16" lightbridge or 400mm Orion optics deluxe

[arad85]

Just thinking ahead to later in the year/next year here... Pros and cons of the two scopes purlease. Anyone have experience of the 2 side by side? Is the Orion worth a couple of darned good eyepieces more? Is it worth paying for the wavelength upgrade? How much more will I see than the C9.25 in my 4.25-4.5 sky? Should I just invest in a Losmandy and just image instead???

[albedo0.39]

That's a toughie. I'm sure that OO will claim (and perhaps rightly ?) that their 'scope is an upgrade on the LB and frankly, it ought to be as it's a newer device and should take care of all the little niggles that come as std with the Meade LB

However, from my own limited experience and some deduction from reports I've read from those far far better experienced with all sorts of large aperture dobs, when well set up, the 16" LB has cracking optics and will not disgrace itself in any circumstances.

But, it does need a few tweeks to get you there.

It also weighs a ton !

As you might image, it's fast F ratio doesn't suffer poor quality EP's so chose with care (that's code for buy expensive or else live with coma). Also, collimation is something that seems to scare a lot of people, but I've gotten the hang of it now with a humble cheshire and again, it's very good.

I think you have a tough choice on your hand and I'd be interested to hear from anyone with an OO 400mm as I've not met anyone with this scope.

Finally, you might like to log onto the Meade LB pages on Yahoo Groups see here. There is all sorts of upgrade advice for would be LB owners and some practical help awaits.

Cheers

Steve

[John]

I reckon the optics of the OO scope might be a bit better than the (still decent) Lightbridge .... but you may well have a long, long wait before the OO is delivered from what I recall a former member of this forum went through when he bought an OO 400mm dob a while ago.

John

[johninderby]

You're comparing a mass produced dob with a hand built to order one so they're not really that comparable. There are a lot of observers that are happy with their 16" Lightbridges, but they will tell you that the optics could be better and the scopes need a lot of mods to get them working right. Most owners also only paid about £1,000.00 to £1,200.00 for theirs which made them a good buy at the time. However the recent price increase to £1,800.00 must be putting a lot of buyers off now.

The cheapest OO with the 1/4PV mirror is a bit better than the Lightbridge, but it's when you go for the premium optics that they get interesting. The 1/10PV mirror is as good as anything that comes in an Obsession etc. you just can't get anything better at any price.

The biggest difference between mass produced mirrors and premium mirrors is that the premium mirrors give more contrast, sharper images and will let you use far higher magnification. It's not unusual with 1/10PV optics to be able to use several times as much magnification as with a mass produced mirror.

I had a 16" Lightbridge and replaced it with the 14" OO with the 1/10PV mirror. The OO is just so much better in performance, and also is more portable and easier to manage.

I'm not against mass produced dobs, I've just bought a 10" Skywatcher dob with tracking that replaces an older Skwatcher one that I've allways been very pleased with, but my long term plans do include replacing the Skywatcher mirror with an OO 1/10PV one.

John

[Doc]

I actually have the one JohninDerby is talking about and yes the mirror could be better and the Meade LB does need work to bring out the best in it but remember this is 16" of aperture and a mirror that size from a dark site will blow your socks off.

For the money I think the LB is a bargain you will be very hard to find the views it produces within it's price range.

Orion Optics are excellent scopes, hand made to order and the mirrors are to die for but so is the price.

For the normal person who just wants to see DSO's up close I think the Meade LB will feel that space perfectly.

[arad85]

Thanks all... One of the key things for me is figuring out an answer to: how much more would either of these show me more than the C9.25 in moderately LP skies (I reckon 4.25-4.5 mag)?