I was looking into buying a 16" Starfinder EQ. How are the optics and tracking?
Thanks,
Justin
Thanks,
Justin
Has anyone tried???
Started by Justin Parish, 05/27/2003 12:08AM
Posted 05/27/2003 12:08AM
Opening Post
Posted 05/27/2003 06:13AM
#1
I have a friend that has a dob 16". He's happy with it. Keep in mind that it is a budget scope, more of a "project" in some people's view. Some may be happy with the scope out of the box, but it seems most people I know that have one eventually do at least *some* mods to it, if not major ones. I have a Meade 16" dob and was considering getting a truss assembly built for it, but I found a great deal on a used 20", so I never got around to it.
I've personally only heard of one that had bad optics. From what I've read I get the impression that the primary is usually pretty decent. I've gotten to do a little observing with a couple examples of them and found it to give nice bright images, provided collimation is half way decent.
There is a yahoo group for this scope:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Starfinder16
I bought my Meade 16" dob back in 1996 and never got around to assembling it (our club had a 20" Obsession). I also have a used EQ mount for it. I'm gonna sell the scope and mount when I get around to it, but I'd rather do it locally. I really don't want to ship it - it is BIG! ( I live in Missouri).
K. Michael M.
I've personally only heard of one that had bad optics. From what I've read I get the impression that the primary is usually pretty decent. I've gotten to do a little observing with a couple examples of them and found it to give nice bright images, provided collimation is half way decent.
There is a yahoo group for this scope:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Starfinder16
I bought my Meade 16" dob back in 1996 and never got around to assembling it (our club had a 20" Obsession). I also have a used EQ mount for it. I'm gonna sell the scope and mount when I get around to it, but I'd rather do it locally. I really don't want to ship it - it is BIG! ( I live in Missouri).
K. Michael M.
Posted 05/27/2003 12:38PM
#2
Justin:
I had one for about 6 months... The views are superb and the mount is great, but the scope is HUGE!!! Total weight probably approaches 300 pounds. That's why I got rid of mine. If you have a permanent spot for it, I don't think you'll do better for the price, but if you need to move it (at ALL!), get something else. I kept mine in my garage and rolled it out to view, but was very restricted by houses, etc. To move it up three steps into my back patio, I would have to remove the tube, disassemble the mount, carry the stuff up, and re-assemble everything. This took about 45 minutes (I only did it once!). For planetary work, you'd want to build an off-axis mask, but for DSOs it is superb! I don't think I've seen better views of M13 anywhere.
Good luck! Let us know what you do...
Pat
I had one for about 6 months... The views are superb and the mount is great, but the scope is HUGE!!! Total weight probably approaches 300 pounds. That's why I got rid of mine. If you have a permanent spot for it, I don't think you'll do better for the price, but if you need to move it (at ALL!), get something else. I kept mine in my garage and rolled it out to view, but was very restricted by houses, etc. To move it up three steps into my back patio, I would have to remove the tube, disassemble the mount, carry the stuff up, and re-assemble everything. This took about 45 minutes (I only did it once!). For planetary work, you'd want to build an off-axis mask, but for DSOs it is superb! I don't think I've seen better views of M13 anywhere.
Good luck! Let us know what you do...
Pat
Funding Member
