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Old 08-01-2009, 11:10 PM
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erick (Eric)
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Gerringong
Posts: 8,548
OK Peter, good news that you can observe 70km from Melbourne. That should be darkish skies. I'm 50 km from Melbourne and east is not much use from the skyglow.

An 8"or 10" reflector on a dobsonian mount is best used sitting down. There are purpose built (and expensive) astronomy stools which have adjustable height so that as you raise the scope, you can adjust the stool to suit. I just use an old gaslift office chair (I pull the back rest off it) and have a folded blanket to hand if I need a bit more height.

You would use regular eyepieces with these scopes - they are designed for such eyepieces to be placed directly in the focusser. Because of the movement of a dobsonian mount, the eyepiece just goes heigher or lower, whilst always maintaining the same orientation with respect to the ground. Without a chair or a stool to sit on, you will find you need to crouch or sit on a stool for objects lower in the sky.

Re glasses, unless they are for correcting astigmatism, you will probably find that you can observe without them. All that happens is that you adjust the focusser to a different position then other people would have it. However, then this may mean that you are forever putting your glasses on and off when you want to look up at the sky or at star maps. Certain eyepieces are designed to leave a good space between the top of the lens and your eye - called "eye relief" - and this is usually to allow for comfort and the wearing of glasses. Some, such as the no longer made Vixen LV range, are very good this way. The 9mm plossl eyepiece that will likely come with these scopes wil probably have too small an eye relief for you to wear your glasses.

Sounds like it's time for you to visit the Bintel shop and talk with the guys there, or to find a gathering where you can actually see these scopes in action and experiment with them to see the features and what suits you.
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