Your own telescope.

[Michael]

This forum has many visual observers and the most visual observers have a Dobson. Very simple, nothing beats aperture.

In the Netherlands (and maybe whole Europe) a 20" telescope is a very large telescope. My own telescope is a 16" and large enough for me but what I see in the signatures 28", 32" and even larger are no exception. So maybe it's nice to show a picture of your telescope. Nothing special because most forums have a thread like this but in this case, only Dobs. :D

I will start with my own telescope, a 16" f-4.5 Dobson.

[Jimi Lowrey]

This is my grab and go scope!359

[Dragan]

Hi Michael,

Welcome to Deep Sky Forum! Gorgeous looking scope!! Truly!

My primary scope is a 25" f/5 Obsession from 2001 named "Toto". Its serial is #610. I used it manually until a few years ago when I installed the Argo/Servocat systems.

Small bit of trivia about my scope. It actually contains James Mulherins (Optical Mechanics) very first production 25" mirror. I didn't learn this until years later when I visited his shop for a re-coat.

360

[nicoscy]

Oh, great. A refractor guy in a forum dominated by Dobs...:scared:

I refuse to post my tiny refractors here so I will just have to wait next month when I get my Dob.

Thank God this is not a contest otherwise I would be feeling very "substandard" with my upcoming 12" Dob :P

[MarcE]

Good chance for me to present my new 24" f3.3 made by Tom Osypowski. Very well made with a fine mirror by Mike Lockwood.
Picture shows the happy owner after first light session last month in the bavarian alps.
Compared to Jimi's "grab'n go scope" i should call it "pocket scope".
CS
Marc

361

[nicoscy]

This is my grab and go scope!359

Jim, your finderscope is the size of my current grab n' go :thinking:

[Jimi Lowrey]

Marc your new scope looks great, who made the platform that you are using?

[MarcE]

Hu Jimi, platform is also made by Tom O.
It was built in 2010 and i used it last two years with my 15 inch Obsession.
Was a bit big for the 15incher but the plan was to make it work with both scopes 15" and 24".
Indeed a very well working platform - perfect finish and tracking.
Best regards
Marc

[Jimi Lowrey]

This is my 28" F/4 that has a excellent Steve Kennedy mirror. I built this scope last year and it won a merit award at the Texas Star party last year. I named the scope Black Betty.

362

[MarcE]

Very cool scope, Jimi.
I often remenber the great days in West Texas.
Where is Black Betty at home right now?
BR
Marc

[Uwe Glahn]

Great stuff.

Jimi, I'm a fan of your both "grab and go telescopes". The trend is towards travel scopes like yours ;)

My main instrument, 27" f/4.2 can be seen in the picture below - the right one :D Left you can see a 60mm Takahashi (finder)scope.

http://www.deepsky-visuell.de/Verschiedenes/2_27.jpg

[Howard B]

363And this is my 28 inch f/4, also with a Steve Kennedy mirror. I made this scope in 2004 and designed it as a combination of Tom Osypowski's Spica Eye's OTA and Dan Gray's azimuth base to accommodate Dan's then brand new Sidereal Technology drive - I was one of his beta testers. Everything worked so well I still use his prototype controller. Anyway, I love everything about this scope. The only problem is that it's in the wrong location - it (and me) should live somewhere with a lot fewer clouds!

[Bill Weir]

Oh, great. A refractor guy in a forum dominated by Dobs...:scared:

I refuse to post my tiny refractors here so I will just have to wait next month when I get my Dob.

Thank God this is not a contest otherwise I would be feeling very "substandard" with my upcoming 12" Dob :P

It certainly isn't a contest. There are more than a lifetime of objects to be seen with a 12" scope. This is my f/5 12.5" that was built by a friend.

Bill 364

[Bill Weir]

365 And here is what is now my most used scope a f/3.3 20" Starmaster with a quartz Lockwood mirror.

Bill

[RolandosCY]

...And here is my baby, an 18" f4.5 Obsession Classic, #1934. It is seen cooling down in the backyard, yearning for dark skies... This is the biggest telescope I've ever owned and has given me already tons of pleasure! It is presently accompanied by two refractors, a Takahashi FS102 and a SW ED80, along with several pairs of binoculars (including a wonderful set of Takahashi's 22x60 "Astronomer")....


