Quote:
Originally Posted by Brycepj
hey guys I have ordered the bintel 9x 50 finder-scope and the telrad. cost about$200 so that pretty good.
Suzy grab and go table top dob looks good does it require collmination like the larger dob..?
Doogs 38 what did you use for counterweight ? did it take much? piece of led maybe?? attachment hints please
Well done guys thanks for helping me spend my money   |
Hi again Peter,
hehe
I love spending peoples money, I should be thanking you
.
Just be gentle and don't bump it around too much. When you pop it in the car, just keep it secure so it doesn't bump & roll everywhere. I don't know how accurate this is, but I was told that solid tubes hold their colimation well compared to collapsibles and also the smaller the tubes the better it holds which has actually applied to me.
I've had the 4" for 2 years now and I haven't needed to colimate it since I bought it. I only had the 6" for about 6 months and I never needed to do it on that either. And my 10" I've had for 4 years and I've only needed to do it once since I bought it. I guess it also depends on how critical you are with colimation. As long as the planets are sharp to me, I don't worry about having to check it.
Regarding weights, see my pic for what works for me. Under the tube, those square black things are large fish tank magnets! They have a fair weight to them. Not cheap tho- the large one cost $50 (it was a spare I had laying around after I sold my other tank). I've got cloth under the one that scours so it doesn't scratch my tube. They're positioned on the opposite side where the eyepiece & finderscope are to offset them (my eyepieces alone weigh around 420g & up). I've replaced the tension rollers that the tube sits on with two teflon rocker box thingies on each side. I've still got the tension handle attached if I want to add a bit more tension, and I've put teflon pads on the base. So the dob is as smooth as butter- but a bit too smooth in alti so that's why the weights are there. Also drilled holes and moved the dob down a bit so it sits a bit lower to the base so it's less top heavy with all that stuff on it. Also attached a black knob at the front of the scope so I can move it easier (I love this!). Hubby did all this work, not me.
