One thing I've always wondered about

[DaveL59]

46 minutes ago, SthBohemia said:

Not bad eh @Dave59, you started this thread 24 hrs ago- 95 replies and over 1k views! Very well done...

What's the next pandoras box you intend to open? "Tell us what you think of your current mounts (I might get very self opinionated ova dem apples)", "Meade VS Celestron", "Present your backyard", "Are Questars and Astro Physics scopes worth the loot" or maybe go BIG time and a lovely thread, "Is Imaging anything more than glorified use of Photoshop".... 🙂 

no plans to start another controversial thread like I knew this would be. Thankfully we steered clear of the landmines that might have locked it tho 🙂 I thought it was useful to see why things were the way they were and hopefully find a middle ground when responding to the "what should I buy" type questions. Maybe I was misjudging some who'd replied and they did consider more than just the mahoosive dob before suggesting same, but time will tell if balance changes, not much a couple folks can do about it but we'll see...

There is of course a validity to lots of aperture, just isn't always appropriate to someone else's circumstances or needs is all I wanted to get across. If money was no object something like the Unistellar eVscope at nearly 4K might have been perfect, being compact, simple setup and EEVA so you can see  and share hubble like views of the faint smudgy stuff and wow the kids, but that's not in many people's budget, even used things like that come in at 2K or so. Too small for the kitties to curl up inside the OTA tho 😉 

Edited August 14, 2022 by DaveL59

[Zeta Reticulan]

I don't want to stray off-topic, but where computer security is relevant, some browsers and some extensions can even remove social media links from webpages. 

[iapa]

30 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

There is of course a validity to lots of aperture, just isn't always appropriate to someone else's circumstances or needs is all I wanted to get across. 

For the time being, as my “light bucket” I’ll stick to the 10” Quattro CF - pier mounted of course

[McQ]

I had one of those wiggly Meade refractors, and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. By the time you find your target, you see it for a few seconds, try to move the scope and the wibbly wobbly tripod sends you way off course and then you spend several minutes hunting it again. Also had a wiggly 3.5" reflector on a tripod, same thing. I tried everything to fix the tripods but they are junk. There are only a few scopes at any price point below about $800 worth owning and almost all of them are Dobs or baby Dobs for good reason. 

[bingevader]

Couldn't be bothered reading the whole five pages, especially with the cats!

However, not sure if anyone else has mentioned, but your original eyepiece comment is bogus, because for Skywatcher at least, the stock eyepieces ship with the fracs, same as the dobs.

And on that point, there was nothing wrong with my 25mm and the central region of the 10mm was very clear.

 

[bingevader]

My decision to buy a dob was purely on a cost basis.

My eyepiece purchases since, have been to fill gaps or move to 82° eyepieces.

No money wasted here.

Don't want to boast, but I've seen the veil nebula from my back garden with an 8" dob, not bad really.

[starhiker]

This is a very interesting discussion. I am in favour of a high ratio of aperture per pounds/dollars myself, so that only a manual dob became an option to me without asking advices over the forum. Before I made the final decision to buy a 8" dob, the debate in my head is only the portability. Do I want the small tabletop one or a proper but heavy one? 

But I agree that a diversity of recommendation should be welcomed, so that anyone looking around will understand all the benefits and problems. 

[MiladyB]

On 27/10/2022 at 17:47, starhiker said:

This is a very interesting discussion. I am in favour of a high ratio of aperture per pounds/dollars myself, so that only a manual dob became an option to me without asking advices over the forum. Before I made the final decision to buy a 8" dob, the debate in my head is only the portability. Do I want the small tabletop one or a proper but heavy one? 

But I agree that a diversity of recommendation should be welcomed, so that anyone looking around will understand all the benefits and problems. 

'Bang for your buck' is definitely a consideration that puts dobs in an advantageous position for newbies. 

At the time I decided to get back into the hobby properly, there were few scopes actually available to buy so I had months to spend on research and reading reviews.

I ended up buying a 6 inch tabletop dob (easy to use, not too expensive, good optics, and portable - all boxes ticked). I recently added the 8" Starsense dob because I'm still very much a novice and want some help finding my way around without having to spend ages faffing.

I did start off with binos, and seriously considered a refractor, but the cost for comparable quality vs the dob swung it for me. I'd still like to add one to my collection at some point.

MiladyB x

[AstroMuni]

On 13/08/2022 at 14:11, DaveL59 said:

I'm just asking the question "Why" as we aren't really giving a balanced response in many cases and sometimes it doesn't seem as if we've taken all the background info into account.

If you see responses to most such posts, they start with users asking the OP - viewing or imaging, access to garden/area for setting up scope, weight, who is target audience & budget, etc. So I do believe folk ask for as much info as possible before recommending anything.

And you are right that a few share the journey they went through and what they ended up buying. But thats what I like about this forum - you get the length & breadth of knowledge.

[DaveL59]

holy thread ressurrection, thought this had long passed into obscurity after the heated debates lol

 

23 minutes ago, AstroMuni said:

If you see responses to most such posts, they start with users asking the OP - viewing or imaging, access to garden/area for setting up scope, weight, who is target audience & budget, etc. So I do believe folk ask for as much info as possible before recommending anything.

And you are right that a few share the journey they went through and what they ended up buying. But thats what I like about this forum - you get the length & breadth of knowledge.

in fact that was part of the reason I started this thread, in a lot of cases I'd seen there was no enquiry as to circumstances etc and in fact in one case where the OP had mobility issues if I recall, it was still dob dob dob and of course, its always a big one like a 200mm. I do agree there's a lot of knowledge here and its freely shared but often seems very big dob-sided when that may not be ideal for the person asking.

I'll admit too that I'm not a dob fan, too much bulk and just seems too crude having to prod and poke to try to make small adjustments to my mind, I'd rather have geared movements for fine adjustment and I like EQ for the ease of tracking a target across the sky adjusting only one axis, they aren't as complicated to use as is often made out and aren't expensive to motorise with an RA drive which makes things even easier. Sure that adds cost for the mount and thereby a smaller aperture scope perhaps but it's rare that anything other than a dob is suggested unless for imaging.

Edited October 31, 2022 by DaveL59

[AstroMuni]

3 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

it's rare that anything other than a dob is suggested unless for imaging.

And that can be said for questions on Imaging scope as well. You will see a definite leaning towards fracs even though the Newt is better value for money. 🙂

[DaveL59]

3 minutes ago, AstroMuni said:

And that can be said for questions on Imaging scope as well. You will see a definite leaning towards fracs even though the Newt is better value for money. 🙂

lol I'd guess that's true, depends how much you like diffraction spikes tho huh 😉 

[AstroMuni]

1 minute ago, DaveL59 said:

lol I'd guess that's true, depends how much you like diffraction spikes tho huh 😉 

JWST is bringing them back in fashion 😉

[MiladyB]

I never should have read the thread. It has inadvertently set me off looking at buying a 'frac as a grab and go. 😄 Oops! 

MiladyB x

[900SL]

The only guy I know out here with a 16" Dob was taken out by a US drone strike shortly after setting up. So there's that I suppose 😂 🚀