John

A very decent scope !

If you are looking to part with it, please post the details, photos and asking price on the SGL classifieds section:

https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/217-for-sale-swap/

There are some notes in that section on how to advertise things.

Thanks

3 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

What light shield is that John?

Mine is branded Astro Engineering but I think this is more or less the same thing:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dew-prevention/astrozap-light-shield-for-dobsonian.html

Where I mostly observe from, up until 11:00 pm or so, I do have lights going on and off and I found that shielding the upper end of the tube kept stray light off the secondary mirror and the end of the focuser tube - makes quite an improvement in contrast when deep sky observing. 

When I take the scope to to darker surroundings I don't use it.

Some folks use an all round light shield which are effective as well. My light issues tend to come from the same direction though hence the partial shield. I can slide it around the tube if needed and it pops on and off easily (velco strap).

You will need to use a diagonal I think and quite possibly a 2 inch one as Louis suggests above.

4 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Reminds of a review done years ago:

Which is Best - Refractor, Reflector, or Catadioptric?

I wonder how a C6 and 150 Mak would have compared in that shootout.

I used to have an Intes MN61. I owned it alongside the Skywatcher ED120 for quite a few months and compared them often.

Very, very close in performance I felt. Eventually it was the cool down time and the need for a pretty stout mount that led me to part with the MN61.

I could see that a good 6 inch mak-cassegrain might achieve similar performance but I'm not so sure about a 6 inch SCT

The Skywatcher 130M has a focal ratio of F/6.9 so is not particularly demanding with regards to collimation. If it gets a bump sometime it will need to be checked and possibly adjusted. The cheshire eyepiece is a good tool for that task:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/other-collimation-tools/astro-essentials-cheshire-collimating-eyepiece.html

I suspect the 130M will be pretty good "out of the box" though.

I've read that from Don a few times since I last tried them.

It would seem odd to me for a brand like Vixen to overlook something like a shiny internal spacer in what was intended to be a high quality eyepiece but I do have respect for Don's views so I'm sure that he did see this in the examples he has tried.

Maybe there is, or has been, some variation in the production runs ?

They used to say that Celestron wanted to drop the C5's for a long time because there was little or no profit in them - their manufacturing costs were about the same as the C8 but they could not charge as much for them.  They kept them going because NASA used them in the Shuttle and the ISS apparently.

I could not see such reflections when I tested the SLV's Michael but Don Pensack (who posts here from time to time and has a lot of experience) has mentioned them quite often

I felt that the ones I used were really nice eyepieces. The 6mm in particular I compared at some length to the 6mm Baader Genuine Ortho and found the performance very closely matched, which is high praise for the more complex SLV. I like to think that I would have noticed stray light or reflection within the SLV during those comparisons.

Maybe there are a couple of different runs out there ?

I used to use one (same make as Stu's) with my 12 inch dob. It worked well but I found it bulky to store and it raised the height of the eyepiece by just a bit too much. I'm back to being a "nudger" again now !.

8 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

That’s an interesting base, is that a ‘special?’

The blue / grey part is an equatorial platform. A simple but effective way to drive a dob while observing.

10 minutes ago, JoshHopk said:

Welcome to SGL! 

Your question is bound to awake the dob mob , so I’ll leave them and the more experienced members to discuss options with you.

Good luck finding a scope!

I'm trying to find about a bit more about the requirements here

Hi and welcome to the forum !

We need to know a little more to make some suggestions eg:

- Approx budget that you have

- Would the moon and planets be of more interest than deep sky objects or are you interested in all that is "up there" ?

- Are you interested in just observing or imaging or both ?

- Are you prepared to find your own targets in the sky or would you like the scope to do that for you (ie: a "GOTO" scope) ?

- Do you need to carry the scope far, eg: up and down stairs, out to the car (when we can do that again) etc, etc.

- How much room do you have to store the scope in when it is not being used.

Scopes come in all shapes, sizes, costs etc so the above helps to narrow things down.

Thanks

Well done !

I didn't realise that the Telementor used a cemented doublet. Easier than messing around with 2 elements, spacers etc !

How does the 00 8" F/8 compare with the Mewlon 210 Stu ?

Or is the jury still out on that ?

I always liked that scope John

I think Helen has it now ?

36 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

.... I have zero view of the east from my garden.

Me too. I can see east from our bedroom window but I might get into trouble if I take the dob up there !

You can replace the whole EQ1 mount for around £75.00 or just get a replacement tripod from the website below for around £40 delivered or just the EQ1 head for somewhat less if the legs from the old one can be reused:

https://www.astroboot.co.uk/AstroBoot

I think they probably have just some EQ1 legs on there somewhere if you have a browse.

Alternatively you could put a "wanted" advert in our classifieds section or on UK Astro Buy & Sell and see what comes up.

14 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

Just you and I then John. Probably a general dob owners club.....

 

John started this general "show us your dob" thread back in January - feel free to post pics of your dob there:

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/347610-show-us-your-dobs/

It's nice to see the variety of designs and makes that are around and in use including some great "homebrew" ones

8 minutes ago, johninderby said:

I’m wondering if it’s time to start a Bresser Dob owners thread with all the new owners here on SGL? 🤔

So “Breeser Dob owners thread”  or  “Show us your Bresser dob” 🤔🤔🤔

Up to you, but personally I prefer to avoid these "silo" type approaches on forums

We have occasionally been asked to setup brand-specific sections but have resisted. At the end of the day, they are scopes like all the rest.

Unless they are Takahashi's of course ....

The TMB/LZOS 130mm F/9.2 triplet I picture above is BV friendly - it has a section of the focuser that slides in about 13cm so you can get to focus without the need for a barlow or other optical adapter.

FLO kindly loaned me the above WO BV's for a few months so I had ample opportunity to try them at no cost.

Sorry Doug - I didn't want to hijack your thread about your very nice new setup.

4 minutes ago, Geoff Barnes said:

I'm of the mind that you really know pretty quickly when using astro equipment whether you like it or not. I remember when I bought my TV 3-6mm zoom that I just couldn't get on with it. The fairly small eye lens and relatively short eye relief were not to my liking even though the quality of the views were without fault, it just didn't feel comfortable to use.

A bit like trying on a new pair of shoes or trousers, you know pretty quickly if you like them or not, even if they are good quality, if they don't feel good they are not for you.   

Strangely, I've owned a couple of the TV 3-6 zooms in the past and felt the same but I now have the 2-4mm which is just the same ergonomically of course and I love it !.

Interesting the different eyepiece angle that we are choosing here. With tube rings it is adjustable, which is good. My preference is similar to Johns. My eyepiece is at a level that suits standing observing which is how I wanted the scope to be setup. John is clearly a "sitter".

This thread makes me want to have another go with BV's but this will be the 4th or 5th try. I'm in 2 minds to be honest

Just to prove that I have really tried - this ought to be a good setup:

2 hours ago, Stardaze said:

As I google magnetic knife block..,

Just clocked that Orion optics are on the same industrial estate as a company I occasionally call on...

Magnetic strip needed because Orion Optics use aluminum tubes. One reason why their scopes are a bit lighter than some others.

Some of my eyepieces are over 1kg in weight so I need back end weight.

Nice that they supply the Peroni with the scope 

Great stuff Doug

I do wish that I could get on with binoviewers. I've tried a few and even owned a set for a while but just couldn't take to them