My Scope

[Akyra]

Celestron 8" Starhopper Dobsonian

I ordered it from Telescope Planet on the Wednesday (2 weeks ago) and it arrived Thursday morning! With free delivery too!!!

It arrived in two brown boxes, not the fancy 'hubble taken' image plastered boxes you get when you buy a £100 scope.

And it was ready to use 30 minutes later!

It was so easy to construct, and everything was very well packaged. Couldn't believe the speed of delivery, although when I looked on google maps, the place where it came from was only 30 miles away.

Its a cracking scope, offering 8" (203mm) aperture, with 1219mm focal length. The included E-Lux 25mm gives great views of Saturn, Venus and the Moon. The base is easy to use, just point and shoot! I will be looking to knock myself up a DIY wedge for the mount to sit on for easier tracking.

I read many reviews across t'internet and asked lots of questions before buying this scope, and think I have definately made a great choice for a first scope. If I had an extra £200 in my budget I would have certainly gone for the 10" but am 'over the moon' - pardon the pun - with my purchase.

[garymcgrory]

Looks a belter, let us know how you get on when you get some dark Sky's.

[BWBlackett]

Great scope - I've just got the Skywatcher version, the boxes and scopes look identical !!

Can you explain what you mean by a wedge for tracking?

Thanks,

Brian.

[Akyra]

From your avatar I can see that indeed they are identical!

I was talking to a member of Cardiff Astronomy Society and he explained and recommended to me that I get a wedge which is, from what I have read on t'internet, an equatorial platform. Once aligned, stars and objects in the sky only move on one axis. Which means you dont have to adjust the altitude and azimuth, the basic 'point and shoot' dobsonian mount.

Looking for a DIY guide on building one, any help from anyone would be much appreciated.

[geppetto]

Congrats mate..

Have lots of fun with it

[BWBlackett]

Found this on wedges

http://mysite.verizon.net/res6jv9o/astronomy-trains/id13.html

Brian.

[russ]

great choice.......a superb all rounder!