Thread: any backyard astronomers here?

I've had both a large 12" Dobsonian and an 8" Schmidt-Cass. The Dob had Intelliscope, and the S-C has Goto. I preferred the Intelliscope, primarily because it was faster just to push the scope around rather than wait for the Goto motor to find its target. And the Goto only goes in one direction, to the right, so if your next target is 5 degrees to the left, it'll make a full 355 degree turn to get there! S-Cs also have a problem with fogging up much earlier in the evening than a Dob will.

The problem with the Dob was that it was huge. I used to have a Jeep Cherokee, and I could barely get the whole getup inside. A 10' is a bit more manageable but still large. It's hard to get a sense of how huge they can be from just pictures in the catalog. The Dob, being a Newtonian, also had a lot of maintenance issues. The mirrors had to be collimated a lot, and the larger the aperture the more sensitive the mirrors were to getting knocked out of place. I assume because they were heavier.

My current 8' Schmidt Cass works well, though. It doesn't have the maintenance issues and is very portable. If I had a stationary viewing area, though, I'd prefer a Dobsonian.

Originally Posted by Noisykids

i want a new telescope.
....snip....
so i'm in the market for a new scope

Find a local astronomy club!
I have been astounded by the variety of scopes
folk have and are willing to let polite folk
take a gander with. Bring your Dob..... grinding
your own mirror gives you serious credibility .

Do bring a decent Red flashlight. And wear light colored
clothes...

Grab the "astronomycast" podcast, it is entertaining (Astronomy Cast)
Astronomy Cast - Observing

i popped for an orion astroview pro 120st eq. it's an achromatic refractor with a 600mm focal length so it's an f/5, not totally suited for planetary stuff, but more for deep sky. i got it yesterday, but the weather is not cooperating here in eastern ma. and i just found out to my dismay that i'm in what's called a red zone as far as light pollution goes. my town is in a valley, and right down the street is a quadruple size ball field ringed by trees. i used to go there a lot to walk my lab late at night and would bring my reflector down there. but the fool who owns it is in a beef with the town about a 55 acre abandoned mill he owns right in the middle of town, so now it's posted and chained off at night. the little league uses it, but they have permission. thing about the chain is that the cops don't swing in there unexpectedly anymore. i could walk the new scope down there, but some other fool built a whacking big auto dealership at the top of the hill about three miles away, and the amount of light in that part of the sky is ridiculous. i'm hoping the weather cooperates tonight.

You can get filters that filter out man made light, which are mostly sodium and mercury based, leaving the celestial light alone, mostly hydrogen and helium based. Of course, the biggest problem with light is that is screws your night vision if it's too close. Also, invest in a red light flashlight. Getting good night vision is key for viewing deep space. If you're eyes don't adjust properly objects just look like grey smudges. An ideal viewing spot would have little if any man made lights around.

Cops are also a problem, seems they always think you're up to no good but they don't hassle you too much when they see what you're doing.

there have been times when i'v been up to no good down at that field. i have a strong suspicion my older daughter was conceived there.

I don't know your budget but from the sounds of what you had issues with in the past, I would recommend something on a sturdy, equatorial mount. Maybe an eq3 or eq4 equivalent, depending on how much crap you plan to stack on the tube. Personally I think backyard astronomy has more to do with learning the sky than pushing a button, and generally recommend learning manual navigation. Besides, something about wires and lights and sounds coming from a telescope somehow reminds me of using whatever newfangled razors are on the Gillette lineup rather than the ease and simplicity of the straight razor

If you're in the city, you can't really expect a whole lot from deep sky objects unless you get a huge scope. Maybe you'd benefit from a longer focal length, SCT or dob that is not terribly expensive for 6" - 10" range. If you plan on using a dark observing site, you can't really go wrong with anything of quality

PS the straight razor equivalent of something you ought to consider is a meet-up. A star party where you can look at a wide variety of observing tools and try them out for yourself to get an idea of what you think you are going to get the most out of. There's nothing like buying something you aren't sure you'd like for hundreds or thousands of dollars without even seeing it in person first

Ah, you already bought a scope. Happy observing, I hope it turns out to be what you were looking for!