366

[Michael]

Beautiful (and large :shocked: ) telescopes. This thread is not only for Dobs so here are a few other scopes of mine I use pretty much. Except the 12" Travel Scope. That one is for holidays only.

367
12" f-4 Travel Scope

368
102mm f-7 ED Grab & Go

369
Bresser f-5 R-152S

[Preston Pendergraft]

Well I think I have the smallest scope.

Here is my 10in LX200R GPS. This is now sold as the LX200ACF. It is a decent little scope. I would like to move up to a big dob or a C14 someday. Sorry some of the pics are sideways... not sure why they are that way.

[nicoscy]

Bill, so true about not being a contest. My back rules the day (a couple of discs are not what they used to be), hence my order for a lightweight 12" Dob courtesy of Michael. Oh, it's gonna keep me busy for a looooong time!

I do admit that I would like to take a peek through some of the dobs you guys are toting. Who knows? I might just get on a plane in the future and crash a few starparties across the globe:)

[reiner]

This is my 22" f/4.0 Dob, the scope I use almost exclusively.

http://www.reinervogel.net/lowrider/cover3.jpg

It's a lowrider with the secondary being more tilted than in a classical Newtonian. This deflects the light path down by 30°, so I can use the scope with my feet on the ground all the time (even with my EQ platform, that you can hardly see underneath :-) )

[ChristianR]

Hi,

first off all I'd like to say Hello to everybody since this is my first post within this forum.

My name is Christian, I'm from Südtirol (it's somewhere in middle of the Alps, don't tell me that you've never heard about it ....) and interested astronomy and deep sky observing since quite some years. Actually I live near Munich in the south of Germany.

Compared to most of the other people here in the forum, I observe with small scopes (you would call it finderscopes), i.e.
a 12" f5 dobson

385

and
a 2,9" refractor telescope.

386

[deepskytraveler]

My primary scope...an Obsession 15 Classic. Pictured with me at Dragan's home.

394

[Steve Gottlieb]

Here's a photo from a recent star party with my 24" f/3.7 Starstructure (built by Mike Zammit) with a Kennedy mirror, Argo/Servocat, etc.

395

[nicoscy]

399
And here's mine :P Work in progress...

[vesna71]

This is my 14", below you can see the assembly sequence.

412 413 414 415 416 417

Ciao.

[omahaastro]

A little late to the topic... and welcome Christian... I've noticed the Germans tend to have the nicest looking home built scopes, is there like, an engineering gene or something??

I've had this 18" f/4.5 Obsession #264 since about the turn of the century (formerly owned by the guy who formerly owned Dragan's 25" :) ) This is my 'grab and go' scope, absolutely love it, no setting circles/GOTO, when I use it I'm in star hopping heaven, rolls in/out of my Honda Element like a hand in a glove.
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/9328_145856258440_6347530_n.jpg

Earlier this year, quite by accident, I acquired 30" f/5 Obsession #102, somewhat unique, originally ordered by a JMI employee, another then JMI employee Yuri Petrunin (aka TEC today) ordered the Sitall mirror from Lomo of St Petersburg. Full thickness mirror, cored in the back to 'reduce' weight (about 300 lbs). It's a beast, has been updated with Argo Navis/ServoCAT... star hopping with this scope is a bit more challenging, although it actually moves on it's teflon bearings with ease (up and down the ladder is the real issue).
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/548183_10151073594898441_655601234_n.jpg


I have been attempting to get going with astrophotography using a C9.25 mounted on a GM8, but I find it difficult to sacrifice my deep sky observing time for it. Oh, and lastly, I have the original Cave 8" f/6 I obtained (after detasseling corn for two summers) when I was 15. A few years ago, I adapted it to a Dob mount, but I'll share the original Cave Astrola mount photo, as it is a fairly impressive GEM accommodating an 8" (and a lot for a scrawny 15 year old to lug in/out of the house).
http://www.omahaastro.com/cave/cave_jeff.jpg

[Ivan Maly]

Great thread.

