Choices!!

[Greenswale (Wren)]

I am looking at buying my first telescope (yep, here we go again!!). Whatever I purchase needs to be robust and portable, because it will travel Australia’s outback, in conditions less than ideal. Other considerations are the ability to use the telescope to grow later capability; and resale value, just in case!

After whizzing around lots of web stuff, I have found a great ‘home’ here on ISS, and thus seek members’ learned opinion. Here is the equation - two possible choices: Skywatcher Maksutov Cassegrain 180, and the Skywatcher Pro ED 100, and whether or no the related goto mount is a good idea. Prices do appear particularly attractive at the moment!

Planetary observation and some deep sky stuff would seem to be the sensible limits, but fine image without having to spend stacks on eyepieces and other stuff is very important to me. When the immediate thought of appeture size hits, I reckon that later on, a 12” dob will become part of my life!

So, which telescope, what mount?

In anticipation………

[ving (David)]

hmm... 180mm mak. it does have more aperture.. whats stopping you from do ing the dob now tho?... i mean i know the 12" isnt very portable but how about a 8" or 10"? it'll probably cost less than the mak or ed100 and have more aperture... the money left over can go into eyepieces

but if you are stuck on teh ed100 or mak i havent used either but the mak does have more aperture. what sort of mount do they come with?

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Hi Greenswale,

I agree with our learned friend Vingo above, a 8" dob is fairly portable and will show you HEAPS more! and cheaper too.

Also, the ED80 & ED100's are not great scopes for visual work, but the bees knees for Astro-photography.

So decide between the Mak and a dob

[rmcpb (Rob)]

If its within your budget then think about an 8" Lightbridge. Folds down and has heaps more aperture.

[casstony]

The ed100 on the HEQ5 pro mount is a good deal at $2600, as is the 180 mak at $2800, but dealing with a goto equatorial mount is a big learning curve for your first scope. You might find yourself fighting with the mount rather than trying to figure out what wonderful object that is that you've just seen in the dob. ................ I've started writing this next sentence a couple of times trying to provide a counterpoint to the posts above.... but I can't. Cheap 8" dob is the way to go and with the money you save you can buy a couple of hyperion/stratus eyepieces and other accessories.

[iceman (Mike)]

Welcome Greenswale! I'd love to do some observing in the outback.. horizon to horizon dark skies.

I can't add anymore to the advice listed above, but just wanted to say hi!

[huckabuck]

welcome greenswale, you just can't lose with a dob.

[vespine]

I agree with the dob suggestion. To me, outback and desert sound like trouble for batteries, electronics and fine tracking motors. I reckon get the 8" dob, buy a second eye piece and spend some money on a planisphere and some charts.

[Greenswale (Wren)]

The arguement is strong for a dob - apart from bulk in a loaded vehicle.

Vespine, cas't help but notice that you have a 12" Lightbridge. On advice given, I'm considering a 10" Lightbridge. Please advise me about set up time, need for collimation, good and bad points. That'll do!!!!!

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

"it will travel Australia’s outback, in conditions less than ideal..."

Since you've mentioned this aspect I will mention something that I also said to my brother who lives outside Alice Springs: you need to be aware of the implications of dust, and physical "bumps" affecting collimation (think alignment, so that all mirrors reflect EXACTLY where they need to in order to obtain a clear image).

While I agree that a dob is a great way to go (check my byline - I have one :-D ) you need to keep those factors in mind. You will need to learn to collimate, and you will probably need to do it frequently as you travel, and dust WILL BE a major issue. You cannot "wipe" the mirrors clean as you will scratch the soft aluminised surfaces, the only thing you can do when dust gets too bad is to carefully rinse the primary (and perhaps secondary) mirrors. You need clean distilled water referably, definitely do not use bore water as the chemicals may damage the mirror surface.

While a truss tube dob like the Lightbridge will be much more compact than a solid tube type I think it may be more difficult to try and "dust seal" the mirror during travel. On a solid tube type you can "cap" each end with shower cap, platic bag, etc, and seal with tape if necessary, which will keep almost all dust out of the tube and away from your mirrors.

I am not saying don't get a dob, I am saying be aware of what it will entail - this applies to any reflector type scope, be it on a dob base or tripod mounted, etc.

I hope this information is of some value to you - enjoy your purchase and your travels!

[vespine]

Hi again. Obviously there will be a lot of advice for you to take in all at once so I'll try to be as concise as I can. Firstly my disclaimer, the LB is my 1st scope, I've just had it over a year now so I'm not the most experienced person when it comes to various types of telescopes.
The above post makes some valid points but I'd like to add a few comments. It seems the main concerns raised are collimation and dust contamination. While it is true you will need to learn how to collimate your telescope, this actually isn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. You will need to budget for a collimating tool, but don't let that discourage you. I collimated for about 6 months with just an old film canister and when I eventually bought my laser tool I found out I was never that far off.
People have posted that since the LB "comes apart" you'll need to collimate more, but I've never actually seen evidence of that, I've had the scope apart and put it back together after driving for 3 hours and it has not even needed adjusting. Again, if it had, after doing it a few times it's not even a bother. In fact, I kinda like it. I liken it to checking the tyre pressure on your motorbike before going out for a weekend ride, it's like a reassurance/ ritual/ "get you in the mood" kind of thing for me, I could be just a little crazy though . You could argue the same thing about polar alignment, personally I find the idea of assembling something and collimating it more appealing then polar aligning.
Secondly, the dust: The LB comes with a snugly fitting "bin lid" dust cover that fits over the mirror, INSIDE the OTA, so you aren't just capping the end of the tube, you are actually covering the mirror it self, so I don't think the LB truss design is any worse then any other dob when it comes to dust.
So I guess dust is dust, wether you have a dob or a eq mounted maks or whatever, you can't avoid the dust. In my opinion, the dob is a low tech piece of kit, especially when compared to anything on a go-to mount that needs power, low tech beats hi tech when it comes to dust. But just because it isn't high tech, does not mean it isn't high end, it's a very impressive telescope, most lay people that see it are seriously blown away, I've had "non astro" people guess it cost five grand because they think it's so impressive looking.
To sum up, whatever choice you make, actually seeing the scope, and seeing through the scope are worth a thousand words. Getting an idea of what exactly it is like to sit beside a dob and move it and hold it and look through it, also putting your hands onto a go to controller and hearing the motors buzz and seeing how easy it is to track something down with a go-to mount, these things can not be conveyed to you with words written in a post, it's something you have to experience to appreciate. Have you considered coming along to a viewing night? I'm in Melbourne too and I think this Saturday Dave and I, and who ever else comes, are heading down to the Mornington Peninsula Astro Society site near Mount Martha, there is a thread in the Star Parties and Observing Sessions folder. Dave said "this weekend" I'm waiting for him to confirm if he meant "Saturday", have a look at that thread and post if you are interested.

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

Hi Vespine - thanks for adding that info re the "bin lid" for the Lightbridge, that's something I was totally unaware of (have never seen that lid in use) so I'm sure that will be just the sort of thing that Greenswale needs to know. That's what I like about this forum, the fact that you can get such a broad range of info and experience just by asking.

As an aside - I'm hoping to take my full bodied 12" dob (and my full bodied self!) out to NT again next year sometime to do some visiting AND pack in some outback observing as well.

Dobs rock! lol be they solid tube or truss!

[Greenswale (Wren)]

Thanks for the responses.

Mornington sounds good - I have the map, I have the time, and I have begun a ceremonial cloud burning ritual aimed slap bang at Saturday night.

See you then, with luck!