First light! 11/7/06

[Kain]

After waiting around 3 weeks..it's finally here the Revelation 10" Dob!! Firstly light tonight..and a few problems..

Having lugged the thing down the stairs and set it all up outside, which really wern't too bad, I hit a snag! It was way too short!! It's killed my back tonight bending over to look though the EP! and the Finderscope..well I gave up!! I'm going to see if I can make a box for the dob to sit on, so I can use it without bending..it's not really a problem, as it can be fixed!

Anyway having let the mirrors cool down, I pointing it at Jupiter...OMG!!! I see why they call it stripy!! I was totally shocked!! The moons looked ace, I swear Ganymede looked more like a tiny disc! I could see 7 points of light around Jupiter, I would guess 3 are stars??

I spent hour or so just staring at Jupiter in awe..AMAZING!!!

Next up was M13..this is where I hit a snag! the finder is already awkward..there not red dot like on the Tasco..so I was finding it really hard to get my bearings, as it was showing up tonnes of stars lol!! After abit of swearing I finally found it lol..it was worth it! Hundreds of stars resolved..it was totally brilliant!! by this time I had an audience with the nighbours..my next door neighbour thought it was a mortar launcher lol.

Guess what...I COULDN'T FIND M57!!! I was so disappointed, I was expecting it to jump out at me..I couldn't see it at all!.. I could however be looking in the wrong place..the FOV was just full of stars!! Its very confusing!!

M29 looked really good! but there was something abut odd around it to the south..there was like a faintish E like shape..could this have been NGC 6888?? Anyway not having a clue what it was I carried on! I found NGC 7000 easy with this scope, still not alot to look at, but I have read theres not alot to see anyway lol.

From there to Ursa Major I manged to see M97 and M108 quite easy, though M109 was really hard to see, it was just about visible. M108 looked ace! although it's almost edge on!

I went back to see if I could see the Ring, but I still could find it, just a mass of blumming stars!!!

So by this time my back was killing so I though I would have a look at the moon and call it a night tonight as I need to be up early. The moon was utterly amazing! I couldn't believe it! I had to use the filter Arthur gave me as it was hurting my eyes it was so bright. Theres a picture of the moon on the Lunar forum I taken.

All in all it's a fantastic scope, it needs a few personal adjustments to suit my hight (6'5) I had a few suggestions of chopping my legs off at the knees, but I will think I shall pass on that! I'm thinking of making a box for it to stand on.

I think come winter, this scope will really show it's power!!

Kain

[geppetto]

Congrats on getting a clear night for your new scope 8)

Sounds like your happy with it and it performed well.

Yep, build a box or something to stand it on, one of the

first things I did with mine and its now much more comfortable.

[GordonCopestake]

Great report Kain! Glad you enjoyed your first light! Big difference between a tasco and a "real" scope isn't there! The idea about the box is a good one, or if you are only looking at one object all night get a chair that adjusts up and down and sit all night! You might also like a right angled finder rather than a straight one. You can buy red dot finders for very cheap if you prefer them. Or get a telrad which are fantastic.

[Kain]

I think finder wise, it's just something totally different to what I'm used to, so I will giver it a few more goes before I change it. I was pretty much the same when I got the Tasco

I still can't get over seeing M13..all those stars!! though the tasco you could just about make out a few stars around the edge, the rest was a smudge!!

Unbelievable!

Kain

[Ambermile]

I pointing it at Jupiter...OMG!!!

Well, you were warned

Nice report.

Arthur

[russ]

Great report Kain. And a good haul of Messiers for your first night out.

Stick with the finder if you can, I find the Revelation finder quite good. You just need to adapt from the red dot. An optical finder really does come into its own when trying to star hop from faint stars that just wouldn't be possible with a red dot.

I had first light last night with my Revelation 8 and M13 was stunning in that, i only imagine how good it must have been in the 10 :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

Enjoy your new scope

Russ

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Great report, congratulations on your new toy.

What you need is the Mk.II milkcrate to put the Dob. on. Lightweight, rotproof and strong. Oh, and cheap, if you get my drift. Some on here prefer beer crates as you can buy them full and the conversion into an empty crate is a nice kind of challenge.

Hope you get more dark soon.

Captain Chaos

[Andrew]

Great report Kain.

Can't wait to hear more about the detail brought out by the revelation compared to the Tasco.

[Astroman]

Once again, I agree with CC about the milk crate. Not only are they cheap, they're versatile. You automatically get three different heights for seating. Great suggestion.

[MartinB]

nice report once again Kain. R angled finders are great but best in combination with red dot or telrad. It's hard work initially lining up the scope with a right angled finder.