My back may change my mind?

[emadmoussa]

Being OCD ? had taught me some skills about noise suppression and, by default, vibration reduction. With my old set-up (C11 on NEQ6), I used the combination of washing machine suppression pads and hanging weight at the bottom of the mount. Occasionally, I used a carpet around the scope, which suppressed the vibration caused by me walking around the mount. Slewing or focusing caused the mount to shake slightly, but the vibrations dampened instantaneously. Oh, it was a concrete patio, very severely unlevelled and I used a large plywood board as an observing station. It acted like a decking surface. 

I'm aware observing on the deck will cause some shake, but I know the decking is rock solid (it's built on top of a conrete patio), and it's unnecessarily over-sized (not sure why?), not allowing enough/different space in the garden for observing. I really don't have a choice. Vibration might be a problem, but there are certain solutions for it. Or, it could be problem-free. I'll know for sure once I've received my scope. 

This potential issue brings me back to the original suggestion: 14" Dob and an 8" SCT. The former is large and bottom heavy which means less vibration and the latter is small enough that'll be more stable than the 12", which - strangely - uses the same tripod. 

And yes, I'll be sitting. 

 

[emadmoussa]

3 hours ago, Pig said:

I am kind of surprised  your opting for a large SCT Imad given you history with them ?  IE. Cooling, dewing up, portability .... just get a Tak and be done with alll the messing about...... ?

Yeah, remember the 'screw' problem?!  I didn't even have the chance to use the scope properly.  

[alanjgreen]

7 minutes ago, emadmoussa said:

 

This potential issue brings me back to the original suggestion: 14" Dob and an 8" SCT. The former is large and bottom heavy which means less vibration and the latter is small enough that'll be more stable than the 12", which - strangely - uses the same tripod. 

And yes, I'll be sitting. 

 

As said previously, if you are buying 2 scopes then one should be a frac for nice wide views! The other could be a dob or SCT. But buying a dob and a SCT makes no sense, they do not complement each other at all. If you decide 8" SCT then you still need a frac for widefield views. Feel free to ignore me but why ask if you just ignore what people say?

Alan

[Davey-T]

13 minutes ago, emadmoussa said:

And yes, I'll be sitting. 

Adjustable height seat then with the SCT, rather than one of those wooden ones I used an office chair with height adjustment so a quick yank on the lever under the seat shot you up in the air and easy to wheel around, tricky avoiding the tripod legs so permanent setup on a pier is desirable.

I've got a Meade giant field tripod and can only just about lift that on it's own.

Dave

[emadmoussa]

5 minutes ago, alanjgreen said:

As said previously, if you are buying 2 scopes then one should be a frac for nice wide views! The other could be a dob or SCT. But buying a dob and a SCT makes no sense, they do not complement each other at all. If you decide 8" SCT then you still need a frac for widefield views. Feel free to ignore me but why ask if you just ignore what people say?

Alan

I've got an 80ED, but I don't have it in the house at the moment. Loaned to a friend who's miles and miles away. I liked it, very nice scope, but it did cause me some aperture frustration. Was thinking about leaving it as a gift for him, it'll be weird asking for it back

[emadmoussa]

1 minute ago, Davey-T said:

Adjustable height seat then with the SCT, rather than one of those wooden ones I used an office chair with height adjustment so a quick yank on the lever under the seat shot you up in the air and easy to wheel around, tricky avoiding the tripod legs so permanent setup on a pier is desirable.

I've got a Meade giant field tripod and can only just about lift that on it's own.

Dave

Yes, that's the idea...adjustable observing seat. 

[Davey-T]

Just now, emadmoussa said:

Yes, that's the idea...adjustable observing seat. 

Not keen on those wooden contraptions that you have to keep jumping off and adjusting and carrying about, alright if you're staring at one thing for a while but inconvenient for dodging around all over the sky.

Dave

[emadmoussa]

I had this one:

Then this one:

The normal adjustable stool was a lot more comfortable. The dedicated observing chair required that you get off your bottom, adjust the height and sit again. Sometimes it needed some force to work. Good thing though, I only paid like £30 for it second-hand on Ebay.  Eventually gave it for free to a fellow astronomer, who, I think, still uses it. 

[alanjgreen]

19 minutes ago, emadmoussa said:

I've got an 80ED, but I don't have it in the house at the moment. Loaned to a friend who's miles and miles away. I liked it, very nice scope, but it did cause me some aperture frustration. Was thinking about leaving it as a gift for him, it'll be weird asking for it back

You just need a 4" frac.

[emadmoussa]

8 minutes ago, alanjgreen said:

You just need a 4" frac.

Oh, believe me, a 4" frac is coming eventually regardless of what equipment I'm getting now  

[Scott]

31 minutes ago, alanjgreen said:

As said previously, if you are buying 2 scopes then one should be a frac for nice wide views! The other could be a dob or SCT. But buying a dob and a SCT makes no sense, they do not complement each other at all. If you decide 8" SCT then you still need a frac for widefield views. Feel free to ignore me but why ask if you just ignore what people say?

Alan

bit like having a blue audi A6 for work and a red one for week-ends. I really don't know why this thread was started. four pages in and ignored every sensible post.

He's made up his mind before even starting the thread

[Davey-T]

I use this now, adjustable height barstool, pier is also adjustable height so a bit of fiddling gets the right height.

Dave

 

[Davey-T]

3 minutes ago, Scott said:

bit like having a blue audi A6 for work and a red one for week-ends. I really don't know why this thread was started. four pages in and ignored every sensible post.

He's made up his mind before even starting the thread

Lighten up Scott, reminds me of an old Elvis song 

Dave

[emadmoussa]

34 minutes ago, Scott said:

bit like having a blue audi A6 for work and a red one for week-ends. I really don't know why this thread was started. four pages in and ignored every sensible post.

He's made up his mind before even starting the thread

Thanks for reading my mind! It's also nice to be addressed in the third person.  There's a variety of issues discussed in this thread, not only which scope to get. 

[emadmoussa]

35 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

I use this now, adjustable height barstool, pier is also adjustable height so a bit of fiddling gets the right height.

Dave

 

I like your little cushion ;D Yes, I was thinking something like that too.