Marc1964

Completely agree. Compromises, or trade-offs are always needed - however what I need has to be portable - I have no good seeing conditions from my garden, so either have to drive somewhere or walk for 15 minutes to a set of fields. Portability is therefore a must - as important as all the factors you correctly identify! I have, and love my current refractor. I have looked through dobsons and appreciate the light gathering abilities. Not loooked through a Mak yet - that will have to wait, so that is next year's plan 🙂 Horses for courses and I'm in this for the long term, no need to rush - which is just as well given the general lack of stock!

It will be the Hubble mirror disaster all over again!

This is what I was concerned about. Unfortunately full ED or APO set up is beyond my budget. I was leaning towards the 102/600 anyway as I am concerned that the extra cost of the 102xs is worth it...

Very sensible! I have had my 90/910 for two year now and bought it with an AZ3 mount for the princely sum of £60. I wanted to be sure that it would be used, and it has. I therefore feel OK about looking at alternatives/addition... 😁

Yes, I read somewhere in the forum that you had a Skywatcher I believe? I am thinking of the Bresser Messier AR-102S/600 version which supposedly has better build quality... However am also tempted by the AR-102S/460 which has an element of ED glass which is supposed to help with reducing CA to the equivalent of an F7 scope. Also tempted as I said above by a Long Pern but buying from EU and not understanding exactly how much custom charges are is putting me off somewhat!

@Tiny Clanger Are you a founding member of the 'Dobsonian Telescope Liberation Front' perchance? I actually did look into a small trolley of some sort but TBH didn't see anything that would carry the Bresser Messier 6" table top mount or the planetary securely without shaking. That would be bad for the scope and the idea of nightly collimation.... I know Bresser do a handle which is useful, but again it's either the base or finding a good support which is key. I like the lovely contrasty image that a refractor gives and whilst I am well aware that for the price of a decent small refractor I could have a damn good dobson, the best telescope is the one you use the most, and I know, sadly, that no matter how good a small dobson is, I would use a small refractor more. This year the refractor. Next year a Mak 127.... 😁

It's a good thing that there are virtually no relatively inexpensive 'scopes to be had in the UK because I reckon I would have bought at least two.. 😁 I have an Evostar 90/910 on an az3 with two cheap Celestron Omni plossl lenses. I've really enjoyed the viewing and it's ability to get the orion nebula, split Rigel and a few other stars etc. It is however big and bulky to carry around and I know there have been times when I have not gone out because I can't face the 15 minutes of walking with my gear to the darker fields to view. A smaller refractor, a 90/500 would be perfect but hard to find. Teleskop Express have an interesting black Long Perng in stock, but I am hesitant to pull the trigger as customs costs are unclear right now. I thought about getting a dobson (Tiny Clanger malign influence) and spent a long time thinking how I could make a 5" or 6" short dobson work with needing to be carried. Needless to say sanity has prevailed and this is off the list. I have considered a 90, 100, 127 mak but been put off by narrow field of view. I want to star hop my way round the sky and learn about what is above me... I have nearly bought at least one of these and only one of them really meets my needs at the moment, and is the right tool for the job. I want a wider FoV than the 90/910 and want light and compact. The short refractor wins at the moment , but I have no doubt that the others will appear at some stage when I decide I want something different or I get fed up and impulse buy a dobson and curse myself whenever I have to transport the thing either by car or walking... 😁 😁 😁

Hi @Stu1smartcookie I've just spotted this post and wondered if you bought either of the 90/500 achromats you were looking at? The Omegon is currently on sale at £230 which seems to be a decent price, cheaper than the Svbony. Read a couple of dubious things about the Svbony ebay store so not keen to go down that route. I'm also waiting to see when the Bresser AR-102 S comes back into stick anywhere.

Cloud. Cold. Garden is a bog. Considering hibernation.

Managed to get the scope out quickly at 1820. Original forecast was cloud cover, so caught by surprise 😁. Had a really nice view of Mars, best that I had seen for a few weeks. Went for the Pleiades and the cloud cover rolled in.😒. Total viewing time approximately 30 minutes.

There are two models: the one you describe is the 'planetary' dobson, there is a table top mount 6" dobson which is 750mm and therefore fits nicely in my car boot... No final decision made yet, no stock in UK so no rush. I'm still thinking that a refractor may be a better option (102/600) in terms of my starting point which was a grab and go scope which I could move around easily with etc. but I would need a new mount. Certainly get more bang for the buck with a dobson...

The focuser alone seems to be a decent upgrade, and the lenses it comes with are apparently surprisingly decent... Not as portable, but seems to be a decent trade off build quality and portability... 😁 Just need to figure out what to put it on when I am out and about!

@Tiny Clanger you have put doubt in my mind. I have disappeared down the refractor vs reflector debate and agonised over dobsonian mounts... So I am now contemplating this: https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/bresser-messier-6-dobsonian.html#SID=1739

Hi, I was wondering if anyone else had got there hands on one of these and has anything to share about the scope being used in action for viewing? Not fussed about the imaging side, purely interested in the observing side at the moment...

Thank you - my education in telescope technology continues....

So an 'air spaced' doublet should in theory be optically better I assume than a cemented or oil doublet? Or is the answer 'it depends'?

OK quick, probably dumb (!) question: Is an 'air spaced' doublet a thing or just marketing speak?

Your Mii has a nice deep boot which ironically is better than the Mini boot... 😁 Seriously though, was good to see a picture with the scope in! Thanks!

Hi, yes I have come to realise this... I quickly bought two new Celestron omni plossl lenses (15mm & 32mm)off ebay for around £40 new total. I have no idea how they compare to other brands but a major improvement on the SW ones that came with the scope... Need to replace the Barlow next, and then the diagonal.... I was out for a walk on the South Downs this afternoon and about 10 minutes walk from my car park where I do majority of my viewing, there is a concrete water tank about table height. Could be used for a mini dobson... Maybe the Orion Starburst 4.5 or the SW Heritage could come into my life... Scouring ebay and used sites to see what the art of the possible is now!

Doesn't sound like a good long term scope. I wonder if the larger AR-102S is better in this regard? More reading to be done...

OK thanks. Very technical review! So if I follow this correctly, the CA on the AR 102 xs is poor compared to the known ED glass of competitors, therefore the claims of using an ED type glass should be taken with a pinch of salt... This could be a good reason not to consider the shorter Bresser then...

Yes the mount will be the biggest issue. They are not cheap and cheap ones are probably not very good! 😁 John gave a recommendation for me for an AZ5 mount and legs which I will probably follow... Actually the biggest problem is the 900mm tube in the mini, the mount less so! The mini boot and the width of the car mitigates against a 900 tube. A bigger car is probably on the cards in the next 12 months but for reasons other than astronomy (shockingly enough!).

Ouch!

Hi, thanks for the points you are making. Ideally I would like to comfortably be able to carry the mounted telescope comfortably for upto 20 minutes on foot. I have done that with the 90/900 mounted and it is surprisingly heavy after awhile! It also ideally should be able to fit in my mini in the back without needing me to put back seats down and move passenger seat forward 😂 I have not ruled out the mini dobs yet. They offer a lot of bang for the buck and I am actively looking at ways in which I could use one up on the Downs or in the local fields... Thanks!

Hi Thanks for the advice. I do wonder about SW quality sometimes... The lenses that came with mine were poor, the diagonal is poor (I used a relatively cheap one a friend had one night and was unpleasantly surprised at how much better it was). How have you found quality of the components overall?