All The Telescopes You Want?

[John]

6 minutes ago, Marki said:

... I stilll daydream....

..... about this!

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/444899-the-great-wetherell-refractor-rises-again/

I just love that whole steampunk vibe

 

Tim Wetherell's masterpiece is one of my all time favourite scopes !

This is even more impractical and unlikely for me but I still admire it - one of John Pon's achromats, this one is a Zeiss 10 inch F/15:

 

[niallk]

I pushed the boat out to get my Obsession 15" Classic.  It was the scope I lusted over for a long time.

What I really long for now is the chance to regularly use my scope in excellent seeing, with really dark, transparent skies 😃

I'd also love a large aperture double stacked Lunt 😉

[bomberbaz]

2 minutes ago, John said:

Tim Wetherell's masterpiece is one of my all time favourite scopes !

This is even more impractical and unlikely for me but I still admire it - one of John Pon's achromats, this one is a Zeiss 10 inch F/15:

 

That looks mental John, the views will no doubt be staggeringly beautiful but as you say the practicality of using such an OTA would be a major issue!

[Sunshine]

5 minutes ago, John said:

Tim Wetherell's masterpiece is one of my all time favourite scopes !

This is even more impractical and unlikely for me but I still admire it - one of John Pon's achromats, this one is a Zeiss 10 inch F/15:

 

A scope with a focal length measured in Km’s.

[Franklin]

7 minutes ago, John said:

Tim Wetherell's masterpiece is one of my all time favourite scopes !

This is even more impractical and unlikely for me but I still admire it - one of John Pon's achromats, this one is a Zeiss 10 inch F/15:

He must have one hell of a bulb blower!

[MalcolmM]

10 hours ago, Highburymark said:

All I dream about are darker skies. Sounds trite, but they are more valuable than any telescope. 

I have a bad dose of Takitis and my dream scope would be a Takahashi TOA-150. However I would swap it for consistent dark skies with stable seeing. Indeed I would swap it for 1 good clear sky a week, local street lights malfunctioning and a constellation of telegraph wires disappearing in a bunch of sparks

Malcolm

[Sunshine]

3 minutes ago, MalcolmM said:

I have a bad dose of Takitis and my dream scope would be a Takahashi TOA-150. However I would swap it for consistent dark skies with stable seeing. Indeed I would swap it for 1 good clear sky a week, local street lights malfunctioning and a constellation of telegraph wires disappearing in a bunch of sparks

Malcolm

You make a great point, a dream scope is worthless under garbage skies.

[F15Rules]

1 hour ago, John said:

Tim Wetherell's masterpiece is one of my all time favourite scopes !

This is even more impractical and unlikely for me but I still admire it - one of John Pon's achromats, this one is a Zeiss 10 inch F/15:

 

If you ask me, you can't beat a big F15 in the sheer "good looks" category!😊👍

Do Oklop holdalls run to that size though??🤔😂

Dave

[John]

1 hour ago, bomberbaz said:

That looks mental John, the views will no doubt be staggeringly beautiful but as you say the practicality of using such an OTA would be a major issue!

Agreed - highly impractical. Imagine where that eyepiece would be observing Jupiter and Saturn from the UK ? - "ladder time"

In my case I would also need to explain to my neighbour why half the length my scope was hanging over his garden

 

[bomberbaz]

1 hour ago, John said:

Agreed - highly impractical. Imagine where that eyepiece would be observing Jupiter and Saturn from the UK ? - "ladder time"

In my case I would also need to explain to my neighbour why half the length my scope was hanging over his garden

 

You would need a big hydraulic pier to put the mount on!  Still be rather hard work. 🙃

 

[niallk]

9 hours ago, John said:

 

 

A great advertisement for dobs 🙃

Hope the lens caps are on... 🔥

Would love a look through it of course 😉

[Mark at Beaufort]

I recently attended an event that allowed me to use a Stellalyra 16" Dob and a 4" Tak and I have to say they are dream scopes. I could afford to buy the Dob but at my age I don't think I could easily move it - so I will keep using my 12" Dob.

 The Tak is a different matter and I am seriously thinking of getting another 4" but it might be the new Starfield.

[John]

I'm hoping that being able to use my astro society 18 inch newtonian from time to time will fulfil my aperture ambitions

The scope is located just a few miles from where I live so easy to get to. I must say that when I'm using it I realise that my 12 inch really is the maximum that is workable at home !

I must try and find the light shroud for the 18 inch - it's around somewhere I'm told.

 

Edited December 17, 2021 by John

[Piero]

Reading the previous posts, it seems to me that a dream telescope is whatever is large. However, the same dream telescope can be a nightmare telescope if other factors (in addition to the cost) are considered.

