Assistance choosing "grab and go" telescope

[DJ N]

Hello all. This is my first posting having just registered with this wonderful forum. Anyhow, here goes.....

I purchased a 10inch Dob October last year, and have spent many a wonderful night in the backyard with my "toy". What I am finding more and more now is that I do not use it as much as I should, simply because of the effort of taking apart the unit, taking it outside, and so on. I have considered utilising a trolley to assist in moving the scope around, but my lovely wife is adamant that this will 'spoil' the rumpus room. So now I find myself considering a "grab and go"which I can pick up without disassembly.My first thoughts were for the Skywatcher 127 maksutov or the Skywatcher 120mm f8.3 (maybe succumbing to aperture fever once again). Has anyone any thoughts or other suggestions?

99% of my observing (visual only) is from my suburban Adelaide backyard and I predominantly tend to view the "brighter" objects typically the moon, planets, star clusters....

Really looking forward for some feedback. Thanks.

ps. Everytime I attend the ASSA public viewing nights and star parties, I swear, the cloud comes in from nowhere.

[RB]

Welcome to the forum DJ !
You've come to the right place for advice and we hope you'll enjoy your visits.

What sort of budget are you looking at roughly?

[DJ N]

Thanks for the welcome Rocket Boy.

In terms of budget, I am looking somewhere around the $1000 - $1500 mark.

[ballaratdragons]

G'day DJ, and welcome.

I thought a 10" dob IS a grab and go.

No set-up time, no polar alignment needed. Just plop it down and it's ready. Oh well.

If you intend on changing to another smaller scope like a small Mak or similiar, consider the time it will take to polar align every time you want to use it. If you find that the ease of a 10" dob is a hassle, an EQ mounted scope will quickly find you wanting to use the dob again.

Both the scopes you mention above are on EQ mounts!!!

The only easier grab'n'go than a Dob is going to be an Alt/Az mounted small to medium scope.

Good luck in your search.

[astro_nutt]

Hi DJ and welcome!!!
If I may suggest, how about building another dob base, (custom made for your needs..ie..eyepiece tray..red LED reading lamp..etc!) for outside use..keeping it under wraps when not in use!..plus you can trolley it around your backyard to wherever you want!..this will save wear and tear on the original mount..all you have to worry about is moving the optical tube from one base to the other!
Cheers!

[acropolite]

Forget the grab & go, you will be disappointed with the views from a small refractor after the 10 inch dob. Why not put the money in to building a small observatory so that the "other woman" can remain outside and away from the rumpus room.

[Davelrkn]

Hi There
A couple of years ago had same case with giving advise to someone, after advising him to get a dob. He then traded in on 6'' equatorial with the idea of picking it up complete and carring it outside.The thing he found after getting it he could not get the tripod past the back door,he now uses binoculars.

The Dob would be the easiest grab and go design scope available only two parts to consider and maybe its the weight(base&tube) of the 10 dob that is the problem for you not the setup.

Regards
Dave

[Robert_T]

Hi and welcome DJ:hi:

Grab and go is one of those grey areas, what's grab and go for one may be a real pain for someone else. What you can comfortably lift and how far you need to lift it to are the big factors.

A while back I bought a good quality 80mm refractor and a heavy duty photo tripod for this purpose, but in the end it desn't get used when I have larger scopes to play with. I have a C9.25 on an EQ5 on a portable pier mount and a Tak Mewlon 180 on a Meade LXD75. Both equatorial mounts. I regard both as grab and go for my purposes. I simply open the french doors and carry them out into the backyard, plonk it down with the RA pointing roughly south and off I go, it really is that simple. The Mewlon and LXD75 I can comfortably carry the 10-15m I need to go in one piece. The C9.25 I just carry the OTA out seprarately, but can manage the pier mount with weights etc as one (not suggesting this last is good for the back though).

A lot of people are put off by equatorials and think they are hard to use. You only need to fuss with polar aligning if you want to do long exposure imaging (don't need it for planetanry web-camming) or to use go to (have it, don't use it). I've spent many hundreds of happy hours of visual and planetary imaging with both my scopes and I've bother with polar aligning.

Your suggested choice of a 5inch skywatcher maksutov would be smaller than my scopes and you really should be able to carry them around in one piece. One thing to remember though about Maksutovs is they take an awful long time to cool-down (1-2hours) and this more than anything makes them less than ideal as grab n go scopes (I overcome this a little for my SCT by using a cat-cooler). A smaller refractor would be better, but as Phil mentions you might be dissappointed with the views after a 10 inch dob.

Maybe a trolly, a dozen roses and a five star meal, might be your best and cheapest option;)

cheers,

[Tamtarn]

Welcome DJ

Just thought I would offer a woman's point of view. ;)

David and I are both in Astronomy as a hobby so I guess it's a little different to your situation.

The first thing we did when we got our 12" Dob was bought an "ISS Big W trolley" and occy straps. We store it in the garage and when we are going to have an observing session we bring it in and it only takes a couple of minutes to pop the Dob on and it's a breeze to take the Dob in and out for observing. Having to dismantle the Dob for every session must be a real pain. We just couldn't do it. So if you can store your trolley in a shed or garage there's no problem.

