Article: Part 2 - What's Wrong with each of my Scopes

[that_guy (Tony)]

Thanks Brian, great advice on the eyepiece and planet tracking. I hold off the eyepiece until I get more seriously into it..

thanks,
Tony

[magado]

I have a 8inch dob.It has been good to usebut of late there is no way I can
focus it It has been collimated it has a Crayford focuser. hoping for some
help.It looks like it wont be long until it goes to the tip
Magado

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

A very good essay. Ive been looking for a comprehensive guide like this to the basic pro's and cons of each telescope design in one article, comparing them to each other.

Nice one

[Miaplacidus (Brian)]

Originally Posted by magado

I have a 8inch dob.It has been good to usebut of late there is no way I can
focus it It has been collimated it has a Crayford focuser. hoping for some
help.It looks like it wont be long until it goes to the tip
Magado

I'm sorry to hear you're having difficulties with focusing. Hard to determine over the internet what might be wrong. Is there a club nearby that maybe you could take it to?

Otherwise, perhaps you could provide more details. What eyepieces are you using? How is the image distorted? (Perhaps using it during the day on some distant object on the horizon might provide some clues.)

Originally Posted by AG Hybrid

A very good essay. Ive been looking for a comprehensive guide like this to the basic pro's and cons of each telescope design in one article, comparing them to each other.

Nice one

Ta, Adrian.

[yusufcam (Colin)]

i remember my first scope from not that long ago, i knew little about it when i purchased it but took the apparent honest advice of the salesperson (who in hindsight sold me exactly what i had unknowingly asked for).

After i bought it and returned home, i did some enthusiastic research on the web and was immediately dismayed to find a plethora of experts pleading grimly "whatever you do make sure someone doesn't sell you one of these things".

"Sheooot, i thought", what have i gotten into.

after several months of encountering such reports i succumbed and ended up getting the recommended beginner scope (the ubiquitious 8" dob, and further down the track, a 102mm F10 refractor). The moment i first used the dob i knew what the advantages of the original telescope, a short tube refractor, where (and coincidentally at the same time found the first astronomy book which sang the virtues of ST refractors, [Phillips Deep Sky])........

Even though i knew i prefer to buy food from a restuarant and take it home to eat. It didn't dawn on me that i would defer to a scope used in our backyard rather than a trek to a remote dark site, light pollution regardless.

Yes, Astronomy is conceptual, (yet, some objects are still beautiful) and that conceptualization extends to our telescopes....

One night (when i had only the ST) i noticed how forlorn i felt when i thought about the "blinding CA and puny magnification" of my ST achro. Then i stopped momentarily and thought what happens if i think about it as being like a set of powerful binoculars (wide field, light, portable), and instantly to my suprise felt absolutely great about them....


I have found that i love the hunt and my urban setting.

Once i've found where things are and are quite familiar with their locations i drag out the dob or F10 (on the balcony) and apply the magnification.

My scopes work as a team of sorts.....

So in the end it took all that time to find out it was right from the beginning (in this case).

Enjoy, why not...

Regards
Col


to look at what each scope does best.

[barry2718 (Barry)]

Excellent advice in the posts here on equipment and pointing the Dob. I had encountered the Dob hole near Zenith and never thought to prop the scopes base on an angle. I have had a similar problem with my Eq mount 4" saxon and had to change to alt az tracking manual tracking near the South celestial pole, so it not just my lack of experience but real problem a design limitation of any scope. Great Articles wish I had found these sooner.

[chucho (Jesus)]

I am new in the use of a telescope, even though I have been reading about astronomy since long ago but nothing like get the real experience in your balcony.

Well I just need it to said thanks even if this was an old article this looks like a good push in the right direction.

[AlexD]

Very helpful - good to have a topic about what's "wrong" with various scopes, very helpful for the beginner!

[idlingdove (Marcus)]

Although written 14 years ago, I suspect this two-part article on scopes for beginners is just as relevant now as it was then.

Excellent advice and information! I learnt a lot. It's always good to hear viewpoints in forums like this one, where one can find an enthusiast's genuine opinion (as opposed to seller's hype and buyer's complaints)...

[ArnoldKMB (Arnold)]

Originally Posted by Miaplacidus

Thanks for your positive comments, guys. (Now I'll just wait for the lawsuits to pour in.)

Seriously, reading over these articles again, I feel I was a bit harsh on both the ETX and the Megrez. I probably use the Megrez far more than any other scope at the moment. And I DO actually have a list of the SAOs of nearly every interesting double star south of declination +50 (I've even used an Excel scatter chart to turn it into a sort of star chart), so suddenly I find that the ETX has increased my potential observing opportunities to include even nights with a full moon. (Both these preferences probably reflect where I live. When you practise astronomy in cloudy Hobart, you have to maximize every opportunity you can!)

Anyway, guys, get stuck in. Aren't you all going to leap to the defence of your respective telescopes (and start denigrating all the others)? Else, where is the fun in writing the articles???!!!!

Cheers,

Brian.

Hey. I absolutely agree with you, these topics and comments have really helped me. So tnank you!