Second Scope Advice

[Stardaze]

41 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Yes the alt brackets are a handed pair with the tabs on the inside. 

Thought as much, great! The one bracket seemed dirty as if it had a yellow grease on it that I can’t get off, couldn’t been used? Waiting on a return call, happy days!

 

1 hour ago, Ricochet said:

Put the Telrad on the far side of the finder, that's how I've got mine set up. You want a RACI finder set up so that you can move easily between that and your eyepiece. The Telrad is just for the initial star hops after which it is RACI and eyepiece. 

It might just work yet. I’ve popped the universal bracket on and with the tape removed there’s a couple of mil more here but should work ok. Must say that the supplied finder scope is a bit poor, putting it kindly. Why don’t they just add an extra £30 to the price and supply a half decent one? If they sort the bracket out, I’ll happily use just the tetrad until the finder I’ve ordered turns up.

Edited May 1, 2020 by Stardaze

[johninderby]

That’s an age old problem. Just about all mass market scopes come with poor finders. A mak I recently bought didn’t include a finder, diagonal or eyepiece which I was happy with as why pay a few quid for poor accessories that I would be replacing anyway. 🙄

I see you’ve just used the centre hole in the finder shoe which should be fine as the shoe is curved to fit the scope so will be held pretty solidly. 

Edited May 1, 2020 by johninderby

[Stardaze]

3 minutes ago, johninderby said:

That’s an age old problem. Just about all mass market scopes come with poor finders. A mak I recently bought didn’t include a finder, diagonal or eyepiece which I was happy with as why pay a few quid for poor accessories that I would be replacing anyway. 🙄

I see you’ve just used the centre hole in the finder shoe which should be fine as the shoe is curved to fit the scope so will be held pretty solidly. 

Yes it's the Baader shoe that you recommended. I'll wait to get the scope first before sticking on the Telrad as the eyepieces will be quite close, unless I stagger the Telrad back a bit?

I'd rather not have the scope or the bundled EP to put those savings towards better ones. Appreciate they have a price point to compete against others but there's little point to them. 

Whilst assembling the base unit, her indoors said, "is that made out of melamine?" 😂

[johninderby]

You should have said yes dear it’s the new TV stand for the lounge. 😁

One thing to keep in mind you may want to get one of the Telrad riser bases to make it easier to look through. The riser just fits in between the Telrad and the base  using the stock thumbscrews.

Edited May 1, 2020 by johninderby

[John]

I think the basic accessories are supplied so that you can get going with the scope out of the box.

The more expensive scopes don't tend to come with them - I guess they assume that you will already have the ones you want ?

 

 

[johninderby]

I would like to see them sell the scopes without accesories and have an accessory starter pack as an option. 🤔

Edited May 1, 2020 by johninderby

[Stardaze]

I think there's a price point where you expect some basics to get you going, suppose the model I've got is on the borderline. I wouldn't expect eyepieces etc if paying over £1k or so. 

I've drilled a hole in the one alt bearing as the plastic tab was held on by two small threaded screws. Sorted for now and they're sending me a new bracket but I'll be ok until that arrives. 

[johninderby]

At least you’ll be able to use the scope now. 👍🏻

At lesst Bresser includes a reasonable quality eyepiece instead of the cheapest available and the focuser is a quality one as well. 

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by johninderby

[John]

At least you get a mount with a dob

[Stardaze]

40 minutes ago, johninderby said:

At least you’ll be able to use the scope now. 👍🏻

At lesst Bresser includes a reasonable quality eyepiece instead of the cheapest available and the focuser is a quality one as well. 

 

Just needs these clouds to clear 🤞

27 minutes ago, John said:

At least you get a mount with a dob

Is it just me, being a newbie to dobs,, that I find it odd that they keep to a traditional wooden base when they are to be used outdoors? Appreciate not in the rain, but these days you'd think..

Edited May 1, 2020 by Stardaze

[johninderby]

An Orion Opics UK aluminium dob mount is just about perfect but a wee bit on the exoensive side. 🙀

Edited May 1, 2020 by johninderby

[John]

15 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

Just needs these clouds to clear 🤞

Is it just me, being a newbie to dobs,, that I find it odd that they keep to a traditional wooden base when they are to be used outdoors? Appreciate not in the rain, but these days you'd think..

