Well, I finally got an appt. with Bill Larsen, one of the owner of Discovery to go look at the PDHQ models in 8" f/6, f/7 and 10" f/6 'cause I wasn't sure which one. I drove over an hour to Discovery in Oceanside, CA. I had expected a large factory filled with hundreds of people spitting out Discovery Dobs in an assembly line. What awaits me was a very small front office with the factory area in the back. Bill's partner Terry told me that there are only 11 people
(probably only 9 actually doing the work), amazing! Bill is a really nice, low keyed soft spoken kind of guy, inspiring trust. He brought out the base first, then the 10" f/6 tube. One look and I was unhooked ;-). I had to pinch myself to make sure I didn't sleep walk to an armory store instead of an astronomy store! The thing is a monstrocity, standing the same height as I am! One look and I told
Bill he can take it back ;-). Scary? You bet! Next, he brought out the tubes for the 8" f/6 and f/7. BTW, I saw the 24" mirror assembly for a truss Dobs in the office area on the floor and my, my, the thing looks like a small hot tub!
So it's between the 8" f/6 and f/7. The f/7 was slightly and I really mean slightly shorter than the 10". So that was no brainer. It's a quick 8" f/6 decision. It's just the right **maximum** size. The secondary is indeed a very small (looks like 19% obstruction is right). I can even imagine mounting the tube on a traditional EQ mount ;-). One thing that really stood out was the Crayford focuser
with the aluminum knob (with 3 holes) looking very similar to the ones on my TV-102 ;-). The base is a nice, varnished plywood (not like those particle board Chinese Dobs). Unfortunately at $799 it was not Honduras mahogany or New England maple wood that I prefer ;-). The OTA has a nice handle for carrying. The whole experience was hammering in. Seeing all 3 side-by-side was very eye opening!
I was told by Terry that Discovery doesn't really have a showroom; so the fact that Bill spent 1/2 hour from his very busy schedule is much appreciated. Out came the plastic. Thus, I really came away with a strong impression that buying a *premium* Discovery PDHQ is buying a custom made Dobs!
I don't know if I'll turn into Ron Dobster and may even turn into Ron Schmidt or Ron Maksutov some day. But for now, this will give me some idea of **using** a reflector. Who knows, I may eventually turn permanently and exclusively into Ron APO ;-). I do know this: the 10" Dobs ain't for me ;-) and I couldn't care less to see more with more aperture!
Ron the not quite yet 8" Tall Evangelist B[ee]
(probably only 9 actually doing the work), amazing! Bill is a really nice, low keyed soft spoken kind of guy, inspiring trust. He brought out the base first, then the 10" f/6 tube. One look and I was unhooked ;-). I had to pinch myself to make sure I didn't sleep walk to an armory store instead of an astronomy store! The thing is a monstrocity, standing the same height as I am! One look and I told
Bill he can take it back ;-). Scary? You bet! Next, he brought out the tubes for the 8" f/6 and f/7. BTW, I saw the 24" mirror assembly for a truss Dobs in the office area on the floor and my, my, the thing looks like a small hot tub!
So it's between the 8" f/6 and f/7. The f/7 was slightly and I really mean slightly shorter than the 10". So that was no brainer. It's a quick 8" f/6 decision. It's just the right **maximum** size. The secondary is indeed a very small (looks like 19% obstruction is right). I can even imagine mounting the tube on a traditional EQ mount ;-). One thing that really stood out was the Crayford focuser
with the aluminum knob (with 3 holes) looking very similar to the ones on my TV-102 ;-). The base is a nice, varnished plywood (not like those particle board Chinese Dobs). Unfortunately at $799 it was not Honduras mahogany or New England maple wood that I prefer ;-). The OTA has a nice handle for carrying. The whole experience was hammering in. Seeing all 3 side-by-side was very eye opening!
I was told by Terry that Discovery doesn't really have a showroom; so the fact that Bill spent 1/2 hour from his very busy schedule is much appreciated. Out came the plastic. Thus, I really came away with a strong impression that buying a *premium* Discovery PDHQ is buying a custom made Dobs!
I don't know if I'll turn into Ron Dobster and may even turn into Ron Schmidt or Ron Maksutov some day. But for now, this will give me some idea of **using** a reflector. Who knows, I may eventually turn permanently and exclusively into Ron APO ;-). I do know this: the 10" Dobs ain't for me ;-) and I couldn't care less to see more with more aperture!
Ron the not quite yet 8" Tall Evangelist B[ee]
