which Filters?

[totalamateur]

Not really, I'm over 1500 km away. I'm in the middle of the Atlantic, in Azores islands, part of Portugal (2 hour flight from Lisbon, 4 from New York, with nothing in between ). But still a 30"+ would be worth the trip!

Wow!,

I bet the Azores must be perfect for viewing with little light polution.

Have you got room for a 50" in your garden?

[pvaz]

LOL, my wife would kill me... and a jury would probably consider it legitimate once she showed them the invoice of the scope and what I did with her garden...

[totalamateur]

wow Ray,

if only....I reckon most of us are saying.

I actually completely agree with you about living life to the full. my dad (and mum more recently) died young - my dad at 51. this completely changed my outlook and I try and cram as much as possible into my life now and if I can afford it I get it.

hopefully you've got a few more years in you yet of course!!

do consider used eyepieces as especially with the really top quality ones, people really do look after them. whilst I can see that money is not tight for you, it does make sense.

take care mate and enjoy the gear you have for now. I agree your site and scope make a fab initial set up!!

When I was younger, I got caught up in the rat race.

I behaved like a rat from day to day, making sure there was food on the table and enough put away in the storeroom for a rainy day.

Then one day, I woke up and said to myself "Where have all those years gone".

It was then that I decided that life is too short to work myself into the grave.

Retirement was the answer, but what shall I do with my time ??????

I know, I'll get a project together that will keep me busy.

Little did I know that I would I turn into an astro nut.

[totalamateur]

LOL, my wife would kill me... and a jury would probably consider it legitimate once she showed them the invoice of the scope and what I did with her garden...

My wife has already seen the invoices from the house in spain, the restuerant in Spain, the telescope & equipement in Spain, and I think that I will get my marching orders to join them in Spain.

[acey]

From 127mm to 30" or even 50" - that really has to be the biggest aperture jump in history. Do remember to take into account that to use a scope like that you're going to be standing at the top of a ladder in (hopefully) total darkness. And ladders don't track. I'm promising myself that I'll upgrade from my 12" before I'm too old to handle it but don't reckon on ever going beyond 18", which will let me keep both feet safely on the ground.

Hey, we started with filters and now we're onto observatories. You really don't do things by halves!

[pvaz]

I'm afraid E-ELT is going to win that one: http://stargazerslounge.com/space-news/103013-42m-telescope.html (from 8.4m to 42m)

[LukeSkywatcher]

From 127mm to 30" or even 50" - that really has to be the biggest aperture jump in history.

A couple of weeks after i bought my 90EQ, i put in an offer into NASA to take Hubble off their hands when they retire it.

I'm still waiting to hear back from them on my offer.

Seriously though................can ANYONE here say that they have the space available, pure dark skies and the cash to ever think about or even buy a 30-59" scope?.

Surely for a scope like that to be of use you would also need to own a mountain somewhere in the world that allows you to observe from above the clouds.

Is it not a case of OVERKILL?

I think 12-16" is FINE for backgarden observing (depending on there you live).

P.S.~~~A 50" DOB is as useless for astro imaging as a 5" DOB (if not even MORE useless).

[pvaz]

I know 2 people that could do it. They have a few cars each one costing more then the 50" and backyards large enough to use it, they're just not into astronomy.

However the logistics on even the 30" are pretty demanding, it weight's 175kg and is over 3.5m high.

Anyway now this is a marketing strategy (very effective and inexpensive) to get people to know Orion as the 30" is still in prototype and the others are just concepts.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I know of one guy here in Ireland (Trevor L) who has (i THINK) a 20" Obsession DOB. His partner in crime when imaging throught it is Frank Ryan Jnr.

They make a great team.

[totalamateur]

From 127mm to 30" or even 50" - that really has to be the biggest aperture jump in history. Do remember to take into account that to use a scope like that you're going to be standing at the top of a ladder in (hopefully) total darkness. And ladders don't track. I'm promising myself that I'll upgrade from my 12" before I'm too old to handle it but don't reckon on ever going beyond 18", which will let me keep both feet safely on the ground.

Hey, we started with filters and now we're onto observatories. You really don't do things by halves!

Yes, the thread subject has changed. I will have to go through all the previous postings on this thread, and find out what culprit is responsible for all the time we've been disscussing a 50" scope, planning permission, observatory's, eyepieces, ladders, mountains, spain, Azores, resteurants, fibre optics, TV screens, gardens, wives, and god knows what else. Hope it wasn't me

I never have done things by halves. If their is something to be acchieved, then I considder myself the man to do it.

