newbie looking for advice

[derekt]

hi, i'm new to forums as well as to astronomy so please forgive if I make mistakes.
got a xmas present "discover the night sky" that got me interested in buying a telescope. i've done some research and discovered that an 8 to 10 inch dobsonian reflector would fit my budget. I found a skywatcher 10", with a dobsonian mount for about $800, and a skywatcher black diamond 10" without the mount for about the same price. is the black diamond a better instrument?
also, can one of these beasts be mounted on a equatorial mount at a later stage.
collapsable or full tube? I am not worried about saving space and would assume the full tube would be more robust and easier to set up than a collapsable one. is this correct?
hope someone can help me out
thanks
derekt

[barx1963]

OK, a few questions. For first time visual use(ie. not photography) a dob as large as you can afford is almost always the way to go especially if you are interested in deep sky observing, as opposed to planets or the moon. The don't get me wrong, dobs do well on solar system observing, they just excel at deep sky.
The black diamond I assume is just the scope without a mount, as they don't sell dob mounts seperately, probably not the best option.
As a dob is simply a newtonion scope, it can useually be mounted on an EQ mount, but if it is collaspible, then it would not be as easy as usually rings are used around the body of the scope.
The collapsible Sky watcher scope are very, very VERY easy to set up,and save on space in the house and in the car if going to an observing night, star party etc. Solid tubes are cheaper and can give you more aperture for your $$$, as as we all know.... aperture always wins.
Once you get to 10 inches or bigger, the tube is BIG!!!:eyepop:, so even if space is not a problem, you need to be confident about picking up and handling a large scope.
Hope this helps!

Malcolm

[Benno18]

Hi Derik,
I have the 10" Skywatcher Dob...... and love it!!!!!! It does take up a bit of room but makes for a good conversation starter!!!! Works well with the planets, moon but loves the deep sky objects.

I got the full tube assembely due to having young kids. (heard a story of a guy having a collapsable dob and taking it to a viewing night, kids, choccy cake and a collapsable dob dont mix.!!)

Make sure you have a big enough car when traveling. The 10" just fits in to my vt commodore boot. nothing else will fit though.

set up a piece of cake. took a half hour but thats taking my time.
I would suggest you get a dual focuser or fine focuser. Found its hard to focus with a 10mm EP in a 2X Barrlow lens.

Happy Viewing
(or buying!!!)
Benno

P.S :welcome:

[barx1963]

Benno's suggestion about the dual speed focuser is a good one!

[Visionoz]

Hi Derek

The collapsible 10" Skywatcher Dob is very robust for what it is - don't be mislead by the only 3 trusses - they are very well constructed and sturdy in use - I use the 12" one myself and cannot fault it except that it is a bit on the heavy side - but it still offers me the portability and mobility for transportation in a vehicle without hassles
You can always use a light shroud if you want a bit more protection when using the collapsible dob

The BlackDiamond 10" newtonian is pretty good as well but you have to decide on either a EQ mount or Goto EQ mount - I believe it is not available as a Dob model unless Synta has decided to label all their scopes in the BD range now - usually AFAIK the BlackDiamond label is used for the "better" one in the Synta/Skywatcher stable - read the word "better" to mean also "more expensive" - but overall quality is good across the range

Yes suggestion of a dual-speed focuser is right on the money

HTH
Cheers
Bill

[derekt]

thanks very much for the helpfull info. I have just got to make up my mind now...10" or 12". in the meantime, I just bought a very scd hand meade MTS-SN6 and I am having some very frustring fun in the back yard trying to figure it out. haven't got close to finding a planet yet but the moon looks spectacular

derek