I have an Orion XT8, and I'm sick of hand-chasing planets, but I don't have the money for a Dob Driver set-up that would cost three times as much as the telescope cost! Any suggestions? Can the base be tilted so as to match the ecliptic, with some sort of cheap motor driving the altitude, or am I being silly and ignorant? I would appreciate any input.
Driving Miss Dob
Started by BennettB64, 10/15/2005 03:37PM
Posted 10/15/2005 03:37PM
| Edited 10/15/2005 03:37PM
Opening Post
Posted 10/15/2005 03:46PM
#1
How high a power are you using? What kind of eyepieces?
Wide field eyepieces are often recommended... park the planet on the edge and let it drift through the fov. Wider fov = more time to view.
Also, if this is your first dob, you will get used to the motions after a while... given it time.
You can put the dob on a platform... which will track the stars & planets and thus no more "chasing". e.g., Round Table makes a nice platform for under $500 (it will raise the eyepiece height and with the light-weight 8" will make focusing more sensitive--need mroe time for scope to settle down), but it will track well and quietly... and will even let you do digicam pictures of brighter DSOs.
Wide field eyepieces are often recommended... park the planet on the edge and let it drift through the fov. Wider fov = more time to view.
Also, if this is your first dob, you will get used to the motions after a while... given it time.
You can put the dob on a platform... which will track the stars & planets and thus no more "chasing". e.g., Round Table makes a nice platform for under $500 (it will raise the eyepiece height and with the light-weight 8" will make focusing more sensitive--need mroe time for scope to settle down), but it will track well and quietly... and will even let you do digicam pictures of brighter DSOs.
Posted 10/15/2005 03:51PM
#2
I have an Orion XT8, and I'm sick of hand-chasing planets, but I don't have the money for a Dob Driver set-up that would cost three times as much as the telescope cost! Any suggestions?
----
Brian Reed's Round Table Equatorial platform is available for $480, he is an Astromart Sponsor I believe.
However, it maybe that you simply need to improve the action of your scope to make hand tracking less frustrating. Asian DOBs have adequate bearings but they tend to degrade with time and can be improved with a little work. You can go full bore with the Ebony Star/Teflon route, I did that to my XT-8 and it was really quite an amazing transformation, very smooth and easy.
A lesser step is to replace the bearings with fresh Virgin Teflon, and make sure everything is clean. I did this with my 10inch F5 and I was tracking Mars last night while it was overhead at 200x-300x quite easily.
If you want to just return the scope to its original level, scraping the polyethylene/telfon bearings with a knife can clean out the dust and dirt and make the scope "like new."
Just some thoughts...
jon
----
Brian Reed's Round Table Equatorial platform is available for $480, he is an Astromart Sponsor I believe.
However, it maybe that you simply need to improve the action of your scope to make hand tracking less frustrating. Asian DOBs have adequate bearings but they tend to degrade with time and can be improved with a little work. You can go full bore with the Ebony Star/Teflon route, I did that to my XT-8 and it was really quite an amazing transformation, very smooth and easy.
A lesser step is to replace the bearings with fresh Virgin Teflon, and make sure everything is clean. I did this with my 10inch F5 and I was tracking Mars last night while it was overhead at 200x-300x quite easily.
If you want to just return the scope to its original level, scraping the polyethylene/telfon bearings with a knife can clean out the dust and dirt and make the scope "like new."
Just some thoughts...
jon
Posted 10/15/2005 06:49PM
#3
Thank you, all, for your input. I did the Ebony Star and it certainly improved the azimuth bearing (I don't have a problem with altitude). I wonder why they don't make them with a similiar laminate alraedy installed. I still imagine an affordable, simple if imprecise motor capability, maybe with a string that draws down the end of the scope as the motor winds. I guess I just have to buy it and try it! If I do, I'll post my adventure . . .
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