Show Us Your Dob.....

[faulksy]

And it's only quiet on here because we like to look through ours rather than at it :-)

[Mrbloke]

What's the shower cap for?

[Dom1961]

In case it rains? xD

[Moonshane]

The shower cap prevents frac owners from damaging their eyes on the collimation bolts if they look through the wrong end.

[Paul73]

That cap looks vaugely medical. Should stop the spiders setting up home anyway.

Paul

[luminova11]

That cap looks vaugely medical. Should stop the spiders setting up home anyway.

Paul

That's the idea! And to keep the dust generated by 3 kids and other assorted furry creatures off of my nice shiny mirror. One of my best investments for the princely sum of £1 for 2, it works a treat.

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

[TractionMan]

Awesome thread, awesome scopes! I need to contribute soon!

[AstroAdam]

I may aswell contribute my Dob in the light of all the other marvellous examples on show here

305mm Explore Scientific Ultralight Dob.  Lovely bit of kit.  Very portablr, and packs down small (ish), which is what I need!

Seem some incredible views through it!  

[spaceboy]

Future scope upgrade here.

I have been looking at going wider, 4"+ wider as I heard 4" aperture increase is a given minimum for significant improvement .

Choices are:-

http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Dobsonian_Telescopes_and_Accessories.html

Skywatcher 300p flex/solid tube dob (f5)

Orion xx12i truss / xt12i solid tube (f5)

Meade Lightbridge 12" (f5)

Orion Optics vx12 (f4) vx12L (f5.3) Dob

http://www.orionoptics.co.uk/VX/vx12-12l.html

I am also very intrigued with the Revelation 16" truss dob. That's a hell of a scope for the price, but portability may concern me there.

Apart from the extra cost , what concerns me most is the faster optics in larger dobs putting my eyepieces down a grade, I couldnt upgrade my scope as well as upgrading to Televue or Pentax Ep's aswell, that just wouldn't be financially feasible.

But given that this is a Hypothetical decision /choice at the moment any opinions would be grateful.

Edit- sorry if posting on the Show us your Dob thread is inappropriate but I figured it's where alot of big dob owners would lounge from time to time and get good feedback.

You also need to take in to consideration how a 4" increase in aperture can make to the overall size and weight of a scope. If you have the funds there are scopes out there that deal with the weight issue better than others, namely the 12" OO UK aluminium tube dobs with aluminium bases but the OTA dimensions can still be a handful and take up a lot of room in a car. Then there are truss dobs which match large aperture with ease of portability but again depending on how much you have in the kitty can vary in quality and usability. There are of coursed affordable Chinese dobs but you will be shocked at just how big and heavy a 12" can be compared to an 8".

If you search SGL there is a thread started by Astrobaby giving size comparisons which have people in the pictures to give a better ideal idea of scale.

[bamastar]

My Skyline 10" dob right after putting it together. I think my 8yr old son was more excited over it that I was. This is my first real scope and after 9 months, I am loving it. Next scope will be a 18" Obsession and this will become my son's scope, but if u ask him, its already his. Lol

[theritz]

This is my pride and joy. For a few nights a year, though. Very happy with the portability. It's only 9.5kg's and it's quite small so I can actually take it with me as hand luggage on a plane! (never tried that out)

Mirror is also the best my money can buy: a OOUK research grade I think it is. 0.988 strehl or thereabouts. So the mirror is hardly ever the limiting factor 

[faulksy]

This is my pride and joy. For a few nights a year, though. Very happy with the portability. It's only 9.5kg's and it's quite small so I can actually take it with me as hand luggage on a plane! (never tried that out)

Mirror is also the best my money can buy: a OOUK research grade I think it is. 0.988 strehl or thereabouts. So the mirror is hardly ever the limiting factor 

very nice. i dont think mirrors come much better than a orion optics uk. love mine to death

[John]

Interesting looking dob theritz 

What aperture and focal ratio is it ?

My 12" F/5.3 dob has an Orion Optics primary of around that strehl - they are good

[theritz]

Interesting looking dob theritz 

What aperture and focal ratio is it ?

It's a 1250/250=F5 telescope. 

Oh, and I forgot to mention that it is a very early Sumerian Optics. Some viewers might have guessed.

It's actually from the time Sumerian Optics wasn't born yet. It's the second one Michael made before he started manufacturing the fantastic Sumerian Optics collapsing dobsonians.

[PHIL53]

In the backround my beloved first companion, GSO 8" Deluxe who has now left home and is taken care of by another astrophile....

This is my second hand Sumerian Alkaid 12" in the countryside NW of Rome (you have to travel at least 60 miles away to try and find decent skies).

All bits and pieces (but the rods) are included in this 19 kgs. box and, after a bit of practice, it takes about 10' to assemble it and check the collimation (which has to be done again each time...I am getting quite good at it !) 

[garryblueboy]

Had a few Dobs over the years this is my Latest seems about the right size for what I want it came with all the bags also which was a bonus so packs away nice for transport .

[Starflyer]

Just happened across this thread, there's a lot of beautiful dobs here.

Mine may not be huge but I love it

[quaoar]

 Big Dobs are easy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh00nv9wtqQ

[jetstream]

Is that you Quaoar? You have a big Webster if i remember...

[jetstream]

 Big Dobs are easy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh00nv9wtqQ

?

[Beulah]

 Big Dobs are easy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh00nv9wtqQ

That's awesome. I have thought long and hard about having a similar setup; one very large telescope in a box trailer with all the kit - and just taking it out of an evening. If I had predictable weather patterns it would definitely be a possibility.

The worse thing is, taking all that time to set up only to have the skies cloud over...

[mapstar]

Agreed with all above a great set up although I doubt it would be worth it in our cloudy, rain lashed and gale prone country!

Damian

[quaoar]

Don't die wondering!.                    

With practise you can get quite quick and efficient at setting up and striping down of these big dobs. The video there covers about 22 minutes of real time which includes everything from unlocking and lowering the trailer door, unloading / setting of the table chair and ladder, full assembly of the scope, tidying of gear as I go, finishing off my coffee and laser collimation of the optics. The advantage of the trailer is that you don't need to unpack when you get home and everything's all ready to go again for next time.

I Bill Oddie love it!.

Edited November 29, 2015 by quaoar

[Beulah]

Don't die wondering!.                    

With practise you can get quite quick and efficient at setting up and striping down of these big dobs. The video there covers about 22 minutes of real time which includes everything from unlocking and lowering the trailer door, unloading / setting of the table chair and ladder, full assembly of the scope, tidying of gear as I go, finishing off my coffee and laser collimation of the optics. The advantage of the trailer is that you don't need to unpack when you get home and everything's all ready to go again for next time.

I Bill Oddie love it!.

It's more likely that us UK residents would die of frustration!

I've had to pack up more times within an hour on a trip out to a dark site than successful sessions. You sit there for a bit, hoping the cloud will go away, but alas...

Honestly, you are lucky with your stable Australian climate... 

[quaoar]

True it's not too bad here in Perth West Oz although cloud has ruined more than a few trips and also bushfire smoke.