The Universe in a box....

[FenlandPaul]

Really interesting report, Stu, and it sounds like that scope has a lot of potential. I’ve been eyeing up some of the ultra portables myself (not in a rush) so very interested to see how you get on.

thanks for taking the time to share it.

Paul

[Stu]

1 minute ago, David Levi said:

Fantastic report Stu. The scope looks brilliant and really light weight.

In my upgrade dreams I have considered a truss tube dob and was wondering how long did it take to put the scope together at the observing site? 

Hi David. Thanks very much. It took me quite a while because of the problems I had, but once sorted I would think 15 to 20 mins would be quite achievable including collimation. Not bad at all really.

[DRT]

Nice report, Stu - the scope sounds great, albeit in need of a few tweaks, and having seen it in the boot of your car last weekend I can vouch for its compactness ? 

[Stu]

4 minutes ago, DRT said:

Nice report, Stu - the scope sounds great, albeit in need of a few tweaks, and having seen it in the boot of your car last weekend I can vouch for its compactness ? 

Thanks Derek. Ah yes, I had nearly forgotten you had seen it hiding away there in my boot. Hopefully I will get the niggles work through fairly easily.

[Special K]

Great piece of kit!!  I like the sound of travelling light and the trade off between aperture, weight, etc seems the right mix.  

Beautiful writeup!  Glad you got in a clear sky session and interesting to hear what looked different in the new rig.  

[Pig]

Wonderful,report Stu.... ? some great observing .... I like the title of the post also.

[scarp15]

10 hours ago, Stu said:

Thanks very much Iain. The Lumicons always impress me, so glad I got some when I did, a few years ago now.

How do you find the coma in your scope with the 31mm?

With the VX14 - F4.6, the 31mm is used both with and without a Paracorr. Personally the views are still highly pleasing without and I hadn't considered coma to be a distraction. The Paracorr of course cleans up the image a margin, more so determines exit pupil; 6.7mm without, 5.7mm with and potential widest field 1.59 degrees (x52). You have listed some, one of my favourite objects for observing at a dark site with a 30 / 31mm, are the reflection nebulae abound within M45 such as the Merope nebula. 

[Stu]

31 minutes ago, scarp15 said:

With the VX14 - F4.6, the 31mm is used both with and without a Paracorr. Personally the views are still highly pleasing without and I hadn't considered coma to be a distraction. The Paracorr of course cleans up the image a margin, more so determines exit pupil; 6.7mm without, 5.7mm with and potential widest field 1.59 degrees (x52). You have listed some, one of my favourite objects for observing at a dark site with a 30 / 31mm, are the reflection nebulae abound within M45 such as the Merope nebula. 

Thanks Ian. Good point about the exit pupil, I hadn’t considered that point enough for the 30mm. The filtered views were still very nice. I did try M45 on Friday but it was low down in a brighter part of the sky so no chance of nebulosity. One I’ve always to see.

My concern with the Alkaid would be putting even more weight in the focuser, not sure it would cope.

[niallk]

Great report on the new scope Stu 

Sounds like it will work well for you.  They are a remarkably compact design!

[scarp15]

A few years ago, when Mike73 had commissioned a 16" Sumerian build (I believe Stu the one that you had then for a time acquired?), he had requested that it be designed to balance with a paracorr. Actually I would not become overly concerned and with your choice of eyepieces, the subject matter will be highly engaging. Quite, a large exit pupil (in my case 5.8 and not as quoted 5.7mm) filtered at a dark sky location when dark adapted will draw out quite a lot when observing faint and bright nebulae.

[Stu]

4 minutes ago, scarp15 said:

A few years ago, when Mike73 had commissioned a 16" Sumerian build (I believe Stu the one that you had then for a time acquired?), he had requested that it be designed to balance with a paracorr.

Mike’s scope, which was the one I owned for a while, was fitted with a Feathertouch SIPS system which did work very well, once Swampthing and Faulksy had helped me to set it up correctly. It needed a second set of longer brackets to allow it to work with the the SIPS properly.

I’m sure 6.7mm is to much, so the Paracorr may make some sense to try at  some point in the future. To be fair, once I had tweaked the collimation the coma wasnt too bad, I think I can live with it for the sort of galaxy and nebula observing I am likely to do with this scope.

[scarp15]

I perhaps need to get back to experimenting, applying the larger versus more reasonable exit pupil using a 31mm, with my scope this winter. Of course it may need to be stipulated to those reading, that the Pleiades does not require a filter for observing reflection nebulae. As you mention, tweaking the collimation, becoming accustomed to handling the scope on location will assist refine the image quality.

