Quote:
Originally Posted by TimboS
Space is indeed one of the key issues, but it seems an upright Dobsonian can alleviate that concern. Let's consider Dobsonians for a moment then.
My price point will cover a 10" truss/collapsible model, and maybe even a 12" solid tube type (although I'll need to look into that a bit more). For backyard viewing, in the outer city suburbs, which is better? Truss or solid tube?
Are there any ongoing maintenance issues with a Dobsonian? e.g. polishing mirrors periodically?
If I want to use it for astrophotography, what sort of changes do I need to make as compared to the standard base of the unit, and what might I expect to pay? My reasoning is that at least with a Newtonian and equatorial mount I have some astrophotography capability right out of the box but it would seem that with a Dobsonian I have none.
I also wonder what shipping going to be like from Sydney to Adelaide...
There's a seperate issue as well I'd like to ask about. A colleague of mine says that if you want to see lots of things, I'll need a Go-To otherwise it will be just too difficult to go out and use a scope in "point and shoot" mode and expect to see much. Does this make sense? Is it unreasonable to expect to just take the unit out the back, look around the sky and be blown away but what is really out there? At some point you have to draw the line and say I can't spend more than X dollars.
Thanks to all.
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I reckon I would go for a dob mounted reflector. There is not much to worry about in terms of maintenance, except for collimation. If you can wheel your scope out on a trolley, then a 12" is fine, but otherwise they a fairly heavy for regular transporting. People don't seem to have too much of a problem with a 10" through which you'll still see lots if you want to go to the bigger end of things. I would also agree with Rob that a Telrad is a great investment - it can be a bit hard to know exactly where you're pointing your scope with a only standard finderscope. Ditto also to his advice re eyepieces - use the ones that come with the scope - they'll be fine and you will have time to think about what suits you if you wnat ot upgrade. As a committed star hopper, one of the best ways I found to start the whole process of finding things was to browse the sky with a pair of binoculars and then point the scope at anything that looks different. Amazing what you find! Most scopes also come with software that will help you find things by printing star charts etc. It's worth a visit to a star party to learnm a few constellations and you will be surprised once you get started how you can learn your way around the sky. Books like "Atlas of the Southern Night Sky" are also very useful. Go to scopes will help you find stuff sooner, but I vividly recall going to a small star party seeking to learn a few more of the fainter constellations and finding that some of the experience astronomers there couldn't help as they'd always relied on go to scopes. I also know people who have limited observing opportunities and find go to scopes and Argo Navis devices help them to see a lot in their limited time.
So there are my personal biases all rolled into one! Hope its of some use.