Looks like about a $1500 (US) investment for scope & camera, which is monochrome (B&W) only. A good equatorial mount would add substantially to the investment, however.

recently, Stellarvue has entered the arena with the new SV102ED, an ED doublet refractor with a moderately fast f/6.95 focal ratio, a 710mm efl, and a bottom line price of $1095, seriously undercutting the limited competition. The SV comes complete with retractable dew shield, a choice of tube rings or clamshell, a red-dot finder, and a dual-speed rotatable Crayford focuser. Options include an upgrade to a Starlight Instruments Feather Touch focuser, an airline “carry-on” hard case, star diagonals, and a variety of finder scopes and alt-azimuth mounts.

he Stellarvue SV102ED is an excellent choice for someone looking for a reasonably priced, high performance 4 inch refractor. The optical performance is excellent and the mechanics are both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Given Stellarvue's reputation for good quality control, I would expect very consistent performance from all SV102ED scopes. It is portable and cools down quickly, and thus would make a good first telescope that will not be outgrown. It will also nicely complement a large light bucket and so should appeal to beginners and experienced observers alike.

The astro CCD camera DMK 21AU04.AS uses the monochrome progressive scan CCD ICX098BL from Sony®. With its 1/4" format, the CCD produces a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. Even at long exposure times, its noise is minimal. Thanks to its unsurpassed quality, the ICX098BL is often used in industrial image processing applications.