With the strength of the aussie dollar and the reduction in price at Bintel of the 12" Lightbridge I'm seriously thinking of purchase this Dob and I was wondering what other accessories should I get to enhance my use of this Dob?
There are quite a few accessories needed........but the scope out of the box will work very well.
Take the time to get to know the scope and then ask these questions again.
First purchase, immediatley should be a collimation device. Either a Cheshire or Laser.
I've had my 12"LB for 4 1/2 years. I LOVE IT!!!!
I just got a 12" LB and you will want collimation tool, I've been using a laser one and it does the trick. Checked it against some Catseye collimation tools and it was pretty close.
A shroud might be useful if there will be external light sources. The scope doesn't come with a finderscope (just a laser dot finder) if you think you'll want one.
The only problem I've had with the scope so far is that the white "locking" knobs for collimation affect the collimation when you lock it. I'm not sure what the solution to this is, but I know of one person that drilled new holes and moved the locking knobs closer to the adjustment knobs - that worked really well if you're willing to drill holes.
You'll also probably want more than one eyepiece if you don't already have some.
Im not the person really to ask about that due to the fact im a Astrophotographer mainly. I have in my kit though a set of Meade S5000 40mm, 26mm, 20mm and a 2x ED 2" barlow.
go to the Eyepiece forums they will answer your question in 2 seconds flat!
I was going for the saxon 8" but decided to spend a little extra on a larger one.
The 12" Lightbridge got my attention (same the OP here - the price is quite good) - however i might have to settle for the 10" model, for a while i assumed it came with a few eyepieces and a barlow... guess i was wrong.
Is there a cheap "pack" that has eyepieces and laser pointer for this dob somewhere? Or perhaps there's another dob is 'better value' than this?
If you're going to buy the LB 12", it already comes with the 2" Meade QX 26mm which is a good started eyepiece for open clusters ... albeit with a few "seagulls" for stars towards the edge.
Suggest a good budget companion eyepiece is the Bintel SuperView 15mm (1.25") $39.00. This will do a reasonable job on smaller open clusters, globular clusters, etc.
Using this in conjunction with a Bintel Barlow 2x (1.25") $35.00 will give you decent views of Jupiter & Saturn .... although they drift from view pretty fast at high magnification using a Dob.
Using the 15mm in conjunction with a Bintel GSO ND-96 Moon (1.25") filter $15.00 will also give some great views of craters on the moon. If the moon is very bright (eg. almost full), you might be better off with 2 of these filters together.
Ok this is what can be done to a 12 LB for under $5000. First three Televue eye pieces (two neglars and an ethos 9 t6-17 t4 and ethos 6mm), moonlight two speed focuser cr2, Kendrick duel dew heater ,Argo Navis and stellar cat go-to. Jeff was the one who got me fired up over the LB
I don't understand why you owners gloss over the azmuth motion problem . Out of the box , it moves nothing like a proper Dobsonian , and seems next to useless as is ( at least from what I saw of Sasup's scope at IISAC ) . You would need to jack the rocker box up on teflon pads and get rid of those roller bearings. Then it might work as a Dobsonian should
I don't understand why you owners gloss over the azmuth motion problem . Out of the box , it moves nothing like a proper Dobsonian , and seems next to useless as is ( at least from what I saw of Sasup's scope at IISAC ) . You would need to jack the rocker box up on teflon pads and get rid of those roller bearings. Then it might work as a Dobsonian should
Thanks mark tell it as it is. Mark has a good point and I fixed this by installing a 4.5mm teflon pad. This has stiffend the scope massively.
Hi all, an interesting discussion, since I am looking at a 12" portable Dob, either Skywatcher or Lightbridge. The big plus for me is that the LB breaks down into smaller components, but this may mean more collimation and longer set-up time. Are these two points valid? On the otherhand I think the SW has a pyrex primary, whereas the LB doesn't. Am I correct, and do pyrex mirrors perform better than non-pyrex ones, all other factors being equal? Both scopes look like they come from the same factory, so I assume there is little to distinguish them, bar some peripheral components. As for their mounts, the SW (black diamond model) blurb says:
"The bearing system has been redesigned as well. The new Sky-Watcher collapsible Dobsonians feature buttery smooth azimuth bearings. Even the twelve-inch model can be rotated with just the push of a finger. Like our traditional Dobsonians, the collapsible Dobsonians feature Sky-Watcher’s patented tension adjustment control on the altitude bearings. This eliminates the need and added cost of clumsy counterweight systems to balance the telescope.
The secret of the design is to correctly balance the optical tube with special designed handles on the base. The design adds enough friction and tension to allow the tube to move easily when nudged but to stay in position when not. Users can easily add or reduce tension by turning on the handle. This feature solves the common balance problem found on many Dobsonians."
Is this the issue Satchmo is referring to with these scopes?Does the redesigned SW Blackdiamond address the problem?
Eenee meenee miney moh,
what is the best way to go?
I'm ready to buy, is there a significant difference in viewing with the 10" Lb and the 12"??
I'm wondering whether I get the 10" and spend the spare cash on better eyepieces...
I've owned a 10" and currently have a 12" skywatcher dob. There is definitely a difference between the two. Most though would say it isn't a significant difference but doing a side by side with the same eyepieces the 12 should be brighter and go just a bit deeper. 12" is where DSO's really start to show detail under good skies. It's probably best to try both beforehand if you are looking to decide which is better. I'd buy the 12" over the 10" but beware, it is significantly bigger. The 10" solid tube was manageable to pickup in one piece and walk into my yard. I wouldn't dream of trying it with the 12" and have made a frame with wheels attached to the base for ease of moving it.