If you can't do that then may I suggest ( heaven help me ! ) :whistle: that your lovely wife makes a cover to go over the Dob and trolley something to go with the decor of your home. Alternately get yourself a small colourbond shed to store it in.

It's great that you are still enjoying observing with all the hassle of dismantling and I must say that your wife should be very happy that you have a hobby that keeps you home at night instead of being out and obout somewhere.

By the way we have a Meade ETX125 Refractor which is a 5" and what we can see now with our 12" Dob is remarkable. I'm not sure that you would be happy downsizing now since you have already had the experience with a 10".

Barb

PS " Every home must have a place for a Dob and Trolley " :rofl: :rofl:

[[1ponders]]

Or you could go the other way and upgrade to a 16" truss dob and mount detachable dolly wheels on the sides and wheel it about like a wheelbarrow. ;)

Check it out here (http://ladyandtramp.com/tj/) and Details Here (http://ladyandtramp.com/tj/handles/)

[ving]

this dilema sound so familiar.... after looking thru the 10" a smaller scope wont show you as much detail as has bee said... for at home i'd say just get a trolley for your dob if you cant carry it :)
if the problem is car related then maybe this is not the answer...

welcome to the forum :)

[xelasnave]

With the money you plan to throw at the problem why not consider a garden shed observatory if you have a spot for same. Can have a roll off roof or can be on wheels (the whole shed) and if you ever think about photography it becomes a necessity.
alex

[Starkler]

Firstly, Hi and welcome to IIS :)

That second scope can be a difficult choice to make, and each one comes with its own set of comprimises. First thing to realise is that aperture does indeed rule, and no view from a smaller scope will equal that from your dob, so in order to use it more it needs to be as light and simple to use as possible.

IMO its a damn shame that so many small scopes come with an eq mount. Their drawbacks are the need for counterweights, and having to rotate the ota or diagonal as the scope is pointed around the sky. They are popular with starter scopes im sure because they look cool and techo :screwy:
I would definately love to see some more decent alt-az tripod mounts in the market.

After buying an ED80 refractor and being dissapointed with it, I sold it and bought myself a 5" f5 newtonian on an alt-az tripod mount (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=9484).

These are my reasons for choosing this package.

Its lightweight and easy to pick up and carry. It gets more use than my 10" dob.
Simple to use. Push it like a dob and fine tune with the slo-mo controls
It sets up and knocks down for transportation in no time, and takes up very little room.
It cools quickly, unlike a mak-cass.
Higher eyepiece height for less tripod extension compared to a refractor.I can use this standing up and no messing with diagonals.
No colour like a short tube achromat and better at planetary/lunar whilst also good for nice wide fields, unlike a mak-cass.

[DJ N]

Hi all, thanks for the welcome and your valuable inputs. It has given me some food for thought. I will let you know what the outcomes are (hopefully win-win situation, keep the 10inch and compliment it with a smaller scope for quick looks).

Cheers,

Daniel

[danielsun]

Hi DJ N and welcome!!
If you have the gso dob and dont mind lifting you can always buy two more of the black handles (same the one the one on the front of your dob )and bolt them to the sides of your rocker box underneath your alt bearings, that way you can leave it all assembled as one and pick it up and carry it around. ;)

[mickoking]

I own a 300mm Dob. When I can't be botherd lugging the Dob outside I use either my 120mm skywatcher refractor of my 80mm short tube refractor. The 80mm can be set up in seconds and is great for wide starfields but can also go deeper. I like looking for galaxies with mine. The 120mm Refractor is quite easy and quick to set up and requires no collomation. It is great with double stars and nebulae (due to it's high contrast). I hope my experience gives you food for thought.

[jjjnettie]

For a quick look, I set up the binoculars on the tripod.
That may be the solution for you. A pair of giant binos on a good mount will give you great views.

[DJ N]

Hi Mickoking,

Your 120mm Skywatcher. Are you happy with it? Are you able to carry it as a complete assembly?? The website mentions an overall weight of 18kg. Does this seem about right. This is the scope I have been thinking about (especially with the stainless steel tripod).

[mickoking]

DJ N, To answer your question I am very happy with my skywatcher. If the one your looking at has the stainless steel tripod it would be better than my unit (mine has an aluminium tripod). There is a review on the skywatcher at http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=41,281,0,0,1,0 Unlike a Dob you can take the entire unit out in one go with out too much drama and you will love the high contrast views :thumbsup:

Cheers, Micko

[dugnsuz]

Agree,
I set up my 12" dob, and the view of dso's are great but the quick grab 15x70 binos often are more fulfilling/exciting! Go figure!!
I think its the 2 eye thing!!
All the best
Doug:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[xelasnave]

I added a set of wheels to my DOB (from a $9 pak in crazy prices complete with a little trolley handle) and it is easier than ever to use, easier than the 80mm on an eq mount, take off the dust cover roll it out and away you go. Mind you in this cooler weather with all the doors open at night I dont have to worry about the cooling fan... but the mirror cool down is the only thing to slow the event. I borrowed the finder for another set up and havent missed it..DOBs are great for cruising space I have covered many many light years in mine.
alex