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Wahooooo !!!

Talitha

By Talitha
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Talitha

Talitha

Posted
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This afternoon (Wed, 7 July), i received an email with great news.. my 16" Light Bridge will be here on Friday! :)

For the last ten years, i've been using an 8"SCT and had been thinking about getting a Dob for about a year, but couldn't decide what size. Eventually i thought 'what the heck', why not just take the plunge and double my aperture? :eek: I have a few general questions, if you don't mind.

Is it ok to store Dobs on an angle? When there's no snow on the ground, i observe from my 'Starpad', a 35'x35' area on the eastern 1/2 of my rural 40 acres (1/4 mile square). It has an 8'x10' windbreak and a 5'x10' shed (see image) which will store the fully assembled LB, but probably not in an upright position due to the sloping roof height . I'm 5'4" and can stand upright near the doorway, but need to stoop as i move towards the back.

Second question... can Dobs be stored outside in the winter where temps drop down to -26C at night? The Starpad's inaccessible when there's snow on the ground, so in the winter i observe from the house. My front door is wide enough to fit the scope through, but i'd rather not keep it in the house for a few reasons.

The woodstove creates an unavoidable amount of fine ash dust, and there's also the problem of condensation when bringing things in from the cold. To me it seems logical that the mirror would stay much 'healthier' if kept outside rather than exposing it to the dust and condensation of the living room. There's a weatherproof shed outside which is very big, and would easily store the LB. All i'd need to do is wheel it out of the shed onto the patio, and set up my wintertime portable windbreak panels.

Well that's about it for now, thanks for reading. :p

Hopefully i'll be able to get the LB assembled and portable pretty fast.

And please forgive the shouting, but..... WHOOPEEEEEE !!!! ;):(

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yeti monster

yeti monster

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Hi Carol, congrtulations on your "step-up", I look forward to a first light (as I'm sure you do). Whilst not having any experience re: truss jobs, I'm assuming that it would be stowed in the collapsed position, and as such not be putting undue strain on the frame trusses, so I'd be inclined to store it as you suggest, covered over, naturally, to keep the creepies out.

(pictures, no doubt, will be appearing very soon).

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MarkF

MarkF

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Carol,

Congrats on the new scope can't wait for the first light report, unable to offer advice on storage though, but anything has got to be better than a dusty environment surely?

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MickyWay

MickyWay

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Hi Talitha,

Does this mean your drawings will be twice the size now?

As far as storage outside is concerned, moisture is the killer. Keep her dry and you

shouldn't have a problem. Some people use a low output heater to keep the temperature up, but heaters can cause problems of their own. If it were me, I'd

keep it as dry as possible, maybe use a good cover (Telegizmo?), and leave it where it belongs, outside.

Good Luck......................

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TheThing

TheThing

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Wow, it must be awful living where you do! (I'm sure I've said that before!)

Congrats on your purchase. I wonder how much more detail you'll pick out with that monster?!?

With all that space, maybe you should think of a obsy?

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Doc

Doc

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As you know Carol I have one of these beasties and with your dark skies I envy you so much, you will see dso's like you have never seen them before and the moon will make you go weak at the knees.

As for storing it, I would imagine it will be fine stored at an angle, I cannot see no reason why not, cannot really answer your question about storing at -26°c as we never get those temps but once again I can't see a problem, if it's covered and in a shed should be OK.

Have fun and do write lots of reports.

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Wobbly Bob

Wobbly Bob

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Thats great news Carol, I bet you cant wait to get your hands on the big beasty.

I leave my 10" dob out in the shed all year round with no major probs. I do cover every opening, mainly to keep the spiders out :), Also we do not have such low winter temps here in the UK. The only thing that I could think of mirror wise would be thermal SHOCK, I am sure you will not be taking the mirror indoors from sub zero temps.

Was just thinking about the BIG scopes ontop of mountain tops, they seem to cope OK. Moisture would be my main concern to, not to sure how one prevents this economically though.

