New to equipment

[dom088]

We will definitely be sky sweeping. Look, point and focus.  Look somewhere else, point and focus.   

 

[Mr Spock]

Definitely value for money compared to a refractor...

E.g. StellaLyra 8" f6 Dobsonian £449

My 100mm refractor...
Takahashi FC-100 £2400
FeatherTouch focuser £770
EQ5 with motors £450
Finder £30
Baader Diagonal T2 £310
Total £3960...

To get the best out of it for planetary, quality eyepieces:-
Takahashi TOE 4mm £356
Takahashi TOE 3.3mm £356

And then there are the others, wide field etc.

Sensible folk would pick the Dob 
 

[bosun21]

Here is a video showing the relative sizes of dobsonian telescopes and another where he rates his 8" dobsonian highly.

 

 

[Elp]

1 hour ago, dom088 said:

We will definitely be sky sweeping. Look, point and focus.  Look somewhere else, point and focus.   

 

Just bare in mind finding objects and keeping them within the FOV becomes more difficult the longer the focal length of the scope, even with a low power eyepiece, it's one of the reasons I don't like using my C6 for visual, and I have equatorial tracking goto mounts and can also plate solve if I wanted to for lazy target finding. You need to have a lot of patience finding things manually, it gets easier with experience, good and aligned finder scopes or even with something like Celestrons Starsense Explorer.

[Stu_53N_002W]

Along with all the other gadgets I’ve got is a Bresser 80/400 goto refractor. Got it as a kit with a camera and solar filter, which screws on the end of tube. Light and has clutches on both axis so manual tracking is possible. Some Goto scopes need power or they won’t move. So an issue with startup means no viewing. Anyway, first day of ownership was sun spot viewing in the garden. Lining up the scope manually by watching the scopes shadow form a round cast between my feet. I was sitting on a deck chair and spent some time viewing. Haven’t used the goto function yet. My dobsonian was also out in the garden as soon as I goto it viewing the stars. I used my eyes to spot the first star to wake and pointed the dob at it. Wonderfull. The dob also introduced me to 2” widefield eyepieces. I have the Stellalyra dob and I think the 8”, 10” and 12” all share the same accessories. I’m very pleased with the quality and view form my Stellalyra. The Bresser, although not high quality, is light, small and usable without power if needs be. I guess the point is, I like gadgets but the best views of the stars are by the simplest of optics, a dobsonian and a pair of binoculars as others have mentioned.

 

[dom088]

Why is it hard to keep it in site with higher focal? 

[Elp]

10 minutes ago, dom088 said:

Why is it hard to keep it in site with higher focal? 

Because you're more zoomed in. The sky appears to move 15 degrees approx every hour due to Earth's rotation, which if you think about it is a lot.

[dom088]

Ok, picking up an 8" sky watcher dobsonian today!

Should I be considering any additional lenses to make things easier or better?  Magnification in particular? 

I'm getting it used so I'll be ordering a collimator on Amazon for it 

[Elp]

I wouldn't worry too much about magnification at first, especially due to the native FL of the scope. Get some decent eyepieces if it doesn't come with any. BST Starguiders are probably the best cheap ones, Vixen NPLs too. If you need to wear glasses whilst viewing your choices are more limited, you need long eye relief ones.

Edited September 13 by Elp

[dom088]

He says it comes with 3 eye pieces and various filters

 

 

Edited September 13 by dom088

[Elp]

See what you get first and try them out.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

It'll probably come with the usual 25mm, 10mm and 'something else'.  Possibly a Barlow.

Usually the 25mm is fine.  The 10mm apparently isn't usually as good.  If it does come with a Barlow it'll probably be a 2x.  I really wouldn't use that with the 10mm as you'll end up with 5mm which on your scope would be excessive magnification, especially in current seeing.

You'll probably be fine with the 25mm for now.  Stick with low power to start with as it will be a lot easier and don't get too hung up on finding specific targets.  Enjoy what you have to start with and see what you like.  Feel free to reach back in here for advise on better eyepieces, etc.  Eyepieces are a real rabbit hole!

