Show Us Your Dobs

[johninderby]

Or you could buy steel furniture legs on Amazon etc.You could also cut a disk out of plywood and fit the feet to that to make a seperate base.

Edited May 16, 2020 by johninderby

[cloudsweeper]

@Stu1smartcookie - congrats Stu - my wife went bonkers as well when she saw the Dob - so much so that I had to buy a shed to house the thing!  It IS a great 'scope - manageable, but glad I didn't get a 12".

The elastic bands holding the Rigel in place weren't very satisfactory, so I drilled a hole in the tube and screwed the Rigel down - much better!

Doug.

[Stardaze]

1 hour ago, cloudsweeper said:

@Stu1smartcookie - congrats Stu - my wife went bonkers as well when she saw the Dob - so much so that I had to buy a shed to house the thing!  It IS a great 'scope - manageable, but glad I didn't get a 12".

The elastic bands holding the Rigel in place weren't very satisfactory, so I drilled a hole in the tube and screwed the Rigel down - much better!

Doug.

My better half is still getting used to mine. She doesn't seem to be appreciative of it's aesthetic beauty 😆

[John]

Fortunately my 12 inch Orion Optics dob is a bit smaller / more compact than the 12 inch dob that I owned previously (a Meade Lightbridge 12) so my other half thought it an improvement.

Either that or she gave up at that point !

I have told her that I might bring the society 18 inch back home for a while ...... now that would take up some room !

 

 

 

[cloudsweeper]

33 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

My better half is still getting used to mine. She doesn't seem to be appreciative of it's aesthetic beauty 😆

I went on to test Mrs Sweeper's tolerance by getting a huge frac - longer than the Dob, but not as wide.  It lives on the living room floor.  Don't know how I get away with it -  very lucky, I guess!  😆

Doug.

[Pixies]

I Enjoy Astro Biscuit's videos. this one is particularly funny when his wife overhears him say how much his telescope really cost!

 

[Stu1smartcookie]

9 hours ago, Pixies said:

I Enjoy Astro Biscuit's videos. this one is particularly funny when his wife overhears him say how much his telescope really cost!

 

i watched this the other day ... the guy is totally mint and i love his down to earth (pun intended) approach... that was a priceless moment , especially when he tries to justify it  

[Stu1smartcookie]

Guys, Can i ask a question ? I have to collimate my scope (bresser10"), every time i use it .. i have to store it in my wardrobe and thus its a trickty manoevre to get the scope down  so i dont suppose its that surprising , but , is that fairly normal with  this  scope ?...( ive had refractors most of my astonomy life). 

[Geoff Barnes]

Yes quite normal Stu. I have to (usually) tweak my primary mirror setting just a little to get it perfect each time I wheel my 12 inch Dob out onto our slightly bumpy lawn. Nothing drastic just a little adjustment only takes a minute or so and it's good to go.  

[Stu1smartcookie]

Just now, Geoff Barnes said:

Yes quite normal Stu. I have to (usually) tweak my primary mirror setting just a little to get it perfect each time I wheel my 12 inch Dob out onto our slightly bumpy lawn. Nothing drastic just a little adjustment only takes a minute or so and it's good to go.  

Thanks for the quick reply ... lol my Baader laser's batteries are worn out already ! 

[johninderby]

Are you tightening the locking screws? Shouldn’t need collimating every time . My Bresser 10” stays in collimation for months at a time but then I keep it in the conservatory so not moved very far. 

I make tightening the locking screws part of the collimation process. After collimating with the main adjustment screws I tighten the locking scews and then adjust the tightness of the locking screws to adjust the collimation.

Edited May 17, 2020 by johninderby

[Stu1smartcookie]

1 minute ago, johninderby said:

Are you tightening the locking screws? Shouldn’t need collimating every time . My Bresser 10” stays in collimation for months at a time but then I keep it in the conservatory so not moved very far. 

Hi John , at first i didnt tighten them as much as i should .. the more times i have to do it the more im tightening them .. so it could be the reason. one thing i do notice is that when i tighten them it seems to move the red dot on the collimator . Im getting a bit hooked up on this collimation malarky , trying for perfection . i know its not realistic , but it doesnt stop me trying lol

[johninderby]

Yes tightening the locking screws will throw the collimation out a bit so you have to get the collimarion back by adjusting the tightness of the locking screws. Sort of a second stage of collimation.

