SCTs and friends, recommendations?

[Lance Pickens]

Hi All,

I enjoy imaging but I’m looking at expanding into more visual observing and looking for some compact setups. I don’t really have space at the moment for a nice dobsonian but can fit a small SCT or similar scope. I mostly do wide angle for my imaging but I’m interested in longer focal length options for visual observing. Curious if anyone has recommendations to share out? 

Cheers,

Lance

[Joel Lee]

Hi Lance,

I'm not much of a visual person but as someone with a EdgeHD 9.25, I wanted to give a heads up that it's quite a bit bigger than a 8 inch SCT. With dew shield, it's almost the same size as my 10 inch newt and quite a bit bigger than a 8 inch SCT. As a result, I'd recommend a 8 or smaller one (you don't need the EdgeHD versions as well). For dobs, you can get them fairly small with the recent UC series from Obsession and similar in size. Even the regular versions of the big dobs pack fairly small. I remember being very surprised Mark packed his 18 inch into his sedan. If you combine OTA + Mount, those UC dobs probably actually take up less space in your car and you get a much bigger aperture. If you are looking for even smaller, recently there's been dobs hitting the market that are designed to fit into carry ons like the handydob. These might be up your alley as they are super tiny but need a table. On a similar note, if you build it yourself, people have managed to fit a huge dobs into a carry on. One last option are maks and SVBony recently released an apparently decent 5 inch mak. It's pretty small but has a long F15 focal ratio and is at a good price.

CS,

Joel 

[Mark Scrivener]

Hi Lance,

For visual use, the views through a Newt/Dob, vs a SCT, vs a refractor can be aesthetically quite different. I would encourage you to go look through a bunch of scopes first and find what you like. Of course target choice matters as well.

When you say longer focal length, how long? For what targets? A classical cassegrain might be another option to consider.

Cheers,

Mark

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[Joshua Hutchins]

I have a C8 for similar reasons as you (didn't think I had space for a dob in my car).  Don't forget that you will also need to pack a mount, tripod, and battery also- the OTA is smaller for an SCT, but once you add a good mount you might be at a similar volume (although different dimensions) to a dob.

On Wed, Mar 18, 2026 at 9:44 PM Joel Lee <joel.l...@gmail.com> wrote:

[David Staples]

As a person of a certain age I would also consider comfort while observing.  I have an 8in sct and I love the scope, but it’s completely manual.  Using the finder is pretty hard on my neck (I use a telrad).  So most of the time I end up setting up my dob because it’s more comfortable to use.

Dave

On Mar 18, 2026, at 22:59, Mark Scrivener <markwsc...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Lance Pickens]

Thanks for the thoughtful feedback Joel, Mark, Josha, and David! Really appreciate the insights here. My use case initially is something I can quickly grab out of the house and set up to observe planets, the Moon, or handful of the brighter Messier targets. I do have a newtonian I was using for visual but it isn't as quick to set up and dial in as I'd like. I may at some point do some lucky imaging casually for outreach with my neighbors on the moon, Jupiter, or Saturn. 

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[Ido Greiman]

Hi Lance,

I'm a visual guy, and I used to have a Newtonian and a SCT. Both were great, but were cumbersome to setup and use.  I then switched to a Dobsonian (various sizes, from 12" to 16") and I think nothing beats the ease of use and ease of assembly of a Dobsonian.

What size newtonian do you have?
It might be worth considering converting that newtonian so that it can be used with a simple alt-az mount. Then all you need to do is just level that mount and put the telescope into it.

Similar to Mark, I'd urge you to look through a bunch of telescopes and see what type / size fits your needs. 

Cheers, 

Ido

[Richard Navarrete]

I’ve got an 80mm ED refractor and an Svbony alt-ax mount. It’s a perfect combo for what you describe . Much quicker cool down than an SCT , and less bulky than a dob. I’ve got all three . Different use cases.

Richard

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[Rod Brown]

I agree with the recommendations for both the 8" SCT and the small refractor. It comes down to how you want to make the tradeoffs.

