Quote:
Originally Posted by Satchmo
Yep I know about Bird's efforts, in fact I even know the guy who made his optics ;-). To be fair, Bird uses a fast cooling conical mirror and active cooling system your not going to find on a traditional large dob which is the instrument in the subject of this thread.
//Other notable imagers are Wes Higgins, he uses a starmaster 18 for both for
//both planetary and lunar.
Wes uses a fast cooling 1.6" mirror not common on traditional large dobs which allows him to hold his own with the smaller instruments.
If the 18" dob was the best for planary imaging why then buy a C14?
. Choose the right tool for the particular job I reckon. Earlier in this thread I posted my own wish list for instumentation if money were no object, you may be interested in that as it reflects that mantra.
Cheers, Mark
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The active cooling system is not standard but it is easy to make Mark. Take a look in my SDM blog. It was dead simple and makes a large scope more adaptable to differing conditions. This is my whole point. You don't need to always abide by old conventions when things are changing. The hard work of the R&D has been done. The larger the aperture the more peltiers you need, that is all there is too it.
I know Wes quite well and you might be surprised to hear that he sits an airconditioner behind his mirror for several hours to get it cold enough. He is most interested in my cooling system and has asked lots of questions relating to it. I hope that he uses the idea. It will make his images even more brilliant.
The reason why I bought the C14 is that I own a unit. The only place to leave the SDM and image with it is out the front which is not secure. I have a pier and and deck out the back which houses the C14. It was the largest and most compact scope I could get into the space. I could not swing the SDM in that space. Also the SDM is undergoing balance tests with all the weight I have on the side. I want to perfect the guiding of the scope. It has nothing to do with using the right tools. I am a firm believer that you can do almost anything you want with large aperture. You just have to ignore the critics and use current technology. Birds idea of peltiers works on large aperture, I don't understand why you guys cannot see that.
Incidently my C14 is peltier cooled too. The very first of its kind and it works a treat. If you go to CN there is a thread on it in the solar system imaging section. Follow the links.
So that is my advice to Mike. It is not ill conceived, you just need to plan a little more and work out methods around certain issues. One large scope can fit the bill. Ultimately the choice is yours mate, but I have tried to save you spending a whole lot of cash. Try not to follow the nah sayers. The technology now exists to use a dob for both types of imaging and get great results.