10 inch skywatcher or 12 inch gso dobsonian?

[doogal]

Hey guys well ive decided to take the plunge and get a decent scope
i have decide on either the skywatcher 10 inch for $799 or the gso 12 inch for $899. can anyone please give me some pros/cons of each model?

im kinda leaning toward the 12 inch as for $100 more i get 2 more inches of aperture and it also comes with the crayford focuser which i dont really know what it is but ive read its better. plus 12 inch just sounds better

also im coming from a 5 inch celestron powerseeker so will the difference be HUGE or just a nice improvement. last night i could just make out some bands around jupiter(and i mean just) with my 20mm ep,what would it look like through the 10/12inch with the same eyepeice?

thanks for your help.

[rmcpb (Rob)]

The crayford is a real bonus and worth the $100 extra on its own without the larger mirror, etc. Be careful before buying a 12" because it is like a water heater so have a look at one before purchasing.

If you can store, handle and transport the 12" then its the go.

As for Jupiter you will see an amazing amount of extra detail in either scope. I can make out festoons and the larger spots in my 8" and the 12" will blow the boots off it.

Get ready for some amazing views

[doogal]

lol i just missed your reply rmcpb, i just got off the phone from Don at bintel and 1 nice new shiny 12 inch is on its way

feels kinda good to take the plunge but i know my bank balance didnt really like it but hey

well at least i can look at it this way: this should keep me happy for a lonmg while as i just know if i had bought the 10 inch i woulda been always wondering about the 12. anything bigger was just much $$ for me to justify.

what a long weekend this is gonna be

edit: rmcpb is that your 8 inch in your avatar? even that thing looks bloody huge! i better start doin my pushups now haha

[rmcpb (Rob)]

Doogal,

Have a look at this thread. I made the second post and included a list of "essential" things to make observing good and comfy.

Yes, that is my dob but its not very big or heavy. The main thing with the 12" ones is their bulk not their weight if you are fairly fit.

Have fun.................

[bluescope]

The 12" will give you amazing views compared to your 5". As long as you aren't interested in astrophotography a Dob is the way to go for shear economical light gathering. I get wonderful views of Saturn and Jupiter with both my newt scopes. When you observe objects like Omega Centauri you will notice a huge difference.

When I bought my 10" SW Newt I thought I would sell my 8" but I love them both. The 10" is a mother to carry and setup on EQ6 mount at 14.6kg so quite often I just grab my 8" ( 10kg ) to go have a look see. Soon, however, I will have a permanent setup so we'll see then.

Have a lot of fun !

Steve

p.s. You may find you will need a step to view some objects. I have a small plastic step that gets me about 20-25cm off the ground, it's indispensable with my 10".

[doogal]

guys anothere question i just thought of. i have a 3x barlow that came with my celestron and also a 20mm ep. now the 20mm by itself gives me a really nice crisp view however when i add the barlow it goes a bit fuzzy and the detail is gone. with the much greater light gathering of the 12 inch the picture should be really nice yea?

or maybe its just the cheap barlow is a pos

bluescope are you serious about the step? these things must be big muthas.....sweet!

[rmcpb (Rob)]

I think I would be trying a different barlow

[bluescope]

Yeah I'm serious about the step ! Perhaps more so for Newts on equatorial mounts, I haven't owned a Dob. However I suppose if you were vertically challenged it would be a problem !


The 3x Barlow may be overdoing your magnification a little but could also not be very good quality. I use a 2x SkyWatcher barlow ( not fantasic but not bad ) with my Vixen LV eyepieces 4mm & 20mm. With the 4mm + 2x barlow ( 600x mag ) things start to get a lot out of control as regards sharp image, big image though. With 4mm ( 300x mag ) by itself things are more under control ( my preferred view on clear nights ). With the 20mm + 2x barlow ( 120x mag ) things are sharp as. I read somewhere that's it's much better to have a small sharp view than a large blurr .... and it's true. The main thing with your 12" is the light gathering capability to see fainter objects better not the extra magnification that any extra focal length will give.



Having said all that it depends what you are looking at as well and don't forget the barlow slows down your scope i.e. makes the image darker.

[rmcpb (Rob)]

Forget power!! The max magnification is 2x your diameter in mm so about 600x for a 12".

This will only be achieved on really rare nights, maybe one or two a year. For most nights look at working below 200x, or possibly 250x, and you will not be disappointed with the results. Clear, crisp images, what more could you ask for.

With my 8" I mainly work between 100-170x with exceptional nights supporting over 400x on the moon.

Cheers

[Tamtarn]

Doogal we have a 12" Dob and Barb is 5" 4" and has no trouble observing even at zenith. -- no stool needed.

[davidpretorius]

yup 12" is a winner

[doogal]

hey guys could someone that owns a 12 inch possible get a picture of them standing beside it just to give me a sense of scale.
ill try to do a review of mine when i get it, might be interesting for others who are of my skill level in this field ie. very little.

[Mr. Subatomic]

Great scope from a great shop. Well done!