I have a Celestron NexStar 8SE. The scope is often derided, but I consider it to be the Ford Fusion of telescopes: mid-sized, easy to use, not too heavy, competent at everything, spectacular at nothing, and easy to find used at a good price. I use it instead of my 18" dob or 6" refractor or something with less aperture like a small refractor for outreach and other situations when I want something that is quick to set up and take down, tracks well, and has enough aperture to see a variety of objects. I would note that the one-arm design, though it helps keep the weight down, makes it more susceptible to vibration, which for me that primarily happened when I manually focused it. A focus motor, operated with the HBG3 third party accessory and a generic Wii Nunchuk controller, eliminated that problem. Alternatively, you can step up to the next level of the Celestron 8" SCT, which has basically the same design but is on a fork mount with a few other niceties, too.

Rod

[Ted Hauter]

DSO I'm loving the 7 inch Mak Cass with 55mm plossl. My best reccomend.

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[Ted Hauter]

Ideally a 7 inch Questar.

[Mark Scrivener]

If quick setup in the backyard for moon, planets, and brighter DSO's really is the main objective, a refractor is going to be hard to beat. Not only is it portable (assuming a smaller refractor), but it will cool down faster than anything else and it will never need collimation. Assuming you go with 5" or less and place it on a compact mount (or even an alt-az), you can even pick it up and carry it in/out. 

I'm assuming backyard means lots of light pollution. While you could possibly wheel a good sized dob in and out, personally I don't find my 15" Obsession very useful from my Bortle 8 backyard. Something else to consider for backyard observing - you most likely have high horizons, and the low pivot point of a dob is going to restrict you more than a tripod or pier mounted scope. 

But the danger with refractors is you will start with a reasonably priced one, feel the pull towards premium refractors, and eventually wind up with one in every size. Not that that's ever happened to me or anyone else in this group....

Mark

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[Rod Brown]

The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL of telescopes: built in the 50s, lovely polished silver color, a finely crafted machine, unique design, very rare, very coveted, and very expensive. 🙂

On Mar 19, 2026, at 6:54 PM, Ted Hauter <thgo...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Ted Hauter]

Hi Rod,

Did you have a pic for your statement thanks.

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[Rod Brown]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_300_SL

On Mar 21, 2026, at 8:04 AM, Ted Hauter <thgo...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Ted Hauter]

Oh heh, yes Questar 7's are said to give C14s a match.

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[Joe Acosta]

I don't do visual as my area has too much light pollution and so far I have not been able to travel out.

If you don't have a mount already, I highly recommend strain wave mounts like the ZWO AM7. It would carry a 8inch SCT no problem and these mounts are super light. Although the scope itself would be heavy. You'd probably need small counterweight of like 5lbs though.  

I have an AM5 and have been using an RC6 on it lately and get amazing guiding.  They can also run in alt/AZ mode and they are super light.  

j

[Dan Durkin]

Hi Lance - I suggest you consider a Tele Vue 85 refractor on a simple, manual alt-az mount, such as their Panoramic mount. I love mine and I think you'll be surprised by what you can observe, even from suburbia. Stars especially just look so pleasing in a refractor. It's perfectly grab and go. Mine is most often set up and ready to take outside when I have the opportunity. If the conditions disappoint, it's no biggie to bring it back in. It is also adaptable for solar observing: white light with a Herschel wedge or H-alpha with a front Lunt etalon. It is by far my most used telescope.

[Ted Hauter]

Nice mention. One night my TV85 might have matched the big Mak. Showing what a refractor lens can really do.

On Sat, Mar 21, 2026, 4:07 PM Dan Durkin <dan...@dalleradurkin.org> wrote:

Hi Lance - I suggest you consider a Tele Vue 85 refractor on a simple, manual alt-az mount, such as their Panoramic mount. I love mine and I think you'll be surprised by what you can observe, even from suburbia. Stars especially just look so pleasing in a refractor. It's perfectly grab and go. Mine is most often set up and ready to take outside when I have the opportunity. If the conditions disappoint, it's no biggie to bring it back in. It is also adaptable for solar observing: white light with a Herschel wedge or H-alpha with a front Lunt etalon. It is by far my most used telescope.