[Stu]

Thanks @scarp15. I wonder whether something like this would work, a bit less weight than a paracorr.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/coma-correctors/baader-mpcc-visual-photographic-set-discontinued.html

[Stargazer McCabe]

Very nice addition to the collection @Stu. Nice to have a range of instruments to suit circumstances, locations and available time. 

Very clever the way the Alkaid can be packed away into such a compact case. 

I’m sure the teething issues will be overcome swiftly.  

[Littleguy80]

3 hours ago, Stu said:

Thanks Neil. Yes I think the 13mm APM would make a lot of sense. It’s funny, my little orthodox are quite happy in my Tak, but somehow the small afov makes them much less appealing in the dob. The light weight is nice though, for balance.

I still really like my orthos in my dob. The 9mm BGO outperforms the 9mm Lunt XWA in terms of sharpness and contrast. Although there are plenty of targets where I prefer the wide field of view of the  Lunt and it’s a lot less nudging, of course

[John]

Sorry that I'm a bit late to this but what a great looking scope Stu

If I ever go larger than my 12 inch I think thats the sort of design that I'm going to have to go for. 23kg sounds really good for a 14 inch. My 12" OO solid tube is 26kg (base and OTA) which is light for a solid tube but the 14" version would just be too much for comfort I suspect.

Hope you get some lovely Autumn and Winter sessions with it - definitely the right time of year to get some large aperture !

[Stu]

Thanks @John. It certainly feels amazingly light for the aperture. Keep worrying that I’ve made a mistake and it’s only a 12” really, but the documents say 14” . The views say 14” too!

[scarp15]

3 hours ago, Stu said:

Thanks @scarp15. I wonder whether something like this would work, a bit less weight than a paracorr.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/coma-correctors/baader-mpcc-visual-photographic-set-discontinued.html

Perhaps I would not know for sure and whether it requires additional adapters, could be worth a new thread inquiry in eyepieces section. The paracorr at least based on my experiences, is straight forward, except when collimating, remains permanently attached into the focuser, the A setting providing good correction for low power 31 and 21mm.

[Stub Mandrel]

I enjoyed reading that - "Observatory in a Suitcase!"

Although my dob isn't as big, I hope that's a taste of some of the things I can expect to see when the mirror comes back.

[Stu]

3 hours ago, scarp15 said:

Perhaps I would not know for sure and whether it requires additional adapters, could be worth a new thread inquiry in eyepieces section. The paracorr at least based on my experiences, is straight forward, except when collimating, remains permanently attached into the focuser, the A setting providing good correction for low power 31 and 21mm.

Thanks, yes will ask elsewhere  

[Stu]

34 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I enjoyed reading that - "Observatory in a Suitcase!"

Although my dob isn't as big, I hope that's a taste of some of the things I can expect to see when the mirror comes back.

Probably a better title Neil

I’m sure you will see plenty of lovely stuff under a decent sky.

[alan potts]

Superb report Stu, hope you liked John's mirror, mine is a cracker. From what I see of others reports about them he knows his onions. I like the location picture as it makes my lawn look like Lords. Wish I could get out the mosquitoes are not getting less, it is terrible here after dusk.

Alan

[Stu]

8 hours ago, alan potts said:

Superb report Stu, hope you liked John's mirror, mine is a cracker. From what I see of others reports about them he knows his onions. I like the location picture as it makes my lawn look like Lords. Wish I could get out the mosquitoes are not getting less, it is terrible here after dusk.

Alan

Thanks Alan. Yes, it does seem pretty contrast! Hopefully better once properly collimated.

There was a bit of a breeze, and no mossies so all good. I'm presuming I should get a shroud, but actually it has so much less wind resistance without!

[Mark at Beaufort]

Stu - really enjoyable report and first light on this 14" scope. I enjoyed your previous 16" at SGL10 so look forward to seeing you + scope in October. My local Astro Society has a venue close to Lucksall and I am trying to fit the 12" Dob into the back of the Renault Captur and its a bit tight - we are having a session this Wednesday and I am hoping to take a sky reading. 

[Stu]

28 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Stu - really enjoyable report and first light on this 14" scope. I enjoyed your previous 16" at SGL10 so look forward to seeing you + scope in October. My local Astro Society has a venue close to Lucksall and I am trying to fit the 12" Dob into the back of the Renault Captur and its a bit tight - we are having a session this Wednesday and I am hoping to take a sky reading. 

Thanks Mark, we did have some cracking views didn’t we?

I hope the dob fits, and you have a successful session.