Decided on Larger Scope

[Sunshine]

It seems I have decided I would like a larger scope to compliment my 102 for those fuzzies that are out of reach for my frac. Nothing giant and heavy, I would like an 8” XT8i as it seems to be a great dob with a handy little pointing computer. Are there any out there who have experience with the intelliscope dobs? they rarely come up in classifieds.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Sunshine

[dweller25]

A Mewlon 180 will sit nicely on your Vixen GP 😈

[Peter Drew]

I have an Orion 8" Intelliscope Dobsonian.  The optics are excellent, I bought it second hand based on the views of Saturn that I saw with it at the time.  The "push to" facility is also excellent if carefully set up, you are still obliged to "dotrack" once the object is located.    🙂 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Peter Drew

[Sunshine]

17 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

A Mewlon 180 will sit nicely on your Vixen GP 😈

You don’t say! funny you mention this as I have been chewing on the idea for a few days, having read some reviews (scope reviews UK) it seems it is a winner but, the super long cool down times and, spikes on Jupiter!? sort of turn me off. Then again I am speaking without having seen for myself.

[Sunshine]

26 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

I have an Orion 8" Intelliscope Dobsonian.  The optics are excellent, I bought it second hand based on the views of Saturn that I saw with it at the time.  The "push to" facility is also excellent if carefully set up, you are still obliged to "dotrack" once the object is located.    🙂 

Thanks! I’m sure my wife hates you now as you have made my decision that much easier! 🤣

Edited September 26, 2021 by Sunshine

[JAC51]

37 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

It seems I have decided I would like a larger scope to compliment my 102 for those fuzzies that are out of reach for my frac. Nothing giant and heavy, I would like an 8” XT8i as it seems to be a great dob with a handy little pointing computer. Are there any out there who have experience with the intelliscope dobs? they rarely come up in classifieds.

I have been thinking along similar lines. Currently I have a 5" refractor and have got into my head that the reflector should have at least 2x  aperture  of the frat. So 4" refractor  paired with 8"+ reflector or 5" refractor paired with 10"+ reflector, guess I like simple ratios.

Out of interest does anyone have any idea how a melon would cool compared to a similar aperture Newt?

[JeremyS]

42 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

You don’t say! funny you mention this as I have been chewing on the idea for a few days, having read some reviews (scope reviews UK) it seems it is a winner but, the super long cool down times and, spikes on Jupiter!? sort of turn me off. Then again I am speaking without having seen for myself.

If you don’t like spikes, a Newtonian like the Dob you mentioned won’t be to your liking.

What about a C9.25? I find that complements my TSA 120 well. And no spikes.

However, I wonder if anything will match the perfection you enjoy with your TSA 102. Maybe a Mewlon 210? 

[Sunshine]

22 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

If you don’t like spikes, a Newtonian like the Dob you mentioned won’t be to your liking.

What about a C9.25? I find that complements my TSA 120 well. And no spikes.

However, I wonder if anything will match the perfection you enjoy with your TSA 102. Maybe a Mewlon 210? 

Well, to be honest I don't mind the typical spikes I have seen in previous scopes (on stars) it is the 6 spikes on Jupiter which were mentioned in one review that had me wondering, I really never knew spikes were possible on a planet. 

Maybe it is a mewlon phenomenon only?? then again, I am just contemplating and judging without having used the scope, I just can't imagine Jupiter with 4 spikes, let alone 6!.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Sunshine

[Deadlake]

It might be an ideal to go across the pond to CN. They are quite a few threads there of C9.25 and C11 owners who have moved to a Mewlon to take advantage of no dewing, faster cooling and smooth mirrors allowing for better contrast.

Question is will you use it if you have a 4” which cools in no time at all?

[jetstream]

3 hours ago, Sunshine said:

It seems I have decided I would like a larger scope to compliment my 102

A 16" f4 truss dob would do the trick.

[jetstream]

@Sunshine seriously , leave it assembled with wheel barrow handles attached- wheel it out wheel it in. You got a garage?

Edited September 26, 2021 by jetstream

[Phil Fargaze]

I have owned my XT10 intelliscope since 2005 and I have thoroughly enjoyed using it.  The object location is accurate and easy to use. Funnily enough I have just recently obtained the XT14 truss tube intelliscope which I`m looking forward to getting out to some dark skies this autumn!

[Sunshine]

20 minutes ago, jetstream said:

@Sunshine seriously , leave it assembled with wheel barrow handles attached- wheel it out wheel it in. You got a garage?

Lol, I have a single car garage, his and her cars, steps going down into garden and, my gear needs to be stored in the basement another 8 steps below the main floor. Something tells me I’ll have a hard time selling my wife on a 16” dob as a home decor piece on the main floor. The only thing involving wheels in all this will be the little wheels on the folding hospital bed they wheel me into the ambulance with on my horizontal trip to the hospital, after I try carrying it down into my basement. Though I guess I’ll be smiling all the way there, thinking about the views I just witnessed.

[jetstream]

46 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

Lol, I have a single car garage, his and her cars, steps going down into garden and, my gear needs to be stored in the basement another 8 steps below the main floor. Something tells me I’ll have a hard time selling my wife on a 16” dob as a home decor piece on the main floor. The only thing involving wheels in all this will be the little wheels on the folding hospital bed they wheel me into the ambulance with on my horizontal trip to the hospital, after I try carrying it down into my basement. Though I guess I’ll be smiling all the way there, thinking about the views I just witnessed.

