Re: my first

Started by kd4avp_1, 03/30/2005 08:47PM
Posted 03/30/2005 08:47PM Opening Post
Thanks for the feedback. Your advice has convinced me the Dob is the way to go. Is a 10" too large to take to dark sky gatherings? I am a healthy individual so 50 - 60 lbs is not much to move for me, but is it a scope better left at home to use?
Jon, your image from the 10 is the clincher for me. That is the type of clarity I would enjoy.
Would anyone recommend a paticular brand Dob over another?
Would it be possible to attach a 35mm Minolta XG-7 camera for moon & planet shots directly to the eyepiece? It is an old camera and this mostly is for my amusement and curious nature to try it out later on. I have read of the connecting rings for this purpose but with the age of my camera I was not sure the mount would be compatible. Ok..I think I have reached my limit on questions for this posting!
Thanks for reading.
Posted 03/30/2005 09:17PM #1
Start with a 6" Dob. Some will say an eight, but the 6 will be much more user friendly (esp. for kids)- smaller, lighter, and a bit cheaper (ie - you can get another eyepiece....).

Posted 03/30/2005 10:13PM #2
My thinking is this:

1. Get either an 8 or 10 incher, either Orion or Hardin. Both are good. Aperture is you friend and the physical size of the 6 incher is not that much different than the 8 but it has about 80% more light gathering.

2. The 10 incher is my choice, I had an 8 inch and an 12.5 inch, lucked onto a 10 incher at a good price and ended up donating the 8 incher to a club because I never used it. The Asian 10 inch DOBs are a nice size, the OTA weighs about 35 lbs and fits across the back seat of even a small car so it is easy to take to the mountains, or where ever. When I go on vacation I take the 10 incher rather than the 12.5 just because it is so much easier to deal with.

3. The photo I attached was taken with a Nikon Coolpix 4500, a digital camera with 4 megapixels and full manual control. While one can take planetary photos with a film camera I do not recomment because it makes the learning curve very costly. With a digital camera taking 100 pictures to learn how to focus costs nothing but with film, it is might cost $50 or a $100. Lots of tricks to learn.

Best wishes to all and clear skies

jon
Posted 03/30/2005 11:35PM #3
"That is the type of clarity I would enjoy. "

Trust me, for the moon, there's more clarity and detail in my 6inch scope than I can even believe! 10 inches not necessary.

But on globular clusters, say, that 10incher will definitely strut its stuff.

With regards to weight, I think that 8 inch dobs are the perfect balance of size and convenience; 10 inch dobs aren't *too* huge and heavy (those 12-inch metal tube dobs ARE), but do start getting a little bit cumbersome to some folks. But I'm kind of a small guy, you may feel differently.