Upgrade 8" dob to 12" dob

[bendiddley]

Hi all. I am playing with the idea of upgrading my 8" 200p dob to a 12" and wondered what difference the views will be like. Could anyone offer their thoughts or maybe if anyone has done this upgrade too could comment on it. I live in a moderately light polluted area so this is a factor although I do venture to darker skies from time to time. I'm a particular fan of faint fuzzies and would love to see more detail on these. M51 is something I can just about see through my 8" and M81/M82 are 2 of my favourite galaxies, I would love to see these in more detail, so will the 12" do this and to what extent? Also will jupiter or saturn appear to have more detail? Hope someone can help.

[Laurie61]

You will  notice a worthwhile improvement, using a bigger scope gives you the option of viewing an object at the same mag as the smaller scope but also use a filter to eke out a bit more detail. You can use more mag on the planets and still have a bright contrasty view. For an example I use 220 ish X mag with my 8.75" and around 300 X mag with my 300mm newt. At these magnifications the views are similar, brightness/contrast, but the 300mm shows more detail and generates a larger image in the eyepiece.

[oldfruit]

Hi, i bought a 12 inch dob earlier this year and had been using an 8 inch scope before that (which i still have). The difference is very noticable when going from an 8 to a 12 inch scope. For the planets you will be able to resolve a lot more subtle detail. I loved the view of Jupiter through my 8 inch scope but throught the 12 inch it was "wow!" Same with Saturn.

To get the best of a large scope though, you would need to use it at a dark site. Don`t get me wrong, a lot can be seen if your light pollution is not too bad but 12 inch class scopes really come into their own at a dark site and will take you deep and you will be able to see objects that were just not visible in your 8 inch scope. That is my experience at least.

M51 will show spiral structure, M81 will show the outer halo and M82 will show some good detail.

All the above will also depend on seeing conditions etc.

Aslo consider portability of a 12 inch scope!

Hope this is of some help.

[andyman]

Good info from laurie there as for detail on planets it depends on seeing conditions on any particular night and quality off eyepiece used

But there is no substitute for dark skies a 8" from a dark site could match or even out perform a 12" from urban skies

Andy

[Moonshane]

basically, everything will be better from home assuming they fit in the field. from a dark site the difference will be even more impressive and the effort is worth it. BUT make sure you see the size and weight of the 12" scope as it's a large change in size. will it fit in your car? can you lift it all into the car?

assuming yes to both questions then I''d say it's definitely worth it.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Cannot overstress the importance of a dark site. I spotted spiral structure in M51 and M101 from dark sites with my 8" SCT, whereas a 16" RC showed less detail form a suburban site. Going from 8 to 12" is going to help of course. On globulars the 12" should be awesome, even with some LP.

[bendiddley]

Great feedback thanks for your comments, very helpful. Sounds like it could be a worthwhile upgrade then. Thanks for the comments moonshane about portability, i have considered this and am currently interested in the sw 300 flextube which looks like it will make manouverability a bit easier for me. I kind of thought that the 12" would perform in the ways you are all describing but needed to hear from others to feel confident about it. Def need to go away and give some thought. Thanks again!