Here is my largest-aperture (my 12" LX200GPS is bigger in size and weight) and probably most used telescope. A talented local ATMer (who, I believe, does not desire fame) made this 16" out of his Meade Lightbridge to transport in a car that is even smaller than mine. He later moved up in aperture and passed it down to me for an agreeable sum. The upper cage is traditional, the mirror box and the rocker box are extremely low-profile but by no means lightweight. The 8 trusses are 1.25" Moonlite. Everything else is original Meade. The f/4.5 optics are fine (sub-arcsec when the conditions allow).

The motions are predictable, no balancing is ever needed, and it withstands fairly stiff winds. I can remain perched on my adjustable chair with one foot on the ground even when observing near zenith, and there is no appreciable dead zone around zenith. On the flip side I should mention that when set up on a level surface I cannot go lower than M83 at culmination (15 degrees?), and the motions are not what Dob aficionados call "buttery smooth".

It may have been to our remote dark site 50 times already in my hands alone and I had to replace more than one Moonlite truss block, but the main structure seems to be doing fine even though it may live in the trunk for months on end. The picture was made by the original owner. I don't do deep sky from home and hardly ever see the scope assembled in daylight.

422

[Astrojensen]

That is one extremely good-looking dob!


Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark

[Atlas]

Very nice to see all these scopes. Here is mine: 25" f 4 home built Dobsonian with Argo Navis and ServoCAT, in the process of being assembled.

423


Johannes

[omahaastro]

Nice hand/foot coordination. :)

[Atlas]

I took the idea from the book by Kriege and Berry, pp. 299-301. They recommend it for scopes 36" and upwards, but it is also very practical for 25".

Johannes

[omahaastro]

Yes, I immediately saw that, a great looking scope. I'm compelled to use a 30lb battery to anchor mine.


I took the idea from the book by Kriege and Berry, pp. 299-301. They recommend it for scopes 36" and upwards, but it is also very practical for 25".

Johannes

[Ivan Maly]

That is one extremely good-looking dob!


Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark

Thank you, Thomas. Believe it or not, it has now been stolen. With the car where it was in the trunk. I had the telescope added to the police report - it was a substantial chunk of the presumed value of the car! I'm stunned; what kind of crazies live around us.

[RolandosCY]

Thank you, Thomas. Believe it or not, it has now been stolen. With the car where it was in the trunk. I had the telescope added to the police report - it was a substantial chunk of the presumed value of the car! I'm stunned; what kind of crazies live around us.
Scary! One reason I never leave my 18" or any other scope in the car even at the "presumed safety" of home... Hope you get lucky again Ivan.

[Dragan]

Thank you, Thomas. Believe it or not, it has now been stolen. With the car where it was in the trunk. I had the telescope added to the police report - it was a substantial chunk of the presumed value of the car! I'm stunned; what kind of crazies live around us.

Wow Ivan! So sorry to hear this!

I had a friend lose his homebuilt 16" to theft. Thieves stole it right out of his minivan parked in front of his front door. What made it worse was that the thieves had no clue what they really had since they left behind the truss poles and wheelbarrow handles. They only took the upper cage and mirror box and thats probably since they were the only two parts painted alike.

So sad really. Hopefully you're scope will be found intact.

Keep us posted.

[Ivan Maly]

Thank you for your moral support, gentlemen. The car has been found with insignificant damage. The scope was untouched. I may even get to go to the dark site tomorrow.

[Astrojensen]

Whew! Good to hear. Glad everything went okay.


Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark

[RolandosCY]

Thank you for your moral support, gentlemen. The car has been found with insignificant damage. The scope was untouched. I may even get to go to the dark site tomorrow.
Wow! Good to hear that you've got back with little damage. It would be very very unfair for you to lose them. I once left the bottom part (mirror box) of my 18" outside to cool off and I was worried, then I thought "who would care to steal a heavy piece of wood with a mirror in it", and relaxed. Well, over the last few days with the skyrocketing petrol prices, I have heard several stories of wooden structures stolen to be used in stoves and fireplaces! So noway to leave the scope outside alone anymore! Or even locked in the car, at least when I am at home...

