GSO "darkplague" 12" Dob

[dugnsuz]

Hi all,
I am now the proud owner of a nearly new deluxe 12" GSO Dob pre-owned by darkplague (Mark).
He has done some major enhancements to the scope and mount and could have a future in retrofitting 10 and 12" Dobs for profit!!:lol:
Bad weather overhead of course.:sadeyes:
Hope to post a mini review when skies clear.
Very happy,Jan!:D
Cheers
Doug:thumbsup:

[Jonathan]

Sounds like you've got a good one there. Hopefully we get some clear skies sometime soon so you can have a look through it.

[dugnsuz]

clearing up slightly...
set up the scope - even through cloud I can see bands on Jupiter with a 25mm EP!!
looking good:rofl:

[Darkplague]

I miss her already!! :help:

Now that Im scopeless, it will at least give me motivation to finally start my truss dob.

[ving]

congrats dougy :)
what were the enhancements?

[dugnsuz]

Hi ving,
enhancements are:
Tube completely flocked!!(in a nice way)
Good quality handle added to aid motion of tube.
GSO finder replaced with Lumicon RA finder.
Mount completely braced.
All joints sealed.
Cheap bolts and bushes replaced with real chunky stuff!
Suffice to say it's built like a brick you-know-what.
Now if only I could get to look through it...
take a look at the pics.
And darplague, if I've missed anything out let me know.
Cheers
Doug:thumbsup:

[dugnsuz]

oops...
forgot the machined "Bobs" knobs for smoother, easier collimation.
Cheers
Doug:thumbsup:

[vespine]

I LOVE checker plate! You defintely got a hot (and sturdy) looking scope there. :)

[dugnsuz]

Yeah, Mark's(darkplague) done a great job on it:eyepop:
Cheers
Doug:thumbsup:

[Darkplague]

Dew Shield
Centre teflon bush
Blackended Secondary + Focuser

Thats about it!

[ballaratdragons]

All excellent Mods! Congats Doug. Welcome to the GS 12" Club.

The only Mod on my 12", apart from turning the springs upside down, is John Dobsons autograph on the tube. (gee, that'll help it see further!)

[astronut]

:welcome: to the big scope club Doug, I have a 12" LB we both share the same optics and all I can say is WOW!!!
The mods look terrific and certainly add to the scopes performance.
I'm looking forward to your first light report. Cheers, John:)

[dugnsuz]

Thanks to all of you for the comments.
SA is having some really bad weather, so I've still not had it out under dark skies. It looks like there will be a full moon too by the time things clear up.
Oh well, at least I've got it to play with I suppose:P
Cheers all
Doug:thumbsup:

[dugnsuz]

Slight break in the clouds tonight.
The waxing gibbous moon buggered things up a lot.
But, the small break in the clouds gave me an insight into the potential of this scope.
I'll keep you posted.
Cheers
Doug:thumbsup:

[dugnsuz]

Still peeing down here in SA (heavy rain since saturday).
Gave me the opportunity to try and smooth out the dob base motion.
In the brief few mins I've had with the scope under the stars,I've found the motion quite sticky and abrasive - especially noticeable with a cheap 6.5mm Andrews EP!!! Darkplague used a TV Panoptic and a couple of Pentax EPs so the dob's motion might not have been as critical with their wide FOVs. But jerking this thing around with the cheapo EPs is no fun.
So I decided to do Iceman's Dob mod.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=19,116,0,0,1,0

Removed the old white teflon squares and replaced them with the same superslider discs(x6) from Mitre 10 ($11) and 4 milkbottle washers in the above link - darkplague already had a teflon bush installed so not as many milkbottle washers needed.
What a difference:eyepop:
Motion is now silky smooth - I hope this will be evident at the eyepiece when this bloody rain stops!!!:mad2: :( :sadeyes: :shrug:
Cheers all
Doug:thumbsup:

[dugnsuz]

Hey astronut (john),
Your 12" LB looks like a monster in your avatar picture!!
Is it similar in size to the GSO dobs?
...or did you shrink the suburb!!?;)
Cheers - hope you're getting better weather than me!
Doug:thumbsup:

[astronut]

Hi Doug, A friend in the astro club I belong to has a G.S.O. 12" and side by side they are the same size, though the LB "looks" bigger. Probably because its all white:lol: My avatar is actually of someone elses LB. I liked it because of the shroud and background:rofl: Skies have been clear here, but that big searchlight in the sky has been a pain:rofl: Can't wait for new moon and point this baby to the planets and D.S.O's again.!!
Guang Shen optics rule;)

[ving]

you going to build a shroud john? it'd stop stray light hitting the mirror...

[astronut]

Yes Dave, My wife is in the process of putting one together. It will help with stray light and maybe improve contrast;)