One day to go ;) looking forward to your jaw dropping firstlight report.

Bob

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barkis

barkis

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Nice that you got around to treating yourself Carol. That light bucket will do a lot to help your eyes whilst producing your superb sketches of some of the dimmer targets.

As far as storing the LB. I'm certain it is robust enough to store at any attitude you care to, and it will be fine.

Congratulations, you've earned that big scope, and I'm sure we will all benefit from the work you accomplish with it.

Best Wishes.

Ron.;)

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DarkerSky

DarkerSky

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Oh wow Carol....that's brilliant news ;)

You'll have the time of your life with it...everything will be new again - it'll be fantastic.

I can't see a problem with it being stored at an angle. You'll have to collimate of course when you observe as I'd imagine that the weight of the mirror under gravity will shift over a period of time stored at that angle - but with these big-un's you do have to fine tune collimation on every run, so Im sure it wont be a problem.

Your other option is to disassemble it for storage. The secondary does sit nicely and securely on top of the primary bucket without the trusses. You could then store it, covered over, in a vertical position.

Assembly is 10-15 mins - and is worth popping one of the hard edged polystyrene blocks (part of the packaging when the scope get delivered) underneath the bottom edge of the primary to hold it at an angle. That way it is easy to secure the secondary to the truss poles.

Btw, anything over a 75 degree angle and you'll likely need some low steps or a box to stand on to get to the EP. I'm 5'6" and need to stand on something to get to the EP when its pointing towards the zenith

Cant wait to see some of your sketches from it :)

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Talitha

Talitha

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Thanks everyone, this is going to be so much fun! :p I'm not much on writing observing reports anymore, but the LB might coax a few out of me. I'll ask Graham for some thoughts on whether or not i should use the LB for my articles, too. Most Amateurs don't use large aperture and TBH, i'd much rather present something every month that the Readers can identify with, know what i mean? The sketches will definitely be added to my album here, though. ;)

Colin, thanks for the advice on keeping it dry. The big shed by the house is up off the ground, is well ventilated, and gets direct sunlight in the winter. Also, the air here in the winter is fairly dry compared to the UK, so i don't think dampness would be an issue until the snowpack begins to melt and temps warm up. In any case, i can pop out there a few times a day to check things and run a line to it for a fan/heater if needed. Not too sure if my sketches will be twice as big, but i'm really looking forward to harvesting more photons. :eek:

Hugh, it'd be great to have an obsy but on average, the Starpad sits empty from mid-late November until mid-April or when the ground's totally thawed and ok to drive on again. If someone were to give me one free of charge, i'd take it in less than a heartbeat but TBH i can't validate the cost of having one. And yep, it's a real pain living out here in the boonies.. methinks i'll suffer through it, though. :p

Mick, seeing Luna throught the 8"SCT makes me go weak at the knees, i honestly can't imagine the views through the 16". BTW, the LB reports in the Observing zone were the biggest influence on my decision to get one... many thanks. ;)

Phill, i've got plenty of firewood... a few gallons of Moscato d'Asti would do nicely, though. :p

Bob, thanks for your re-assurance of keeping the LB in the shed. TBH though, it would encounter more spiders in the house... every load of firewood brings little surprises with it, and they all wake up or hatch, thinking it's suddenly springtime. Quite odd to see a LadyBug flying around when it's -23C outside. :p

Regarding the thermal shock issue, the cool-down and warm-up is very gradual. I've been moving the 8"SCT from a 20C living room to a -12C deck (and vice-versa) for over 10 years and nothing's ever happened to the mirror or the corrector plate.. eyepieces, either.

Karlo, the LB's big, but my Bears are bigger.... i just hope Yogi doesn't see it and think it's a super-sized trash can he can raid. :)

Seb, thanks for your input, all these hints are going to help me hit the sky running. As i said to Mick, the observing reports are what sold me on the LB, and it'll take some getting used to, but i'm really looking forward to it. :(

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