Sorry for yet another silly question

[grantrosehill]

I know this is a comon question and likely to be answered by .. it depends what you want to see or do a search.. but I have searched and both of these telescopes (within my price range) will allow me to see the planets and DSO.
I am torn between GS-880-BK7-CRF and SkyWatcher Maksutov-Cassegrain MAK127EQ3.
I have read good things on this site regarding the GSO Dob and read some bad things regarding the Skywatcher. I have a small Peugeot and am worried that given my location ... Rosehill sydney.. I wont be able to see much from home and that the GSO Dob will be too big to transport.

Any recomendations accepted ..

[Starkler]

The dob will be a far more versatile scope given that maks are primarily a long focal length with a narrow maximum field of view. Also the best weapon against light polution is aperture :)

Try taking a tape measure and get back to us with the measurement across your back seat and then someone can advise if the dobs OTA will fit in.

[grantrosehill]

Thanks Starkler for the quick reply ... a quick run out to the car and it is 125cm wide and 34cm deep at the narrowest point (damn that moulded back seat on the 206cc - useless to sit in). The boot has a similar width but obviously more depth.

As this is my first telescope .. I realise it woud be a squeeze for the DOB but how robust are they ... ie could I lay down the front seat and transport it that way. How heavy are they to transport? If it could give me clear enough pics in the backyard here then fine .. no need to transport. Just tired of looking at the skies through a 12 year old pair of Tasco binocs.

Grant

[Miaplacidus]

What sort of binoculars are they? (I'm always boring beginners by telling them to get binoculars.)

Both pretty good scopes, but totally opposite in many ways. Are you familiar with using an equatorial mount? I find that this can be the biggest single turn-off for a newbie, or even an experienced observer. Unless you know what is involved or if you're seriously considering imaging, I'd recommend a dob, even if it meant you needed a smaller dob for it to fit in your car.

(Naturally, I'm only parading my own prejudices here. In ten minutes someone will chime in with a contradictory opinion.)

Good luck,

Brian.

[seeker372011]

The mak will be great on planets and the moon..the dob will give you the rest of the universe..what is of greatest interest to you?

you should be able to wrap the OTA of the dob in a kids sleeping bag-about $15- and transport it to a dark site..that's what I do, even though I use the newtonian on GEM usually

[Starkler]

Heres the dimensions of the GS dob here
http://www.telescope-service.com/dobsonians/dobsonians/dobsoniansstart.html#cld8e

Looks like the tube will fit and its a matter of where to put the base.

[iceman]

The 8" dob is the best bang for your buck if you can transport it.

You're not far from Kulnura, I strongly suggest you try to get to Kulnura this weekend for our monthly new moon observing session, where there's experienced and newbies alike with lots of different types of telescopes to see and look through. There'll most likely be an 8" dob there too, so you'll get to see for yourself how big it is and what you're likely to see with it.

The dob mount is very easy for the newbie to "drive" and for the price it's a great scope, heaps of mods can be done to it if you want to go down that path.

The OTA is fairly robust and as long as you secure it properly, it could lay across the back seat, across the front seat laid down, through the boot into the back seat, whowever you can squeeze it in. The base can sit on your front seat or squeezed into somewhere else. Then you just need a case or two for your eyepiece and accessories, and off you go!

btw :welcome: to the site! How did you hear about us?

[cahullian]

hi Grant
I have an 8" Dob and it fits in the car no probs. If you are going to attent the CC viewing night I would be more than happy to let you use my scope to see if it will fit into your car.
Mike has the 10" and Anthony the 12" so that will give you the heads up on what to expect. :thumbsup:
Gazz

[rmcpb]

The dob would be a very versitile scope. Why don't you go for a quick trip to Andrews at Greystanes and simply see if it will fit in your car?

Next Saturday there will be another viewing at Linden for the WSAAG people. I will hve my 8" dob there so you can have a look at it if you wish.

