birthday scope

[col]

nyeheyheyhey(done in the eric morcambe way) my wife was in a very good mood when she came home from a night out with the girls, and said i can have a new telescope for my birthday, any suggestions please, it s probably going to be the only big scope i buy for a while, as you can imagine im searching feaverishly for something suitable, i quite fancy a dob, what do you think?

[The Warthog]

Well, hippo bathday! If I were looking at a largish Dob, I would favour an Orion 10" with the computerized push-to system. JMHO. Or without the push=to system, any reputable 10".

[col]

hi wh, whats the opprox price for these?

[GazOC]

Col,

http://www.scsastro.co.uk/cg040001.htm

You can buy the scope and then add the push to later, I used to own the 8" non-push to model and it was a good scope. Dobs are the best way too get a lot of scope for youre money.

If you don't think you'll ever want the push to add on though, there are much cheaper Dobs in the UK than the Orion models that are of the same quality.

Gaz

[The Warthog]

Col,

http://www.scsastro.co.uk/cg040001.htm

You can buy the scope and then add the push to later, I used to own the 8" non-push to model and it was a good scope. Dobs are the best way too get a lot of scope for youre money.

If you don't think you'll ever want the push to add on though, there are much cheaper Dobs in the UK than the Orion models that are of the same quality.

Gaz

Hear, hear! The scopes just top CDN$1,000. I can't help with British prices, but most of the reputable Dobs I've seen are not much cheaper over here.

[col]

im not sure wh but that might be about 500 bp, so im hoping the cheaper but just as good ones might come around the 250 to 300 bp mark

[col]

do i have many options when it comes to brand names? im busy digging my astro mags out now to see what there might be

[GazOC]

Col,

If your looking for a Dob for £300, then this is a great deal. It's from www.telescopehouse.com....heres the spiel. (if you can stretch to £500 then you could get the 12" model)

Revelation 10 Dobsonian Telescope Pre Order - £329.00

The Revelation is a superb 10" F5 (250mm)Dobsonian with 1/12th wave BK7 mirrors and many exclusive features including an all alluminium crayford focuser, high quality roller bearing, all metal construction tube with 12v cooling fan, includes a 2" 26mm wide field eyepiece. This instrument has been produced for us exclusively to our specification in order to provide the user with the finest Dobsonian possible at this incredible price. Please note this product is NOT included in the BAA/SPA discount scheme. PAY ONLY £299.00 IF YOU COLLECT!

[GazOC]

do i have many options when it comes to brand names? im busy digging my astro mags out now to see what there might be

The choice of brands for Dobs in the UK is a bit misleading as for the most part the actual scopes are made by only two companies (Synta and GSO) and then rebadged by different sellers. In one way it's a blessing as they both make pretty good scopes and you can just make your decision based purely on price and what accessories the scope comes with.

[col]

has anyone had a revelation dob gaz? is there any feed back on them? and do they come with a 1.25 adapter,as i have a few eyepieces in that size??

[The Warthog]

It was Steve's review of the Revelation 10" Dob that brought me to this forum. (Aren't you sorry now, Steve? ) I haven't seen that brand in North America. I just did a little price checking, and the Skywatcher 10" is a couple hundred dollars cheaper than the Orion, without the computer. The 8" is almost affordable for me, and is no small scope, either.

[col]

cheers wh, another query, is there much difference between the ten and twelve inch, as 500 might be pushing my luck, if you know what i mean

[GazOC]

Both me and Steve have got the 10" Revelation and are both very pleased with it, mines mounted on an GEM so I can't comment on the base but the optics are very good for the money, you get an improved Crayford focusser (which is much better than the standard one) that does come with an 1.25 adaptor.

WH, I think the Revelation Dobs are badged GSOs

[GazOC]

cheers wh, another query, is there much difference between the ten and twelve inch, as 500 might be pushing my luck, if you know what i mean

I've owned 8", 10" and 12" Dobs and the big difference is inbetween 10" and 12" rather than 8" and 10" (you knew I was going to say that, didn't you? ).

The downside of the 12" outside of the cost is the size, the 8" and 10" are exactly the same height with the 10" being a bit wider (obviously! ) but the 12" really is a bit of a beast!!

Gaz

[col]

im showing my ignorance now but what is a gem instead of a mount gaz?

[GazOC]

Col,

It's just short for German Equatorial Mount, its a type of mount, the EQ5 and EQ6 are both GEMs

Gaz

[col]

oh yeah, sorry should have realised realy, , have you used a dob mount, if you have how are they to use? and would i be able to use my eq5 with a ten inch dob too??if i fancied it at a later date?

[GazOC]

Some people hate Dobs some people love them, so it's suck it and see I'm afraid, maybe try to find a astro society so you can try one out? I found them pretty easy to use after I'd got used to it......

I know people (from forums not personally) who do have a 10" f5 on a EQ5 but they all say its a very 'iffy' setup, the mount would be right at the edge of its capacity even just for visual use. The EQ5 would be a lot happier with the lighter 8" but then you'd have a smaller Dob....

Gaz

[col]

thanks for putting up with my barrage of questions gaz, but i think youl understand, im feeling like a kid at christmas i think ill get a ten inch one, and the revelation sounds the one, ill no doubt get used to the mount, and then think of the push thing, incidentaly. what is the push thing? :?

[GazOC]

Col,

In a nutshell, you get a handset where you enter an object that you want to view. The display on the handset tells you how much to move the scope on the two axis to bring the object into view. Thats why it's called push to rather than goto, in goto motors move the scope for you, with push to you have to move it yourself.

Orion (the scopes in my first link) make there own push to systems, if you bought the Revelation you'd have to buy a third party system and fit it yourself, but the Revelation is a lot cheaper for what its optically pretty much an identical scope.

Gaz

[col]

ah i see, thanks gaz thats a great explanation, i understand that now, the only downer is its not my birthday till the end of march aaaaah

[GazOC]

Hi Col,

If you are certain about the 10" Revelation (and it might be worth waiting for a few other peoples opinion on this!!) then it would be worth you ordering ASAP as Telescopehouse get them in by the shipment from China and if they've run out of stock there can be quite a time inbetween ordering and recieving the scope (I waited 6 weeks for mine).

Or you could find another stockist, Steve might be the man to ask about that,

Gaz

[col]

going on price and reputation, it sounds to me that revelation is the way to go, i like what iv heard and correct me if im wrong gaz, but am i going to be able to see a lot more than i am at the moment, im not too bothered about push too yet, just being able to see more would be great, and hopefully ill add to it with eyepieces and filters as time goes on, im hoping this will be a scope to last me a long time, what do think?

[GazOC]

Hi Col,

Well the cliche is that a 8" reflector is the scope that can show you enough to last you a lifetime, so a 10" should last you even longer

IMHO its best to buy the best scope you can afford and then, as you say, build up the eyepieces etc as you go along. You can always buy better eyepieces when you've got the money, you can never turn a 8" scope into a 10" one.

Gaz

[col]

wise words indeed, thanks for your time gaz, youv helped me immensley, ill let you know how i get on,and start looking into it, but it still might be a bit early for me to actualy get it, ill probably have to wait a bit longer yet. :thumbright: