astrochumak

So for anyone considering buying this scope or just wondering about the means of transporting it.. Here's how I did it. I bought a giant military backpack, which is something around 320x350x950mm, for around 19 dollars, and it works great! The Dob mount is a little too heavy for long range carrying with the handle on it, though carrying it with two hands is no problem. As you can see, the backpack itself does not have tightening belts on the sides, which would be kind of helpful while you are going through the doors and other tight spaces, because the OTA inside kept leaning from side to side, which made the risk of knocking it with something much higher. But after all, it was a pleasant experience. If you don't have any beck issues or other weight lifting limitations, I would definitely suggest this method of transporting the dob P.S. there was no access to the roof of my house, so i had to find another place for observations, hence backpack for transportation

WOW, that looks amazing! Will agree with Nik that it's one of the best I've seen today. Glad you managed to capture this, the result is overwhelming! Will also try to see this for myself tomorrow, because, as always, weather have gotten worse right before the conjunction

Thank you so much, Victor, for your reply, it was really helpful! Will look into OIII filters then. Great sketches by the way!:)

Hello everybody! Recently I bought myself a new telescope - DOB 8 retractable (yay), and now I'm looking for some DSO filters to help me see a little bit more details I live in a Bortle 7 area, so there's a fair amount of light pollution out there. After doing some research I was kind of stuck at one point. Some people say that UHC is more aggressive than CLS filter in terms of light passage, but I was unable to find how it affects visual observations. I was wondering if somebody can clarify this for me: considering the level of LP in my area, which filter will be the best all-around filter for nebulae: CLS, UHC, OIII or Hbeta (I'm into galaxies more, but I guess broadband filters won't be that useful in my area)? As a lot of people write "The best filter for DSO is a gasoline to your car", but unfortunately I don't have one. Clear skies, everybody🙂

Thank you, everybody! I will try to speak to my house management. I really appreciate your help, you are so kind! Once again, huge thank you!!

Hello, can somebody please give some hints as to whether it's worth it or not? I live in a Bortle class 5-6 zone with little to no chances of getting to a darker location any sooner. I've been owning already a Celestron Travel Scope 70, although was completely unsatisfied with its optical quality, so I sold one, and now I'm selling my Sky-Watcher MAK102 in order to get the DOB 8". I have no car and I live in a 16floor tall house on the 3rd floor. So I have to carry the scope to the nearest park, which is about 15 mins by foot. That's why I'm thinking of buying the retractable tube, put it in some kind of a big bag on my beck (I've read that somebody had already done it), and carry the mount by hand. I'm 17 years old so it'll probably be no problem in terms of lifting. So returning to my original question.. Is Sky-Watcher DOB-8" Retractable a good upgrade from MAK102, if I'm hoping to observe mostly brighter DSO (open clusters, bright nebulae) and planets occasionally, but in a light polluted area? Thank you!