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I once saw the polar caps with an old 60mm Tasco refractor, but that was in 2003 when it was as close to earth as it has ever been. (at least for my existance) I just saw mars recently through my 12” DOB and it’s never looked that same as it did back then. Through my 12” Dob it comes across as pretty small and when I up the Magnification it starts to look fairly blurred out/motley and so forth. Don’t expect much & you will be better rewarded at medium powers with a nice red crisper looking sphere. This may very well be where I am better to spend more money on a better eye pieces, but given my DOB with its fast focal ratio of F5 makes looking at such planets somewhat inferior to a refractor with a higher F/R or simply a scope purpose built for planetary observation.
Best thing to do, is pick a time when it will be at its highest point, closest to earth (not sure…one point every 2 years?) and seeing conditions are GOOD!!!/collimate your scope on site as best you can & use the best eye piece/combo you have for the job, keeping in mind that sometimes with our DOBs its best to back of the magnification and use an EP with a larger f/r… We can still get good views at planets, however we can’t do it is often or as crisp as planet purpose built scopes; which is what Mars really needs. If anyone else could give more tips…please do so! I would love to see more of Mars. To be honest, I have not really tried or planed hard enough with Mars or been lucky enough to have had all the right variables in place for my scope.
I'm sure with some persistance you will enjoy seeing more each time you observe.
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