Posts Made By: david elosser

I don't recommend rushing out and buying a $290 eyepiece for a $99 finderscope, but if you happen to already have a 13mm Nagler that eyepiece gives you a fantastic 15x with a 5º tfov. Some people use these for daytime spotting work. You can use a 2.5x Powermate to get powers over 50x. (A barlow won't focus.)

David E

Hi Dave,
I bought my 8" Dobsonian a few months ago and these inexpensive scope systems are really fun to use. I had mine up to 400x on Saturn about a week ago. The ring structure looked like it was drawn with a fine-line pen.

For counterbalance, I bought four sets of flat square magnets from the hardware store and lined them with felt. I think these work well with an 8" Dob, I can move them around easily and the felt won't damage the finish. The heaviest eyepiece I use is a 2" 28mm Meade SWA and I can balance it with the magnets. At zenith, I slide the magnets opposite the focuser side for counterbalance.

My back isn't strong enough anymore to carry out even an 8" dob so I keep it assembled in the storeroom and carry it out with a handtruck. I bought one of those $20 ones at Tractor Supply.

In addition to my 8" Dob, I also have an assortment of refractors 4" and smaller. I really don't have a "primary" scope since I use them all rather equally. It depends on what type of targets I want to observe as well as sky conditions. I usually don't pull out my Dob unless I have a good, clean steady sky. Since all my scopes are "grab and go," I sometimes pull out more than one.

David E

Save that one for Valentine's Day!
]David E

Dave,
If you already have an 8" Dob (I have one too, just like yours), I would actually vote for a short tube refractor, maybe in the 80mm class. There are many good brands to choose from, Orion, William Optics, Astro Tech, Stellarvue Nighthawk, etc and you can find one to fit your price budget. I keep my 80mm Nighthawk set up on a good photo tripod in a corner of my room, ready to set up in a minute. It makes an excellent compliment to my 8" Dobsonian and it even gives me some satisfactory views of the planets or the Moon when I don't have time for my Dob to cool down.

David E

Hi Kay,
If you are looking for a telescope to hunt down dimmer deep space objects, I recommend at least a 4" increase in aperture. For lunar/planetary, an 8" will give you a noticeable increase in resolution and image scale, assuming the optics are at least as good as what you started with. Bear in mind that the larger the scope, the longer it takes to cool down in winter, although cooling fans help you out with this problem.

A lot of people like astronomical binoculars because they have brighter and sharper images than a telescope of the same aperture viewed through a single eyepiece. This is called "binocular summation factor," i.e., two eyes are better than one. So a good pair of 85mm binoculars will have about the same resolution and image brightness as a 100mm telescope of the same optical quality. It is important, of course, to have your binoculars mounted on a good sturdy mount of some kind to receive this benefit.
David E

Kay,
I like Turn Left At Orion. It's like Astronomy 101. It has 100+ targets that are easy star-hops, many of which can be viewed from a light-polluted area or through binoculars. I like it because it gives black and white sketches of the targets rather than fancy color photos that won't look anything like the view through the eyepiece, making it easier to know what to expect. Some detailed but brief descriptions accompany each target, arranged by season.

For "Astronomy 201," get Sue French's book, Celestial Sampler. A columnist for Sky and Telescope magazine, six years of her columns "Small Scope Sampler" are in this book, arranged by month. It's a terrific book from a professional observer.

Keeping a simple observing log is a great way to learn. You can be detailed if you like, showing equipment, viewing conditions, eyepieces used etc, or just simply list what you saw that night. My first "log book" was a Messier catalog list printed from SEDS: http://www.seds.org/messier/Messier.html
When I saw one, I just circled and dated it. (I still have a few to go!) Writing stuff down for me always makes it easier to learn.

David E

Joe,
IMHO I think you did fine. Meade has a long track record with these ETX's. I use to have an LXD55 with Autostar. It's the only GOTO mount I've ever used so I don't know how it stacks up against the others, but I enjoyed it and it was my workhorse for years.

David E

Charles, I don't know how this would compare with UHC coatings, but I have a pair coated with Crizal. That works just as advertised. I get a very clean, bright image with no ghosts or reflections from the eye glasses.

David E

Congratulations Darrell! It's nice to know that your 12" Dob will be collecting starlight instead of ashes and dust.
When you get your new base made how about some pictures? I have the 8" version and its base works very well. However, I could see where the extra weight of a 12" tube might be a problem if they kept the design the same. I think the optics are pretty good for this money. I had mine up to 480x on Saturn late last year when the air was really steady.

David E

Casey,
I have a 40mm GSO that I use in my F6 Dobsonian. I use it basically to scan the sky and zero in on my target. I'll then switch to a 27mm 2" eyepiece for a better view. It's no Nagler, but it's much lower in cost and lighter in weight so it works well for that purpose.
David E