Quote:
Originally Posted by PSALM19.1
Hi Herschel,
Joy of beginning in Astronomy! I wish I had a 10" Dob to begin with...mine was a 76mm Firstscope..anyway, I still had fun! It seems to me that collimation is not really your problem...I have an 8" Dob and move it in and out of the garage often and the collimation stays good for months on end. If you've Cheshired it and Lasered it and done the star test then I think you are a-OK!
Certainly I can attest to cooling the scope down and also to "seeing". I have looked at wonderful views of Jupiter and Saturn but can remember a few times when it wasn't too impressive - in fact, one morning Jupiter was a shiny, blurry blob! Don't want to repeat the great advice you've been given, but let the scope cool and make sure Saturn is at some altitude and I reckon you'll be winning! 
Oh and, you can see the Cassini division in a lower powered EP than a 9mm and that may actually help in clarity! |
Thanks very much for the advice. My last try was the best yet. A clearer Saturn, and I could make out the Cassini Division even if the gap was only tiny. Another thing occurred to me last time was that I live under a flight path so I'll need to be very late so that the added turbulence may have settled. Cheers