Question About telescope

leehai1980 · Post by **leehai1980** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 8:04 pm

Im getting my first newtonian next year ,age 16 ,but dont know if a 8 inch newtonian would be hard for me to bring out . 1 question can 6 inch truss dodsonian suitable for deep sky object ?So do I get 6 inch or 8 inch newtonian ?

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 9:18 pm

8 inch. Go for bigger aperture. 2 inch will not affect portability that much.

Only get the truss dob if you know how to do collimation.

Post by **weixing** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 12:13 am

Hi,
Truss dobsonian are probably the most portable telescope design for aperture greater than 11", but most are not as portable as we might think if it's smaller than 10" compare to other design. This is due to the long truss and 2 big pieces (rocker box and mirror box) that cannot be break down during transportation.

If you looking at 6" to 8" range, SCT design is the most portable follow by MCT (compact, but might be heavy) then 6" F5 tube Newtonian on alt-az mount and 8" F4 tube Newtonian on alt-az mount. If you looking at taking bus and mrt easily, get the SCT.

Anyway, don't worry about collimation, most telescope design require you to collimate the scope regularly for best perform. Collimation is easy with the right tools.

Happy shopping and good luck.

Have a nice day.

Gary · Post by **Gary** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 12:46 am

From now to next year, still a lot of time for you do more research, learn theoretically how to operate a telescope (e.g. collimation) and join as many observation sessions as you can. Take your time and enjoy the process.

The more you can define what you want, the better decision you will make.

1. Taking out your scope. Take out to where? Some near where you stay? To any dark spot in Singapore or other countries?

2. Suitable for deep sky object. How deep and how clear you want to see them? Suitable to do what? Just visual or astrophotography or both?

fizzy123 · Post by **fizzy123** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 2:15 pm

Hi there,

Telescopes for most of the time, look smaller on the advertisement than in real life. Even if you manage to break down the setup into many components, if you are required to carry many cases and boxes, your passion will definitely wane rapidly, even if the obs site is just a walk away.

My take for you as of now, is NOT to buy any eqpt at all. At 16, you are just a student and do not have earning power yet, thus it is not wise to spend your parents' money on your hobby. But if you do have some spare cash at hands, you can try picking up a pair of bino, etc. 7X50 or 10X50. Wait till you save enough money, then try out a 80mm refractor.

Gary · Post by **Gary** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 4:01 pm

Check out this well-written review of a 8" dob by a 15-year old:
http://cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=2490

leehai1980 · Post by **leehai1980** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 5:00 pm

Btw do any1 bring out 8 inch newtonian and take mrt or bus to obs . I wanna know which if the ota is very irritating to carry .

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 5:03 pm

8" solid tube? pain in the butt if no vehicle. that's a 30lb-odd tube that is 50" long and about 10" diameter... can you imagine carrying that on the MRT?

better to convert to truss. this malaysian company used to sell a 6" truss dob. might be a good choice.

Post by **weixing** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 9:29 am

Hi,
If the Newtonian is an 8" F4, it can be done as I backpack an Vixen R200SS (8" F4 Newtonian) and accessories on MRT before, but is a bit heavy. Public bus will be difficult as the bus entrance usually will have pole in the middle and can be hard to "squeeze" in.

Have a nice day.

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 11:04 am

so it would seem, in the interests of portability, that the largest scope you can carry on the bus is going to be an SCT..