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Subject: Re: Weight of 8" and 10"; how hard to carry?
From: Stephen M. Brincat
Reply To: mapug@shore.net
Date: Sat Dec 30 02:28:11 1995

I had the same problem when I came to buy my telescope. The 10" is not so
portable as the OTA and fork mount are a little bit too bulky to carry
around, while the 8" is somewhat limited in light grasp when compared with
a 10". It seems that everyone is overlooking other solutions.

How about purchasing a 10" Optical Tube Assembly(10"EMC) and mounting it
with a Meade LXD 650 Equatorial mount with the #1697 Computer Drive
System(CDS). The CDS have most of the capabilities of the LX 200 including
the High Precision Pointing. The only drawback that I know of ,is the
limited Object Library(mine is up to 10,600). Advantages include; no wedge
needed as mount is already equatorial, the OTA can be carried by itself as
it is not permanently attached to the mount and the whole telescope can be
carried around in five pieces, even a 12 year old can manage with out much
difficulty.You can even change the OTA for another OTA(eg. a very wide field
telescope or a refractor).

After all it also depends on the likes of the individual-Fork versus
Equatorial.Why in the US the Fork is more popular while in Japan they
prefare the Equatorial?

Stephen
sbincat@maltanet.omnes.net

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