Stardaze

Welcome to the Bresser dob club, love mine! I've cut out a piece of 18mm ply and added 3 castor wheels to help move it on some ground and also acts as a barrier against wet ground. The best thing about being a dob owner is the unlimited amount of tinkering you will inevitably do with it, plenty to add/upgrade as you go, enjoy!

Blimey. Assume you’re out for extended sessions then? I’m trying a hood and band up top and going from there.

That's the same dew kit I have Paul. Haven't tested mine long enough yet but seems ok. Have the same 10A pack too. Assume you're going top and bottom with those straps. I've only bothered with one round the top section and finders.

Hi John, I do realise this but it’s more a convenience element that’s all. Which in itself, isn’t enough to swap out. I’ll see how it works out. I really like the XW 5 but do miss the extra FOV a little.

The dob (10”) is 1254mm so that definitely has an effect on choice. I love the Ethos 8 too, but I hear the 6 is even better. Not read much about the APM 5 or 3.5 so no idea how strong they are. A 2” EP at 5 or 6 would be best for me I think, no rush though.

The 13 is sharper across the frame, but they compliment each other well. I’ve ordered a magnetic knife rack for the dob as the new dew shield tips the balance too much with the 20, the 13 is still ok so the weight is also a consideration. The 9mm seems to be the one that doesn’t get the positive feedback, so glad I picked up an ET8. I’ve added a 2” collar on the bottom of that, like you’ve done too, have you TV caps on the bottom too? I’m tempted to chop my XW5 and ES6.7 in to help fund a Ethos 6mm. APM 20/13 and the E8/6 is probably all I’d need. Maybe then pick up an E4.7 next year..

I’m going to have a sensible year with gear and enjoy what I have. Was out for an hour last night with the APM 20 and 13, which really are fine for me, being honest. I do hanker after a grab and go set up though as the dob can be a bit much for an hour really. That probably will be next years quest, a nice wide field frac would be great as an all rounder. Maybe that then would change my EP collection too, hope not.. The double cluster last night did look pretty spectacular though in the dob, between the clouds.

I stuck to the binos last night, but there was a good 2 hour spell here with some intermittent cloud. Looks like that's it for a while again though..

As the English phrase goes, that's just not cricket old boy 😂 Just noticed it's all change since my earlier post = game over. But the heavy snow forecast doesn't sound much fun anyway.

I'm still around mate but have been quiet as had a lot of building works happening back end of last year, so we were literally all over the place. That's certainly the ideal, but unfortunately it's not really an option at the moment. Probably my best bet is to suss some campsites that could be utilised at the drop of a hat, in the not-so-cold months.

PS. Moon will ruin tomorrow 😂

This has been a topic on my mind for a while and there's some great observations here. I think what you say here John is a big factor. Having just a 10" dob, there have been nights with intermittent cloud where I have decided to grab binoculars because of the hassle of moving the dob around. The spring last year seemed very good, but these last 2 months have been very difficult. Having a larger scope nearby is definitely a benefit. In the spring I was observing from my garden, mostly in the West/SW. For Southerly views, the front drive is best (not so though with street lighting!) and so I've had to move the gear to the front of the house to capture Orion/Taurus etc at this time of year. I'd like a grab and go setup, but can't see that happening this year. Luckily I'm still relatively young in my years of observing so keen enough to make a little effort still, no doubt that will dwindle a bit in time. It leads me on to how do you realistically plan a trip to a dark site that probably needs a stay over? I'd love to take my dob out for a good trip into Wales this year (when allowed of course) but still assuming that that will have to be a last minute decision...

They certainly receive raving reviews, super. I don’t need to know how great it is against the APM 20 though 😉

Is this the most cost-effective small unit to power 3 dew tapes? I have been using mains but can be a pain in certain spots in the garden so thinking of a lithium solution.

Thanks gents, I’ll place an order tomorrow 🤣

Nice. The APM will do for me I think

Mine are an H2O pair that are around 10 years old.

I’m going to see how the one I’ve bought stands up. If I remove the rubber pad at the one end it will Velcro a fair amount. Here in the pic it’s upside down and sits on firmly. There’s a 10 week delivery on a new one and the hassle of posting this one if I find a buyer. I’ll see if the ramshackle hood and tape works well enough.

I tried a few hacks myself but gave in and bought Dewcontrols dedicates heater which works. Obviously you do need a controller and power pack though. I could do with a battery power pack really as the wired one I bought is just pain in practice. Tried to do it cheaply but..

I was going to say that I've been using my APM 20 more recently and enjoying it again, then I see you're selling yours @Dantooine 😂

The gorilla tape was given an excellent rating too but read a few that said if ever you wanted to get it off again it was extremely difficult to remove.

I was considering a pair of Helios 15x70’s to complement my Bushnell Nature 10x42’s, but reading this I fancy the Nikon’s to replace the Bushnell’s. Not totally happy with the Bushnells and so intrigued as to hoW much better the Nikon’s could be.

I've ordered some 3M branded tape for number plates.

Thanks gents I’ll check those out. The original was fine, held for 6 months. I do leave the telrad on whilst storing my dob vertically, which doesn’t help really.

I tried a few hacks myself but gave in and bought Dewcontrols dedicates heater which works. Obviously you do need a controller and power pack though.