SW 18" Dob - True or False?

[Star Hunter]

Has anyone heard of a Skywatcher 18" Dob and a possible 20" later?

here's a link on CN. http://tinyurl.com/l7tkbb9

[AG Hybrid]

True or false? Clearly it's false. Even though the Skywatcher USA vendor confirmed it in the thread you posted.

[glend]

GSO confirmed to me directly that they are releasing a 20" Dob later this year. Spoke with Luke at Andrews Comms and he had heard about the 20 informally. Jungle drums say there is a 18" Lightbridge on the way this year as well.
Clearly 20" is the new 16" in terms of industry production dobs.

[sn1987a]

And the day after they come out, Suchting, Zambuto and Lockwoods email inbox will be full of ..." how much to refigure a 18/20......?" Scopestuff will wheel out the upgrade kits and the forums will glow with the latest fixes, upgrades and mods. "Groan".

[glend]

Baby steps Barry, this is how amatuer astronomy evolves.

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:; ;) .
To true .
Brian.

[AG Hybrid]

Cough (http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/208121-sywatcher-18-dob-true-or-false/)

[Star Hunter]

I'd like to see Synta bring out 12" - 20" F8 RC. They have the means to make this, but would they have the buyers? Maybe they are revamping the 'light bucket' era that dominated the 80's when bigger was better?.

Personally, I'd rather have a big SW, F8 RC with CF cell, struss tubing, micro secondary focusing, blah.. blah.. blah...

[AG Hybrid]

Don't think Skywatcher makes a RC. Just imaging newtonians, Mak's and refractors with built in field flatteners.
That GSO 12" RC truss that Paul Haese has, though. Sexy as ****. Not Paul, the scope.

[Star Hunter]

SW does not make RC's but that doesn't mean they couldn't make them. What I do know is, they are planning a big, EQ GOTO mount in the 100-200kgs payload range. If all this comes off, SW could also offer a big RC scope (as an option) to go with it. Nothing is impossible if it's not attempted. Glad to know PH is not sexy!;) that would be problem when playing with his 12 inch (scope that is) on a dark, starry night...:rofl:

[glend]

The 16" GSO truss RCs are on their way to Aus right now according to the info on the Andrews website.

[Camelopardalis]

I wanna new big scope and these things are just not coming to market fast enough :lol: ... just as well though cos I don't have the wonga anyways :screwy:

[sn1987a]

Just looking at the pictures it seems to me its going to be very similar to the Hubble optics design, same looking structure and sandwich mirror. The cheapest Hubble in that class is an 18" f4.5 with no fruit for US$ 2995, US$ 638 for shipping multiply by 1.15 for exchange rate conversion and PayPal fees and add Au$ 450 for GST and customs. Total around AU$ 4500. I don't see how SW would be able to retail one in Aus significantly cheaper?.

On Astromart I have noticed that every now and then an 18/20 something pops up for sale around the US$ 6000 to US$ 8000 range with Feathertouch focuser, (sometimes a Zambuto mirror), Servocat, ArgoNavis, top shelf secondary, shroud, the lot. In the long run, based on my own personal experience I reckon these are a better bet satisfaction/ value for money wise than the cheap mass produced end!.

True, true the scopes must evolve and its your money. Who's going to be first?. :P

[Camelopardalis]

For the second time in as many days.... La la la la la la la :lol:

[Logieberra]

Hahaha! Not.

Andrews. Ya gotta love their enthusiasm!

[Logieberra]

Glend, back to my post - you were right. I was wrong. I see 10" GSO Truss RCs are available NOW at BINTEL, and no doubt Andrews as well!

[Allan]

I was having a good look at the 12" GSO RC that BINTEL have in their shop a couple of weeks ago. It's sitting on an EQ8 and looks mighty nice.

[Logieberra]

I saw Baz Armstead's truss 12". Noice :)

[dmizen]

ive seen the promo literature for this rrp 6500

[glend]

Is that USD? It's getting very close to the 18" Classic Obsession. Still waiting on the pricing and details for the GSO 20".

