Revelation 8" dob first impressions...

[milkyjoe]

Here are my thoughts if anyone else is thinking of buying one of these scopes (yes, another one!):

My first impressions when the boxes arrived at my workplace were good, although the tube box looked pretty big, bigger than I thought it would be!  The mount box was quite heavy too.

I had to wait until my 2-year-old daughter went to bed before I was allowed to get the boxes out of the car for unpacking, 10pm to be precise!  I started with the mount box, opened it and took out all the different parts... hmm... no instructions, good start!  After half an hour or so I managed to assemble it after some head scratching.

The mount is a lot heavier than I imagined, but I am 6'4" and of a slim build.   Next, came the tube assembly, OMG, that's pretty big, but I guess if you live in a mid-terraced house then it will seem big, the tube is thinner than I expected, but it has to be to keep the weight down; I am certainly not used to a scope this size only having a 4" frac!!

So at around midnight, feeling hot and bothered I finally had the scope fully assembled (hurrah!); the wife didn't look impressed though and started with the "where are you going to put that thing?" questions. lol.

Anyway, I sure many users have uploaded pics of their new scopes, but here's another one for you.

I am hoping to use the scope tonight as clear skies have been forecast so I will see if all the effort has been worth it, let's hope so. ;-)

Rick.

[Floater]

Enjoy!

[happy-kat]

I like the style of the dob base. Perhaps it is the colour but it looks neater than the SW one.

[andrew63]

Hope you get some good weather over weekend.

andrew

[John]

That looks nice

It's surprising how quickly you get used to the size of these things. I saw a Skywatcher 8" dob in the window of a photo dealer a few weeks back and though how dinky it looked. Thats not what I was thinking when I put mine together a few years ago though, like yourself !

I had the same Q's from my other half too but they do get used to having these things about too

[wxsatuser]

I recently bought one new/secondhand, yep me with a dob.

I got a shock when looking down the tube and saw some ugly mug looking back, you don't get that with a frac.

Also assembled easy with no destructions.

Have'nt used it in anger yet but the collimation was way off, it's better now.

Enjoy!

[Astro Imp]

I bet you can't wait to get outside with the new toy.

Good luck and clear skies and give us all a first light report.

[Sirius Starwatcher]

Best wishes with the new Dob. Had mine three days and can't wait to get outside with it

[jamespels]

Looks lovely - I am quite taken with some of the Revelation stuff and have one of their focusers on my SW250P (very similar OTA and mirror, though yours is several vintages newer!).

Looking good for this weekend so far so I hope you really enjoy it - good luck!

James.

[nicks90]

Telescopes shrink very quickly.

Then you'll be looking at a 12" thinking 'that looks reasonable!'

[C7tsj]

Congrats. They sure weigh quite a bit so moving is a bit tricky for me anyway, I am only 5'3.

Haven't had the chance to use mines yet so interested to hear how you get on. Very cloudy here at the moment.

Quick point on the finderscope, on mines I have the silver button (if that's how you describe it) seated into the groove further down in your pic. You my want to check but it would be a disaster for the finderscope to come loose on yours.

Cheers,

Mark

[Laurie61]

Nice scope, there's a lot you can see with an 8". Mine kept me busy for years    

[milkyjoe]

Ok so i've just been out with the "beast" for a few hours, I must say I am a little disappointed if I'm honest or maybe I'm hard to please or I'm not doing it right, but I agree with you C7tsj, it is quite heavy to move about, I had to reposition it a few times and found it very awkward; my back is aching now :-(

I couldn't locate an object through the finderscope in the eyepiece, which was a bit frustrating; didn't seem to be there when I looked?! The finder was also blurred but figured how to get it in focus! :-)

I did see a lot more stars though than through my 4" frac, it was a lovely sight with the supplied 2" 30mm eyepiece, not so much with my meade one's, not sure what is good and what is not, are there any that make a big difference? :-/

Perhaps I have not seen enough with the scope yet to judge it properly, need to see the planets. I didn't really know what I was looking at either which didn't help, although I found the andromeda galaxy by pure luck, that was a nice sight for a "faint fuzzy".

