TSA-102 vs 8” dob Saturn Shootout

[Sunshine]

This one I was looking forward to, having pitted these two against each other on double stars I was eager for a planetary side by side. Both scopes had hours to cool as my test was conducted at the very end of my observing session where I had a great time with both. With a focal length difference of 400mm between them I found that my 5mm XO gave a magnification of 240x for the dob and the 3.5 XO gave 233x for my 102 which provided an identical image scale in both. Before I made any notes I had a great time just looking at Saturn through both scopes, giving my mind and eyeball time to adjust and allow myself to pick up details. Seeing was great tonight, stars in my 102 were wonderful unwavering laser cut discs no matter what power I used. Before training the scopes on Saturn I made sure the dob was collimated and it was, as good as it can get with perfectly centered rings on both ends of focus. As for the 102, well I’d say it is collimated well, yes (I hope Sarah didn’t hear that).😂 kidding aside I dove right in and eagerly put eyeball to eyepiece and began making notes. 
 

Let me begin saying Saturn was a glorious view in both telescopes, razor sharp edges and Saturn’s moons were the most delica little diamonds. Saturn was a fair bit brighter in the 8” than the 102, this I expected but curiously this did not translate to more detail, it’s moons were brighter but going back and forth I would not pick out any more detail in the 8”, apparent details were identical in both. Whatever fine  details the 8” was capable of teasing out may have been lost in it’s significant higher brightness compared the the 102. There was what seemed like a ghostly inner ring visible in the dob which I couldn’t find in the 102 but I have to research Saturns rings to make sure it was not just my eyes. One thing which was obvious was contrast, my 102 presented a darker background and Saturn was set against that darker sky more naturally, as though I was seeing it in 3D on approach while in the dob it had a flatter more cartoon like appearance with colors being more muted. This is where the 102 set itself apart, Saturn looked richer and more natural in my 102, it had a warmer temperature and just seemed more natural, like if I were seeing it in the flesh from a passing ship. This subtle darkening of the sky combined with what seemed to be more natural and inviting color time made Saturn appear more “real” in my 102, more pleasing and inviting. It was like two images of Saturn were taken and the one from the 8” dob was a RAW file versus a processed file seen in the 102. 

Some may be asking why I haven’t directly compared particular details and described their appearance like Saturns obvious equatorial band, Cassini’s division and such, I initially thought I would get into individual detail but these differences mentioned above were so gleaming that I figured it is enough in itself. Maybe if my dob had a perfectly figured Zambuto mirror it would have been different outcome? who can say, I have what I have and make no mistake, both telescopes provided razor sharp images with fine detail but the 102 provided a more inviting and pleasing view, I can only describe it as a finely adjusted view, it was creamier? yes that’s a technical word I would like to use. 😂

Edited August 13, 2022 by Sunshine
Spell correction

[JeremyS]

Great report @Sunshine. Good to hear the TSA proved its worth 👍🏻

[Sunshine]

5 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Great report @Sunshine. Good to hear the TSA proved its worth 👍🏻

Yes! i wasn’t sure what to expect with the dob having 4” over the 102 but the Tak wasn’t intimidated by a measly 4” 😂