[dmizen]

$6,500 Australian available early July

DCM

[Amaranthus]

Any links to confirm, or is this still unofficial? Is it a GOTO?

[brisen]

https://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-041H2

[sn1987a]

I rest my case. If you can go to 5 or 6 grand then you can get to 10 grand and if you can get to 10 grand then you can have a lot better scope than that. :P



Zambuto mirror
Protostar secondary, dew control and spider
Servocat Goto
ArgoNavis
Powered groundboard
Markless stalk
Wheelbarrow handles
Telrad
Feathertouch focuser

oh yes and hand crafted not mass produced

[Curt]

How can you argue with that. :D

[Steffen]

As much as I'd wish this to be true, it ain't. Just because I can afford a $40k car doesn't mean I can afford an $80k one.



All of this for $10k? You must have gotten a very good deal. According to Peter's price list that sum doesn't include the cost of the primary mirror.

Let's not lose our perspective. There are Porsche people, and there are Audi people, and there are Toyota people. And they all get what they need. So let's not sneer at people who don't have unlimited funds to sink into, what is after all, a hobby. Or the companies that cater to them.

Cheers
Steffen.

[sn1987a]

Well then just settle for a $30k car and you'll have the $10k you need for the scope. Win win.







I refer you to the point I made in post 13 of this discussion thread. My 18" Plettstone f4.2 with all the fruit listed I bought secondhand off Astromart, US$ 6900 plus AU$1500 shipping and insurance and just over AU$ 1000 customs and GST. Such scopes pop up on Astromart all the time.





I couldn't agree with you more Steffan, in the year or so that I've had the scope I spent $10 on a wing nut replacement. Nothing left to do to it. Contrast that with my Lightbridge 16 experience ( and that of just about everyone else who bought one ), the only original piece of mine left is the exterior.

Who's sneering at people who don't have unlimited funds?. You yourself just suggested I got a very good deal, I just told you how I got it (again).






Cheers
Barry


P.S I'm an old secondhand Nissan Patrol man :P

[sn1987a]

This might interest someone :D

http://www.astromart.com/auctions/details.asp?auction_id=12130

[garin]

Confirmed
http://www.skywatchertelescopes.com.au
Skywatcher 18" $5,390 delivered

[Amaranthus]

Nice design - elegant and relatively light. But really, if you compare it to their 16", the the price hit is quite large.

16" GOTO/tracking, $3699
18" (no GOTO), $5,390

So you are paying $1,691 for 2" extra aperture and losing tracking.

If you work it out on $ per inch^2 of collecting area (ignoring secondary) and rank it with the other non-GOTO collapsible, you get:

10": $879/79 = $11.1/square inch
12": $1499/113 = 13.2
14": $2430/154 = 15.7
16" GOTO: $3699/201 = 18.4 (stopped selling non-GOTO 16"?)
18": $5390/254 = 21.2

We certainly do pay for our aperture fever :D

[mithrandir]

Can't find a price anything near that on the east coast.

[AG Hybrid]

$5699 from My Astro shop. That's not bad. 50 Kg's once setup. The 16" is over 80kg's I believe. So while not a what we would call an ultra light its definitely shed a lot of weight. Lack of goto would bother some. But, we don't know if there wont be a goto option in the future. I wouldn't be surprised if it was in design/testing at the moment.

It seems to be clearly designed as a easily transportable deep sky beast. I am personally considering this as an upgrade next year.

[Amaranthus]

I certainly like the design. If it gets GOTO, I will seriously consider it! For now, I'll sit tight (I'm not in a position to get a big Dob until next year anyway).

[glend]

Pushto is actually a better option in my opinion, provided it comes with encoders and and interface to planetarium software (preferably via wifi). For one thing it is always much faster to target, at least mine is, compared to motor driven scopes. This means it is faster to align and more time to observe. Secondly, there is less to go wrong, have a look at the problems that Allan_l is having with his Skywatcher drive motor ( or is it the controller board, or the cable, etc - you get the idea). Drive motors also increase weight significantly, and anyone with a big dob will tell you anything that can reduce the weight they have to deal with is a great idea.