Ok, but does that mean the truss dob is out?

ps I'm wheeling the 24" out right after this sentence...I use a little piece of OSB for a ramp.

 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

1 hour ago, Sunshine said:

Lol, I have a single car garage, his and her cars, steps going down into garden and, my gear needs to be stored in the basement another 8 steps below the main floor. Something tells me I’ll have a hard time selling my wife on a 16” dob as a home decor piece on the main floor. The only thing involving wheels in all this will be the little wheels on the folding hospital bed they wheel me into the ambulance with on my horizontal trip to the hospital, after I try carrying it down into my basement. Though I guess I’ll be smiling all the way there, thinking about the views I just witnessed.

Just put an ornate lamp shade or potted plant on top, she won't notice...

[Sunshine]

12 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Just put an ornate lamp shade or potted plant on top, she won't notice...

This changes everything!

[nfotis]

If you dislike spikes due to spider vanes (I do), I suggest either an SCT or a Maksutov if you want a long focal distance.

A C9.25 or a Skymax 150/180 might be a nice complement to your existing scope. What's the load rating of your mount?

N.F.

[Sunshine]

3 minutes ago, nfotis said:

If you dislike spikes due to spider vanes (I do), I suggest either an SCT or a Maksutov if you want a long focal distance.

A C9.25 or a Skymax 150/180 might be a nice complement to your existing scope. What's the load rating of your mount?

N.F.

Thanks, I had a skymax 150, loved it for planetary but it wasn’t for DSO’s which is what I would like, it took forever to cool, also. An 8” dob would be ideal, I miss the dob experience. An SCT is out of the question as keeping dew off the corrector is a pain and I don’t need additional pains with batteries powering heaters and such. As for my mount, I think the Vixen GP is rated around 15lbs.

[nfotis]

Hmm, for faint objects, if you dislike spider vanes and spikes and you don't want a SCT or Maksutov, it seems that your only option is a larger refractor?

I was going to suggest an 102ED, but it seems that you are already covered. An 125 Apochromatic isn't a large enough jump, I think, while an 152 ED or similar is too large

If you are interested in astrophotography (implicit due to the remark about spikes), a photographic lens might be another solution?

N.F.

 

[Sunshine]

50 minutes ago, nfotis said:

Hmm, for faint objects, if you dislike spider vanes and spikes and you don't want a SCT or Maksutov, it seems that your only option is a larger refractor?

I was going to suggest an 102ED, but it seems that you are already covered. An 125 Apochromatic isn't a large enough jump, I think, while an 152 ED or similar is too large

If you are interested in astrophotography (implicit due to the remark about spikes), a photographic lens might be another solution?

N.F.

 

I never disliked spider veins or spikes, I was puzzled by them being mentioned around planets regarding the Mewlon only, leaving spider veins and spikes Asside which don’t bother me as I have owned dobs and newts in the past, I am interested in a larger aperture scope geared towards fainter object (spikes or not). A dob is a good fit.

[Voyager 3]

Have you looked through a Newtonian/dob before ? The planets don't have huge spikes and it's very subtle mostly. They don't extend much beyond 10-11" from the disc . 

But a TSA 102 might have spoiled you too much  .

[dweller25]

14 hours ago, Sunshine said:

You don’t say! funny you mention this as I have been chewing on the idea for a few days, having read some reviews (scope reviews UK) it seems it is a winner but, the super long cool down times and, spikes on Jupiter!? sort of turn me off. Then again I am speaking without having seen for myself.

Thought you wanted the scope for deep sky ?

However, I have recently been using an M180C on Jupiter and Saturn and did not notice any spikes - I’m sure they are there but just not noticeable if that makes sense.

Also the Mewlon cools within 35 mins if you rest one of these against a spider support…

 

[JeremyS]

25 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

Thought you wanted the scope for deep sky ?

However, I have recently been using an M180C on Jupiter and Saturn and did not notice any spikes - I’m sure they are there but just not noticeable if that makes sense.

Also the Mewlon cools within 35 mins if you rest one of these against a spider support…

 

They say there’s a gadget for everything on a Swiss Army knife. Including a Dob cooler it appears

😊

[GalaxyGael]

there is also the Maksutov newtonian option, like the 190MN from skywatcher. No spikes, correction built-in much like an SCT, 1000 mm focal length, f/5.3 so quite bright. work well with barlows without additional glass of correctors etc.

[Sunshine]

1 hour ago, dweller25 said:

Thought you wanted the scope for deep sky ?

Good point, my interest in the mewlon contradicts my statement regarding DSO’s as it is not a DSO scope, I was fascinated with it for a short while. My sights are set on an 8-10' dob considering my budget and intentions for the scope, it would be the best fit. Upon looking at my original post to see where I had gone astray and caused others confusion as to my intentions I realize I had never mentioned a mewlon for deep sky as I am aware it is not designed for deep sky (yes you can see DSO’s with it.  So here is where I pose the question, having read my original post, Dweller25, you suggested a Mewlon which can be used for dso's but, my intention is for a more dedicated design for DSO's on a smaller budget is what i actually want, I think I have it right, now. 🤣

Edited September 27, 2021 by Sunshine