Evening ( at least its my evening!) Whilst the Celestron NexStar 5SE will do the job you might find that the field of view is a bit too small, especially if you are looking for satellites where the elements are not that great or fresh. The 5SE is an f/10 scope which means its a relatively long focal length with consequent smaller field of view - I see the manual gives 1 degree field of view. You might instead look at the Celestron NexStar SLT102 - this is a 4 inch refractor operating at f/5 so consequently has a bigger field of view. The mount and programs that run the 5SE are identical - in fact you probably can interchange the 5SE and SLT102 on the mount. You will also find that the SLT102 is somewhat cheaper than the 5SE. Dont go for the SLT130 which is a 5 inch f/5 reflector . Several people here on SeeSat are already using the SLT102 or equivalent. Of course if you get a focal reducer you can change the 5SE focal ratio to f/6.3 or thereabouts giving you a bigger field of view. Guess it boils down to how deep is your pocket and whether you intend to use the scope for things other than satellites where the 5SE will offer higher magnification ( although not always better quality) on account of its f/10 system. Cheers Greg _______________________________________________ Seesat-l mailing list http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-l
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