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Old 15-11-2011, 09:55 PM
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barx1963 (Malcolm)
Bright the hawk's flight

barx1963 is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Mt Duneed Vic
Posts: 3,978
Hi Johan
The 16" Dob is a fantastic scope, and if you can afford to get the Go To version, so much the better.
Couple of words of warning. These a BIG and I mean big scopes. I have a 12" GSO solid tube and if I wasn't a pretty dedicated observer, it would be a real drag getting it out of the house to setup, so a 16" is even more so. Even though the OTA is collapsible, the base usit is really large. If you are planning to take it away with you, you will probably need a larger car preferabbly a wagon or 4WD or use a trailer. I just manage to fit the base of my dob in the back of my Astra wagon.
For big scopes, try and see one in the flesh so you understand what you are getting, pictures just don't convey the size of these things!
Also,the larger the scope the more critical the collimation. Try to learn collimation without the laser and just use the laser as a final check. By all means get the laser collimator, but understand it is not the key to good alignment.

Please do not let my comments discourage you from jumping in the deep end, just be aware of what it is you are getting, if you have your heart set on the 16", go for it!

Malcolm
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