Going to sell the DOB

[Kirscovitch]

After much debating, I think I am going to sell my 10" dob. I really like the resolution I get from it and I have had some amazing views of the planets with it, but thats about it. Every time I try to search out even the easiest to find DSO's, I get skunked. I have tried watching star hopping tutorials on youtube, read TLAO cover to cover about 3 times and had it with me in the field. Still I can't seem to find anything. Even with the telrad and those nice downloadable maps. Nothing.

I have even had the dob sitting side by side with my C6N and after locating a target with the C6 I look where the finder is and try maching it with the dobs finder and telrad. Nothing.

Another reason is that I feel I have crept too far toward the cliff of imaging and I will probably end up getting pushed over. I fear that if that happens the dob will just sit in the corner collecting dust and that's no way for a nice scope to be treated. I can sell it and put the money toward a new scope designed more for imaging. 

But part of me wants to keep it. Saying that one day I will get the star hopping thing figured out and I would kick myself if I had ended up selling it. 

Decisions, decisions....

[PeterCPC]

Hi Matt

I went through the same issues. I had a 250 Flex Tube and once I got an SCT the Dob just sat in the shed for months on end not used. It was no good for imaging (I tried) and had to be collimated every time it was used so in the end it traded it in towards a new C9.25. I hope that someone else is getting use out of it now. I hated to see such a lovely scope just sitting there unused.

Good luck with your decision.

Peter

[ronin]

Very difficult.

People will say stick with it, equally if it just does not click then it will remain frustrating and you will get nothing from it.

I also wonder if your skies are a lot better then ours. Having seen a few dark skies I know that the stars we use for star hopping simply disappear. From experience I know that Casseiopia simply gets lost and swallowed up. It can actually be worse not easier. In a dark sky Casseiopia cannot easily be use to locate things with, something that many in the UK would find odd to say.

I have read of people going from goto to dob and liking it, equally read of people going from dob to goto and liking it. One person wrote they had seen more in 1 night with an 8SE then in 2 years with a dobsonian. Also the people that want to throw their goto off a cliff is numerous.

Will say that I suspect all these books and pictures saying this is what the stars look like in a finder I think are a waste. What you see depends on the aperture, field of view, magnification and the assorted inversions. Too many variables.

Would a laser finder help? That way you do not "hop" with a finder. You use your eyes and knowledge to point the scope at the bit of sky - in effect remove the (any) finder (look through type) from the system. I see a lot of people are using them now and most get along well with them.

[LeeB]

I have afew scopes but the dob still gets the most use, grab and go it isnt, but if all I have is 30 minutes I get 25 of them on the sky. As to finding stuff stick with the telrad and don't hop just form a picture in your mind from the map and aim with a wide eyepiece, I love a cheap 70deg 2 inch 43mm from TH for the purpose. It gets alot of sky. With practice you can hit 9 out of 10 first shot, the other one may take a spiral scan to find.

What I trying to say is, i would always keep a dob, they have a special role to fill.

[happy-kat]

I like my red dot finder a simple tool to get the scope pointing in the right area then I use a 32mm to fine tune and find the object though I am learning the basics very much still.

[swamp thing]

The secret to star hopping is understanding how the scope moves. This may sound daft but it's true, if you can interpret what the finder scope is showing you, you can find anything. Point it randomly.......you'll find nothing.

The best way I found to learn to star hop is to trace the outline stars of a bright constellation. By doing this you'll not only understand how the scope moves in relation to what the finder is showing you, but the FOV of the finder in relation to the scope will start to be realised.

Remember the brightest star in the finder will be the one you can see with your naked eye, forget the others they'll just put you off.

Try this on a few different constellations before selling up.

That's my tip, hope it helps

[brantuk]

You need to keep the dob (or get a bigger one) whilst you develope your imaging skills. There are gonna be times when the imaging learning curve gets you so wound up that you'll just want to revert to something nice and simple for a night or two in order to calm down and actually see something in the sky lol.

