Geoff Barnes

Yes it is rock steady, the bars are very strong and heavy duty. I'm purely a visual observer.

I only ever use the 12 inch Dob now for all visual targets. It is streets ahead of the 4 inch achromat in every respect. I have never looked through a quality ED refractor so I have no reference point to compare, but I can't believe the views would be much better if at all than my Dob, for example, I'm out tonight in great seeing conditions and viewing intricate details on Jupiters cloud bands and watching Europa transiting across the northern equatorial zone. Also seeing Saturns C ring and Enceladus moon easily at 275x with a Baader Morpheus 6.5mm EP. 😀

Ooh, that's an issue that creates huge and passionate discussions on any astro forums! It really boils down to personal preference in the end. I suppose in an ideal world we would all have at least one refractor and one reflector and use whichever one gave the best results on any given target on any given night 😁

Down here in Oz I rejoice in having the planets almost overhead (a bit too high for comfortable viewing if truth be known). However, even with this advantage the views of them can still be pretty poor, fuzzy and shaky, lacking in detail when the seeing conditions are not good. So even when the planets are low down if you are getting very good seeing conditions you will probably be getting just as good views as I do when my seeing is poor here. Never miss a chance to get the scope out and have a look when the skies are clear, it's always worth it!

I think this is showing that it could well have been a collimation problem, though still curious as to why you were getting a double image.

Might seem a daft question but you're not indoors viewing through the glass of a window are you? Just a process of eliminating possible causes.

Welcome to the forum @Planetarian. That's a curious thing, I've never heard of such a problem before, hopefully one of our more experienced members can help you out.

Hi Steve, I think 200x magnification is a really good power for planetary observing when seeing conditions are good. I regularly use a Morpheus 6.5mm giving 230x in my 12 inch Dob on the planets and get wonderful results unless the seeing is bad. I have heard that the 3.2mm BST is not the best in the range but I think you will be pleased with it on good nights. 😁

Hmm, sounds like a wonderful opportunity to treat yourself to a nice shiny new telescope @Cake (Hope you can afford one!) 😁

I've had my Dob just over 3 years now and have washed the mirror twice in that time. Living on unmade dirt roads up in the hills east of Melbourne the dust in the drier warmer months has to be seen to be believed every time a car goes past, like a dust fog. It is extremely fine and just gets into every nook and cranny imaginable. I keep the scope with dust caps always on in its own little wooden house outside with a well sealed door but the dust still gets in somehow. I probably wouldn't bother if we were on sealed roads which would cut down the dust problem considerably, I'm not too precious about keeping it spotless at all.

Finally! Only my second clear sky of this winter and it's almost over! Been atrociously dull and wet on the mountain this year, we've had over 1.2metres of rain so far! So it was with great joy I got the 12 inch Dob out of mothballs and onto the front lawn with the urgent desire to have my first look at Jupiter and Saturn since last year. Completely clear sky with reasonably stable seeing, things could only have been better if the darned 3/4 moon wasn't right in the vicinity washing out details a tad. Nevertheless, I had great luck with the GRS in prime position and at the same time Io gradually disappearing behind the planet. Could see a fair amount of turbulent activity along the north equatorial belt with two very large dark brown barges. I found the 6.5mm Morpheus gave the best views at around 230x, I tried with 4mm and 5mm EP's but the view with so much moonlight was too washed out to gain anything. It was also great to see Saturn again, like welcoming back two long lost old friends. Again a bit disappointingly washed out, Cassini was easy as usual but dark grey rather than inky black, not much else on the rings, a hint of cloud belts on the planet and 4 moons in close attendance and that was about it. I did have a try at splitting Antares without luck this time and also Lyra's double double which is always a bit lost in the haze and glare down on my north horizon. I split the easier double just about at around 180x but the tighter double was just jiggling around too much, both were a fuzzy mess really. Decided to finish off while I was in Lyra with M57 which revealed its ring quite nicely albeit very faint and no other details. Not the greatest session ever but with only two opportunities all winter I'm certainly not going to complain! 😁

Well "spotted" @Marvin Jenkins 😁

Ha! Good one Ed, had me going for a minute there! 🤣

I tried downloading Stellarium umpteen times on my laptop and it never loaded properly, always had parts of the screen blank and the image swirled around uncontrollably so I gave up. I now just use SkySafari with no issues at all, it's really good.

Okay, https://shallowsky.com/jupiter/ is back up and running with the GRS transiting, just needs fine tuning...

Hi @JeremyS, here is the reply to my enquiry regarding the missing GRS... You're right! Apparently the way clipPath works in browsers haschanged (not too surprising, it was never really documented and Iwas always guessing at how to make it work) and that's making theGRS invisible. I'm working on it; hopefully will have somethingworking by tomorrow.Thanks for the report. I'll let you know when it's fixed. Sounds hopeful!

Eee, I love a good mystery! Let's look at the evidence... Same telescope - Check. Same yellow screwdriver - Check. Same garden - Check. Same grammatical errors in the text - Check. Putting on my Sherlock Holmes hat, I deduce that 200pman and fiestazetecmk2 are the same person! 🤫

I've just sent an email to the website designer enquiring about the missing GRS, will report any result as and when...

Yes @JeremyS I've just noticed the GRS is missing on the image, it always used to be there. I haven't used the app since last year because Jupiter hasn't been in view but it was there last time I used it and was always pretty accurate. I shall investigate!

I've always found this website useful and accurate for Jupiter...https://shallowsky.com/jupiter/

Hi Greg, that is all I use for my 12 inch Dob and follow up with a star test to finish off. Works well for me.

Please be sure to let us know how you get on @StarGazingSiouxsie. Waiting with baited breath! 😀

Don't be confused @StarGazingSiouxsie, he's really a lovely old thing, like everyones favorite uncle and happy for you! ( Strange English humour you know)! 😂

Hi Craig, while it's not 100% spot on it is perfectly good enough for visual use. Would only need to be better for AP really.

Agreed, I find this is the most common cause of the problem for me with my Dobsonian. Sometimes though, using my Goto mode I find once I've centred on a target it drifts quickly out of view when it should stay centred. I usually find if I re-centre with the handset (or smartphone) back to where it should be it then stays centred (usually). Low battery power can also cause the drift as well.