Well, the skies were mostly clear last night, finally!!! I got to test out the new scope!(Discovery 10 inch F5.6 dob) First I must say WOW, there now I can give some details. :-)
First light was on Jupiter, the sky cleared in the west first during twilight, the sky was still medium blue but I could just see that little bright dot in the west. The scope was cool as I noticed that the sky looked like it might break up a bit so I put her down in the yard and grabbed the laser. It was only a bit off collimation, I only had to barely turn the top adj. screw and it was right on. These collimation wing nuts are awesome! No screwdriver needed and they twist really easy and smooth. Once that was done I aimed at the object that was to be first light. :-) Started at 57X and man, I could see two bands and the 4 moons were BRIGHT! 10 inches is quite a difference! When I was playing with the scope in the house, I had noticed the focuser felt kind of dry and I wondered about it, but now that I've used it, it works really well. Smooth and easy, little tweaks do not make the scope shake. I like it! ok now I pop in the 10mm for 144X... whoa 2 major bands, and a thin one above (below? it's a newt haha) and shading on the top and bottom. I also noticed with this scope things "snap" into focus, that's a good sign. Then I brought it up to 207X and Jupiter was the best I ever seen it, and it was LOW in the sky! I can't wait for it to be at zenith on a clear crisp night! By now it's really getting low and it's not dark yet so back into the house I go. .... Later last night about 11:00, most of the sky is clear!!! Cool! Bring the scope out into the middle of the back yard and start hunting. Me and my wife taking turns looking for goodies. Next object was M51, we could actually see both components and a fuzz around the brighter one, cool! Then M81 & M82, those are much brighter in this aperture! Next the Ring, man, it is BRIGHT and defined now! Awesome! Then M80, I can see stars in this now!
Then M13, wow, omg, aperture REALLY makes a difference on Globs, at 144X it pretty much filled the eyepeice, so many star resolved and I don't even have to avert to see them now, so COOL! We looked at that back and forth for quite a bit, then the last object (work night, must get to bed) M27 the good old Dumbell and as with eveything we saw, it was much better and brighter and had more details, really cool! Can't wait to get it to a dark site and go for some deep and dim stuff. :-)
The only mod. I'm going to do is the milk carton deal, it is a bit stiff in azmuth so at high powers there is some backlash, but otherwise it is smooth. :-)
Am I happy with this new scope purchase? Oh yeah!
Take care and clear skies everyone!
Ron
First light was on Jupiter, the sky cleared in the west first during twilight, the sky was still medium blue but I could just see that little bright dot in the west. The scope was cool as I noticed that the sky looked like it might break up a bit so I put her down in the yard and grabbed the laser. It was only a bit off collimation, I only had to barely turn the top adj. screw and it was right on. These collimation wing nuts are awesome! No screwdriver needed and they twist really easy and smooth. Once that was done I aimed at the object that was to be first light. :-) Started at 57X and man, I could see two bands and the 4 moons were BRIGHT! 10 inches is quite a difference! When I was playing with the scope in the house, I had noticed the focuser felt kind of dry and I wondered about it, but now that I've used it, it works really well. Smooth and easy, little tweaks do not make the scope shake. I like it! ok now I pop in the 10mm for 144X... whoa 2 major bands, and a thin one above (below? it's a newt haha) and shading on the top and bottom. I also noticed with this scope things "snap" into focus, that's a good sign. Then I brought it up to 207X and Jupiter was the best I ever seen it, and it was LOW in the sky! I can't wait for it to be at zenith on a clear crisp night! By now it's really getting low and it's not dark yet so back into the house I go. .... Later last night about 11:00, most of the sky is clear!!! Cool! Bring the scope out into the middle of the back yard and start hunting. Me and my wife taking turns looking for goodies. Next object was M51, we could actually see both components and a fuzz around the brighter one, cool! Then M81 & M82, those are much brighter in this aperture! Next the Ring, man, it is BRIGHT and defined now! Awesome! Then M80, I can see stars in this now!
Then M13, wow, omg, aperture REALLY makes a difference on Globs, at 144X it pretty much filled the eyepeice, so many star resolved and I don't even have to avert to see them now, so COOL! We looked at that back and forth for quite a bit, then the last object (work night, must get to bed) M27 the good old Dumbell and as with eveything we saw, it was much better and brighter and had more details, really cool! Can't wait to get it to a dark site and go for some deep and dim stuff. :-)
The only mod. I'm going to do is the milk carton deal, it is a bit stiff in azmuth so at high powers there is some backlash, but otherwise it is smooth. :-)
Am I happy with this new scope purchase? Oh yeah!
Take care and clear skies everyone!
Ron