[davidem27]

These are my scopes:

Reflector (http://www.flickr.com/photos/observing_unit/3654989427/in/set-72157620423080704/lightbox/) and Refractor (http://www.flickr.com/photos/observing_unit/3654990079/in/set-72157620423080704/lightbox/)





















Okay, it's a stupid joke!
They are a piece of one of the original William Herschel's telescope and the 28" refractor of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich :)

Here it is my real one (https://www.dropbox.com/s/dh14fm67xg8i36j/IMG_0094.JPG)

[Ivan Maly]

All three look good, Davide.

[Bill Weir]

Thank you for your moral support, gentlemen. The car has been found with insignificant damage. The scope was untouched. I may even get to go to the dark site tomorrow.

That's fabulous. Losing a scope under those circumstances would have been tough as insurance might have been hard to claim on it.

Right now I'm driving around with my 20" in the back of my truck. I don't like to but I'm in the market for a new vehicle and I want to be sure to scope will go in and out of it easily. I'm not worried about it when parked at home because I live well off the road in a forest and you can't even see the house from that road. Out in public I'm not overly worried either because you can't really see into the back of the truck through the canopy window and really who would want to steal a pretty worn out 1998 Sonoma Pickup with way too many km on it.

Bill

[Daniel_Sp]

Hey guys,
here's a picture of my new 24"-ATM-Newton, f/4.17. I allready had a quick first light, althought a few details are still under construction.
536
It has a self-grind mirror with 1" thickness at its edge.

best regards
Daniel

[i_sairanen]

Hello everybody! This is my first post to this forum, actually I found this only a week ago. The weather in Finland has been very depressing during the winter so my telescopes have been out of use several months. Fortunately it seems to be better now... but we have only one month time before summer nights.

My main instrument is a 18" Dobson which I keep on a relatively dark countryside. SQM is usually 21.3 - 21.6 mag/arcsec and limiting magnitude 6.5 - 7.0.

http://deepsky.arkku.net/Images/Newton18.jpg

12" GSO dobson is a secondary instrument. I use this on my backyard and on astronomical meetings, public shows etc. It fits nicely in my car and is easy to transport.

http://deepsky.arkku.net/Images/Newton12.jpg

An old TAL-1, 4.3" newton is nowadays for traveling. I started in deepsky with TAL-1 in 1995 and it works still well. I have built lighter setup for traveling and used it succesfully three times in Canary Island and once in Australia. Hopefully more trips are yet to come.

http://deepsky.arkku.net/Images/Tal-1.jpg

[Ivan Maly]

It is an excellent selection of scopes, and you have some dark skies, Iiro. Great website, too. I especially liked the collection of sketches from Australia. You did a good job there!
It is a great-looking scope, Daniel. Almost funny to see it assembled in that interior.

[Jimi Lowrey]

Daniel what a beautiful looking telescope.


Iiro welcome to Deep Sky Forum!

[Dragan]

Iiro, welcome to DSF.

I must say, you have quite the collection of sketches!! Unbelievable!!

[dacker]

Sorry everybody, I don't own a big DOB and I don't want one. I observe with small telescopes and here is just one of them.586
William Optics Megrez 90 APO.

[Joe C]

I had a TMB 130 SS that I imaged with and a 12" LX200 GPS for viewing. I was saving for a 20+" sub F4 Teeter or Starmaster when someone stole my funds. Watch out for Roland. He is good at what he does.

Now this is what I image and do my viewing with now. Guess I will have to start saving again.


597

[nicoscy]

And here's mine which has seen first light 2 weeks ago...598

[Ivan Maly]

What is the focal ratio, Nicos?

[nicoscy]

What is the focal ratio, Nicos?

Hi Ivan,

f5.3

First light was 2 weeks ago and I hadn't dialled the collimation right so only took it to 122x.

Fixed it (barlowed laser collimation did the trick just fine) but now must wait for the orbiting lightbulb (moon) to disappear so that I can crank it up and see how far down (or up in this case) the rabbit hole goes.

