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Oh yes....big dobs are for me......

Moonshane

By Moonshane
in The Astro Lounge

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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I went round to my mate's last night to help him decide on the truss tube length for his scope. This is a 22" f5 scope with a 9 foot focal length and house in his roll on roll off obs.

The sight of this thing set up and sat there in the obs was simply breathtaking.

It's a Telekit scope with a Pegasus Mirror and looks a lot like this http://www.astrosystems.biz/images/astrocoyote2.jpg

I can honestly say that it's only ever been these Obsession type dobs with the trusses and black shrouds that get my juices flowing since I first saw one.

His scope is too large for me with no obs but it convinced me that the only scope I'll ever be satisfied with is the biggest I can handle which I believe is an 18" f4.5.

All I need now is to save £2000+ for the mirror :o

I see a lot of saving, selling, begging and additional working over the next 1-2 years.......at least that gives me plenty of time to make the scope. :(

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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Mega scope or what :o

they say size does'nt matter, can only imagine what the views must be like through something so large :)

thanks for sharing Shane :D

no worries Alan - I think they just look so lovely, it's almost a shame to look through it and get it covered in ice.

I'd love one but only if I moved somewhere really dark! So much LP and mist here sometimes when I put a 32mm EP in my 12" it can almost look like twilight. :)

Does your mate live near Manchester?

Tony.

I agree with you about this and have just bought a 26mm Nagler to replace my 35mm Panoptic for this reason. he lives a bit further out but also travels too and will take this with him - eg he's going to Kelling.

it's really a case of increasing the magnification / reducing the exit pupil to a point where contrast kicks in I suppose.

Mmmmmmm22" Dob.:D

That's my next and last scope......One day

Regards Steve

oh yeah!:(

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Ben Ritchie

Ben Ritchie

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dreamy!

The UK *really* sucks after that :o clear, dark skies and great seeing. There was a 25" f/5 - I think - out as well, I didn't get to try it, but I reckon 18" f/5 or 20" f/4.5 or so is a decent maximum, don't like stepladders in the pitch dark.

There was a TEC 160FL out on display too, mentally spent my lottery winnings several times over that party...

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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The UK *really* sucks after that :( clear, dark skies and great seeing. There was a 25" f/5 - I think - out as well, I didn't get to try it, but I reckon 18" f/5 or 20" f/4.5 or so is a decent maximum, don't like stepladders in the pitch dark.

There was a TEC 160FL out on display too, mentally spent my lottery winnings several times over that party...

wow what a superb time you must have had. I agree that the 18-20 (see I'm already stretching the boundaries :o) is about the max for portability. if I had to change my car for a scope then I've gone too far.

for me an 18" f4.5 is ideal with an EQ platform it means I can remain on terra firma.

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4lefts

4lefts

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wowzer. and here's me thinking about whether the 10" skyliner is too crazy for my first scope, or whether i should just get an 8". damn. silly question - how do you get to the ep? step ladder? doesn't moving it around get old really fast?

Is that a wolf near that dob?

that's the north american scopehound. it hunts in packs, preying on scopes left unattended. a pack of ten dogs can strip a 16" inch scope to the mount in under 6 minutes.

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Ben Ritchie

Ben Ritchie

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wow what a superb time you must have had. I agree that the 18-20 (see I'm already stretching the boundaries :o) is about the max for portability. if I had to change my car for a scope then I've gone too far.

for me an 18" f4.5 is ideal with an EQ platform it means I can remain on terra firma.

One of the US dark-sky parties should be up on the wishlist of any UK astronomer, amazing conditions and equally amazing kit on display. Still think the best really big Dob is someone else's though, wouldn't like to get that 25" setup...!

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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yep, a lot of people use scopes so high you need a step ladder but for the reasons you mention, this is not for me and hence I won't go about about a 2m focal length.

I think a lot of the big scope owners tend to let the sits come to them, letting targets drift through the view - there's so many galaxies etc to see that you can really look all night without moving too much.

as for your own choice, I'd say a 10-12" dob is a great starter scope if you can handle the size. you will certainly have a long term keeper.

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G4YVM

G4YVM

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I made a 16" Dob and am very pleased with it. I used Meade mirrors.

The only caveat I would add is that it is heavy and these big Dobs are, er, BIG. Unless you can house them they are a blighter. I couldn't handle a 22" even though I'm sure it'd be pretty cool.

If I were you I'd go ahead and build a practice 12" first!!

David

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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cheers David

good advice. I have some optics for an 8.5" f8 scope which I am going to make into a truss dob along these lines so I am following your advice too. this will allow me to get a good idea of how to put one together.

I have a 12" dob currently.

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G4YVM

G4YVM

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Yes the truss dob is what I made, after Kriege and Berry. They are actually very simple to make and set up, when you've done it once!

I think if I was going to make a 22" I'd definitely make a practice one first - the materials get so costly as the sizes increase and it's very easy to ruin good material (apparently, not that I did it of course, ahem!)

I'd love to make a second one, actually a smaller pair for bino viewing. That's pretty cool viewing apparently, a bit like a spacewalk so I am told.

D

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John

John

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I had a peek though a 20" dob at the SGL5 star party. I viewed M51 and M13 and the view was truly astounding :o

But there is no way on earth I could have something like that at home so I'll have to be content to own more modest size instruments.

The problem is that views like that kind of haunt you for a long time afterwards. If there is a large aperture instrument at SGL6, I'll definately be in the line to look though it if the owner is willing :(

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