Decisions...decisions...

[Talyn]

I am getting myself a new 12" scope (cue endless clouds over the South Coast from now on ) and have decided to get either a Meade Lightbridge or a 12" Revelation - the reason for these choices is that the local planetarium sells these and I want to give the owner the custom; apart from anything else that saves me having to wait at home for City Link or the Royal Mail to bring the item.

The problem is, I can't decide which to get. The LB is more expensive but breaks down, is easier to store and transport. The Revelation is a solid tube, so that keeps the crud off the mirror more than the open truss would do, but is heavier although that means it should be easier to set up (just drop the tube onto the mount and away you go, without having to screw poles in, etc).

For you folks who already own each of these scopes what do you think of them? How easy are each easy to store, set up and transport? Would I get a solid tube Revelation into a 4-door, fairly small hatchback (a Citroen C3 in this case)?

I have heard that the Lightbridge requires some modifications in order to be used to its full potential - how true is this and how easy are the mods to make (I am someone who is completely Rubbish at anything practical!)?

Many thanks

[Bigwings]

I have to say that I think you do yourself a great dis service if you rule out the Skywatcher Flexitube kit.

I suggest you have a chat with Steve at FLO about the pros & Cons.

[Talyn]

FLO?

[SteveL]

you know... First Light Optics... FLO... forum sponsor... big banner at the top of each page

[John]

FLO?

First Light Optics - see the link at the top of the page.

I agree that the Skywatcher Flextube is worth considering as well as the Revelation and the Lightbridge. The latter two scopes share many of the same mechanicals and optics as they are made by the same company - Guang Sheng Optical (GSO) in Taiwan.

I've got a Lightbridge 12" myself and I'm very pleased with it. Crud on the mirror is not an issue because i) you have a cover over the mirror and ii) a light shroud around the tube is more or less mandatory to keep stray light out of the light path.

I reckon all dobs need some mods to get them to perform at their best but I'd agree that the Lightbridge needs a few more than others. The Revelation would also need some of these doing as well - notably uprated collimation springs and replacement collimation knobs.

If I was buying again from new I would strongly consider the Revelation as I keep my scope assembled, negating some of the truss tube design advantages.

John

[johninderby]

The optics in both scopes are identical (same factory). The Lightbridge does indeed need mods to be used, although the mods are fairly easy and there's plenty of advice on SGL about them. If it's mainly going to used at home then I'd go for the Revelation as it is easier and quicker to set up and should keep colimation better.

The 12" Skywatcher is also available in a solid tube or the Flextube. The thing I like about the Skywatcher dobs is that the optics are very consistant in quality, they all seem to be excellent. There's a bit more quality variation in the Meade and Revelation optics and I'd like to examine one first before buying. With the Skywatcher's more consistant optics quality you can pretty well guarantee getting a good one so mail order is just fine.

John

[albedo0.39]

Good advice from these posts.. I have also heard from many sources (and you can hunt them all on the inter-web) that the optics from Meade in the larger sizes are really cracking on a £ / performance ratio. I've got an independant report on my scope from a near professional astronomer with 25yrs of experience and it makes for v. interesting reading.

Yes, you are right, the LB does need some tweaking to get it working to max. All information you might ever seek is either here on SGL or on the Yahoo Lightbridge group and nothing to break into a sweat over.

The 12" is a top scope for visual obs but when I saw one parked next to mine recently, I couldn't help thinking how compact they were so I don't think you will have a problem shifting it until you are in your 80's !

[Talyn]

Thank you for your responses so far - and for telling me who/what FLO is! As Homer Simpson might say - d'oh!