I am itching to see how it performs on the planets, being f5.3 and all. Then I will put that out of my mind and concentrate on a strict high protein diet of DSO...

[Ivan Maly]

Strange, it looked longer to me.

[nicoscy]

Photographic illusion. Probably the angle of the shot...

[Ivan Maly]

Yes, I see it now. A case of "Bruce Lee's screen image". Regardless, excellent scope.

[dacker]

Oh, great. A refractor guy in a forum dominated by Dobs...:scared:

I refuse to post my tiny refractors here so I will just have to wait next month when I get my Dob.

Thank God this is not a contest otherwise I would be feeling very "substandard" with my upcoming 12" Dob :P

Well I'm not afraid to post my tiny refractor. Here it is. This forum may be dominated by Dobs but they’re not the only useful telescope out there. And I will never own a Dob of any size.
683

[Galaxyman]

Well Dan here's another useful DSO non-dob:D 692

[Preston Pendergraft]

Well Dan here's another useful DSO non-dob:D 692

Karl,
Okay how big is that refractor? Looks massive.

[skyraider]

725
My 25" f/4 Obsession

[Ivan Maly]

Great scope. Standing where it belongs at one of our best sites as I can tell ;) Nicely captured with the setting sun.

[Gonzo56]

This is my 18" Quantum by Astrosystems. New hand rubbed finish outside, new black paint inside, new finder, new coatings (last year), BETI for the netbook/Megastar combo. Sweet system for me. Now if only the weather could clear up!!!

742

[Ivan Maly]

Nice scope. What's in the dome?

[Gonzo56]

That's our club's 36", f/6.3 reflector. Here's the address: http://www.wro.org/. There's one or two articles there. A better description is on Mike Lockwood's website.

The original mirror was a 31" f/7 that was accidently destroyed in 2011. Mike fabricated the new one early last year. JP Astrocraft fabricated the mirror cell and secondary holder. After a couple of days of assembly we had first light with the new mirror in the middle of the summer.

John

[FaithJ]

Here's my 18" f/4.3 Dobsonian, built by David Lukehurst of Nottingham, England


743

It's come out a bit small, so click on the pic for full size

[bearkite]

Ursa...

Started life as The Behemoth843

Became Ursa after much work (http://chesmontastro.org/node/1904)...

First light 844

Lou and Ursa in Texas (2008) 845

[Astrojensen]

Dem Telekits sure look pretty!


Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark

[hajuem]

Wow!!!Powerful und beautiful telskopes are shown here!! Great!

I observe with a 16 inch Telskop. The Teleskop was built from Reiner Vogel (http://www.reinervogel.net/)
For me the perfect telescope!
weight 30kg
1020

CS Hajü
www.astromerk.de

[DuaneS]

This is my 30" Starstructure F/3.3
1021

[ransanjaya]

This is my small dob......!
10" F/4.7...!
1068

[Timm]

Hi,
here my brandnew 21" ultralight lowrider.
Just 25 kg!
http://www.astrotreff.de/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=166990

Timm

[Jimi Lowrey]

Great looking Ultralight scope Timm ! Have you had first light?

[Timm]

Yes,

but without coating... the uncoated mirror schows a perfekt image of polaris.
Intra and extrafocal nearly equal, without any astigmatism.
This lowrider is perfect in balance and handling!
May be my best selfmade dobson ever...

Timm

[Don Pensack]

Here I am at my favorite observing site, with my "sit-down" scope (12.5" f/5):
1275

[rmollise]

I used to use and admire large scopes, bigdobs, till I got old and lazy. I still like looking through the big guns...but when it comes to my own scopes, I much prefer this little (8-inch f/5) guy or my Edge 800 SCT. LOL

1277

[Demiles]

Here's my 15 Obsession on a EQ platform 1278

[Jeff Young]

16" Matthias Wirth Mak with 5" Takahashi refractor:
1329

[BBQedIguana]

Here is my scope...

2053

I'm new to this forum. I live in Canada (eh!) and I love observing DSO's!

Thanks!

