Just got a 10" Dob

[Derivious (Tyrone)]

Hi everyone. ive only ever owned a 4.5" refractor on eq mounts before.
I just picked up a 10" collapsible Dob for $700 bucks never used. But now i'm too terrified to take it anywhere its not small or light.

Are there any good places or sites in adelaide region that i could hit up?
Also happy for any advice on collimation etc too

[Pierre_C]

Merry Christmas, Tyrone.

I am no expert, but here are some links to videos from Orion that I have found useful for collimating with (1) a collimation cap and (2) with a laser collimator:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAVGcGEBmCE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUobqWr8qOY

If you do not have any of these tools, you can still use the principles in the first video to get rough collimation to get started.

Note that new telescopes may already be pre-collimated - test the telescope out first before making any adjustments.

It looks like there may be good weather in Adelaide tonight.

Enjoy!

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Congratulations, that was a good buy.
I'm not sure why you are terrified. If you find it too difficult to handle that is one thing but don't be terrified of damaging it. Newts are pretty robust. I've carried a 10" solid tube dob around for years with no problems, just a little bit of cosmetic damage.
Being a collapsible tube you will need to collimate every time you assemble it, in fact I mostly had to tweek the solid tube scope after a couple of hours in the car. Possibly the primary mirror will stay pretty close to right but the secondary will need adjusting. Once you have the hang of collimating it will take <5min.
Enjoy the toy!

[EpickCrom (Joe)]

Congratulations Tyrone on your purchase of a 10" dob!

I too own a 10", mine is solid tube and I've had it since 2020. It was my first ever telescope. Nearly five years later I still observe with it every clear night and am constantly amazed at what it shows me!

For collimation I use a Cheshire collimation eyepiece, works like a charm! Get that bad boy under dark skies and prepare to have your mind blown