Fred Ley

Hi Daniela, I just noticed this thread amd thought that I'd throw in my two cents worth too. Yes, purchasing a large Dob will completely alter your view point on observing the dim fuzzies-galaxies, nebula, globular clusters, planetary nebule, etc. Yes, and the moon too. I took a look at the moon through a 29-inch Dob and got blinded in my left eye. Of course it was temporay. I have looked at NGC4564 and M13 through a 24-inch using a 13mm Nagler (82-degree apparant field of view) eyepiece and M13 completely filled the field of view. The field of view was also covered with the galaxy NGC4564. That particular instrument had a 6-inch secondary and the primary was a conical shaped mirror. I noticed that you reside in Ioannina. There used to be a 24-inch telescope located up there in the 70's. It was manufactured by Astro Mechanics of Austin, Texas. The university used it and I wonder if it is still located there and in operation. If they have a public night, you might be able to view an object or two through the instrument just in order to get an idea of what a larger instrument has to offer. One other piece of advice is this. If you purchase a great instrument, try to also get great eyepieces to go with it. I know that eyepieces can be realtively expensive, but in the long run they are well worth the extra expense and the eyepieces stay with you as life long companions. My 13mm Nagler has been with me for 25 years now-great eyepiece. Actually, to let you in on a secret, I have way to many eyepieces. Most are not even being manufactured anymore. Here is a great site of a large Dob manufacurer. I am sure that you are aware of this outfit. Anyhow, what I wanted to do was advise you to explore this site as it has a lot of info on these large Dobs and will give you some positive and negative pointers as to choosing a unit. Their web site is at http://www.obsessiontelescopes.com/index.html and is well laid out with info. Having a large scope is great, but, if you can't use it as often you would like to, it might be better to get something slightly more manageable that you can use all the time and that will allow you to advance your pleasure of observing the night skies. Anyhow good luck on ultimately getting one of these beasties. If you plan on taking it out to a dark sky site, that naturally opens up another can of worms logistically speaking. Hope my input has been of some help to you. Clear Skies (which is what we live for) -Fred

Hi Bomber, I was wondering about the object that you saw and have two additional questions. 1. How long did it take for the object to transit the sun? 1 second? 2? 2. Did the object kepp the same orientation, or did it appear to be tumbling? -Fred

Hey George, Naturally! But nothing alcoholic, that might end up making us see really strange and exotic "cosmic" things throught he eyepiece that nobody would believe. Have a blast. -Fred

Don't forget the mandatory "souvlaki stop" for fuel. Got to keep the old body fit in order to suck up all those photons at the eyepiece. -Fred

Hi, Well, it sounds like a good time was had by all and that's what counts. I enjoyed the photographs that were posted to this site too. -Fred

Achilleas, Thank you very much for the kind offer to give me a ride out to the observing site. Hope you all had a great time obsereving. -Fred

Hi Achilleas, No wheels dude! You all have a god time. -Fred

Have fun Everybody, I'll be there in spirit. -Fred

Hey, I might as well throw in my 2 cents worth too. For the money that is being asked, 6,000.00 pounds, I am a bit surprised that the cooling fan is an extra option. It should be part of the scope. I'd rather get a 16-inch Dob and five good Naglers (or other quality eyepieces) that I would keep forever and ever. Also throw in some Lumicon type filters for deep sky observing and a good finder. One would still have quite a bit of cash left over. Probably enough to build a decent equatorial mount or be able to find a second-hand one or even find a small used vehicle to lug it around in. Of course a 16-inch mirror has 201 square inches of surface area, whereas a 20-inch mirror has 314 square inches of surface area. I wonder how stable the 20-inch scope is? -Fred

Hi, Have you ever thought of using optical black flock paper? Here is a link to some information and prices. http://www.anchoroptics.com/catalog/product.cfm?id=229 -Fred