Hi everybody...

I know this sounds kind of strange, but I bet the majority of us owns two or three telescopes in different size ranges to cover various observing situations. Most of the people in this forum own a rather large dob, 15-30" in diameter, and from what I gather they also own one or two small refractors in the 2-4" range. I fall in this same category. I have an 18" dob as my "big" gun, and I also have a premium 4" refractor (Tak FS102) and a small 3" ED80. With this set-up I found myself caught in a rather strange situation:

Being an almost exclusively deep-sky guy I totally enjoy (of course) the views through my Obsession. But there are times that either due to time constraints or worries about the weather I want to go to a dark sky with something more manageable. Up to now, this role had been fullfilled by the two refractors (which have the added benefit of wonderful wide field views). But, (yes, there is a huge "but"): When I used to own a 12" dob for many years, this seemed to be ok. Now, I find the relative difference in the views between my 18" and my 4" (let alone the 3"!) too big! Yes, I enjoy the views my FS102 gives... But even for two hours of observing (especially at dark sites) I feel I need something bigger than that. I am considering obtaining either a 6" achromat or an 8" dob. I lean forward to the refractor mainly because it will not need an hour to cool down, collimate, etc (important if you have 90 minutes of observing time!), and because I really enjoyed the deep sky views I had through it.

I would like to know what other members of this forum have, and what their opinions are in this matter!