Rick

[theritz]

My 10" portable dobsonian by Sumerian Optics. I think this scope is the ideal compromise between aperture en portability. And it's virtually invisible when packed up which makes the missus very happy :D

Here you see it in it's natural environment somewhere in between Hamburg and Berlin, my favorite observing site.

2054

It's a 9.5kg telescope and it packs up so small you can actually take it with you in the plane as hand luggage.

[Mark SW]

Here is my 12" which is more than enough for 2058me

[gdjsky01]

https://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5546/30550887020_cf9f74a507_k.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NxFhko)2016-11-07-UC-22-Arrives-0013.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NxFhko) by Jeffrey Gortatowsky (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffgortatowsky/), on Flickr

[Norman]

ok, now mine :-)

2392

CS!
Norman

[theritz]

Well, the Sumerian I posted back in #76 has been sold. I am now rocking a All-City Nature Boy singlespeed cyclocross instead :-) but.... I had an old 8" from the seventies or eighties in the shed which I pulled right into the 21st century! Here it is. The bag is a temporary counterweight to balance the scope out. Happy with the result and "Explore Amateuristic" look :-)

EDIT: I now know the mirror is a David Hinds 8.5" mirror. Which is kinda cool.

2401

[zhimbo]

2661
Teeter STS#71, 11" f4.5 Dob in custom "Midnight Purple" and Natural Wood.


2662
Stellarvue SV90T on TeleVue Tele Pod mount and tripod. My grab-n-go and travel setup.

[fnowat]

Nice setting, I am guessing that was for Total Eclipse?

[Don Pensack]

My 12.5" in the desert (shroud still not pulled down yet),2014:2742

[acheter]

Regardless, excellent scope.

[Ciel Extreme]

22" F/3.3 Spica Eyes Slipstream telescope. What I appreciate most about this telescope is its superb, super clean design... All encoders, motors, batteries (3 12-volt), slip clutches and SiTech control boxes are all mounted inboard... nothing hanging outside that could get knocked about in the dark...

2843

[Ivan Maly]

Great scope, Mark! Merry Christmas!

Behind me in the middle of the room is a monstrous pile covered by tarp with a red bow. I am not to peek under until it's gifting time, but I suspect it may be a 20".

[Ciel Extreme]

Great scope, Mark! Merry Christmas!

Behind me in the middle of the room is a monstrous pile covered by tarp with a red bow. I am not to peek under until it's gifting time, but I suspect it may be a 20".

Did you look under the tarp yet?

[Ivan Maly]

Oh yes. It's a 20" go-to Skywatcher.

[lamperti]

Ivan,
With your eyes and a 20", the universe can no longer hide!

Al

[Ivan Maly]

Thanks, Al. Here it is hunting some Hodge-Kennicutt HII regions in M81 on the first night out (SQM 21.6).

https://www.cloudynights.com/uploads/gallery/album_4170/gallery_37329_4170_755694.jpg

[Howard B]

That looks like a great scope Ivan! Observing in the snow on a still winter night can be magic - at least as long as you feet stay warm...

[Ivan Maly]

Thanks! Precisely.

[davidem27]

Just an update: that's my new 24" f/4
3257

[Gonzo56]

I played with the big boys for awhile but absolutely detested the ladder. This is my current dob, a 12" f/5. The primary, secondary, mirror cell and focuser are from an Apertura 12AD. Wasn't real thrilled with the tube and weight so I built this structure. New one weighs around 30lbs less and is easily moved around. Stows nicely in the car. The GSO optics were tested and it turned out they were quite good so I used them as is.3543

[BenF]

Hello,

I'm still fairly new here, I've been wanting to get into the "big leagues" for a while, and finally had an opportunity recently. So I present to you my pride and joy, a 14.5" f/5.2 TeleKit which I named "Gambit". It was completed in 2000 (making just older than me), and it has one of the last mirrors made by Pierre Schwaar. It needs a little love, but I will definitely be putting the work in.

