Stella Lyra 10" Dob - first light and initial impressions.

[Orange Smartie]

I am extremely grateful that my family wanted to chip in to buy me something "special" for my birthday this year.  Although I've not been doing this astronomy thing for very long, the nights I have spent outside have been massively rewarding, yet I did feel somewhat limited by the Heritage 150p I bought at New Year.  Although it is a cracking scope and will still be my go-to for short windows of opportunity, I really fancied a bigger dob for a) better resolution and b) better light-gathering.  

Everyone now knows the extended waits we've had to put up with for astro gear and the short version of this story is that @FLO very generously agreed for me to switch my order to one of the new Stella Lyra 10" dobs, paying the difference in price.  Given the improved focuser, finder and base on the Stella Lyra, I think this is a no-brainer.  Thank you FLO for helping me out with this - excellent customer service that is very much appreciated.

My previous "normal" for telescopes is a Heritage 150p, as I said above - a scope I can lift with one hand, with an unusual helical focuser, a collapsible body and a small base that needs a table.  The Stella Lyra ("Nelly") is a different beast altogether.  The scope arrived in 2 boxes - the larger one containing the optical tube assembly and a smaller, but heavier box containing the base.  The larger box is MASSIVE - it's on the landing at the moment, awaiting the grand-opening-of-the-loft, and nearly blocks the passageway.  Packaging seemed pretty good, with the telescope well-supported by expanded polystyrene.  A large-ish cut/ding to the side of the cardboard box made in transit seemed not to have caused any damage to the contents as far as I could see.

I couldn't find any instructions on assembly in the box, so needed to download them from the FLO website.  The dob base went together pretty easily in the style of flat-pack furniture and all fixings seem robust and up to the job.  The lazy-Susan bearings for the base seem lovely and free-running and have a nice tension adjuster to set their friction level.  One point to note is that the bearings run between two circular metal plates which are, I guess, stamped from a larger sheet and which have very sharp edges.  I found this out the hard way!

The optical tube assembly has two tension adjusters for Alt tension - these are mounted on an adjustable scale on either side of the OTA tube and allow compensation for different ocular weights.  I can't imagine changing this during an observing session so not sure how well it would cope with your oculars if you had a miss-matched set.  I did notice that the tube was a little front-heavy when set to the zero point of the scale, so may need to tweak mine a bit.  As you will imagine, the complete set-up is large and heavy and I personally would not want to attempt to move it all as one (unless on a trolley etc).  However, the OTA simply lifts out of the base, whereupon you can leave the OTA somewhere soft/safe and take the base outside.

This telescope comes with a fan fitted as standard, with a battery pack to accept 8x AA batteries.  I tested it to make sure it worked, but didn't use it properly as the telescope seemed to cool down enough being left outside for a short while.

I'm glad to say that the weather was pretty clear here in Oxfordshire and I got to catch some photons in this light-bucket.  Took a quick look at Polaris to make sure that the right-angled finder was pointed in the right direction, set my Rigel finder to the same target and away we went.

First up was the Double Double, epsilon Lyrae.  I've not been able to split these in my Heritage - not sure if that's because seeing has been against me, or due to any limitations of the scope, but I thought I'd risk "zenith neck" to have a go.  Even with my 25mm BST Starguider (around 50x), I could tell there was a pair of doubles here - moving to the 8mm split them and 5mm, easy-peasy.  

I then had a pop at Saturn, just clearing some trees to the south of my garden.  Looked fantastic, although I wasn't seeing the Cassini division.  Jupiter was also quite impressive, the stronger bands really showing up nicely.  I then took a look at some of the other double stars near the Summer Triangle (from Turn Left at Orion) - Gamma Delphini, Struve 2725, 61 Cygni and Albireo, this last looking simply gorgeous.  I did chance a quick look at M13 in Hercules, although I really feel that would benefit from a darker night.  

I realise this doesn't constitute a proper test or review of the telescope's capabilities, but my initial impressions are very favourable.

 

LIKES:

Nicely made

Looks beautiful (even Mrs Smartie thinks this, which I'm glad about because it's now living in the front room...)

Crayford dual-speed focuser

Decent finder 

Lovely smooth azimuth bearings

Seems like a massive improvement in optical quality and light-gathering over my existing kit

 

NOT SURE ABOUT YET:

Will I slip a disc or bash it on the door-frame?

Extreme height difference between looking high and looking low - probably need an adjustable chair

Needs to be on the flat or doesn't hold azimuth very well

 

Final word - I'm delighted I bought this telescope and grateful to FLO for allowing me to change my order.

 

Pete

 

[Sunshine]

Great to hear you're enjoying that fine looking dob! 

[Louis D]

You can try setting it on a water butt stand to raise it up a bit.  It's probably a good idea anyway to get it up off the ground to keep crud out of the AZ bearings.  You don't want them to get fouled.

How about posting a photo it?

[Orange Smartie]

A water butt stand sounds like a very good idea. As requested, here she is!

 

[Louis D]

Hooo Boy!  Ain't she purty! 🤠👍

[Spile]

The B&Q water butt stand fits perfectly under my Dobsonian. Image at the bottom of this page. https://astro.catshill.com/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-first-impressions/

[Orange Smartie]

Quick update - following recommendations from @Louis D and @Spile, I got hold of a water butt stand from Wickes.  This simple add-on has made a massive difference to viewing comfort, so thanks both for your advice.

We had an unexpected break in the cloud last night, which I was able to exploit, seeing the dumbbell nebula and the veil nebula for the first time ever.

Pete

[Stardaze]

That looks great Pete, wasn’t aware of these until your post, look really well spec’d. I have an adjustable stool for mine which is worthwhile. I’ve also an issue atm which means I can’t carry mine so I’ve bought a sack truck to move in one. I haven’t felt 10” to be lacking too much so hope you really enjoy using yours.

[Louis D]

6 hours ago, Orange Smartie said:

Quick update - following recommendations from @Louis D and @Spile, I got hold of a water butt stand from Wickes.

Glad it worked well for you.  Enjoy the summer/early fall skies, there's lots to see up there right now.

I just find it amusing that Brits call rain barrels water butts.  Pork butt, sure; but water butt?  Apparently, the term "butt load", which Americans still use, derives from this older meaning of the word, but we have long since forgotten the origin of the term.

[Sunshine]

3 hours ago, Louis D said:

Glad it worked well for you.  Enjoy the summer/early fall skies, there's lots to see up there right now.

I just find it amusing that Brits call rain barrels water butts.  Pork butt, sure; but water butt?  Apparently, the term "butt load", which Americans still use, derives from this older meaning of the word, but we have long since forgotten the origin of the term.

Keeping track of all the different meanings of particular words and, how their meanings have changed over time can be a real pain in the butt.

[Alan White]

4 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

Keeping track of all the different meanings of particular words and, how their meanings have changed over time can be a real pain in the butt.

Divided by a common language as usual.

[Sunshine]

Maybe I should learn to speak Shakespearean English, I would sound like Romeo which might make my wife hesitant to yell at me when I buy more scope stuff. But I can hear it already “dont you where art thou me Mr.!” 

Edited September 4, 2021 by Sunshine

[Dave scutt]

A custom trolley is a good idea easy to move around and keeps it off the floor

[Orange Smartie]

That looks really good. Wouldn't work for me though, as I have to negotiate 4 steps and two narrow passages to get to the part of my garden with the best view.

[Stardaze]

13 hours ago, Orange Smartie said:

That looks really good. Wouldn't work for me though, as I have to negotiate 4 steps and two narrow passages to get to the part of my garden with the best view.

My next job is to knock up a couple of ramps to negotiate two steps.