wow, dad") and
I want to get a telescope that I/we will not outgrow anytime soon
(actually,
I'd like it to be a scope I'd probably never outgrow).

I'm leaning towards the 10" f/10 (I expect mostly visual use for DSO's, but
from time to time I'd like to try my hand with my trusty OM-1), although
the
weight puts me off a bit. At 60lbs, I'm sure it's a conscious effort to
haul
it out of the case and up to the tripod. The last thing I want to do is
have
to explain to my wife about the big (expensive) pile of glass sitting in the
driveway.

So my main question is - for those who have wrestled with 8" vs 10", what
swayed you in one direction vs the other? Is 10" too big for the light
polluted area in which I live? Do some of you 10" owners find the weight to
be more than you bargained for (after purchase, of course - all telescopes
are light as a feather before you buy them)?

A second, less important question concerns photography with the fork mount.
With the size of off-axis guiders plus camera bodies, how do you take
photos
of objects near the celestial pole?

Any advice/information you share would be greatly appreciated.

Mike

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