Any telescope afficionados out there?

1/12/02 | me

[AngrySpud]

I have The Fever, aperature fever, that is. After ten years using a 4" refractor, I want a deep-sky scope. Problem is, I don't have a deep pocket. The Solution seems to be getting a Dobsonian-type telescope. I've found four suppliers of medium-aperature Dobs: Obsession, BlackKnight, StarMaster, and StarSplitter. Does anyone have first-hand experience with these companies? I'm leaning towards Obsession. Are there other manufacturers out there I should consider?

[fish hawk]

Can't give you any good advice on large scopes as I have small ones and little experience. What I can give you is great viewing...I give you my island of Maui. Stars are out every night. Andromeda is straight up. Southern cross from here too.

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

Hey AngrySpud funny you should ask.

I just got a cataloge from Orion Telescopes, and they have a highly rated 10" Dobsonian Reflector for $645.

You can add go to to it for 349.

I got a really nice catalog from them by going to www.telescope.com and requesting it.

[Vinnie]

! I'm planning to have LASIX surgery done this year as well. I want my eyes as sharp as possible

Have you thoroughly checked it out? I have talked to friends, and read, that one of the side effects is 'starburst' around lights at night. That would be death to an astronomer.

[Vinnie]

you can also see the Iridium flashes, which can be pretty cool.

They are neat. I've got one on film.

[RightWhale]

Build your own. Dobsonians are about as simple as can be. You might even consider making your own mirror, but that requires a considerable investment of time, and mirror blanks aren't all that cheap anymore.

[Joe Hadenuf]

From my post#37 Unfortunately I am in Southern California. But my area is pretty dark and somewhat isolated from alot of the light pollution.

But fortunately, we have a mountain hideout at about the 7000 foot level in the local mountains. Going up there is an absolute treat. The skies up there are like being in a spacecraft. Clear, dry and dark skies.....

Even at our local mountains here in So Cal they have already pass lighting laws, so the dark skies are not destroyed and washed out like in big cities.

[Vinnie]

How do you post images here?

Don't know the HTML but I do know that the pics must be on a website and you link to them. If you just try to add them to your post, only you can see them.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Dobs are OK but not for tracking or imaging as I am sure you are aware. I have found that imaging with film or CCD opens up the telescope to its full potential.

[RightWhale]

I'd like to have a scope of my own. Any suggestions?

Portability first. Anything up to 6" diameter in folded optics or smaller if the lightpath is straight. Remember this: the scope mount is more important than the scope. A solid pier, a huge flat-top block of concrete in the backyard is a start.

[AngrySpud]

" ... my island of Maui."

I visited the island in '94, while stationed at Pearl Harbor. Must admit that I didn't see the stars at all ... I spent all day, every day snorkeling. When the sun went down, I crashed.

Can't say much about the night skies on Oahu; way too much light pollution.

[RightWhale]

Do you remember the title of Robert Frost's poem about the retired railroadman whose house burned down and he used the insurance to buy a telescope?

[BluH2o]

The skies are DARK in this town ...

This past June I was sailing well out on the North Atlantic ... on a passage from MA to Gibraltar, via the Azores. Standing watch at night I would use my Fujinon 7x50's to star gaze ... they have a large lense designed to give you optimum viewing in poor light conditions. They worked extremely well for star gazing ... especially on moonless clear nights. No artificial light contamination, I even turned off the running lights ... to guarantee clear viewing.

[AngrySpud]

Indeed, it seems like a good scope ... but I fear that within a year, I'd want a bigger one. Might as well get the biggest I can afford; might satisfy me once and for all.

[strela]

Have you thoroughly checked it out?

Yes - everything I can find on the web, friends/cow orkers, and a couple of local docs who do the procedure. Out of five people I know who have had it done, three tell me their vision is perfect 20/20 with no haloing, one can see at 20/45 with OK night vision, and one sees big halos around bright lights at night but sees 20/25 during the day.

I'm not 100% sold on LASIX, but its gotta be better than these coke bottles I'm wearing. I can't wear contacts because I'm apparently allergic to the stuff used to make them and I had to take antibiotics for 3 weeks to get the scummy green color out of my eyes a couple of years ago.

I'd probably give up amateur astronomy and night driving if that was the cost of throwing away my glasses for good. With my 20/600 vision, I've had to wear them since I was 6 and I hate the weight on the bridge of my nose.

[RightWhale]

Actually, for a beginner a rich-field scope is not a bad idea if he wants to take a good look around the night sky and see lots of stars in the field of view. Moderate aperture, maybe up to 6", and low power, maybe as low as 20X. Moons of Jupiter, craters on the moon, rings of Saturn, M31, Pleiades, some double stars, all the common first objects are easy. It's easy to point, satisfying to the eye, and portable so you can take it camping. It can be used as a finder or tracking scope for the really large telescope that may be acquired later if the disease progresses.

[rockfish59]

think i'll wait and buy the 'hubble'!
probably get a good deal on ebay! {:^)

[rockfish59]

have you seen the marfa, texas sky at night?
i never saw so many stars in my life!