Paul73

Splendid images. No sun here.

It may not have the wow factor of Jupiter or Saturn, but I always enjoy a peek at that little duck egg blue disc. Nice and high at a sensible hour from the UK too. Paul

My Dob is on a trolley in the garage ready to roll out and use. It has revolutionised my observing! Just make sure that you have some way of making things stable for observing. Gear on wheels can sway about a bit. Paul

What an incredible amount of data on one site!!! Not sure that I’ll be rushing out to get the hard copy though.... Paul

Biggish Dob outside cooling!!! 🤞🤞🤞

You wouldn’t get much improvement in image quality over the BSTs. I found the narrow fov of the zoom quite claustrophobic in a similar speed Dob. However, the zoom is very convenient. Paul

The 11mm is terrific value second hand. I have a set of TV Plossls and the 11mm gets the most use. Paul

This may seem obvious, but pointing the scope at exactly the right point in the Sky helps. The micro star hop can yield some really faint stuff. You can spend ages chasing ghosts in roughly the right spot rather than resolving the nearly smudge which is the target. This, together with much averted scope wobbling, finally bagged the Quintet a few weeks ago. Paul

Sounds like a great session. Those planetaries really reward some magnification. Interesting re the VIP. I have one but had no idea that it is so flexible! I should use it more. Paul

Splendid write up Stu! The Veil is the gift that keeps on giving. Great little / big Dob too. Can’t believe how small it packs down. Paul

I’ve vowed to steer well clear of GoTo. Great idea, but it would drive me up the wall! Hope that it works better next time out. Paul

I had a crack at the Quintet last night from OK, but not dark, sky (could only see 5 or 6 naked eye stars in the big square).Took my time perfecting the brief hop from Ngc7331 so that after 40mins. I was 100% certain that I was in the right place. Mag upped to 200x and gradually one possibly two little fuzzy patches appeared. I was delighted! Granted. Visually it was heroically underwhelming, but it’s the first time that I’ve caught anything. So happiness was assured. Paul

Looking good here. The Dob is lucking in the garden all collimated and ready to go!! First proper session for ages😁 Cue the clouds. Paul

Good catch. I’ve had a load of goes at the quintet with my 16” Dob, but so far drawn a blank. To catch all 5 is going some. Think that I’ll leave the Bubble for those with bigger scopes and darker sky! Paul

Why not go for the ES 82° 24mm??? It is bang on budget and works very well at the f ratios you mention. I went for this over the Panoptic due to the flatter wider field (I do really rate the Panoptic though). Paul

If you don’t need to move it. Go big! I started with an SW 250 flex tube which got quickly modified with light shroud, dew heaters on the secondary, duel speed focuser, Telrad Finder to complement the RACI finder ...... all worthwhile upgrades. I now have a 16” which makes observing the faint stuff far easier. Paul

A 6mm Vixen SLV might fit the bill. Very comfortable to use and pin sharp. Won’t break the bank either! Paul

I had a 100mm F10 and an ED120 on one quite happily (White Light and Ha). Paul

And there was me thinking that the ED120 was a big scope!!! What mount were you using? Paul

My f4 16” Dob needs an expensive coma Corrector to keep things under control. But, the eyepiece is generally at a very convenient height for a standard observing chair. These scopes are big enough already without making them even more cumbersome!! I couldn’t use it without the corrector (Parracor in my case). Paul

It is amazing to think that we can see moons over such a vast distance Good spot. I struggled with that one with 10”. Paul

Hassle free is a must for an “only one mount”. So a humble Sky T ii atop of one of Berlebach’s finest would do me. Agricultural but bullet proof. The smooth slo-mo is an added bonus. It can handle a couple of 100mm solar scopes happily. 😁😁😁 That Losmandy AZ8 does look the business though....... Paul

No one scope does everything well. There are always compromises ....... unless you have a scope for every occasion 😁. This thread is about choosing the scope with the least compromises given the poster’s observing preferences. Different preference/targets, different scope. Paul

Zoomin’ ‘s cheatin’ !! 😁 17mm Ethos. Needs to be Wide and needs some magnification! Paul

10” Dob for me. Does a bit of everything. Goes deepish, goes widish, portablish etc etc. Although 90% of the time, I use a 16” Dob....... Paul