Help me pick a Dob

[Charic]

Pankaj.......Hi, I'm obviously a little too late with this thread but my choice of telescope would have been either the 8, 10 or 12" 'traditional - solid tube' Sky-watcher telescopes, as a step up from your 5" telescope. The fact you already mention that you wanted the 10", makes  little difference in branding, as long as each telescope is setup correctly and fully collimated. I have the 8" Skyliner 200P already, but If I were to upgrade now, I would have to consider the 12" first over the 10" due to the specifications of the focal ratios. Increased coma from the 10" f/4.8 scope, will make eyepiece selection more critical for a lot of folk to overcome/reduce  the effects of coma, more visible, off-axis, in the eyepiece. So a 12" if that was affordable would have been a good choice f/ratio wise, and would also give a brighter and larger image scale. The 8" f/6 is just a workhorse, very popular, and the only thing that I would change is to have a bigger image at the focal plane, that means a bigger scope. But not just yet, That day will come!

But dont get me wrong! The 10" is still a fine telescope, as you have already discovered, and that it exceeds certain things that my scope can't do. These comments may help others who are undecided.  Just enjoy your new telescope and the views it brings. dark skies to you. If their not dark, go somewhere where it is darker, you'll be amazed at the results.

[Pankaj]

Pankaj.......Hi, I'm obviously a little too late with this thread but my choice of telescope would have been either the 8, 10 or 12" 'traditional - solid tube' Sky-watcher telescopes, as a step up from your 5" telescope. The fact you already mention that you wanted the 10", makes  little difference in branding, as long as each telescope is setup correctly and fully collimated. I have the 8" Skyliner 200P already, but If I were to upgrade now, I would have to consider the 12" first over the 10" due to the specifications of the focal ratios. Increased coma from the 10" f/4.8 scope, will make eyepiece selection more critical for a lot of folk to overcome/reduce  the effects of coma, more visible, off-axis, in the eyepiece. So a 12" if that was affordable would have been a good choice f/ratio wise, and would also give a brighter and larger image scale. The 8" f/6 is just a workhorse, very popular, and the only thing that I would change is to have a bigger image at the focal plane, that means a bigger scope. But not just yet, That day will come!

But dont get me wrong! The 10" is still a fine telescope, as you have already discovered, and that it exceeds certain things that my scope can't do. These comments may help others who are undecided.  Just enjoy your new telescope and the views it brings. dark skies to you. If their not dark, go somewhere where it is darker, you'll be amazed at the results.

Hi Charic. No feedback is ever late in astronomy. Thanks for your views. Indeed appreciable. My apologies for replying late. Wanted to share a few observations I recently had when I went to a wildlife sanctuary with the new 10" dob. You were so true when you wished 'dark skies'. Believe me, the views of Andromeda was simply awesome. It simply filled the entire FOV with a 25mm eyepiece. That is the highest FL eyepiece I currently have. Wish I had a 30mm too at that time. Was able to split Epsilon Lyrae very easily at 96x (which otherwise took 120x from my backyard in New Delhi.) The images were very stable. Yes, you rightly pointed about the coma correction. Can you suggest which eyepieces (brands) should I use to reduce coma. Regards.

[Charic]

Hi Pankaj.....I`m glad your getting on with your 10" Dob. That's great news.

As for eyepieces, I'm only acquainted with the wonderful BST's sold here in the UK and they should  should work well down to f/5, but other members here will no doubt give you their experiences  and advice using their eyepieces.

Coma is there, as you mention, but if you try and ignore it, and just track/nudge/PuTo your telescope keeping your subject in the centre field, you can avoid some of the effects of coma , and ignore the edges, but this is only suitable for visual work. If you wanted to image with a mobile phone or camera, you'll want as flat a field as possible.

I'm certain AndyWB has often mentioned he gets on well with the BST EP on his 10" but its getting that EP in the first place. There  are other EPs of the same build quality and similar price of  about £50 UK, Names like Astrotech paradigm, Olivon ED, Orion, TS N_ED, Agena Starguider.  Even a good Plossl will be ok. Televue have them, but the eye relief is quite small at the lower focal lengths. 

I chose the 32mm Skywatcher 'Panaview' for Andromeda. I can almost get it all in?

Lets see what others say first. Enjoy many more darker nights.

PuTo?  Just like GoTo only PushTo!