Taurus T350 First Light (mini session)

[bomberbaz]

I am just putting together a brief report of the first light with the T350. 

Following on from my out of the box LINK I managed to get a brief first light tonight. Quite a bit of cloud around so i was hitting things I knew were easy to find and also reasonably bright given my horrendous LP in my garden.

Objects viewed were Andromeda, the ring, owl & dumbbell nebula's and finally albireo, mizar and polaris.

On the doubles they were far tighter, better defined and well, just more round than my previous 10" dobsonian gave. 

On the nebula both with and without the UHC they were brighter and more defined than I have seen before.

Andromeda just seemed brighter than I have seen it before.

My general findings are,. as already mentioned objects are much brighter, tighter and better defined than my previous scope gave me, which given the light gathered is nearly double then that is to be expected.

However the quality of the stars were immeasurably better in the Taurus. They are far tighter and remain so a lot further out towards the edge than previously and I believe my coma corrector may be getting worried.

The quality of the mirror's are without doubt at least 90% of the improvement although the whole package is a superb to use.  I need to get used to the bearings as they are so much more smoother than I am used to and I must remember not to put the thing together backwards as i spent the whole short session viewing from the right side which was unusual 🤣.

I am looking forward to getting the truss replacement which I have had confirmed is being prepared so I will be happy to take delivery of this and I will then get it out to a dark site for a more thorough workout.

Regarding the dsc, worked reasonably well but my garden has a slight slope so this did throw it out a little the more I moved from the alignment star. I am in the middle of making a levelling platform to put the base on and this should improve accuracy.

In summary I am a happy chap with this scope and once i get used to it, it will bring me some very happy and fruitful evenings out under the stars.

I know it's  a fairly basic overview but you know when somethings good, bring on the winter viewing. 

Edited October 15, 2020 by bomberbaz

[scarp15]

1 hour ago, bomberbaz said:

 

In summary I am a happy chap with this scope and once i get used to it, it will bring me some very happy and fruitful evenings out under the stars.

I know it's  a fairly basic overview but you know when somethings good, bring on the winter viewing. 

It no doubt will, sounds excellent.

[jetstream]

Excellent.

My DSC is not fussy on being level but the scope base itself must not move when using it. If it does it goes off target. 2 star alignment is vg and when I use the "realign on object" its extremely accurate. Just giving some ideas about DSC in general.

[bomberbaz]

1 hour ago, jetstream said:

Excellent.

My DSC is not fussy on being level but the scope base itself must not move when using it. If it does it goes off target. 2 star alignment is vg and when I use the "realign on object" its extremely accurate. Just giving some ideas about DSC in general.

Thanks Gerry. Something didn't feel quite right from the get go with the dsc, think I need to re-read the info of this model (I have a guide) and also skysafari which is the app it pairs with. I do think it's the app where the problem lies.

Anyway, I know it's something basic, it's figuring it out that as always is most of the issue. 😆

[niallk]

Sounds great!

You are going to have fun with that lovely instrument

[jetstream]

1 hour ago, bomberbaz said:

Something didn't feel quite right from the get go with the dsc

should've seen me out the first time with the DSC... oh well I'm better at it now. I had a skipping, intermittent encoder too, in the cold- it turned out to be a star washer installed the wrong way. I did pour a concrete base for my scopes- just for ease of set up.

I find its all a process thats for sure.

What grabbed me about your report was the tight stars and the contrast seen, a very good sign.👍

[Ships and Stars]

Looks a beauty and the mirrors sound like real quality as well! I've seen their website several times, it looks like they turn out some well-crafted dobsonians. I think you'll have some fun with this one! 

[Paul73]

Looks like a lovely scope. Glad that it is living up to expectations. It looks like a surprisingly compact design for a big mirror.

Paul

[bomberbaz]

3 hours ago, Paul73 said:

Looks like a lovely scope. Glad that it is living up to expectations. It looks like a surprisingly compact design for a big mirror.

Paul

It packs up very neatly Paul, a bag for the truss tubes, a bag for the rocker woods and everything else goes into one other bag for storage. It is a really neat design. 

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Lovely looking scope Steve, I bet you cant wait for a proper session using it, I hope it gives you many great views!

Whats the assembly time like? is it fairly quick to put together and take apart?

 

Baz

[bomberbaz]

8 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Lovely looking scope Steve, I bet you cant wait for a proper session using it, I hope it gives you many great views!

Whats the assembly time like? is it fairly quick to put together and take apart?

 

Baz

I would say that without rushing and being careful to get everything tight & balanced the total time will be around 10 minutes. because i bought the mirror acclimatisation systems the cool down time is less than a half hour