[ving]

I have a 8" dob too. I have been in a 206cc at the motorshow, I cant imagine that the 8" would fit too well I am afraid... I am 6' and I tried to sit in the back seat! :lol: now that was funny! :D

andrews have a 6" on a eq5. the OTA is realatively short so it'd fit the back seat ok and the mount folds up so it'd fit in the boot. Add to this motors for tracking and a toucam or DSLR and you'd be set for astro pics :)

[elusiver]

i've got an mx5 and an 8" dob. and I go nowhere :(

the OTA sits right in the passenger seat.. but i'm left with nowhere for the base :( but if u have a back seat that could accomodate the seat u'd be right i guess.

el :)

[janoskiss]

8" Dob with the OTA in the box it came in (with the original styrofoam padding) fits across the back seat of my 1986 Corolla, and the base goes in the boot. I also take along a few plastic chairs and an outdoor plastic table with removable legs, few towels to soak up the dew and some warm clothes and I'm set for a great night. :astron:

[davidpretorius]

the dob bases from andrews are so easy to assemble / disassemble. couldn't be more than 6 to 8 allen screws.

worst case scenario, scope in back seat, and partly disassemble and lay in boot

[janoskiss]

Davo, I don't think you could do that more than a few times. The chipboard would soon start "chipping" (funnily enough). Also the nylock on the azimuth axis would need replacing regularly. But the base is not that big anyway.

[davidpretorius]

true, i saw an 8" last night at our local new moon get together and i can't remember how big the base is compared to my 10"

i have a wagon so last night was the first time i transported the setup and it was really easy

[Darkplague]

I have an old Mazda 626, and my 12" dob fits in easily. If your back seat folds down your laughing. I can fit everything in ok, but there is no room for a passenger after.

[Lacey]

Don't believe them, they told me I could carry it.....I'm five foot neat and the blessed thing is up to my chin!! (and I swear it weighs 2/3's my weight).....The neighbours think we have purchased a frozen chook shooter (I'm not kidding).....

Hey but it is really cool.....I got Venus on the first night!...brilliant!.....now where can I find another cool thing!
PS my girls are stoked!

[Lacey]

With my 8" dob I got a 10mm and 25mm ep, I have located venus with the 10mm (ep has to be totally wound in) and it is the size of say...a small bead (with the bands). If I wind out the ep when fitted to the scope everything goes bigger but incredibly blurry (stars look like CD's). Can't seem to get anything with the 25mm (is it suppose to be bigger or smaller). If I was to purchase another ep what would you recommend? and what is a barlow len?....do you add it to the ep and does it double etc your subject?......so many questions.....

cheers
Recent 8" dob owner!

[janoskiss]

Lacey, If you saw bands (and four moons), that was Jupiter not Venus. Venus is very very bright. There is no mistaking it for anything else.

It sounds like you can't get focus with the eyepieces that came with the scope. Not good! Before doing anything else talk to the people you bought the scope from.

[davidpretorius]

yes, it does not sound good for focussing, where did you get your scope, what brand eyepieces.

are the eyepieces all the way in?

the 25mm will give you a wider view ie less magnification. divide the mm ie 25mm into the focal length of your scope (1000mm i would guess for yours) to get magnification.

are you more interested in planets or deep sky stuff.

a barlow will magnify your view, but without tracking, it can get out of hand pretty quickly. with say an orion shorty plus barlow 2x https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Catalog.aspx?Category=eyepieces
will turn your 10mm into a 5mm.

most guys seem to have a 10mm and 30mm, add a barlow to this at say 2x, then you get 5mm, 10mm, 15mm, 30mm.

i have not bought a barlow yet as i do not have tracking, i went for a ultrawide 30mm 80 degree from http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-content-section-10-eyepieces.htm

very very happy with this. lovely wide views. sometimes you do not wany lots and lots of magnification.

get back to us on the focussing problem, you sound so excited and the quicker you get up and running, the better

[RAJAH235]