Overall I like my new toy, it will just take some getting used to, the weight of it is definitely an issue for me, maybe I should get an eq5 mount?!

Rick.

[milkyjoe]

I forgot to say the tube would definitely benefit from some handles! ;-)

[happy-kat]

Does the tube separate from the base easy to make moving it lighter?

[C7tsj]

Does the tube separate from the base easy to make moving it lighter?

.

It does but still heavy. I think part of the issue is as our scopes are relatively new we have the added fear of bumping them which makes transporting a chore. Once we get used to this it will be fine, I think.

I have mine stored in the garage just now and the OTA is in its original box so at least it is protected. Plan is to carry base to back garden, return and get the OTA.

@Milkyjoe - Did you line the finderscope up with the OTA in daylight? Mine took quite a bit of adjusting which may be part of the issue in locating targets? Just a thought.

Btw I have the manual if you need a copy. Gives advice on adjusting the balance which may be helpful. PM me if you are interested and I can email it.

[happy-kat]

I guess the weight is needed to minimise vibrations?

I looked up the weight of an eq5 the other day out of curiosity and it was not light.

[milkyjoe]

C7tsj: you are correct, I think it is just a case of getting used to our new scopes.  I was surprised how heavy the OTA is to move on it's own.  I tried to lift it up from the base using the large silver bearings, but because you have to loosen them, it makes it almost impossible to lift the scope using this method as they move and I almost dropped it!

Re: the finder scope, I did not have time to align the finder during the daytime, but I found an interesting pdf written by Moonshane about locating objects in the night sky; it also explained how to setup your telescope too.  Thanks for the offer to email me to manual, I emailed TH and they kindly emailed me a copy yesterday.  I need to learn how to collimate it now.

Don't get me wrong, I love the scope, it will take some getting used to.  Mine is currently stored in my bedroom so, as you can imagine, tranporting it from upstairs to outside took quite a bit of effort and back ache!!

Are there any reasonably priced decent wide-field eyepieces I could use with it, I really enjoyed the 2" one that came with the scope as I could put my eye right up to it; didn't realise how big they are!!

Have you been out with yours yet C7tsj?  It was a beautifuly clear night here in Crewe last night.

Regards,

Rick.

[milkyjoe]

Here is the link to the pdf by Moonshane: http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fstargazerslounge.com%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcore%26module%3Dattach%26section%3Dattach%26attach_id%3D105353&ei=k44mVLTrDrOM7AbDm4HwBA&usg=AFQjCNHLkzSbSlBFgYt7M_vUVsS7zmzZyw&bvm=bv.76247554,d.ZGU&cad=rja

[C7tsj]

Tried to get out last night but epic fail.

Had a look at the sky, perfect and clear. Helped the wife put the wee one to bed which took 10 mins max.

By the time I had moved the base from the garage it was cloudy. Could not see a single star. I was pretty gutted!

Hopefully tonight but fingers crossed.

Mark

[milkyjoe]

I am hoping to go out again tonight, but at the moment it is not looking good.  I suppose I can't be too greedy!

Clear skies for tonight, I will be interested to know how you get on. ;-)

Rick.

[jamespels]

Re the finder - not sure if it is anything like the old blue-tube SW ones (i.e. mine) but, if it is, you may need to invest a bit of effort into it. This was the biggest disappointment with the scope for me - I simply cannot get it to line up with the OTA without mounting it back to front and jamming bits of stuff (a twig at the moment, I think!!!) to hold it about in place. I just accept at the moment that I locate something roughly with the finder, then home in using a 40mm EP, then go down to 25 or lower once the target is centred in the 40mm view.

Some day I am just going to rip the sodding thing off and put something decent on it but I have just learned to live with it for now.

James.