Eight or ten inch Newtonian Reflector...

I was thinking about buying or building an eight or ten inch Newtonian Reflector. Does anyone have any advice about buying telescopes? I don't have a fortune to spend on one. Also, how good is the viewing in regard to an eight or ten inch Newtonian Reflector?

Thank you!

An eight inch is great, but a ten inch is outstanding. Check out the prices at Orion Telescopes. They offer several models from Meade as well as others. I also am thinking of building a scope, but have zero dollars to spend. So I am looking to scrounge a lens out of a broken copier and make a "copy scope". Nowhere near as good as an eight inch Newtonian, but certainly better than nothing. Alot of folks go with the Dobsonian design reflectors because of their portability and ease of construction, but if you want to take photographs the Dobsonian design is hard to fit a motor drive to. If you want to build something quickly to get out and shoot sky pics you can build a simple "barn door" tracker which will let you attach your 35mm or digital camera to a tripod and track objects while you take pictures. (Tracking is necessary because of the rotation of the earth and the time exposure necessary to get an exposure at night.) Good luck on your project. Please keep us informed of your progress.

I have built several scopes, the most recent being a 10" travel-dob small enough to be taken as carry-on luggage.
If you decide to build, I could offer some resources for info and materials.
I would also like to hear about your progress.
Sounds like groingrinder is an ATM also.

Good luck,

.::BG::.

Originally posted by beergoggles
I have built several scopes, the most recent being a 10" travel-dob small enough to be taken as carry-on luggage.
If you decide to build, I could offer some resources for info and materials.
I would also like to hear about your progress.
Sounds like groingrinder is an ATM also.

Good luck,

.::BG::.

Right now I am just a wanna be ATM. I have used friends scopes for years, but am scrounging parts as I go along trying to build something for 100% FREE. I have read several books and visit the ATM websites alot. The only thing I have built so far is the barndoor tracker for my younger brother. It would be great if there were some more ATMers here that would post links to their projects. I am anxious to see what others are doing.

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