1st light with Orion XT-12

First Light Photos ?
Pics: http://24.18.62.225:8080
Taken: Dec 28,2006 8:20pm PST
Seeing Conditions: Poor - high moisture, slight low ground fog,
heavy light pollution
Temp: 29F
Location: 47.xxx° N, 122.yyy° W Alt:54m
Telescope: Skyquest XT-12, Newly assembled, un-collimated 12? dobsonian
25mm Sirius Plössl EP
Camera: Nikon 990 Digital using hand held a-focal method

The XT-12 came in 3 large boxes, it was well packed. I spent about 1 1/2 hrs
carefully assembling the scope, it could be done faster but I didnt want to
screw it up and I also have to keep an eye on my 4 yr old daughter. I got
it together and had it sitting out in the driveway about 7pm or so, at 8pm
it was looking like the night was going to be a wash but at least it wasnt
raining so I decided to see what i could see even tho it was so early.
I didnt think about pictures until the sky started deteriorating so when you
see the pics keep in mind that 15 minutes earlier the view was better and
the moon looked much clearer than these images show and also, you have to
allow for my poor camera technique.
About 45 minutes after the pictures were taken there was a huge ?ring around
the moon?. It looked like it was in a steam cloud to the naked eye. The
seeing conditions were so poor at one point only the brightest stars
were visible to the naked eye. Orions sword was just barely visible (naked
eye visible) if you looked hard enough. Thats why i dont have any "late
night" experience with it yet. This time of year here if you vcan see 50
stars at midnight its a good night, in summer it will be much much better.
My first impression with this scope is that, if seeing conditions improve
here locally, (and they will around June or so) it will be able to really
demonstrate its capabilities. The visual view is much better than my
quick-pics.
The parts are well packed *save the packing, you can use it to protect the
scope when it?s put away.
Assembly was easy, you need to download the manual. I don?t know if it was
luck or not, but the assembly manual warned putting the mirror cell on the
tube would be ?challenging?, for me it slipped into place easily and the
screw holes lined up perfectly the first try.
The 9x50 right angle (correct image) finder scope is real nice and almost as
good as the binoculars I used before this.
Factory alignment seems to be decent. But I need to colimate it for sure!
One tip, when assembling the mirror cell to the end ring, place the 6mm hex
wrench next to the collimation thumb wheel screws between the rear end ring
and the mirror cell frame. Slide it into the space between the lock screws
and the collimation screws. Adjust the big thumbwheel screws until the rear
end ring and the mirror cell frame just touch lightly on the flats of the
hex wrench, that will give you a fairly even cell alignment to start out.
In effect you are setting the gap between the 2 frames to about 6mm.
There's a pic or 2 showing the scope put away in the garage after use. I
intend to build a padded wood case for it.
The OTA isn?t too heavy (Its not exactly light either), just a bit awkward
for one person to move around and place on the cradle.
With a dolly it becomes a snap and can be done very delicately
I'm still waiting for a decent night to see what it can really do. I didnt
get the Intelliscope so I dont have the option for for the computerized
object locater, no matter... dont really need it. What I do need and want
is a good quality 2" EP in the 40mm or higher FL range. But thats a few
hundred bucks and will have to wait awhile (and a dew heater, and a fan and
an EP case and some filters and.... cripes my wife will kill me!)
Eric

Eric wrote:
First Light Photos ?
Pics: http://24.18.62.225:8080
Taken: Dec 28,2006 8:20pm PST
Seeing Conditions: Poor - high moisture, slight low ground fog,
heavy light pollution
Temp: 29F
Location: 47.xxx° N, 122.yyy° W Alt:54m
Telescope: Skyquest XT-12, Newly assembled, un-collimated 12? dobsonian
25mm Sirius Plössl EP
Camera: Nikon 990 Digital using hand held a-focal method

The XT-12 came in 3 large boxes, it was well packed. I spent about 1 1/2 hrs
carefully assembling the scope, it could be done faster but I didnt want to
screw it up and I also have to keep an eye on my 4 yr old daughter. I got
it together and had it sitting out in the driveway about 7pm or so, at 8pm
it was looking like the night was going to be a wash but at least it wasnt
raining so I decided to see what i could see even tho it was so early.
I didnt think about pictures until the sky started deteriorating so when you
see the pics keep in mind that 15 minutes earlier the view was better and
the moon looked much clearer than these images show and also, you have to
allow for my poor camera technique.
About 45 minutes after the pictures were taken there was a huge ?ring around
the moon?. It looked like it was in a steam cloud to the naked eye. The
seeing conditions were so poor at one point only the brightest stars
were visible to the naked eye. Orions sword was just barely visible (naked
eye visible) if you looked hard enough. Thats why i dont have any "late
night" experience with it yet. This time of year here if you vcan see 50
stars at midnight its a good night, in summer it will be much much better.
My first impression with this scope is that, if seeing conditions improve
here locally, (and they will around June or so) it will be able to really
demonstrate its capabilities. The visual view is much better than my
quick-pics.
The parts are well packed *save the packing, you can use it to protect the
scope when it?s put away.
Assembly was easy, you need to download the manual. I don?t know if it was
luck or not, but the assembly manual warned putting the mirror cell on the
tube would be ?challenging?, for me it slipped into place easily and the
screw holes lined up perfectly the first try.
The 9x50 right angle (correct image) finder scope is real nice and almost as
good as the binoculars I used before this.
Factory alignment seems to be decent. But I need to colimate it for sure!
One tip, when assembling the mirror cell to the end ring, place the 6mm hex
wrench next to the collimation thumb wheel screws between the rear end ring
and the mirror cell frame. Slide it into the space between the lock screws
and the collimation screws. Adjust the big thumbwheel screws until the rear
end ring and the mirror cell frame just touch lightly on the flats of the
hex wrench, that will give you a fairly even cell alignment to start out.
In effect you are setting the gap between the 2 frames to about 6mm.
There's a pic or 2 showing the scope put away in the garage after use. I
intend to build a padded wood case for it.
The OTA isn?t too heavy (Its not exactly light either), just a bit awkward
for one person to move around and place on the cradle.
With a dolly it becomes a snap and can be done very delicately
I'm still waiting for a decent night to see what it can really do. I didnt
get the Intelliscope so I dont have the option for for the computerized
object locater, no matter... dont really need it. What I do need and want
is a good quality 2" EP in the 40mm or higher FL range. But thats a few
hundred bucks and will have to wait awhile (and a dew heater, and a fan and
an EP case and some filters and.... cripes my wife will kill me!)
Eric

Here are some notes on my experiences with my XT-12 -- you may find
something here helpful.
http://www.schlatter.org/Dad/Astronomy/XT%2012.htm