If you are having problems star hopping the best thing is to join a club and get out to some observing sessions where you can talk with other folks how they do it and get a few demonstrations. You'll be amazed what you can pick up in just one night with only one experienced person by your side.

[m.tweedy]

Could you not get rings and mount it on an NEQ6. Then you have your imaging and visual mount all in one and switch scopes when you want.

[Dreadz]

Have you tried a diy setting circle/wixey? It's the next mod on my list. Wixey will cost £30ish and circle a few pounds to print and laminate. May solve yr problem.

As it stands I use the skye pro app as a push to system. Its far from perfect but has helped me track down plenty of fuzzies.

Sent from my GTi9300 using random spelling mistake generator!!!!

[estwing]

I still struggle with mine but I will learn the sky without gizmos it's part of the process for me

[alan potts]

I would keep the Dob as by all accounts it is a rather tasty one. I think you will rue the day some time in the future if you get rid. As for finding things I don't have that much success with a goto system some nights, if that battery is not full the mount has a mind of its own.

Alan.

[Myopicus]

I reckon you need to keep it;  visual astro provides the Yin to imaging's Yang, indivisible and complementary.  

[Alkaid]

If there are too many stars in the finder view, then try stopping it down. Then only the bright constellation ones will be visible.

Another trick is knowing the field of view of both the finder and the low power eyepiece that you will use to find things. What I do is to find the nearest bright star with the finder and then get it in the eyepiece. I know that my eyepiece gives a true field of 2.5 degrees.

Looking in the book or star chart, for example I can see that my target is five degrees from the bright star. So I place the bright star at the edge of the view. The other side of the view is 2.5 degrees away. There will most likely be another star somewhere near the edge in the direction of my target. Using this as a ref, I now slowly pan the scope so that the small star is where the bright one was, i.e edge to edge. I have just moved the scope another 2.5 degrees, so I am now at the 5 degree point (where my target should be). Sometimes it is there first time. Other times, I have to move the scope about slightly, but get there in the end.

I've used this method to find objects 10 degrees from the original ref star (moving the scope three times).

It's also worth mentioning that things like Globular Clusters are visible in a small 6 x 30 finder from a dark site. But you eye does not see them straight away. I have tried finding M3 and M5 with the finder and failed because I was perhaps panning too fast. But then I find them with the eyepiece method above, then when I look in the finder - there they are too! Albeit very faint, but they are recognisable. If using the finder, move the scope very slowly.

[Moonshane]

It's a personal decision of course but hopefully the article I did a while back will help generally:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/197640-collimation-and-star-hopping/

[Nibor]

My 2p worth..........

What about using a smart phone with an app like skyeye:-

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lavadip.skeye

and rigging up a telescope mount for it using something like this (a bit of DIY required):-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Original-Electronics-Universal-Anywhere-Windscreen/dp/B007QTURZG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399554780&sr=8-1&keywords=mobile+phone+car+mount

Skeye has a  "find an object facility " and once the phone is aligned to the scope then you could find objects by using a "push to" technique.

HTH

[jetstream]

Finding things in the sky can be difficult and frustrating.Learning the constellations well helps a lot,which can be challenging from dark skies.I will set up early sometimes so that only the brighter stars are showing, to get a feel for the planned targets.Finding targets near or in constellations is much easier.

To each his own though.The C6 goto will show a lot and the goto system can teach the sky if you choose.You can always come back to a dob later if you choose to sell.

[AlexB67]

It may sound a daft idea, but if you are under really darks skies, I wonder if some sort of polarising glasses would help to supress some light and make out major constellations more clearly to start with, another way would be to get out under the sky while it is getting dark, see how the stars slowly start popping in to get your bearing if that is where you are struggling.

There is also this gadget (astrofix ) for Dobs, not too expensive and accurate to about a degree or so for around a 100 pounds.

http://www.skysthelimit.org.uk/page54.html

[scarp15]

You have clearly made up your mind, good luck with what ever new set up you choose. If you go exclusively for imaging, perhaps in addition consider a good pair of binoculars so that you can go sweeping the sky whilst the scope is collecting data.