Big Dobs Are Addictive

[Coco]

Im developing a worrying curiosity for owning a Big Dob...

Since spending a few nights just peering through my Schmid CT at the wonders above I've wanted to see more

I'm hoping it passes before I start getting giddy

...

Anyone no of a cure ?

Guy...

[moocher]

The biggest scope i`ve owned was a Meade 16" LB. Optically it was fantastic but the base let it down big time!!!! You really can`t beat a big dob but to make the most of it you really do need dark skies....

Alan:)

[Dave]

Best cure for that is to get one.

It'll either be the best thing that you ever did.

(This will of course depend a lot on your skies).

If not, you sell it on and your aperture fever is gone for good...Maybe!

[arad85]

I'm with the above... You can get a 12" Revelation dob for £500 brand new. They're not bad either - see my review of one - follow the link in my sig

[russ]

As with all kit, if you buy it secondhand, chances are you'll sell it for more or less the same price. So you get to try things out for free or near to.

Secondhand 12" dobs go for £200-300 depending on make. Last year i missed out on two Revelation 12" dobs for around the £200 mark. But i picked up a Meade 12.5" for £250. I had it for 6 months, loved it to bits, best views ever from the backgarden and then the railway switched on some new lights and my sky vanished at a flick of switch. So i sold the 12.5" for £250. It hadn't cost me a single penny to own. So getting a secondhand one maybe a good way to see if its what you really want and perhaps nothing lost if you don't want it.

I miss the 12.5" greatly on the nights when the lights remain off. A big dob is the best visual bang for your buck you can get.

[Peter Drew]

I'm fortunate to have a XT8 Dob and self built 17" and 30" Dobs. The 8" gets used most often, the 17" occasionally and the 30" is currently "mothballed" waiting a rebuild as an equatorial. So don't get carried away with aperture, as often quoted, "the best scope is the one you use most".

[tinvek]

i got a 10"dob about 6 weeks ago and it's one of the best purchases i've ever made. having said that this morning there was thin high cloud so i grabed the c80 ed on the az3* just because it hadn't been used since the dob arrived and apart from needing smaller eyepieces for the same mag, the views of saturn, mars and the moon were still pretty damm good. 10" is just about the limit i'd think if you intend to move it much without removing the OTA from the base. having said that depending on manufacturer, they can be a real doddle to split and reassemble but it may be worth keeping in mind and checking if it's a tool free operation

* i must get round to doing a "family photo" of my scopes so i can put the names i use for them to them as it's so much easier than typing these descriptions

[neilf]

hehe whats a dob ?

[tinvek]

hehe whats a dob ?

lol, actually there is one scope called bod but it's a long story and as i said i'll have to do the family photo for it to make sense (maybe later today)

at least i didn't make the same mistake someone else did and said i had been looking through a dog