Extra equipment for 6" Dob??

[WestAusChris]

Hi All

Arriving hopefully this coming week is my first ever telescope a Skywatcher 6" Dob (couldnt afford the 8" *sigh*).

Im just wondering if over time i will need any other equipment ie EP's, laser finders etc to better let me enjoy star gazing.

Any help would be appreciated :)

Chris

[that_guy]

get yourself a telrad finder, its a zero magnification finder and much more easier to use then your finderscope, I use it more then the finderscope... its new for around 80 bucks but you can buy used for around 40 to 50 dollars depending on how old they are..

[dannat]

a telrad is good, but sometimes a right angle o finder can help you see the brightest faint fuzzies -which can help when you are starting out

to start with learn about collimation - make your own simple one form a film container - if you havn't bought one..my exp is you should wait before buying eyepieces & other gadgets

do you have some star maps..look up skymaps.com - southern hemisphere guide - start with the bino targets, should be easier to find

[WestAusChris]

Thanks for the tips guys, will work out the budget and have a hunt around for some finders :)

I have star maps aswell as Stellarium so fingers crossed i will be picking out objects in in no time.

[Liz]

I had a Telrad on my previous 8" and was great, though you have to stick it to the scope, is this still the case?? Made a bit of a mess.
The red dot finders are good, and is what I use now.
Andrews have one now $60 ... scroll down the page to red dot finder
http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-content-section-10-guansheng.htm
Alas, a collimater is also needed, not a collimation fan. :help:
Down hte track you can look at some new eyepieces, but not now. Use the ones supplied for awhile. ;)
A laser is not a neccessity .... you can get one waaay down the track if you want, they are good.
Good luck. :)

[that_guy]

heyy liz, there are 2 holes where you can drill down to the tube and screw it down, its a bit messy but its more steadier then just sticking it on

[dannat]

chirs i know you probably didn't want to see this but there is a 8" dob on fleabay with 1 day left current bid = 100
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Dobsonian-203mm-x-1200mm-Handle-Tensioned-Dobsonia-/270654838885?pt=AU_Cameras_Telescop es_Binoculars&hash=item3f04491865#ht_782wt_883
its always the way

[WestAusChris]

Wow $100 is cheap i did look on ebay too i must of missed that :(

He also says he got good veiws of the moon and SOME planets, i hope i havent got my hopes up too high expecting to see more then just the moon with my 6" lol

Thankyou Liz for your tips too, i hope i will still beable to look through it when it arrives and wont have to wait to buy a collimater because it will be out of collimation from being posted.

[WestAusChris]

Just out of curiousity is there any reason why someone couldnt use a standard laser pointer on a Dob like the cheap ones they use to point at boards etc??

I have seen them on ebay for next to nothing.

[Suzy]

Hi Chris :hi:
Congratulations on the scope purchase! Plus me as well for a red dot finder. It is one of the first things I bought. Please don't worry about eye pieces and barlows & such just yet. Just learn and enjoy that scope first.

I used to have a 6" dob and it served me very well from my light polluted suburb. You can make out the bands on Jupiter, the rings on Saturn easily, nebulas, galaxies, globs, everything. The 6" is considered to be the entry level "serious" scope, so you will not be disappointed.

The only other things that I could suggest right at this point in time would be a planisphere which is incredibly helpful in learning and finding the night sky. They sell for around $15 from most telescope retailers. Also, the Astronomy 2010 book is a great starter book. Even though the calender of events is just about finished, there is a lot of useful information within it. Because the year is nearly finished, most places I believe are selling this book for only $10. I'm pretty sure Andrews Communications on-line do as well.
Actually, I just thought of something else.. though a bit expensive, but I can't speak of them highly enough. It makes all the difference to a good comfortable night's observing. A stellar star chair, sold through Bintel for $179. Expensive I know, but completely worth having one. It's narrow and folds nice and flat for storage/car, and height adjustable.

https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Images/Stock/7201.jpg
All the best on this terrific new journey of discovery - our amazing & majestic universe awaits you. I bet you can't wait for your scope to arrive! :)

[that_guy]

do you mean one of those cheap red pointers? if so, then they are FARRRR too weak to be any good. you need at least a 5mW laser and up if you want to be able to point stuff up top... also check with your state government cos some states ban high powered lasers used in astronomy, i know its legal in QLD but not sure about WA... :/

[WestAusChris]

Thankyou again Suzy and Tony

Once again IIS is an invaluable tool to get advice :)

Suzy i will wait for my 6" to arrive and have aplay with it first then and get used to it and also look into the book you mentioned.

