Advice please on buying a club Telescope

Can any of you good people please give us a bit of advice on buying the first South Kerry Astronomy Club telescope. The variety out there in the Market place is just too much and we can't make up our collective minds. We need a scope that will show the planets about the same size as the full moon to wow the Astronomy newbies (children & adults) when we go around the various sites in sth Kerry with our treasure. We also need it to be easily assembled and disassembled on site, and able to fit into the boot of the car. Also advice please on purchasing BIG BINO's and stand...also for public viewing. We have around 3/4 thousand to spend, and after all the hard fund-raising we don't want to make a mistake. We REALLY need the best advice on this.

A 10" dob would do the trick if someone doesn't mind constantly adjusting it at public viewings.
Big binos need a sturdy mount or they are useless. Shannonside have been through this exercise recently and can advise you better.

johnomahony wrote: A 10" dob would do the trick if someone doesn't mind constantly adjusting it at public viewings.
Big binos need a sturdy mount or they are useless. Shannonside have been through this exercise recently and can advise you better.

I'd agree MAC has a 12" dob but its just too big to easily carry around. My 10" dob fits nicely on the back seat of the car and with a dob all your money goes towards the mirror and not the fancy electronics.

The IAA guys have a 16 inch Lightbridge. Truss construction means it fits in a car when it's being taken to events and its a fast scope so the tube is shorter - good for kids and avoids needing a ladder unless you're a bit shorter than the 170-odd cm zenith eyepiece height. It's a hefty bugger though so keep that in mind unless plenty of hands are available to help out.

I am aware that there are some shortcomings in the bearing that need work but it gets good reviews and the optics in particular are well received. I think some DIY is necessary to get the best out of it.

Im not sure you'll get a scope that shows the planets
the same size as the full moon to fit into a car!
;-p

A truss design, Dob (as big an aperature as cash allows)
with tracking preferably is what you want
(with a few good quality eyepieces as a must.)

I'm sure he means subtending the same arc in the Eyepiece FOV as the moon does naked eye. In other words, he wants a scope with a usable magnification of at least 300x+ (seeing and scope thermal equilibrium permitting of course) That'd be my interpretation anyway. If he meant filling the Eyepiece FOV like you can with the moon, then I think the Lads and Lasses of South Kerry Astro SOC need to do a lot more reading before embarking on their endeavour