Is there a Doctor in the house!!!

[Warped Drive]

My original plan was simple, I was going to use my Heritage 130p for a year or so, to see if I kept an interest or if my interest in Astronomy should grow and if so upgrade to a bigger scope. I read a lot of treads on here and other forums about upgrading , the pros and cons and such. The logical next step would be an 8" dob but then I said to myself if I have enjoyed the Heritage enough to upgrade to an 8" then most likely I will want something bigger in a few months after that so I decided to do a bit more research and came to the conclusion that a Skywatcher 10" flex tube would be the all round best solution for me primarily from a storage and physically getting it out to the garden point of view.

Then last week while I was trudging through the jungle of astronomical devices and delights online I was struck down with a Happy Life threatening case of Delirium Aperturetosis.

I came across a thread from a couple of years ago on here by a" will.russ" I think, who had just got a 300p flex tube and had posted some pictures of it and his 8" Newt beside it . I started thinking " maybe I could squeeze that baby out the door between the sink unit and the fridge without taking a Kangol hammer to the door frame and maybe no one will notice it sitting in the corner of the living room.

I then read another thread on another forum reviewing the 300p and the guy said " Looking through this scope , it's the first time that the objects I observed started to look like the photographs", that made me break in to a cold sweat, the room began to spin, Hellllllllp I cried!!!.

Ok after all that I suppose my question is, Is the view through a 12" dob life changing over a 10", is it worth the hassle.

Any comments from anyone who has been in this situation will be very much appreciated.

[ronin]

First question is "Will you use it?"

It is usually overlooked but a 300mm sat in the corner will show less then an 80mm outside on a mount, and I suspect there are a lot of 300mm's sat in corners.

A long wheel base 4x4 may sound fun but in London a Toyota Aygo is better.

What seems to occur is that people go for a bigger and bigger scope until the scope is too big, at which time they have a scope which they find too big to use.

So the first thing is "Will you use it and will you use it often enough to make it worthwhile?"

[Uplooker]

You will gain a slight improvment with the 12" over the 10". You would certainly not regret getting the 10", it will be a huge difference / improvment over the 130P. To get a big improvment over the 10" you would need to go to 14 or 16" - which are pretty huge beasts

[Tinker1947]

My 300P Base goes through a 30" doorway with a 1" or 2 to spare......

[Owmuchonomy]

As Ian and Tinker comment, yes the base fits through a standard door.  I prefer to get help carrying it but I can do it on my own if I need to.  Regarding the view then the differences between the 12" Dob and my other scopes are subtle rather than 'life changing'.  You may wish to try and find a friendly club to let you have a go.  For example, friends are split between the quality of the views through my 9.25 SCT and the 12" Dob so it certainly isn't dramatic.  Having said that, the 12" Dob gives me a great view of the Veil nebula unlike my other scopes especially with the OIII filter.

[Warped Drive]

I suppose what this boils down to is where and how I would store the 12" more than anything else. If I was realistic about it I w old need to build some sort of weather proof shelter, a small shed or such for the 12". I am just a bit dubious about leaving a scope outside as I live right beside the sea and in times past the salt air hasn't been too kind to the cars in the area.

The only photographic comparison I can find that has the 10" and the 12" is a You Tube video from Sky and Telescope at the NEAF show 2015. In fact they have the full range of Flex Tubes there. The 8" and 10" don't look a million mile apart in size but the jump from the 10" to the 12" seems substantial

[michaelmorris]

300 mm scope sounds great, but can you easily set it up without help.  I'd stick with the 10" for now

[Charic]

I think the detail and image scale for me, is small on the 8" !

Given a larger telescope, for visual use only, more aperture = more light capture = more detail.

The issue I have with an upgrade to a bigger aperture and faster focal ratio, is that I may have to upgrade my EPs too?

Given the right conditions, my f/6 is very good.

If I get the chance in July, London, to peer through a larger scope, and Im greeted with a bigger, more detailed image, then an upgrade will possibly take place later this Year in time for Winter, but even with aperture fever, the Summer months and the lighter nights up here in Scotland is no place for a visual telescope. There are more negatives than positives for my upgrade?

[Warped Drive]

I am not having to much luck locating an astronomy club near me in Dublin the only one I can see at the moment is based way out the north side of the city. I assume UCD or Trinity Clolege Dublin probably have astronomy clubs or societies but I am not sure if you would have to be attending those universities. It certainly would be great to try out some different scopes to get a feel for them.

I suppose I was happy with the idea of the 10" up till last week and if I change now to the 12" by the time I go to purchase in Sept / October I may have read something else and the it will be the 14" or 16" instead of the twelve. Plus the go to version of the 10" is only about an extra €100 or so maybe that's the way forward or stick to the standard don and build up the EP and accessory collection.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Hi Warped. Have you contacted these guys yet?. They meet in Renalagh on a monday or wednesday at about 7pm

http://www.astronomyclubs.com/club/South+Dublin+Astronomical+Society

If you pick up a copy of the Astronomy Ireland magazine, i'm sure they have details of meetings in many clubs around ireland and dublin. Astronomy Ireland do have lectures in Trinity every now and again. Its not a club meeting though.

[Warped Drive]

No I didn't come across them before, that would be very handy Renalagh is not too far from me. I will try and make contact. Thanks for that. I was a member of Astronomy Ireland for awhile back in the nineties., but any mention of them now seems very unfavourable.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I used to be a member of AI also about 10 yrs ago. Never did have much dealings with them apart from getting the monthly magazine in the post. I went to a Meet up in Roundwood (wicklow) a couple of yrs ago. Hope you have luck contacting SDA. From what ive heard they are a nice bunch. I knew a couple of them and had planned on going to a meet and even go on an observing session with John and a few others but i never got round to it. Wish i could find a club in Maynooth. I thought there was one in the uni here but that club seems to be closed. I only moved out of south dublin last year.

Regarding which scope to buy?. You really should buy the biggest aperture you can afford and will use often.No point in breaking the bank and having a scope that is so big and heavy that you cant easily move it. I have the Heritage scope also and i upgraded from it to an 8" SCT. The views are a universe apart........literally. Dobs are bigger and heavier then SCT's so i am not comparing both. I love the views in the 8". 

P.S.~~~i see you are on the southside of Dublin and beside the sea?. What part are you in?. I used to live in Killiney about a mile from the sea.

[Warped Drive]

I just had a look at the website, a bit strange more like a blog, lots of internet marketing strategies and not mucky astronomy. I think I did come across that site before but didn't give it much credence . I am depending on the time of day anywhere between 50metres and 3km from the sea, I am sure that will give you a good idea of where I am.

As I said I had planned on using the Heritage 130p for a year or so and so far I am very happy with it. It has it's quirks like the focuser and I've noticed that it turns smoothly enough in azimuth but when you stop and start again it sort of sticks a bit, I am sure a small dab of lithium grease on the bearing pads might cure that. The other reason I am thinking of upgrading sooner than planned, besides all the stuff I read and saw online is that one night early last week I finally got a good nights viewing, practically no clouds and the air was very transparent and I clocked up a couple more Messier's M27 The Dumbell being one of them. I finally got it in my FOV but just about, very faint and fuzzy in comparison to the Ring Nebula which looks really good in my BST Starguider 5mm on a good night. But I am still unable to see M56 or M71. So that is what really prompted me to think about the bigger scope sooner.

[LukeSkywatcher]

The website is more of a blog then a society (not sure why). The important part is an email address to contact them. They do meet in Renalagh once a month and have observing nights up the Dublin/Wicklow mountains.