However, The 50" is still only a possibility at the moment, as I need to find out the eventual cost of the whole project. Experience tells me that whatever the total cost works out at, I will need to put annother 20% aside for expenditure overuns, because projects in my case, always end up going overbudget.

My resteurant in Spain ended up 50% over budget because I would not settle for anything less than the best. I am very happy with it but it will take a lot longer to get my money back before I start to make a proffit.

It's interesting that you say I'll need a ladder. In this day and age, do they not have a platform that will automatically move with the scope whilst it is tracking?. I didn't think about that.

Annother thing I must check out. (not the ladder) my legs couldn't take it. (F*** that)

Just had a thought. Would it be possible to connect long fibre optics to the eyepiece so that it can be viewed from ground level?, or connected through cables to a large screen?

Where there'e a will, there's always a way, as my mother used to say.

[totalamateur]

I know of one guy here in Ireland (Trevor L) who has (i THINK) a 20" Obsession DOB. His partner in crime when imaging throught it is Frank Ryan Jnr.

They make a great team.

Hi Paul,

With the way the weather in Ireland is for much of the time, it's a miracle that they even get decent images, although I have been over there (Dublin, Athlone, Sligo) in the summer months, when the skies were clearer. 20" is still a good size though.

In Spain, they get 300 days clear weather per year, and the skies in the not so built up areas are amazing, although I must admit that I am a tad envious of Paulo who lives in the Azores where I would imagine the skies are even better than Spanish ones.

[totalamateur]

I'm afraid E-ELT is going to win that one: http://stargazerslounge.com/space-news/103013-42m-telescope.html (from 8.4m to 42m)

Bill Gates could have afforded this one and sited it in his garden.

Only one Billion Dollars.

[John]

It's quite possible to set large scopes up with ccd's installed insead of eyepieces and then you control the scopes and view the images on computers or even stream the live images onto the internet. As you say it's all possible if you have enough money, time and know how to throw into the project.

I met someone a few weeks ago who had tried something similar - invested loads in an observatory, a big scope, loads of technical equipment to capture and stream live video and had plans for a large dobsonian scope to complement the setup.

The problem he found was i) he soon found his limited knowlege of astronomy became a drag on the project and ii) he lacked the personal time to devote to the setup and operation of the equipment. At the moment the whole thing is in mothballs as he has to concentrate on other business ventures. He still hopes to move things on but at the time of typing this the observatory / scope has not been used for over a year.

I guess funding is only one factor in making something like this happen.

[totalamateur]

00

[totalamateur]

It's quite possible to set large scopes up with ccd's installed insead of eyepieces and then you control the scopes and view the images on computers or even stream the live images onto the internet. As you say it's all possible if you have enough money, time and know how to throw into the project.

I met someone a few weeks ago who had tried something similar - invested loads in an observatory, a big scope, loads of technical equipment to capture and stream live video and had plans for a large dobsonian scope to complement the setup.

The problem he found was i) he soon found his limited knowlege of astronomy became a drag on the project and ii) he lacked the personal time to devote to the setup and operation of the equipment. At the moment the whole thing is in mothballs as he has to concentrate on other business ventures. He still hopes to move things on but at the time of typing this the observatory / scope has not been used for over a year.

I guess funding is only one factor in making something like this happen.

Hi John,

Thats a really sad story and it highlights the problem of entering into a project with eyes wide shut. It's quite frightening really.

I hope he manages to get the project moving again soon.

Yes, I suppose that you can put me in the same catagory as he.

I agree that my knowlege in this particular field is limited, (actually, thats an understatement) although my working background has been varied, challenging & interesting.

I definately don't have endless funds that I can throw into a project like this one, but rest assured, I will not enter into anything that I cannot complete. I will be doing a lot of homework and planning

before making any decissions on whether to procede with the project or not.

It is my hope that It will attract interest from fellow amature astronomers who may wish to be involved in the project. I have a house which can accomodate their stay if they would like to be involved.

[totalamateur]

No problem Ray, sounds like you "have a cunning plan"

As for crazy, as Captain Blackadder said in the WW1 trenches ".... who would have noticed another madman round here ?"

