I don't like my scope :-(

I have the Orion 8" Skyquest Dobsonian. I have a few issues with it:

1) When I find an object I like to look at (like when Mars was really close
last year - remember that?) and I use the eyepiece that views wide (10 mm);
everything looks pretty far away.
2) When I use the higher power eyepiece (25mm) the objects move out of
view so darn quickly.

Does anyone here enjoy his/her Dobs? What kind of stuff do you look at
with it?

--
____________________________
Pear pimples for hairy fishnuts?

the eyepiece that views wide (10 mm)
the higher power eyepiece (25mm)

About on par for a Penguin.

Than you shouldget a EQ munt with an RA drive, for tracking.

JS

wrote in message
. com...
I have the Orion 8" Skyquest Dobsonian. I have a few issues with it:

1) When I find an object I like to look at (like when Mars was really
close
last year - remember that?) and I use the eyepiece that views wide (10
mm);
everything looks pretty far away.
2) When I use the higher power eyepiece (25mm) the objects move out of
view so darn quickly.

Does anyone here enjoy his/her Dobs? What kind of stuff do you look at
with it?

--
____________________________
Pear pimples for hairy fishnuts?

"Szaki" wrote in
news:rivWb.282858$na.446275@attbi_s04:

Than you shouldget a EQ munt with an RA drive, for tracking.

JS


The whole point of a Dob is to get a lot of optical bang for your buck. A
driven equatorial mount that can cope with an 8" f6 newt is going to cost
more than he has already paid for his scope.

L.




wrote in message
. com...
I have the Orion 8" Skyquest Dobsonian. I have a few issues with
it:

1) When I find an object I like to look at (like when Mars was
really
close
last year - remember that?) and I use the eyepiece that views wide
(10
mm);
everything looks pretty far away.
2) When I use the higher power eyepiece (25mm) the objects move
out of view so darn quickly.

Does anyone here enjoy his/her Dobs? What kind of stuff do you look
at with it?

--
____________________________
Pear pimples for hairy fishnuts?

wrote in
. com:

I have the Orion 8" Skyquest Dobsonian. I have a few issues with
it:

1) When I find an object I like to look at (like when Mars was really
close last year - remember that?) and I use the eyepiece that views
wide (10 mm); everything looks pretty far away.
2) When I use the higher power eyepiece (25mm) the objects move out
of view so darn quickly.

er you have it the wrong way around. The 25mm gives you lower
magnification than the 10mm. M = F/e where F is the telescope focal
length (about 1200mm with your scope) and e is the eyepiece focal length.
The 25mm lens will give you a magnification (M) of 48 X. The 10 mm lens
gives a magnification of 120 X. Your 8" scope (if properly collimated)
can theoretically easily handle magnifications up 400X with appropriate
eyepiece and/or barlow combinations. However atmospheric conditions
rarely allow you to use such a high magnification. You want to mostly
work around the 200 - 250 X level for planetary viewing. Getting a decent
2 X barlow would help you in this regard. Use the 25 mm for viewing star
cluters and nebula but don't be afraid to go to a higher mag. Your
problem with the object drifting out of the field of view is common to
any undriven telescope, you just have to learn to track the object by
hand which is not hard if your dob has smooth bearings. It just takes
practice. The other option is to add a drive system . This is a
possibility even with a dob but will cost. To a google search on Mel
Bartels do it yourself Dob goto drive system.




Does anyone here enjoy his/her Dobs? What kind of stuff do you look
at with it?


Love em. Everything.

L.

First of all you have the wrong idea about your eyepieaces, the 10mm is the high
power one, the 25mm is low power.

Also remember the higher the power, the SMALLER the field of view you'll get, so
when you push the power up, the object is going to move out of the FOV faster.
Last spring I was using my 4.8 neggler on mars and almost had to keep the scope
moving, but what I did was to place the view to one side and let mars itself
come in and cross the fov.

My Dob is a F8 8inch and I've looked at all kinds of Deep Space Objects,
planets, just about anything I can fine. And when my truck runs again, I'll be
using it once more for Sidewalk Astronomy.


--
"In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening
towards an east that would not know another dawn.
But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning
lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go
again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

SIAR
www.starlords.org
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
World of Dahlias Slideshowv1.0 $10.00
for Windows machines. Email:



wrote in message
. com...
I have the Orion 8" Skyquest Dobsonian. I have a few issues with it:

1) When I find an object I like to look at (like when Mars was really close
last year - remember that?) and I use the eyepiece that views wide (10 mm);
everything looks pretty far away.
2) When I use the higher power eyepiece (25mm) the objects move out of
view so darn quickly.

Does anyone here enjoy his/her Dobs? What kind of stuff do you look at
with it?

--
____________________________
Pear pimples for hairy fishnuts?




