New addition to the family

[pgc hunter]

Already done my Christmas shopping and in the process may have condemned Melbourne and co to years of nonstop cloud. (oh wait, that's our average climatic normals already) Picked up this 8" dob on the weekend from Wren (Greenswale), but to be honest I had no less than 2 opportunities to try it since then, but 2am finishes at work put that idea in the coffin.

Custom built, hand figured mirrors, fully flocked (it is super pitch black in that tube!), ready to go....but not before christmas

Got it basically to fill the middle ground between my 120st and the 12" dob, with the aim of having something that's easy to set up, doesn't weigh much but still large enough to haul in the faint fuzzies during those times when I don't feel like or is impractical to set up the 12 incher.

[Lismore Bloke (Paul)]

Hey Sab, that's a snazzy looking scope. I hope the optics are as good as they sound. Focusser looks interesting.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

This is a fantastic scope!

Wren brought it to Club nights regularly and it gives stunningly sharp views.
The optics are great.

Excellent purchase SAB.

[pgc hunter]

Originally Posted by Lismore Bloke

Hey Sab, that's a snazzy looking scope. I hope the optics are as good as they sound. Focusser looks interesting.

Hey Paul the focuser is an Astrosystems Phase 4, nearly identical to that on the old version of my 12" dob (parts of which can be seen in the pics!) but on this 8" it is much smoother. It appears to be collimatable too.

Originally Posted by ballaratdragons

This is a fantastic scope!

Wren brought it to Club nights regularly and it gives stunningly sharp views.
The optics are great.

Excellent purchase SAB.

Excellent news Ken! Can't wait to try it out, and low and behold it's clear for the 3rd time since last Sunday when I got it, but my work hours atm mean I cant go out. No new scope curse here that's for sure

I'm interested in its performance on planets in particular. The mirrors are pristine, the tube is a black hole, and at f/6 it'll be interesting to compare to my F/4.4 dob, whose mirror could do with a recoat!