That seems like a reasonable price for a 18" dob - consider the pricing of the 12" RCs from GSO, and the expected price for the 16" RCs.

The real determinant of the pricing is going to be the price that GSO puts on their 20" dob which was confirmed by GSO (early this year) for introduction later this year. I would not be surprised to see GSO announce their 20" just after the SKywatcher becomes available and they will undercut the Skywatcher price. The GSO will likely follow on from the 16" GSO architecture and stick with the same bearing system (which is excellent), which will save money in development and production.

The GSO 16" dob tube sections are actually 19" inside diametre and could easily be upgraded to an 18" mirror with very little effort (albeit you would need to retain the focal length (which means abit faster) - just a new mirror and carrier and away you go. That's an option I am considering myself, say an 18" Zambuto mirror, on a custom carrier, in my GSO tube - what a 'sleeper' scope. Then again GSO could just grind an 18" mirror and give you slightly longer struts and you'd have a budget 18".

[Amaranthus]

The GOTO Dobs on the market are also push-to, with double encoders. It makes a BIG difference (to me at least) to not have to constantly nudge, especially at higher powers.

[sn1987a]

Here you go :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLKJ0jhZHdI

[AG Hybrid]

Interesting video. Did anyone else see all the counter weights? Very top heavy. Probably due to the light weight mirror and the UTA ring which looks like its made from solid metal. To think that scope still weighs 68 KG's.

[sn1987a]

I really like what 'ol mate's done here :thumbsup:

http://brucemills.webs.com/20inchf4telescope.htm

[PeterHA]

Barry,

Look at this, mostly carbon, text in German but images are self explaining, similar concept.

http://www.deepsky-visuell.de/ATM/27/Bau27.htm

[sn1987a]

Thanks Peter,

Interesting ideas there however making components with of carbon fibre is a bit out of my comfort zone lol. I was thinking more along the lines of what a bloke could do with a selection of aluminium stock, a compound mitre saw and a router. I really like the look of Bruce Mills ultra minimalist approach. I will add that I really like the German guys idea for the fabric light shield with vertical stiffeners.


Cheers
Barry

[Godward]

TRUE

Hi Guys
I had the pleasure of reviewing and using the first Skywatcher 18 Inch Dob to Australian shores, see review and pictures on the international Skywatcher website.

http://ca.skywatcher.com/

[AG Hybrid]

Nice one. But, if your open to constructive criticism. Ask someone to edit your publication first. Roomers? How did that get past your spell check?

[Merlin66]

Hmmm
Ribbed mirrors and silicon.....

[Satchmo]

Any serious evaluation on the optical quality ?

[sn1987a]

Update: I contacted Bruce Mills to get some measurements and details on his ultralight scope. He generously offered to sell it to me sans mirror but including the Protostar secondary and the Feathertouch focuser. As luck would have it a perfect fit 20"f4 Zambuto refigured 2" Pegasus mirror came up for auction on Astromart at the same time. When I got the mirror I didn't like the quality of the coating so I had Wayne Sainty at Saintech recoat it properly. All up total cost including shipping and coating costs was 8k.

The only changes I've made to it have been some Lightbridge style doughnut counterweights on the bottom to offset the weight of my Paracorr and Ethos eyepieces. Also I will be stiffening the spider vanes at some stage.

Because of the cloud lately I haven't had it out since it was recoated but I'm hoping for an opportunity in a weeks time.

Thank you Bruce Mills UK for building a beautifully svelte scope and Wayne Sainty at Saintech for the excellent coating job.

[Allan]

I guess it's like writing "your" instead of "you're" :)

[Satchmo]

Nice scope Barry . The mirror is certainly well ventilated :)

[Camelopardalis]

Nice catch :D

"your" meaning possessive of you

"you're" bring the contraction of "you are"

Good job some of us was educated proper like :lol:

[AG Hybrid]

Isn't it his spell checker? How does one engrish? #yoloswagatron420blazehandleitbbq

[sn1987a]

Thanks Mark, yes I don't expect to have too many cooling issues. I've just got to get around to making some sort of cover for the mirror.