Orion Optics (UK) use an alloy dob mount as John says. Mine is made from good quality baltic ply and is along the same pattern as the Orion Optics ones but was a lot less expensive. The MDF is cheap and easy to manufacture I guess. Heavy though, compared with other materials.

 

[johninderby]

I’m intending to replace my Bresser dob base with a ply one that would basicly be a copy of the existing one. Would like to get some oak faced ply (but birch ply is a lot cheaper)and give it a nice stain. 🙂

Edited May 1, 2020 by johninderby

[Stardaze]

I knew there had to be some fancy custom options out there. They're not too badly priced for the discerning dob connosiuer.

Theres a few subtle changes to yours John, I've noticed. Obvious one is mine hasn't the grab handle at the top. Your alt bearings are silver, mine white. When did you buy yours?

 What would you mount on the shoe below the eyepiece/focus unit? I've put the supplied finder in it for now but isn't the best place for anything that I can see.

Edited May 1, 2020 by Stardaze

[Stardaze]

12 minutes ago, johninderby said:

I’m intending to replace my Bresser dob base with a ply one that would basicly be a copy of the existing one. Would like to get some oak faced ply and give it a nice stain. 🙂

What kinda money do they work out at? Still wood? Aluminium would be the way to go, no?

[Stardaze]

21 minutes ago, John said:

Orion Optics (UK) use an alloy dob mount as John says. Mine is made from good quality baltic ply and is along the same pattern as the Orion Optics ones but was a lot less expensive. The MDF is cheap and easy to manufacture I guess. Heavy though, compared with other materials.

 

Needs a picture John 😉 There's always something to aspire towards...

[johninderby]

8 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

What kinda money do they work out at? Still wood? Aluminium would be the way to go, no?

Maching the aluminium is the problem plus the thick aluminium sheet isn’t cheap in the first place. If I was to do an aluminium base I’d have the panels water jet cut and that’s £££££. Might be cheaper to buy the OO mount.

The ply is more practical and a lot easier to work with as you only need normal woodworking tools. and marine ply is very durable.

Bought mine lasr September.

The other finder mount is so you can rotate the tube to put the focuser on the other side and have the finder in the right place.

Edited May 1, 2020 by johninderby

[Stardaze]

27 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Maching the aluminium is the problem plus the thick aluminium sheet isn’t cheap in the first place. If I was to do an aluminium base I’d have the panels water jet cut and that’s £££££. Might be cheaper to buy the OO mount.

The ply is more practical and a lot easier to work with as you only need normal woodworking tools. and marine ply is very durable.

Bought mine lasr September.

The other finder mount is so you can rotate the tube to put the focuser on the other side and have the finder in the right place.

But in practice do you ever use that side, because that would need another £25 shoe 😂

The wife doesn't seem to like her new ornament in the corner of the dining room..... she'll get used to it 😉

You seem to really like your dob John, what do you prefer over other telescopes you've had/got?

[John]

36 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

Needs a picture John 😉 There's always something to aspire towards...

Happy to oblige:

 

[Stardaze]

2 minutes ago, John said:

Happy to oblige:

 

Very nice John. You say cheaper than the Orion, what's it work out?

[johninderby]

Some people prefer to observe from the other side. You would just move the finder to the other shoe in that case. 

[John]

6 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

Very nice John. You say cheaper than the Orion, what's it work out?

Less than 50% of what Orion Optics would have charged.

It was made by an SGL friend though so while the build is of professional quality, the costs were very reasonable

 

 

[Stardaze]

2 minutes ago, John said:

Less than 50% of what Orion Optics would have charged.

It was made by an SGL friend though so while the build is of profession quality, the costs were very reasonable

 

Always good to have such friends!

would you believe it! The cloud has almost cleared....

[Pixies]

That looks great - a bit canon-like!

Is that a magnetic knife-block?

[johninderby]

28 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

 

You seem to really like your dob John, what do you prefer over other telescopes you've had/got?

The simplicity of the dob. No setup time to mention and comparatively cheap. The 10” is small enough to move arpund and easy to store. 

Fsvourite scope is Big Red which I built myself using Japanese optics. You could buy over half a dozen Bresser 10” dobs for what that whole setup is worth. 🙂