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Llanzlan Klazmon The 15th wrote:
er you have it the wrong way around. The 25mm gives you lower
magnification than the 10mm. M = F/e where F is the telescope focal
length (about 1200mm with your scope) and e is the eyepiece focal
length. The 25mm lens will give you a magnification (M) of 48 X. The
10 mm lens gives a magnification of 120 X. Your 8" scope (if
properly collimated) can theoretically easily handle magnifications
up 400X with appropriate eyepiece and/or barlow combinations. However
atmospheric conditions rarely allow you to use such a high
magnification. You want to mostly work around the 200 - 250 X level
for planetary viewing. Getting a decent 2 X barlow would help you in
this regard. Use the 25 mm for viewing star cluters and nebula but
don't be afraid to go to a higher mag. Your problem with the object
drifting out of the field of view is common to any undriven
telescope, you just have to learn to track the object by hand which
is not hard if your dob has smooth bearings. It just takes practice.
The other option is to add a drive system . This is a possibility
even with a dob but will cost. To a google search on Mel Bartels do
it yourself Dob goto drive system.

Thanks, LK. I am not sure if it is properly collimated; as I have never
done so. I assumed that it was perfect right out of the factory. I saw a
laser collimator - is it something I should get and use?


--
____________________________
Pear pimples for hairy fishnuts?

wrote in message
om...
Llanzlan Klazmon The 15th wrote:
er you have it the wrong way around. The 25mm gives you lower
magnification than the 10mm. M = F/e where F is the telescope focal
length (about 1200mm with your scope) and e is the eyepiece focal
length. The 25mm lens will give you a magnification (M) of 48 X. The
10 mm lens gives a magnification of 120 X. Your 8" scope (if
properly collimated) can theoretically easily handle magnifications
up 400X with appropriate eyepiece and/or barlow combinations. However
atmospheric conditions rarely allow you to use such a high
magnification. You want to mostly work around the 200 - 250 X level
for planetary viewing. Getting a decent 2 X barlow would help you in
this regard. Use the 25 mm for viewing star cluters and nebula but
don't be afraid to go to a higher mag. Your problem with the object
drifting out of the field of view is common to any undriven
telescope, you just have to learn to track the object by hand which
is not hard if your dob has smooth bearings. It just takes practice.
The other option is to add a drive system . This is a possibility
even with a dob but will cost. To a google search on Mel Bartels do
it yourself Dob goto drive system.

Thanks, LK. I am not sure if it is properly collimated; as I have
never
done so. I assumed that it was perfect right out of the factory. I saw a
laser collimator - is it something I should get and use?



It may and should have been perfect from the factory, but they can be
knocked out of alignment during shipping, so you should check it.

Your problem has nothing to do with collimator. It seems you want automatic
but only has manual.


wrote in message
om...
Llanzlan Klazmon The 15th wrote:
er you have it the wrong way around. The 25mm gives you lower
magnification than the 10mm. M = F/e where F is the telescope focal
length (about 1200mm with your scope) and e is the eyepiece focal
length. The 25mm lens will give you a magnification (M) of 48 X. The
10 mm lens gives a magnification of 120 X. Your 8" scope (if
properly collimated) can theoretically easily handle magnifications
up 400X with appropriate eyepiece and/or barlow combinations. However
atmospheric conditions rarely allow you to use such a high
magnification. You want to mostly work around the 200 - 250 X level
for planetary viewing. Getting a decent 2 X barlow would help you in
this regard. Use the 25 mm for viewing star cluters and nebula but
don't be afraid to go to a higher mag. Your problem with the object
drifting out of the field of view is common to any undriven
telescope, you just have to learn to track the object by hand which
is not hard if your dob has smooth bearings. It just takes practice.
The other option is to add a drive system . This is a possibility
even with a dob but will cost. To a google search on Mel Bartels do
it yourself Dob goto drive system.

Thanks, LK. I am not sure if it is properly collimated; as I have
never
done so. I assumed that it was perfect right out of the factory. I saw a
laser collimator - is it something I should get and use?


--
____________________________
Pear pimples for hairy fishnuts?

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 18:55:47 GMT,
wrote:

I have the Orion 8" Skyquest Dobsonian. I have a few issues with it:

1) When I find an object I like to look at (like when Mars was really close
last year - remember that?) and I use the eyepiece that views wide (10 mm);
everything looks pretty far away.
2) When I use the higher power eyepiece (25mm) the objects move out of
view so darn quickly.

Ummm.... Low number = high power, high number = low power


Does anyone here enjoy his/her Dobs? What kind of stuff do you look at
with it?

OTOH The idea behind the Dob is a relatively inexpensive light bucket.

A while back one of the members of our club built a drive using a pair
of stepper motors on a 16 inch Dob. Worked great. He controlled it
with a C-64. (I did say it was a while back)

You could hear those little motors going THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, but you
cold not see any vibration in the image.

For serious play he had either a 6" or 8" Schmidt camera. (I've
forgotten the size)

This was all back in the days of strictly film.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com