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A rough history of the scopes that I've owned.
January 2009

I have three set ups.
Left: ED80 on EQ2 mount, this was bought for my little lad.
Middle: 6" F5 Newt on a Tal EQ pedestal
Right: Skymax 180 Skymax127 side by side on HEQ5Pro. With home made wiring loom including all power and dew control. DMK21 guide camera sitting on the back of the Skymax127. 

My planetary setup Skymax127 on the left and 180 on the right. The 180 has a Williams Optics focuser  fitted and at F15 is a real planet killer.
Same setup as below, but I added oversize tube rings to give a little flexibility in finding a guide star.
Now comes the most important investment of my setup. The HEQ5PRO. I've resisted GOTO for so many years - but with Light Pollution the way it is most objects are not visible through the eyepiece or finder.

The HEQ5 Pro also has an autoguide(ST4) port and can be pulse guided from a laptop.

I sold the 8" and went for a good quality 80 Apo refractor. This one has a lovely dual speed focuser. With a home made side by side bar.
A year or two later I replaced the ST80 with a 80mm F11 Apogee refractor.

The refractor actually gave exceptional views of the planets and moon - being F11 the CA wasn't at all bad.
A HEQ5 bought from Portugal around 2001. Initially with a 6" F5. I replaced the OTA with the black 8" F5.

I started to consider auto guiding for astrophotography, so bought the little Skywatcher ST80 on top.