Little and Large - scope size comparison

[Mr Spock]

If you were wondering how big scopes are, here you go...

Left to right:

• 60mm f5.9
• 100mm f7.4
• 203mm f4
• 305mm f5

[RobertI]

The 8” is pretty compact. 

[Mandy D]

17 minutes ago, RobertI said:

The 8” is pretty compact. 

Yes, f/4. If I photographed my lineup with the 8" f/5.9 the difference between that and the 12" would still be vast, but nowhere near as staggering as with Michael's.

Maybe we should turn this into a thread for us all to display our smallest to largest. Sadly, my 10 inch is still on it's holidays so won't be able to play this game!

[Paz]

I took a photo of two of my scopes a while back that this reminds me of, this is my biggest (VX14) alongside my 127mm Maksutov (small but not my smallest) 

[glafnazur]

And here I was suffering with aperture fever but seeing the size of that VX14 it seems to have cured it for now....................................

[Franklin]

Nice collection MichaeI, I would have at the very least stood the two Taks on coasters😁.

[DirkSteele]

I always think this is an interesting comparison. Both set to transportation length, my LZOS 105 f/6.2 and my LZOS 130 /9.2. Only 25mm difference in aperture but that combined with 3 f-stop difference in focal ratio makes a heck of a difference!

Should acknowledge that the 105 does have a long sliding draw tube which really keeps the transport length down to about 19”.

[John]

Here are a few refractors that I've owned / still own. 1st photo shows a Synta 150mm F/8 achromat, a Bresser 127L F/9.4 achromat and my Vixen ED102SS F/6.5. 2nd photo compares my TMB/LZOS 130 F/9.2 triplet, Skywatcher ED120 F/7.5, Takahashi FC100 F/9 and the Vixen ED102SS again. 3rd photo shows the Vixen 102, the Skywatcher 120 and the rather monstrous Istar 150 F/12. The latter is physically the largest and heaviest refractor that I've owned.

Edited September 23, 2023 by John

[Roy Challen]

My scopes don't have a great difference in aperture 60, 76 and 90mm, but the little scopes are really quite short and the f16+ really is quite long. In this pic it doesn't even have the required 50mm extension tube or diagonal inserted.

[Franklin]

Any excuse to parade my Vixen beauties!

ED70SS, SD81S, ED102S, SD115S.

(Note. The only way dust and other foreign bodies can enter a refractor is via the eyepiece end and standing them up on their objectives can cause these nasties to fall down the tube on to the rear element, something I would not do.)

 

[Roy Challen]

6 minutes ago, Franklin said:

 

(Note. The only way dust and other foreign bodies can enter a refractor is via the eyepiece end and standing them up on their objectives can cause these nasties to fall down the tube on to the rear element, something I would not do.)

Agree with this, I don't even like removing eyepieces or diagonals...so I need to buy at least one more!😁

It seems like 3 or 4 scopes is the right number of scopes needed.😉

Edited September 23, 2023 by Roy Challen

[Franklin]

1 minute ago, Roy Challen said:

Agree with this, I don't even like removing eyepieces or diagonals...so I need to buy at least one more!😁

Absolutely, good telescope husbandry doesn't take much effort and can make all the difference in keeping your optics at their best. I try to leave a prism diagonal in at all times it completely seals the tube. I use a 2" desiccant plug for when I bring a scope in after a session.

[John]

21 minutes ago, Roy Challen said:

Agree with this, I don't even like removing eyepieces or diagonals...so I need to buy at least one more!😁

It seems like 3 or 4 scopes is the right number of scopes needed.😉

Agreed here as well - which is why I own 5 diagonals and 7 finders 😁

I have a 3 scope agreement with my other half. So I'm on very thin ice currently with 7 😬

[Jim L]

50 mm vs 300 mm

[Franklin]

1 hour ago, Jim L said:

50 mm vs 300 mm

Aren't you supposed to attach the finder to the OTA?

[Captain Scarlet]

A perfect illustration of how scope volume and weight varies as the cube of the linear dimensions. 8” => 12” is only a 50% increase in linear, but it increases the volume and mass by a factor of 3.5!

I’ll put up a pic of my own 8” and 12”, of similar f-ratios, and my 105 & 140.

Magnus

[Piero]

Interesting thread! I also took a photo of my dobsons together although it was not really for comparison.

Here are my 12" f6 and 16" f4. The red bag at the bottom is my 4" Tak.

The 12" is 41mm shorter now following the focuser replacement. Not much though, considering that its focal length is 1813mm.

Love dobsons!

[niallk]

10" & 15"

Yep - similar f-ratio, so volume factor of 1.5^3 or 3.5x ish!

Edited September 23, 2023 by niallk

[Stu]

This is a 12” f6 Orion Optics next to an 8” f20 OMC200. Crazy to think the little scope has a 4m focal length, over double the dob!

Also, my little family of Fluorite Floosies 😊.

[plyscope]

This is an old Jaegers 6" f5 along with a 6" f15 with a D&G lens.

[cajen2]

From L to R, my daughter's SW 100p, my SW Heritage 150p and my StellaLyra 8" (now gone). Just to show the difference in sheer physical size as dob apertures increase. Sorry about the rubbish photo quality - very poor phone camera.

[Jim L]

5 hours ago, Franklin said:

Aren't you supposed to attach the finder to the OTA?

That Dob is too large to fit comfortably onto the Mighty Blue 50 🙂

[josefk]

A very funny thread and definately not funny hahaha.

I would one day like to do the entire Herschel list (not just the H400 which i am anyway totally stalled on); but where i live currently i have to hump my gear about to observe whether on foot or in the car so the 12" or 14" i would really need to make the project feasible looks a bit daunting - i would practically need to move house to make it possible. I see night vision in my far future if i don't move to the Norfolk coast first!

if i could physically carry the mounting arrangements of the larger scope to a photogenic spot without needing to break it down it would take an equally "amusing" pic. There is easily >20kg difference and a three hands versus one hand difference in mounting arrangements between the 130mm and the two little ones.

[dweller25]

18 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

 

If you stand your Taks on concrete like that again I will report you to the RSPCT 🥴

Edited September 24, 2023 by dweller25