Had to choose between a cheap 6 inch Dob or a used 4 inch refractor

Honestly, when I got my first real telescope about four years ago, I had to pick between a 6 inch Dobsonian for $250 or a beat up 4 inch refractor for $180. I went with the Dob because everyone online said aperture wins every time. It was huge and clunky and I had to store it in my hallway, but the views of the Andromeda galaxy were insane even from my backyard in Cleveland. The only problem was collimating it took forever and I dropped the secondary mirror twice. Now I wonder if the refractor would have been easier to set up and still good enough for the moon and planets. Has anyone else regretted going big over easy?

3 comments

3 Comments

john_fisher1mo agoMost Upvoted

Yeah you nailed it with "aperture wins every time." That's the whole problem right there. People treat it like a rule written in stone but it's more like one of those big life decisions where you choose the thing that looks best on paper and then realize you actually have to live with it every day. I see this all the time with guys who buy a massive truck to tow a boat twice a year and then complain about parking and gas mileage the rest of the time. Same deal with telescopes. That Dob gave you great views but it sounds like a hassle every time you used it. The refractor would have been grab and go and you probably would have used it way more often even if it didn't show as much. Sometimes the easy tool you actually use is better than the powerful tool that stays in the closet.

samk771mo ago

I remember reading somewhere that the best telescope is the one you actually use, and that stuck with me. A clunky setup that gathers dust isn't doing anyone any good, even if it has better specs on paper.

claire8721mo ago

Your mileage may vary but I actually think the Dob was the right call. You got Andromeda from Cleveland which is practically a miracle with light pollution. That 4 inch refractor would have shown you a gray smudge at best. The hassle of collimation and dropping the mirror once or twice is a learning curve, not a dealbreaker. I know a guy who had that exact same 4 inch refractor and returned it because the chromatic aberration gave everything a purple halo that drove him nuts. The Dob might have been clunky but it gave you real views, not just a quick look at the moon and Jupiter that gets boring after a month.