Where to purchase my first scope?

UPDATE:

I'd love to have been poppin' my head back in here shouting, "I GOT THE SCOPE!!"

Alas!

SWMBO put the brakes on. The Solid Tube 12in Orion is too big for the house and just fractionally too big for the 'Off the Shelf' Tool Sheds that wouldn't have impacted space in the back garden. Anything bigger she didn't like the look of and I have to concede that she is right.

She also inadvertently gave permission for a PLasma TV!! "What are you spending money on a Telescope for anyway, I thought you were replacing the TV with a plasma?......."And I thought you said No to a new TV"!! The very next day our old workhorse sony widescreen finally gave up the ghost after 13 years. Spooky or what!

Anyway Plasma is being ordered asap before she changes her mind! So no imediate scope purchase. Its not like I would get to use it much between now and Xmas anyway what with the hectic build up to Xmas and the weather. Haven't seen a patch of blue (or Black) sky in Bray for weeks now!

What I bring to the table is not cloudy skies with a telescope purchase, its cloudy skies with the mere thoughts of a telescope purchase. Its the same with washing the car and it raining later that day. I only have to think about maybe washing the car and its raining within a few hours!

That said, I do hope to have a telescope at or around Christmas. Going for the 12in Meade LightBridge. Going to get a shroud, Laser Collimator and the cheap set of Celestron EP's for now just to get me going. Live and learn with the scope for a few months before some investment in some serious EP's and other goodies.

Sure I lose the Object locator but I get to stick with 12in instead of dropping to 10in, I get to store it safely out of the way in the house and I get to use any car to transport the scope to dark skies/star parties. I can always splash out on an argo navis somewhere down the line of starhopping is wrecking my head.

So fingers crossed I'll be back closer to Christmas just in time for the Mars Opposition exclaiming, "I got me LightBridge!!"

:lol:

A fair compromise, after all you'll be spending many hours a week looking at the TV, so it might as well be a good one, I got a 42" a few years back (TV that is), one of the best things I ever got !!!

As you said, you can always put an argo navis on the lightbridge afterwards, I've been doing some research on the argo navis and it is the bees knees for dobs. !!

Got the OK for a 12in Orion XT12i after all......and.... I got the Plasmas.

Result!!

Will have to cut up the credit card after the pummeling its taken this week though!!

See new thread for details.