Binoculars or Heritage 76 mini Dobs for astronomy club

[Richp]

Afternoon again,

Firstly, a massive thanks for all the help and support I've received in my requests on SGL - this is a massively helpful community! My question is this. In addition to our main scope, I am just about to purchase a set of either Celestron Nature 10x50 binoculars or a set of Skywatcher Heritage 76 mini dobs for use at my school during our new astronomy club and lessons.

Does anyone have any thoughts about which of these two options might be best for my pupils? In terms of cost (which is a big consideration), the dobs would work out cheaper, especially as I'd need to buy tripods for the binoculars. We will be observing from a rooftop area, and it'll be no problem to carry out some of my heavy lab benches to set up on.

Once I've got all the kit sorted, I'll hopefully be making it available to the community close to my school in Exeter, so if anyone is in the area, there may be a few star parties coming soon!

Cheers,

Rich

[GeorgeB]

Hi Rich, For ease of use and versatility I would say the binoculars would win hands down. Unless your pupils are very young, then I'd suggest the Heritage 76 would be quite limiting in capability. I don't know what your budget is, but I'd maybe look at buying a few binoculars and allocating some additional money to buy just one or two larger and more versatile dobsonians and let your pupils take turns using them. A slightly bigger dob will open up a wider range of objects to observe and allow more detail on the moon and planets to be seen. The Heritage 130p might be one to consider instead.

Also, beware of rooftop observing. You may get a lot of rising warm air from the building which will affect the quality of seeing.

[spaceboy]

No better a time to get a 76mm dob. Celestron Firstscope Astronomical Telescope At this price you could probably afford to get 2 in the interest of keeping students attention rather than having them lined up for long periods getting bored waiting for one scope.

[Richp]

Thanks for the advice. We are getting one main scope (Skywatcher Skyliner 350P FlexTube GOTO), but I'm looking for a set of 8 additional smaller scopes/binoculars. HAs anyone got any views on the Celestron FirstScope 76 Dobsonian Reflector - the price seems to be too good to be true?!?

[garethmob]

for ease of use id say the binos would be a good choice ok a tripod would be needed but iv tried one of them scopes(76dob) (in my local currys pc world) and i didnt like it very much, iv got the celestron 15x70 (which price range u couldnt get many for the school i admit) but u see alot more with 2 eyes than one. the dobs could though be more useful as they are mini versions of the 350p so the same skill set be transfired back n for.

[mdstuart]

The mini dob works fine on the moon and star clusters, relatively wide doubles etc, pretty much like a pair of binoculars but....they are a pain to line up with objects as they have no finder on the basic model...They need a cheap RA finder really..

I have a mini dob which is pretty much as new which my youngest uses from time to time...

Mark

[spaceboy]

The 76mm Dobs are good for wide field low power views. Some brighter nebula's, moon, open clusters etc. Red dot finders can be picked up cheap enough from AstroBoot and can maybe screwed to the OTA in Carpentry or bolted in metal work studies ??? If schools still do that ???. I agree binoculars are great but even I find the whole focus one eye and then the other a bit of a pain. With the mini dobs they should be easy enough to focus by each student as they reach the eye piece.

[DOBBY]

A mini-dob will help with learning the principles of your big-dob...learning collimation etc.

The bino's will give a wider field of view & make things easier to find...get some of each

[NGC 1502]

Hi Rich. The mini Dobs (or any Dob) can be pointed by whoever is in charge of the group, and stays put for each pupil to look through. The binos will do the same of course if tripod mounted, but children find it hard to look through tripod mounted bins when pointed high up.

I think a larger scope will show more and be better (aimed by an adult ) even though it means a queue. I'd sooner have one or two larger scopes than lots of those mini dobs.

Regards, Ed.

[ollypenrice]

My own feeling is that the mini dobs would not work out well. In a school environment (I was a teacher for 25 years) I doubt that they would last long. If you haven't worked in a school it isn't always easy to see why this is, and it isn't just the kids! They would also need a lot of collimating, since there are going to be a lot of them. I think they'd drive you nuts.

Personally I would go for the binos or for a few ST80s. Being refractors these will plug and play and survive far better, for an educated guess. Trouble is, they need mounting but table top Dobsonian mounts can be contrived for small reflectors. TeleVue made them and I'm sure the CDT department coud help knock up a few to suit. Failing that you could chase up a few camera tripods for them.

Olly

[spaceboy]

If you haven't worked in a school it isn't always easy to see why this is, and it isn't just the kids! They would also need a lot of collimating, since there are going to be a lot of them. I think they'd drive you nuts.

I was under the impression these mini dobs held there collimation extremely well and even a small amount of misalignment could be tolerated. Well you learn something new every day I accept that you have teacher experience Olly where as I don't but just as a suggestion, one of the most asked questions by beginners is how do you collimate? While it's no fun to keep having to do it, it is an essential skill needed to get the best views from an instrument. I'm sure it's no fun having to clean up after a wood work class but it's an essential part of keeping a safe work environment. If the binoculars were ever to become misaligned for what ever reason how easy would it be to collimate them ?

[GeorgeB]

Thinking about it, maybe binoculars aren't a good idea after all. They will inevitably get dropped on the floor. To follow on from Olly's suggestion, have you considered the Celestron Travelscope 70? A fairly child-proof 70mm refractor with finder and tripod for less than £60.