[morls (Stephen)]

Hi,

I've got an 8" collapsible skywatcher dob, and I love it. Having this scope has proven to me that I really enjoy observing, and that this is what I love about astronomy, as opposed to imaging, which doesn't really interest me....

So, I know that down the track I am going to want to build my own. This is something that will be a long-term project, so I want to start getting my head around it...I really don't have a clue as to how people start to plan such a job. Can anyone offer any advice to a complete novice? My initial thoughts are:

- I'm thinking 14" - 16" would be a good size. Can I realistically expect this to be as portable as the 8" skywatcher, given that the design of the 8" is pretty clunky and needs to be transported in two parts, base and OTA? The base alone is 70cm high...Would a custom built one also take up less space when stored?

- when building a scope, is it usual to get a primary mirror first, and then design around that?

- what is the typical overall cost for such a project?

- I have a friend who is a master with wood, and has an autocad(?) setup....are there plans/templates that people use?

Any advice/suggestions greatly appreciated!

Stephen