Raph-in-the-sky

Liking the look of a dob is definitely an acquired taste ... but mine looks beautiful (yes it is the standard issue 10'' SW but it's MINE!)

I don't know much about AP but this looks great! I am yet to find M81/M82 in my light polluted sky. I'll give it another go soon (Yes, this is highly controvertial but I want to beleive we'll have some clear nights soon)

It does look great... did you already say that?

Quick question: What are the advantages of this kind of scope? Is it better than a 10'' dob at anything besides transportability?

I very recently got a used 32mm SW panaview (70° AFOV) for £50. In my f4.7 dob it's far from perfect edge to edge but it gives very pleasing wide field views. With your telescope it should be excellent.

I have the SW 4 mm planetary and a SW 250 px... For the last 10 months (ever since I had that scope), I've never had a night that was clear enough to get a good resultwith these together.

Yay no more neck breaking! Thank you @MimasDeathStar

Where did you get it?

This has routhly the same specifications as the BSTs but are considered by many (especially on this forum) as inferior in terms of quality of views. I have a couple of these and a couple of BSTs and I would say go for BSTs first and if you can't find the right focal lenght go for the Skywatcher... Again I beleive that an 8mm should be close to your max magnification but still usable on most nights (the max power will only be usable on the best nights, I would leave this for later))

The plossl design for short focal lenght (ie. less than 10mm) have very short eyerelief which means that you will have to jam your eye very close to the lens making it uncomfortable to use. The apparent field of view is about 50° with this design. The BSTs have comfortable eyereleif and a 60° apparent field of view and are generally great value for money.

If I were you I would invest in a decent eyepiece before a barlow. If the 25mm you got with the scope could be considered half (or a quarter) decent the 10mm is absolute dog sh*t. I think that an 8mm BST Starguider would be great with your scope https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces/bst-starguider-60-8mm-ed-eyepiece.html

Hey! I'm in Brussels too ... well I live here! I'll probably take my dob out on Thursday. If you wanna join, just let me know!

I would say that up to 10'' is transportable, however I don't think collapsible makes it more transportable... It might be useful for storage though. But if you don't want to delay the Tak for too long I would go with 8''. An 8'' dob is amazing value for money and views in a 10'' are only marginally better.

Keep in mind that you probably wont need the whole range. For your scope, I would say 5mm (that pushes the power to the max for your scope, won't be usable on every night but when the weather plays ball wow!),8mm and 15mm + the Aero 35mm (or a Skywatcher Panaview 32mm). You can always buy more later and if you re not in a hurry you should check the used market (astronomers tend to be very careful with their equipment).

Just to be sure that it's clear for you BST Starguiders 😉 Otherwise you could have a look at the Skywatcher Planetaries (for different focal length than BSTs) and if you want something better you could have a look at the Explore scientific 82° range (although they are a bit above your budget... maybe for later or for a focal length you particularly enjoy)

This community is really great... endless amount of information and friendly people willing to give great advice. LOVE IT!

Wait... there is a Celestial Events Calendar on this site? Where can I find it?

Not seeing the transit of Mercury was AMAZING!

Up to you to become one! For about £200, you could get a Skywatcher 130p + a few eyepieces which would give you great views of the planets and the moon + some bright deep sky objects whenever you want (as long as the weather plays ball 😢 ) https://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

All hail, the grand cosmic pizza dude !

My advice is to look for golf clubs or model aircraft runways. They usually have nice flat, maintained land and are often quite remote.

Sadly they don't ship to Belgium 😢

$75 sounds pretty good. If I cannot find it used, I will get the Omegon copy which seems identical but cheaper (at least for me when shipping costs are taken into account). https://www.astroshop.eu/flatteners-correctors-reducers/omegon-pro-koma-korrektor-fuer-astrograph/p,53821

Just received a vintage Lumicon OIII... I hope it will be a noticable improvement from my Omegon OIII. Thank you @Saganite

It might sound like a stupid question but I ve got to ask at one point or anouther... What do you call the shoulder exactly? 🙂