So far I have been very impressed with everything I've looked at! The planets are incredible, (I at least feel like) I'm getting better views from my front yard than I did with my last scope at 7,600 ft in the mountains. Beautiful details in the cloud belts of Jupiter! And deep sky stuff has been great so far too! I rediscovered how much I love the Wild Duck Cluster the other night, what a cool cluster! Such interesting structure!

Anyways, this scope is tiny in comparison to some others on here, but I thought I would share it never the less.

3988 3989

[Dragan]

Congrats on a great looking scope! We look forward to your ORs!

[BenF]

Congrats on a great looking scope! We look forward to your ORs!

Thank you! I haven't ever written a proper report (is there a thread on good practices?), but I definitely will be writing them!

[Dragan]

Thank you! I haven't ever written a proper report (is there a thread on good practices?), but I definitely will be writing them!

No thread per se. Just common sense. We focus primarily on deep sky visual observing (obviously). Very little imaging is discussed here. There are plenty of other forums online that do a great job for imagers.

Obviously just keep the language clean with no off topic material.

Enjoy your stay!

[Howard B]

Such a beautiful scope, and with an equatorial platform no less - you have a great setup Ben. I even like how you placed your midnight snack!

[BenF]

No thread per se. Just common sense. We focus primarily on deep sky visual observing (obviously). Very little imaging is discussed here. There are plenty of other forums online that do a great job for imagers.

Obviously just keep the language clean with no off topic material.

Enjoy your stay!

Ok, about what I would expect, cool thanks!

[BenF]

Such a beautiful scope, and with an equatorial platform no less - you have a great setup Ben. I even like how you placed your midnight snack!

Thank you! The platform is having some difficulties right now, it's lurching and stopping, and I can't seem to adjust the speed (to assist in a star-drift alignment), but I've emailed the maker and we'll see what happens. Haha, yep, I put it there for the "banana for scale" meme.

[Astrocanito]

Well...this is my 12" f/5 GSO

4161

[cloudbuster]

Here are my two main instruments: the 16 inch Sumerian Alkaid that I use at home and move by car sometimes to France. And the 10 inch Alkaid imaged at the location where it feels most at home: on top of the Roque de los Muchachos in La Palma :)

4169

4170

BR, Martijn

[Howard B]

Wow, the photo of your 10-inch scope looks like it's right on the edge of cliff! Was it safer than it looks there?

[cloudbuster]

Hi Howard, indeed it's on the edge of a cliff and although it is safer than it looks one has to be careful during the night... It's one of the few spots at that height where the floor is somewhat level and where a huge rock provides some shelter from the prevailing wind from the north, which can be fierce at times.

[Bertrand Laville]

Hi All,

Here is my enormous 25. The problem is that units are millimetres and not inches !!!
Clear Skies
Bertrand
http://www.deepsky-drawings.com/

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[Dragan]

Here are my two main instruments: the 16 inch Sumerian Alkaid that I use at home and move by car sometimes to France. And the 10 inch Alkaid imaged at the location where it feels most at home: on top of the Roque de los Muchachos in La Palma :)

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BR, Martijn

Every year in January - not this January - I travel to Hawaii to observe with Dave Kriege and a 22" UC. That cliff shot looks similar to our view from atop Mauna Kea at dawn! Having that cloud deck beneath you is a great light pollution filter!

[akarsh]

After being active on this forum for about 9 years, I finally found this thread today. Here's my 18" f/4.5 Obsession #701, first owned by John Tatarchuk. I'm its second owner. It rides on a Gregg Blandin equatorial platform. This is from Okie-Tex Star Party 2021, less than 2 weeks ago. The mess of wires is a prototype positioning system based on plate solving which I'm going to be talking about this week at the XIV Portland Alt-Az Workshop.

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[Tom yates]

Some really fine scopes congratulations to everyone fantastic kit

[Howard B]

I finally put together a page (https://sites.google.com/site/howardbanichhomepage/transforming-the-28-inch-f4-into-a-30-inch-f2-7) detailing the why's and how's of transforming my 28-inch f/4 into a 30-inch f/2.7. there's also a link to the YouTube video of my presentation about this project that I gave at last October's Alt-Az Workshop, but you may find it faster to just read the page!

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