Customising Dobs

[silwat]

Hello everybody!

I've just bought myself my first ever telescope, an 8" Skywatcher Dobsonian. Straight out of the box this telescope has blown me away. Touring the forums though, I have noticed that the majority of memebers with dobsonians, upgrade, or customise, thier scopes for better viewing. What would you guys and girls reccomend I do to customise my dob for optimal viewing? Currently I have a 10 and 25 mil eye pieces.

[stephenmcnelley]

Good choice silwat, welcome and that is certainly a good scope to start with.
As for mods this has been covered many times but there are always new ones from newer members too, i would start with the articles written for the articles page by Mike and other member contributers and then use the search feature on the toolbar above- there are a squillion posts on the subject and you can be very specific with your search keywords to get more specific results.

Here is my two cents worth - get your azimuth nylon bearings working a bit smoother by lubricating them and the Dob base upper surface with armour all. Also the old milk carton cutout bearings between the upper mount and lower base helps also, articles abound evrywhere here and on the internet.

Clear skies and have lots of fun

steve

[rmcpb (Rob)]

Silwat, welcome to IIS

Steve has covered the mount movements but other mods worth thinking about are to mount a Telrad and get/make a good observing chair.

My best bit of advice would be to wait till you have used your scope a fair bit and then decide what mods are for you. Otherwise you end up with someone elses scope which may not suit your observing style.

Cheers

[silwat]

Thanks stephenmcnelley and rmcpb for getting back to me. Perhaps I should have "toured" the forums a little more extensivley before I started this thread. (aren't these little guys fun!) Having said that, I would appreciate, and do appreciate, any advice that anyone has to offer me. I've been a proud amature astronomer for all of two weeks now and believe you me, I've got alot to learn! <--- So much fun...

[iceman (Mike)]

Welcome to IIS, silwat!

The 10mm and 25mm EP's will get you by for a while, but you'll probably want to fill some gaps with a reasonable quality 2x barlow, and a 15mm. You can get the barlow and 15mm plossl for a good price from Bintel, MyAstroShop, etc.

Don't forget a star chart and red light torch!

The 8" dob is a great scope to start with.. you don't have to modify it until you get familiar with its uses and limitations.. but to get you started, have a wander around the Articles and see what others have done to their dobs and you can get some ideas.

Don't forget, keep asking questions!

[astro_nutt]

And another welcome to you silwat..
Yep!..My first big scope was an 8" dob...a brilliant instrument in order to view the skies..but also a good "learning" scope...and this will devlelop your "style" of viewing...so enjoy it as it is for now...an atlas and a planisphere will help you find things of interest..but most important ..be as comfortable as you can...ie..refreshments..insect repellant..etc..
Cheers!!!

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Step one, get a stool or something to sit on thats a comfortable height and allows you to view seated at all scope pointing heights.

This is not as easy as it sounds, at least with my 10 incher it wasnt. I ended up having to get a high wooden bar stool and chop the legs down to a suitable height as I couldnt find any seat of the right height.

[GrahamL]

welcome silwat

everything mentioned is food for thought as time goes by and very usefull..


for me starting at the bottom of the scope in the mod dept
an observing chair then.. ply base to sit my scope on
( found this rather than made it )

silicon spray on the upper base is great for freeing movement
bump pad inside the rocker box.

Three bats to run fan ..hopefuully one dies at a time


new eyepiece holder ..2 x 2" holder is a little friendlier I find with moveing
these bigger chunksof glass a little one handed

[silwat]

Thanks everybody for the feedback! An appropriate chair really does seem like a good idea, my knees still have grass marks on them! Then I think I'll start looking at a new eye-piece or two. Also I think I'll do something about lubricating the bearings in the stand ... either that or I'll start going to the gym

[astro_nutt]

Just a though..and this might help anyone who has purchased a dob...with the base components..go over the exposed particleboard with a smear of silicone sealant and allow to dry before assembly...this will help prevent moisture from swelling the particleboard..or...if you're handy with tools...make up another base to hold the optical tube and store it in the garage for when you need it...use the original for the optical tube indoors so it's safe, dry with less wear and tear!!
Cheers!