Alan White

That is a nice repeatable and simple way of doing this, thank you for taking the time to share it.

I have rarely needed to level my Dobson over the years, but that’s driven by observing from level or close to level locations,
however with your method a simple option is now available.

Clearly I have been fortunate in my sites for Dobson use, however with a tripod I am more blasé about site as it’s easy to level.

12 minutes ago, Second Time Around said:

I have a 10 inch VX f/4.8 and amongst the advantages are lighter weight plus the tube length means it'll fit onto the back seat of most cars.  The 10L won't though.

That’s a great point Steve and something I failed to say about my 10”, it’s same size as yours and fits across the back seat of my little Argo, shame the boots too small for the base, that goes on the front passenger seat.

I must have a new eyepiece, shame I am not in the west, 
The blue marker is my area, roughly.

The focuser on my 1 year old vx6 is very nice, far better than on my 10” OOUK which is older.

The 10” and aluminium base are so nice to move about with comfort, which is less than others as I have back issues.

Mechanically and optically very happy with my OOUK scopes, but Stella Lyra ones I have seen are superbly put together.

Postie has been with a parcel from @FLO and one from @Giles_B 

Well @FLO that was faster than ever, thank you. Ordered yesterday and delivered this morning.

Looks very nice indeed, watch this space on how it goes, does have an undercut, but a sensible shallow one.

Oh and very nice caps that actually fit and stay on.

Lucky you Nik, you can see the Sun, Its clouded out here.
So thank you for sharing what has been seen, I will look online for images later on.

 

16 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

If someone were to give me a Vintage Parks 10 or 12 inch Equatorial Newtonian I would be in astro heaven. No modern manufacturer I know of comes close to reproducing their beauty.

You would be building a larger observatory first Mike.

Let's be honest on this, to an extent we all have bias on scope type, aperture etc.
It may be a unconscious bias, but we will all have it and that will navigate our response to the OP question.

I did laugh at @Earl and his Bank Balance answer, which is patently correct.

I have always flip flopped about Newtonian and Refractor scopes, I have a deep love for both.
My last direction was all refractor and I quickly added back a reflector to the mix, as horses for courses applies.

This year due to a back issue, that is long term, I find I cannot sit and use a refractor of the aperture and focal length that I like without making my back far worse for days on end. 
I am presently only using Newtonians from 6 to 10 inch aperture and thoroughly enjoy my lot.

One thing to bear in mind is the question posed needs to take into account funds available and mounts available,
A badly mounted 5" or 8" or even 10" is a scope that will be a drain on the pleasure it could bring to its user.

 

18 hours ago, Alan White said:

With all these replies and my look through and at a t4,
no surprise I am in the state of Paralysis from Analysis!

Well having pondered a little while, often best to do so in my case, 
I have ordered the SL 20 and will see how much I can or cannot see with my glasses.

I have done this as it has been spoken of highly and the eye relief may or may not work for me,
That is the critical bit 'for me' as EP as so personal.

I would love a Nagler t4 22, it has a mythical status, but its not cheap and I cannot see the whole 82 degrees with my glasses on,
so if the SL is limited in the same way and excellent in quality, why not give it a try and report back.

After all FLO have a returns policy and this is very much one of the reasons why.

I will report back in due course.

Order placed around lunchtime today and notification sent not long after, that's FLO service for you.

58 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I’ll give it 18 months until you’ve outgrown the new case, Alan 🤣

That long? 

22 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

you get a small bag of Haribo's lol . 

Reason enough to purchase another one Stu.

Postie has been a delivered a duplicate of an old friend and idea.

In 2021 I used a plastic toolbox as my astro case, it worked well but got outgrown and I 
needed a new box for my tools, all was placed in multiple bags, cases etc. and I often forget items.

So a replacement accessory box and how I used it before, watch this space...

I intend to do much the same but perhaps not for Eyepieced.

With all these replies and my look through and at a t4,
no surprise I am in the state of Paralysis from Analysis!

Hmmmmmm.

Thanks for sharing Nigella and super images from you as always.
Most thankful as while clear today, I was sat in the office and not at home😟

42 minutes ago, John said:

Was that even with the top section of the eyepiece in the lowest position Alan ?

 

Yes, fully down, even checked by the owner to make sure.

Well I found a member of my Astro club that owns a n22 t4 and had a look at it.

Then through it and with my glasses on, I cannot see the whole field stop without moving my lenses about.
With a good ponder, I think I was loosing about 5 degrees of view working on 82 being the whole, perhaps ev3n a touch more.

Ho hum, time to ponder again.

Sad to see this deconstruction,
you take care and be safe in doing this Rusted
 

31 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

I love the Nagler too. It’s a big chunk of glass though, a consideration with light mounts. Too expensive new. But a gorgeous eyepiece.

Thanks Mark, do you use glasses with this one?
 

@FLO Steve, the listing shows a 10.5mm but no details in the specification list for that one is shown.
They look very interesting indeed. 

XW with glasses are OK for me, but I have avoided the 20mm and 14mm for the reasons above.
Must say the Morpheus 12.5 works great, but does not go to 20-22mm area, sadly.

I am only even looking at this for exit pupil, due to light pollution, otherwise the APM UFF 30mm would be it alone.

Super progress Michael, looks really tidy too, love the cladding used.
Probably the smartest observatory in Worcestershire or wider area (no insult intended to others)
I look forward to seeing the Final Roof as the design you showed intrigues me.

Thanks guys for the responses so far and very interesting.
I do note that both Don and Louis have got Nagler 22 t4 in the main cases, interesting.

It does irk me that an EP that states eyeglasses friendly is only so if you make DIY changes, that's just not right to me.

My @mikeDnight, what a big un.
That will no doubt give an advantage at lower magnitude.

Postie has been with my classifieds purchases, some for curiosity, some as spares and the filter for my 10"