Edited May 17, 2020 by johninderby

[Stu1smartcookie]

Thanks , i i love seeing that little red dot in the centre of my mirror

 

[johninderby]

I think it’s all part of finding out what works for you. Some don’t like to use the locking scews but they are there for a reason so why not use them.? 🤔

[Stardaze]

I've found that I've had to slightly tweak mine each time too. Seems to hold a bit better with using the tightening screws and I've been pretty gentle with her. 

[Stu]

31 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Hi John , at first i didnt tighten them as much as i should .. the more times i have to do it the more im tightening them .. so it could be the reason. one thing i do notice is that when i tighten them it seems to move the red dot on the collimator . Im getting a bit hooked up on this collimation malarky , trying for perfection . i know its not realistic , but it doesnt stop me trying lol

My club recently bought a 12” Zhummel scope and it seems easier and more successful to do the final collimation with the locking screws rather than the spring ones. The springs seem fairly weak and it shifts a lot unless you lock it down, which changes the collimation so simplest to use them to fine tune it.

I plan to replace the springs at some point to improve things a bit.

[johninderby]

Came across these recently and thought they could be a good idea in maintaining collimation. They used to fit hesvier  springs in newts. Postage is more than the springs though but if ordering something else could be worth it.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p6967_TS-Optics-reinforced-springs-for-main-mirror-cell---set-of-three.html

 

Edited May 17, 2020 by johninderby

[Timebandit]

 

 

I know Orion Optics UK get a bit of stick for their delivery time with people.

But I must say I have found my Dob to hold its collimation so well . Even when moved seems to be great for holding collimation.  Hardly ever needs adjustment. And the mirrors are such quality also.

 

 

 

[Stu]

Just now, Timebandit said:

 

 

I know Orion Optics UK get a bit of stick for their delivery time with people.

But I must say I have found my Dob to hold its collimation so well . Even when moved seems to be great for holding collimation.  Hardly ever needs adjustment. And the mirrors are such quality also.

 

 

 

Yes, I think their primary cell design is pretty decent these days. The old ones are pretty agricultural but that’s not the case now. All the VX style ones I’ve had have been good. The 8” f8 rarely needs touching.

[John]

2 minutes ago, Timebandit said:

 

 

I know Orion Optics UK get a bit of stick for their delivery time with people.

But I must say I have found my Dob to hold its collimation so well . Even when moved seems to be great for holding collimation.  Hardly ever needs adjustment. And the mirrors are such quality also.

 

 

 

Mine is the simple, older type, and does a great job. Small mass as well.

Orion Optics scopes are good but do depreciate quite quickly and, having had some issues with the company on smaller matters, I was happy to buy a pre-owned one for that reason as well.

 

 

[johninderby]

The Bresser 10” dob has a fairly decent 9 point mirror cell.

[John]

15 minutes ago, Stu said:

My club recently bought a 12” Zhummel scope and it seems easier and more successful to do the final collimation with the locking screws rather than the spring ones. The springs seem fairly weak and it shifts a lot unless you lock it down, which changes the collimation so simplest to use them to fine tune it.

I plan to replace the springs at some point to improve things a bit.

Zhumell are made by GSO who became notorious for weak primary collimation springs. My Meade Lightbridge 12 had the same mirror and cell. I uprated the springs, went for "Bobs Knobs" to replace the stock ones and stopped using the locking screws and things improved. You could see the mirror cell flexing as you applied the locking screws which was not good !

Orion Optics put a sticker next to their locking screws that advises "finger tight only". I've gone for "don't use at all unless transporting" instead.

 

[Stu]

1 minute ago, John said:

Zhumell are made by GSO who became notorious for weak primary collimation springs. My Meade Lightbridge 12 had the same mirror and cell. I uprated the springs, went for "Bobs Knobs" to replace the stock ones and stopped using the locking screws and things improved. You could see the mirror cell flexing as you applied the locking screws which was not good !

 

Thanks John. Yes that’s definitely what I am seeing. I have a set of Farpoint springs from another project which I will try out to see if they work, otherwise I’ll look at the ones John linked too. I’m sure that will help. When you put the scope down (gently!) on its cell, you can hear it move which does happen with other scopes I have.

[Timebandit]

1 hour ago, John said:

Mine is the simple, older type, and does a great job. Small mass as well.

Orion Optics scopes are good but do depreciate quite quickly and, having had some issues with the company on smaller matters, I was happy to buy a pre-owned one for that reason as well.

 

 

 

The OOuk are not cheap purchased new John granted , but the later models do seem to be well put together when it comes to build quality and mirrors.

I personally would not buy one new, but are great value second hand  . And if you want a quality life long reflector then a OOuk used is certainty a top choice IMO.