The Moon is in first quarter (ish) and will be a stunning sight if it's clear tonight and you can view it.  You may need a Moon filter though as it will be very bright!  It seems silly but the biggest gasp I've ever had from somebody using my (much, much smaller) 70mm ED refractor on the Moon who had never seen it through a scope before.

Edited September 13 by GrumpiusMaximus

[seven_legs]

1 hour ago, dom088 said:

Ok, picking up an 8" sky watcher dobsonian today!

Should I be considering any additional lenses to make things easier or better?  Magnification in particular? 

I'm getting it used so I'll be ordering a collimator on Amazon for it 

 Congratulations on your scope!

I wouldn't worry or think of getting anything else for the moment. Just have a play with it and enjoy the views.

The moon is always a good start.

[dom088]

Just picked it up!

 

I got lenses. 

Ancares w70 series 25mm

Ancares w70 series 15mm 

Ancares Barlow lens  2x

Super plossl 25mm 52 degree

 

What's the difference of the 25mm lenses? 

 

All for $475 cdn

Edited September 14 by dom088

[Elp]

Just try them, likely youll see a difference straight away.

[Nyctimene]

19 hours ago, dom088 said:

What's the difference of the 25mm lenses? 

The Antares will give you a wider field of view, at the same magnification of 48x. That means,  finding of stars is easier, as well as tracking, because you don't need to nudge the scope so often, as with the  Super Plössl. The eye relief is 15 mm, so observing with glasses (in case of eye astigmatism) is possible. The reviews (from German stargazers) for the 15 and 25 mm W 70 are quite promising.

Stephan

[dom088]

Got to use it yesterday! Was amazing. Very happy

 

It came with 4 filters. Which filters should be used to view the sun??  Just screw them on the eyepiece?  Nothing needed at the front of the scope? (Dust cap has a removable cap??)

[Cornelius Varley]

4 minutes ago, dom088 said:

Which filters should be used to view the sun??  Just screw them on the eyepiece?

No. NEVER USE AN EYEPIECE SOLAR FILTER. The glass in the filter can get hot and brittle and then crack allowing unfiltered sunlight to reach your eye causing damage to the retina. Throw it away to avoid temptation.

7 minutes ago, dom088 said:

Nothing needed at the front of the scope?

Use a proper solar filter over the front of the telescope.

[Elp]

Do not mess around with solar, it's not worth permanently damaging yours/others eyes.

The simplest form is to buy Baader visual ND film which allows you to see the sun in white light (Seymour Solar also do one, for safety's sake just get the visual ND (neutral density) filter, a photographic one is a available but you can't use it for visual observation, so I repeat, for safety's sake make sure it's visual filter film). It must cover the whole aperture and then some for safety margin (also remove any finder scope or make a film cell for that too), then make a sturdy cell to hold it so it won't fall off the scope, be knocked off, fall off under gravity, won't crumble and dislodge the film etc etc.

There is another form of solar viewing, hydrogen alpha via specialist devices which cost a lot of money, do NOT use just a hydrogen alpha filter, they're not designed for solar, will likely crack and you'll be blind if looking through the scope. Using large aperture scopes with these specialist devices (A Daystar Quark) also requires a front mounted DERF filter to reflect the majority of the sun's energy from entering the scope, again these aren't cheap. If you see cheap equipment for solar, do NOT buy it, only the white light film I've recommended as it's fairly affordable. Other hydrogen alpha options are specialist solar scopes, again these aren't usually cheap, the cheapest is the Coronado PST (personal solar telescope), or if the the USA the Lunt 40 is quite affordable compared to in other territories.

Do some thorough research on this before you do anything at all.

[dom088]

Ok... I'll pass on that!  Google it is.... for images

[RT65CB-SWL]

16 hours ago, dom088 said:

Ok... I'll pass on that!  Google it is.... for images

https://spaceweather.com/ for solar! 🌞

[Alan64]

The Newtonian on a Dobson base that you have now is exclusively for observations at night, for most, which is why I consider the type to be ideal for children to enjoy, and in complete safety.  The lights of the night sky are gentle upon the eyes, save a full Moon, and that dependent upon a given telescope's aperture, prompting many to consider a dimming filter, like a variable-polariser...

    

...or a fixed Moon-filter.

There's lots to see on the Moon...