Some of these factors:

- basic logistics, like moving the telescope outoodrs / indoors

- climbing up and down the ladder

- moving the ladder every time the telescope is moved

- for some of us, redo the eyepiece case due to different telescope specs

- telescope too large to pass through doors or a full garage / cabin to dedicate for this telescope

- difficulty in minimising lights coming from a neighbourhood either overly concerned about robbers or excited by brightening houses

- lack of proper dark sky to take advantage of that aperture

- not be kin to go to live to a very remote, but dark place

 

In summary, I think a dream telescope is what we can afford and makes sense for us. As we live quite well compared to other people, I think nearly all of us have already got their dream telescopes. 🙂

[Peter Drew]

Agreed, but this is the difference between dreams and reality.  In dreams, the real downsides don't exist.  As mentioned previously I have a 30" Dobsonian but my most used night time telescope is a 16" SCT.  Both telescopes take no more than a few minutes to deploy but the 30" is wheeled out of its housing to face the elements (cold or wind) whereas the 16" is in a dome with a superb tracking equatorial mount.  Spot the difference.     🙂

[Mark at Beaufort]

34 minutes ago, John said:

I'm hoping that being able to use my astro society 18 inch newtonian from time to time will fulfil my aperture ambitions

The scope is located just a few miles from where I live so easy to get to. I must say that when I'm using it I realise that my 12 inch really is the maximum that is workable at home !

I must try and find the light shroud for the 18 inch - it's around somewhere I'm told.

 

John when I visited California a few years ago I was invited to use a 18" Newt on a mountain top close to the Lick Observatory. The view of Omega Centauri will never leave me. So like you it really showed me that I could never manage that sized scope at home.

[Alan White]

I already own my Dream telescopes, back in the mist of time I wanted a decent refractor and a light bucket,
back then that would have been a 3" refractor and a 6" reflector, it was all that I could of obtained.
I managed to dream big and get a 4" decent refractor and a 10" dobsonian, dream achieved.

The reality is, I want to move to a darker sky and work etc. prohibits this for now.
But I can dream of retirement and darker skies.
 

[MalcolmM]

I've said earlier that my dream scope would be a Takahashi TOA-150

Interestingly, my first decent scope was an FC100DC. It blew me away. I got Takitis and bought an FS60CB.

The baby Tak actually gets much more use as it is so easy to grab and go!

BUT when I do get it's big sister out I get blown away all over again

Malcolm

[niallk]

That's a very interestingly mounted 18" club scope, John.

In terms of aperture fever, mine was cured when I watched a 20" Obsession Classic being wrestled out of the back of an estate car at a star party.  The ramps slipped and it dropped 2.5 feet or so to a gravel drive 😳  thankfully no damage!  I did get to see M13 through it... up a ladder in the dark 😬

After that I have realised that 15" suits me   Yeah, a lighter mirror box and a thinner mirror made by Zambuto would always be nice 😀 

I'm very curious to look through something like a SW120ED - I've literally never looked through a frac!  (aside from a finder, or a Ha solar).

But a run of great weather is the real dream - I read of super seeing conditions in the likes of Florida over on CN 😜

The other dream would be using a scope in the dark outback in Oz on southern sky DSOs... droooooooool 🤣

[JeremyS]

I remember stunning views of DSOs through a 36-inch Dob at the South Pacific Star Party in NSW.

I also remember it arriving in a small removal van that the owner had hired for the weekend.  

I got as much enjoyment out of my Pentax 75 SDHF I’d brought with me by air.

[scarp15]

20 hours ago, faulksy said:

you apply for that after you have lived there, got a good law man (not clint eastwood) who will sort it all out when we are ready😄

Great, since UK citizens have lost their entitlement, that would be interesting to follow your progress Mike. Qualia used to do some interesting reports from the Barcelona area, what part of Spain are you anticipating locating to?

[John]

7 hours ago, niallk said:

That's a very interestingly mounted 18" club scope, John....

 

It's on a split ring equatorial. The scope is a JMI NGT 18 dating from the 1990's.

 

 

Edited December 17, 2021 by John

[Mr Spock]

8 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

I recently attended an event that allowed me to use a Stellalyra 16" Dob and a 4" Tak and I have to say they are dream scopes. I could afford to buy the Dob but at my age I don't think I could easily move it - so I will keep using my 12" Dob.

 The Tak is a different matter and I am seriously thinking of getting another 4" but it might be the new Starfield.

Yep, the views of the Witch's Broom through that 16" were mesmerising. The Tak is nice too - I'd like one but the cost is just too high - a scope to be proud of for sure. The Starfield is a very nice scope though; I love the build quality of it.

[JeremyS]

24 minutes ago, John said:

It's on a split ring equatorial. The scope is a JMI NGT 18 dating from the 1990's.

 

 

I used to drool over the ads for those in S&T in the 90s

[John]

Just now, JeremyS said:

I used to drool over the ads for those in S&T in the 90s

So did I. Nice to actually get to see and use one at last !

The JMI 40 inch looks interesting as well