SCOPEASAURUS is coming

[astroboy]

Hi all
Thought I would show some pics of the scope thats being made for me by Peter Read at SDM telescopes.
Its a 24" F3.66 Dob with a Steve Kennedy mirror , a guy the specializes in large fast mirrors .
Should be the ultimate dob with very little ladder climbing needed may put on a ServoCat if I put it in the dome and move the NGT18 out .
Should have the mirror here in July .
Hope to get more overseas punters with this one and some keen locals:thumbsup:

Zane

[[1ponders]]

Congratualtion Zane. While I don't know anything about makin' mirrors I have seen a number of Peter's socpes and they are brilliantly crafted. The man is a real artist and crafstman.

[h0ughy]

WOW, nice, very nice! if your leaving it in the dome, then why not consider getting a EQ platform for it to to offer a slight change of some photography, after droolng at the eyepiece for a while.

[wavelandscott]

WOW!

Congratulations and enjoy...

[Starkler]

With 24" , who needs imaging when you can see with your own eyes as deep as any astropic :lol:

[astroboy]

Thanks Guys
I'm not sure if I'll get a ServoCat or a platform or stick with the Argo and push to.
Don't know how well platforms work for photography and already have a few scopes and mounts that don't get enough use , seems a good platform costs about the same as a ServoCat .
Have to try the scope for a while and see what people would prefer .

Zane

[iceman]

I'd get servocat on a scope that size.. would make it easier to go the photography route if desired.

A 24" mirror will take ages to cool as well! :) Looks fantastic though Zane, can't wait to see the final product.

[mickoking]

When you get a scope (Dob) that size Imaging is not on your mind. The short F ratio means it is quite feasable to push this monster with your hands but I guess a drive would be nice.

Congrats Zane.

[astroboy]

Thanks
Yes I think sticking with the push to for while and see how it goes , Steve Kennedy who's making the mirror says it will handle 1000X .
I've never looked through a scope at that power I rarely take the NGT18 up to 500X and it has a good mirror too , but high power viewing would make tracking very handy ,
I've almost forgoten what using a Dob is like , when I look though a mates 20" I keep wondering why the stars keep drifting out of the field.:screwy:
Don't know if I should call the new beast Scopeasaurus or Dobzilla.

Zane

[ving]

wheres the :faint: smilie?

that'll be a great scope!

[AstroJunk]

It's been a keen topic of interest amongst fellow SDM owners - Welcome to the club. I'm looking forward to hearing how those uber-fast optics perform (anyone out there tried a Paracorr yet?).

I'm planning to get servocat installed this year. Most of the time it's fine without, but on those once-a-year nights when the seeing is exquisite, the optics in these big scopes can be pushed harder than an un-driven mount can handle.