Lacey, A quick run-thru, Collimate the finder to the t'scope. To do this, take the t'scope outside during the DAY, or somewhere you can see an object about 500/1000 mtrs away, say a tower or pole.
DO NOT POINT AT SUN OR LEAVE UNATTENDED.
Fit the larger E/Pc, 25 mm?, centre the top of the pole in the (F)ield (O)f (V)iew of the E/Pc. Adjust the finder to centre on the SAME pole.
When viewing at night, roughly align the t'scope to/at the object, & using the finder, centre the object. USE the 25 mm E/Pc, & with, say, JUPITER centred, slowly adj. the focus till it's a crisp DISK, & the bands stand out clearly. You should also see the moons as pinpoints of light.
NOW, change E/Pcs. You should only have to move the focus very slightly to get a crisp image. Pinpoint stars are what you're aiming for.
If you want to use a barlow, (an 'ORION' shorty seems the go here), which will effectively double the magnification, then start with the 25 mm E/Pc first. This gives you 12.5 mm E/Pc., with 80 x mag.
Guys, please correct here if nec. The 8"/200 mm is 1000 mm long is it not? This makes it an f8. The mags you get with your current E/Pcs are 25 mm = 40 x, 10 mm = 100 x.
1000 div by 25 = 40. etc etc.......
In reading your post, I can see that you're trying to magnify by adjusting the focus. THIS IS WRONG. To magnify, you change E/Pcs.
A good spread of E/Pcs is one where you DON'T DOUBLE UP too closely, so with a 25 & 10, I would suggest an 18 mm/15 mm/9 mm. But, buy good quality 'Plossl's'.
HTH. If you have any more questions, please ask. We are here to assist everyone in this great hobby.
Regards, L :D :D :D
ps. Apologies to Grant for this post. Good luck with your choice of DOB. :thumbsup:

[grantrosehill]

Thankyou all for the feedback.. yes the back seat is a joke .. and no the seats don't fold down. I didn't think of actually asking andrews to let me try it for size.

Actually I was hopping that the answers would be more along the line of don't worry the apperture will be big enough to see things from your backyard.

My partner has the "family" car so I could purchase a larger one but would not like to rely on him to transport me to suitable sites for viewing. This is my first telescope and was concerned that I would need to transport it through the back seats to the front (I hope that gets the picture across) and that the scope would not be able to handle the jostling during the trip.


Grant

[Lacey]

I can see 'davidpretorius''s picture.....my source tells me that is Venus...if this is wrong I will beat my source to a pulp!....I have a GS-680 (200mm) it came with 500 series plossel ep's....I think I have found the other planet (extremely bright) only I can't define it yet to make out what it is....??

And sorry Grant for interrupting...I chose a Dob from the info I gained from here...I am extremely impressed that I have got to see the two vertical lines even just as davidpretorius's picture thingie.....I do have to adjust it (not having tracking) but the dob is all toooooo easy to use. I have adjusted the finder scope as below (not in day light though) for $399 I definately think I have value for money....A friend purchased a tasco and utterly useless ($210).....Sooooo a huge thanks to Iceinspace

PS thanks Rajah, I will do that tomorrow and let you know how I go

[Lacey]

Grant

Mine is from Andrews (GS-680 8") and the tube so to speak is detachable from the base by two simple nylon ribbon rings, 1130mm long tube, round base approx 550mm with uprights of approx 600mm (I have a Magna, the tube backseat, and base in boot)

hope that helps??

[ving]

hiya lacey, yeah talk to the people you got it from. it could be something simple like having to move your primary mirror one way or the other. you shouldnt have problems focusing with your 2 eyepiece.

this is supposed to happen. each eyepiece has a point where it focus' if you go either side of where it is focused it turns "turns stars into CD" that is becomes out of focus. some people who are new to telescopes believ that you should be able to "zoom in" with an eyepiece with the focuser but you cant.
sorry if you knew that already. :)

ask more questions :)

[ving]

:lol2:
god i am slow!
been answered already! :P

/me crawls back under a rock :ashamed:

[davidpretorius]

yes mate, that is jupiter that i managed to image with my 10" dob from andrews communication. i used a webcam and captured it as it went through the viewing area.

venus is very bright, after the sun and moon, the brightest thing you will see

venus is above jupiter and to the left as you look with the naked eye to the west at around say 7pm.

remember everything is inverted when you look thru the scope, so venus will appear to be below and to the right as you move around looking at the two at the moment while they are close

[grantrosehill]

Picked up my 10" dob (the one with the crayford focuser) from Andrews this morning. I have resigned myself to the fact that if I am to transport it anywhere there is no way it will every fit in my car. I will just have to use the family car.

As usual the clouds are now moving in and no doubt it will not get much use tonight at least.

Thankyou all for your assistance

Grant

[davidpretorius]

well done fellow 10" dobber. I will have a eq wedge and motoriaation for tracking soon for us special 10" dobbers!!!