Six more sleeps until I pick up my 12" LB.

[White Rabbit]

I made the plunge and ordered a 12" LB from bintel. Cant wait. Also placed an order with them for the argo navis that I will pick up in about 4 weeks time. This should be a sweet set up me thinks. The only bummer is is that I was intending to order a ServoCat as well for it but Don informs me that I will have to do some heavy modifications to the LB in order to fit it, bummer I was looking forward to 12 inches of Goto. We'll see what happens I may do it anyway. The defacto father in Law is handy with a saw and drill .

So my set up will be this.

For observing I'll have the 12" LB with Argo Navis.

For astro photography. (I'm about to start dabbling)
HEQ5pro, Toucam and I will purchase an 8" Dob from bintel to put on the EQ5.

I'll leave my ETX125PE for camping.
Sweet.

[PCH (Paul)]

Good on yer White Rabbit.

I also have the 12" LB and confirm it is a great scope. You will find you need to address the issue of additional counterbalance weight at the rear once you start using heavier stuff at the eyepiece end - like the Stellarvue binoviewer which I thoroughly recommend by the way. I'd also like to add AN soon. I'd be interested to hear what info you get regarding fitting servo-cat to it if you persue that track. How cool would that be

Look forward to hearing your first impressions on the LB.

Cheers

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

Congrats WR!

Should be a nice combination...I have a 12.5 inch Discovery Truss Dobsonian reflector and an Argo Navis and absolutely love them together!

Add in a few nice widefield eyepieces and you will have a set-up that can keep you entertained for a long long time...

[astronut (John)]

Congratulations W.R.
I've had my 12"LB for two years and have loved every minute of it.
Some mods are necessary and some are personal.
Im here to help when you need some.

[JimmyH155]

Well done WR - that's exactly what I have got. Argo Navis easy to fit and not too difficult to learn. As for the balance, yes with my heavier 2 inch EP (Meade 26 mm QX that comes with it and my NEW MAGIC Hyperion ZOOM ), I have added at the bottom of the scope a tin of air rifle pellets (couldnt find anything better) and stickey taped it on. Works a treat

[White Rabbit]

Thanks guys.

I'll be ordering the bobs knobs pack I think it has a stronger spring and the collimation bolts and a few other bits and bobs. Are there any other type of mods I should be looking at?

Thanks
Sandy

[PCH (Paul)]

WR,

when you fit the Bobs knobs, I found with mine that the wider (Bobs) knob didn't allow me to securely insert the DC 12v connector for the fan - the female 12v connector was positioned really close to one of the original mirror adjustment screws. So I had to relocate that which was a bit of a pain. But the Bobs Knobs do make both mirror adjustments really easy.

The stronger primary mirror springs are pretty much mandatory for the 12" too.

Other than that I've added a counterweight so that I can use heavy EPS etc, a shroud which improved the image, and I have a dob trolley coming soon. After that, just the AN to buy and then I'm fully sorted

Cheers,

[White Rabbit]

Thanks PHC.

I see you have the the ETX125 as well. It's a great scope but for suburban skies it always leaves you wanting more. How would you compare the two? I know that they are totally different scopes and that that the LB has nearly 3 times the mirror size but does that actually make things 3 times brighter?

I'm going to burst before next week I swear it lol

[toyos]

With the light-polluted suburban skies, especially with reflectors, the bigger aperture the more light pollution you see through the scope. Generally everything gets brighter including the background giving you bright but low-contrast images. Big central obstruction + short focal ratio reflectors plus some stray light make the images look washed out compared to good refractors.

At least get a good black cover for that LB.

Anyone wanna buy my 12" GSO Dob? Only 5 weeks old. Selling it cheap.

[monoxide]

stop bagging the dob and baffle and flock it properly
you will *need* to do this to get good contrast out of it.
the problem isn't that the dob is picking up more light pollution (its not anyway really) its mainly just the light bouncing around inside the tube that reduces the contrast.
a big reflector will always show you more than a smaller refractor.

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

Originally Posted by toyos

With the light-polluted suburban skies, especially with reflectors, the bigger aperture the more light pollution you see through the scope. Generally everything gets brighter including the background giving you bright but low-contrast images. Big central obstruction + short focal ratio reflectors plus some stray light make the images look washed out compared to good refractors.

At least get a good black cover for that LB.

Anyone wanna buy my 12" GSO Dob? Only 5 weeks old. Selling it cheap.

I've heard other make similar assertions that bigger scopes are more negatively impacted by light pollution...I've not found that to be the case in my own experiences. A little flocking and a light/dew shield having worked for me very well.

[PCH (Paul)]

Originally Posted by White Rabbit

Thanks PHC.

I see you have the the ETX125 as well. It's a great scope but for suburban skies it always leaves you wanting more. How would you compare the two? I know that they are totally different scopes and that that the LB has nearly 3 times the mirror size but does that actually make things 3 times brighter?

I'm going to burst before next week I swear it lol

WR,

without a doubt, the images in the LB are outstanding compared to the ETX. Which is not to bag the ETX - it's a good scope but is obviously smaller. I do like the goto though, and so I'm seriously thinking about getting the best of both worlds in an LX200 10" or similar.

I do recommend a couple of good EPs though to use with your LB, I found the cheaper ones don't do it justice. No need to go overboard - just a couple of TV plosls are what I use, together with a TV barlow.

I also have the Stellarvue Binoviewers from SDM which, if I recall correctly, were about $300. These are absolutely amazing when used on the dob. The BVs were the reason for finally having to install the counter weight system on the dob as they are quite heavy. But you can also use them in conjuction with a barlow for even bigger images. The moon, saturn and jupiter are incredible sights using both eyes for viewing - some non-astro people I had around a week or so ago were awestruck that they had seen the rings of saturn with their own eyes (almost )

Well WR, not many sleeps now Let's hear your first light report asap - I'm sure you'll be well impressed.

Cheers

[White Rabbit]

Thanks I just went into bintel and got a TV 3x barlow and a meade 14mm 5000 series Ep. Jupiter should look quite good tonight.