First time with new scope

[skmc1955]

I had my first session with with my new 8" SW dobsonian last night, and all I can say is wow! I decided to buy it after our street lights were replaced by the new LED lights, giving me a nice dark sky in my back garden.The improvement over my 4" Tal1 is incredible. I concentrated on the Orion Nebula, and to clearly see the Trapezium for the first time is an unforgettable experience. I was impressed with the performance of both the 25mm and 10mm that came with it, and also my old 25mm Plossl and 15mm Kellner which I got 2nd hand with my Tal years ago, work really with this scope. No doubt investing in some higher quality eyepieces in the future can only improve my viewing, but for now I'll be content to potter around getting used to finding my way around the sky. I did try to find the Andromeda Galaxy, (which I could find with my binos) but couldn't find it with the scope. Need more practice! All in all, a great  piece of kit, for not a great deal of money.

[estwing]

Another happy Dob owner...quick to set up and great views!.. Enjoy!

[Pieter]

Will get me a dob in the future as well. Good to see you had a great experience with it!

[Whistlin Bob]

Welcome to the 8 inch Dob club. I've had mine three years now and absolutely love it to bits- just a wonderful scope, very easy to use and ridiculously good value.

Not sure if you've much of a budget left after the purchase, but the 2 things that have really worked well with it for me are a Rigel Quickfinder to supplement the finderscope (you'll definitely find Andromeda with one attached if you can find it in bins) and a £40 adjustable ironing chair from Amazon- it gives you somewhere comfortable to sit that adjusts to the height you need for your target. 

[Astro Imp]

Great piece of kit which will show you loads. 

Good luck and enjoy.