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[miloc...@gmail.com]

I'm user and fan of Celestron 5, 6 and 8" SCTs.  Long focal lengths, and with SE mounts or other Alt-Az mounts, very compact, with goto.  Pick one up used.  If you want to see the shadow transits on Jupiter, go with a bigger scope.  The 9.25 is my fave but as others have noted, it's pretty big.  Having said that, a used 8" dob really doesn't take up much space.

Jim B

On Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at 9:26:39 PM UTC-7 Lance Pickens wrote:

[Matt Tarlach]

My C8 OTA, originally part of a Nexstar SE package, is great for Jovian shadow transits. It's not hard to see the difference in size between Io's shadow and Europa's, and the fuzziness of Callisto's compared to Io's. My 127 Mak and even the 80mm triplet show the shadows clearly, but the difference in their size and character is much easier in the C8.

[miloc...@gmail.com]

With dark enough skies, it almost doesn’t matter what size your scope is.  If you are in the bay area, and that includes Fremont Peak (SQM 20.5), those extra inches really make a difference.  You might be lucky and have special scopes or dark skies, but for most BA people, I’d recommend more inches.  I’m not so lucky.

 

Jim

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[Richard Navarrete]

What Matt said.

Richard

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[Matt Tarlach]

I have a C8 OTA that I've used on several mounts, as a backyard scope and at dark sites. The optics are good but I didn't like the original Nexstar single-arm mount and eventually sold that off. If I want a drive, I put the OTA on my old Skyview Pro, and that combo works great---but is heavy and clunky to deal with 

I've used the C8 as a hand-operated scope on a Stellarvue M2c, and on a sturdy tripod that's a fun setup. I got the adapter to use the M2c on my old steel-legged Skyview Pro tripod and that combo was quite solid. An SVBony SV225 alt-az mount will also carry the OTA, but feels like it's at the limit, with a bit of flexure, and isn't as much fun to use as the M2c. I haven't gotten around to trying it yet, but have long felt that a C8 might work very well on a T-style dual mount with slo-motions---like the Desert Sky Astro DSV-2---with an 80-100mm refactor on the other side for wide field.

In terms of comfort: my back and knees are stiffer than they used to be, but if I adjust the tripod to the right height I can usually rotate the eyepiece on the C8 to get a comfortable observing position, even without an adjustable chair. I've switched to a very light folding camp chair. (Craning my neck to sight through a Telrad is a different story. I've switched to RACI finders mostly for comfort reasons.)

When seeing is good or better at my valley location, the C8 is great on the Moon and very decent on the planets, handily outresolving a good 4" refractor. On DSOs, it sees much deeper than smaller scopes. A classic observing guide from years ago, 1000+, cataloged 1000 DSOs seen by the author, most with a C8. It's about the smallest scope I've really enjoyed using with an O-III filter on planetaries---with 5" and below, the O-III view is too dim for my taste. Cooldown has not been a huge issue for me, in our mild climate. I keep the scope in the house so it doesn't get roasted in the garage on summer days, and when I bring it out on summer evenings it's often not far from ambient.

A C8 will never be a wide-field instrument, though. Even if you upgrade to a 2" diagonal, you get vignetting on wider 2" eyepieces. If you want to try a C8 as a push-to, fit it with a good 50mm finder. Or, maybe better, one of the new lightweight 50-60mm mini-scopes that allow interchanging eyepieces, to use as an auxiliary wide-field scope. I'm making do with an Orion 9x50 RACI.

A couple of years ago I picked up a Skywatcher AZ-GTi go-to mount for my 80mm triplet, and with the pricing at the time it was only about $150 more to get a 127mm mak OTA along with it. (Unfortunately I see this combo costs more now). I've only used it a half-dozen times but am really happy with the 127mm for backyard grab-and-go. I make heavy use of the Point 'n' Track feature on the AZ-GTi, which is not super-accurate but good enough for visual lunar/planetary, and does not requite fiddly alignment. My sample of the 127mm mak tube is quite good, outresolving my 80mm triplet on Jupiter and the Moon. Cooldown is similar to the C8---smaller scope, but thicker glass---but the 127 is bothered a little less by atmospheric seeing. As a DSO scope, the 127 could probaby detect all the Messiers, and many objects on the Best NGC list as well---though some will be quite dim, and the big low-contrast objects (M33, M101) would be hard to spot in the narrow field.

Best wishes!