Tony thankyou for the advice on the lasers, i remember pointing one i bought from the house and it reached nearly two blocks thats why i thought they may be ok :)

[ZeroID]

Get Stellarium on your PC !! Free and an excellent tool and training to find everything.

[Suzy]

:eyepop: How could I have forgotten to mention that! Spot on Brent!
Chris, Stellarium will help you no end! I use it in conjunction with a planisphere as I can can take it outside with me easily.

[WestAusChris]

Well good news, the Dob arrived quicker than i thought got it yesterday and spent about 10 mins setting it up then the long wait for dark skies.

Being my first telescope lastnight i didnt try to see much, i managed to find Jupiter with the 25mm EP saw all 4 moons then changed to the 10mm EP and managed to see 1 belt pattern.

I downloaded Stellarium a couple of months ago and it is a great program.

One question, how does everyone get used to the reverse image, i seem to find it hard to move around the night sky with the Dob and find stars, the finder scope is also quite hard to look through.

I must also admit i was expecting to see Jupiter better than my 25x80 Bino's the only difference i found was that i could see the 4th moon and the belt that i couldnt see with the bino's maybe i like many others using a first telescope expect to see too much :)

Sorry for all the questions i will try not to be so lazy and go get some books eventually to help me :)

[Colin_Fraser]

Hello Chris,
as mentioned before, a Telrad eliminates the problem associated with using the finder scope.
As far as moving the scope around to follow planets or stars, I found it useful to sort of pretend you are grabbing the star and pulling it towards the center of the FOV rather than moving the scope. You will get used to it fairly quickly.

[astro744]

You will not get a reversed view in a Newtonian (Dob), only an upside down view and that depends on how you hold your head. A straight through finder will also give you an upside down view, but a 90deg finder may be reversed or correct depending on whether it uses a standard mirror or prism or a special Amici prism.

Reversed means stars are back to front compared to a map. In an upside down view stars match the map if you simply turn the map upside down. Any odd number of reflections will give a reversed view. Any even number of reflections will give an upside down view.

[WestAusChris]

Colin and Astro thankyou for replying :)

I meant to say upside down instead of reversed but yes your right i think over time i will get used to it.

Being the first ever telescope i have owned it will just take some getting used to which is always the way :)

[Trixie]

Im a newbie to all this as well. I dont know if you ended up buying a Telrad or anything but if you did I would be interested to hear your review. I just have the standard 8" dob, stellarium and a few star books at the moment. I found a book called "A guide to the night sky" in my local post office and I have been working my way through the star hopping section and it has been great as it gives a great tour of each section of the sky.

The the way I move the telescope around is to pretend I am sighting down a cannon or something. It is hard to explain but you sort of have to ignore the direction everything is moving and thinkabout where youneed to point the telescope. I had to do that in the early days with my microscope but eventually it just became automatic - if I try to think about which way to scroll though I go blank!

I think I am getting better. The first time I played with my telescope I had to almost hug it to move it around as I got so confused with the upside down image! I have only been out 4 times so far but was amazed at how fast the time went (4 hours on one night) and I didnt even notice how cold I was until I went back inside!

[Jeeps]

Your experience all sounds normal to me :)

[WestAusChris]

Hey Carey

I havent bought a finder yet,just cant make up my mind, Telrad, red dot or laser :)

So many choices so little money lol

[Suzy]

Hi Carey :hi:
I have to agree with you on this book - I've had some very enjoyable nights using the tours given in this book. In fact I started a thread on it in the Astronomy Books & Media Section.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=64628




Spot on Carey. From day one I have used the same mentality that you have and I've never had a problem. ;)



I love hugging my scope :D. Don't tell anyone :screwy::lol:



A little tip if you didn't already know.. Get warm before observing as it takes about half an hour for the body to adjust from being cold to warm again. Layers work well. And many here speak highly of freezer suits.

All the best Carey with this great hobby. :)
Suzy.

[mswhin63]

Anything that you don't have to bent you neck on a DOB. Telrad I have a right angle finder and I expect the next would be a laser. Both of these I don't need to break my neck :)

If you want to stick something on your scope I use the 3M pull-off double side tape. I have a few items attached in that way, easy to re-position if needed.

[Krumlov]

Found this while trawling ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/William-Optics-Red-Dot-Finder-Quick-release-base-/150522176149?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item230bd22295

I am guessing it is direct from the manufacturer so seems a good price. I don't know if the mount can screw easily onto most telescopes? Anyone?