For what it's worth the Tele Vue Ethos and the Pentax XW (particulary the 10mm) are probably the best eyepieces I've ever used (and goodness knows I've tried a few ) and maintain that excellence in a wide range of scope types.

Hi John,

I do hope i'm not quite as crazy as Blackadder.

His plans alway's seemed to fail.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Sounds like your not too happy about my proposed purchase.

The sarcasm dosen't really help, so if you really don't have anything constructive to add, why bother?

The only overkill that is occuring here, is attempting to overkill some ones dream.

This is a relatively small project compared to many others that I have brought to frutition in the past.

Also, Spain is virtualy cloudless for much of the year.

As for seriously though..................Yes, I have the cash.

Sorry i spoke.

Its not my fault if you cant take jovial comments in the manner/context that they were meant to be taken in or deal with sarcasm. Thats something you are going to have to learn to deal with in the future.

Best of luck to you and your clear Spanish skies and your purchase.

[totalamateur]

I know 2 people that could do it. They have a few cars each one costing more then the 50" and backyards large enough to use it, they're just not into astronomy.

However the logistics on even the 30" are pretty demanding, it weight's 175kg and is over 3.5m high.

Anyway now this is a marketing strategy (very effective and inexpensive) to get people to know Orion as the 30" is still in prototype and the others are just concepts.

How long do you think it will be (if ever) before they are in production?

[pvaz]

No idea really. The 30" probably this year, but they ware announced in January and I read there's only one prototype made so far.

There's a guy in Germany who haves the largest existing dob I read about (42"):

http://www.cruxis.com/scope/scope1070.htm

Maybe he'll make another given the right offer.

[John]

I don't know about the likelyhood of the big Orion's coming to market anytime soon but there are UK alternatives. David Lukehurst builds excellent scopes (I had the great pleasure of a look though a 20" Lukehurst at the SGL Star Party a couple of weeks ago). This is his web site:

David Lukehurst - Large Portable Dobsonian Dobson Dobsons Telescopes - Index

Also the UK-based Orion Optics now list a 20" dob:

Dobsonion OD500

These things are built to order though so expect a wait of months from order to delivery.

[John]

Here is some information that you might find interesting on one of the largest amateur owned scopes in the world - a 42" dobsonian:

Dr. Erhard Hänssgen's 42 inch (107 cm) Dobsonian Telescope

Not an "off the shelf" item of course !

[totalamateur]

Thanks Paulo & John for the links, very interesting.

What an amazing accievement that Erhard built this scope himself.

I would never dream of a portable scope of that size. It seems that being portable brings up it's own set of problems, so if anything, it's taught me that In situ is the way to go.

The David Lukehurst site was interesting. Under £10,000 for the 24" Delux model with 1/10 wave optics. That in itself is a massive achievement. I will certainly have a chat with him to ask about the possibility a larger scope.

The thing that i am concerned about is that these large Dobs seem to have no drive mechanism. Is that usual on Dobs. For me, It would be important to have acurate tracking for long exposures. Do they offer this with the Dobs?

As for having to pre-order a large scope. I suppose that means that I can't pop into Argos and get one off the shelf? Damn it

[totalamateur]

[John]

.... although i must tell you that my wife is a well respected mental health therapist who states that your comments are indicative of a person who holds underlying resentment....

There is no need for that sort of comment - SGL is not a "point scoring" type place.

My suggestion would be to start some new threads on the forum asking about other aspects of your project and your objectives. This thread has now gone way off the original topic.

[pvaz]

Luke does have a point when he says a scope that size brings a hole new set of problems. I certainly don't see myself going past 18" otherwise I couldn't probably handle it myself and I'm reasonably fit in my late 20's. Even an 18" causes some problems. The thing I love more about my current setup is the speed, I can look out the window and be observing 1/2 minutes later.

Anyway, if you have the money and really want to do it I don't see why not. When I say I wouldn't do it, it has to do with the way I see astronomy in my life. I have a full time stressful job, a business to run, and to me astronomy needs to be something practical and relaxing. Maybe when I retire, if I have the means and will it can happen but it's certainly not something I want, and can afford, at this time as I'm starting construction on a house and planing to have a couple of kids.

As to long exposures dobs aren't meant for that. For imaging you need a completely different setup. Basically the scope needs to be on an equatorial mount so it will compensate field rotation. A big dob excel on visual work.