I got hooked on amature astronomy just over 2 years ago when my wife bought me a 4.7" department store newtonian.  I made a dobs mount for it using Richard Berry's Build Your Own Telescope.  I'm really pleased w/the results, &  I'm determined to build a 10" Dobs from scratch next.

I don't understand all the math and science of light and how it's affected by mirrors...  I do understand that a better quality mirror is one w/a short wave length, even though I don't understand what that means. 

I'd like to get a mirror for general purpose veiwing.  At the present time, I don't have the finances or inclination to get into astrophotography.  I'm pretty tall, so a longer tube doesn't deter me. 

I'm woundering how much difference I'd notice between an f/6, f/7, & f/8 mirror.

Any advice is appreciated.

Tracy

 Hi Tracy,

Probably the biggest difference that you will see is in the field of view, the F6 will typically have a wider field of view but the F8 will lend itself better to high magnifications for planetary viewing but certainly can be used for viewing Deep Sky objects as well.

I started out by

grinding a F8 - 6 " mirror for my first scope and then made a 12 1/2"  F5.6 and now I have a 10" F4 that I use mostly for astrophotography.

Norm

Norm:  Thanks so much for your input.  I plan to grind my own mirror some day as well (when I have the room).  Maybe by then I'll understand the rational behind your explanation. 

Right now, I just want a scope that alows me to sit and stare and occationaly sketch.

 any good quality scope should allow you to do that, it would make it easier if it had a motor drive as you could concentrate on your drawing especially at high magnifications

Norm