Dobsonian mount for a small scope?

I have a Meade 4.25 reflector that I want to make suitable for my son to
use. However, the German equatorial mount is extremely hard to use. It's
bulky, hard to manage, and since the scope is mounted on a tripod, is quite
top heavy. I actually had it tip over once and hit me on the head! It
appears to be well built, but actually, the bearings are sloppy and there
is no provision to adjust them. You can tighten them, but the end result is
binding of the shafts.

The tube assembly itself is very light. I'm wondering how well it would
work on a home made Dob mount.

It seems maybe it's too short and that the Dob mount would have to be quite
high (and quite heavy) to attain a comfortable viewing height.

Has anybody here ever had any experience with such a small scope on a Dob?
Or should I just buy him a good quality 60 or 70 mm refractor?

Dob mount should work fine. There are several 4.5-inch Dobs on the market.
You can buy a brand new Orion 4.5-inch dob for $199.00 -- go to the Orion
website and check it out.

Otherwise, do a search for "dobsonian" or "dobsonian mount." Also look for
"sidewalk astronomy." You'll find all sorts of plans and design info for
building a Dob.

--

----
Joe S.

"donutbandit" wrote in message
...
I have a Meade 4.25 reflector that I want to make suitable for my son to
use. However, the German equatorial mount is extremely hard to use. It's
bulky, hard to manage, and since the scope is mounted on a tripod, is
quite
top heavy. I actually had it tip over once and hit me on the head! It
appears to be well built, but actually, the bearings are sloppy and there
is no provision to adjust them. You can tighten them, but the end result
is
binding of the shafts.

The tube assembly itself is very light. I'm wondering how well it would
work on a home made Dob mount.

It seems maybe it's too short and that the Dob mount would have to be
quite
high (and quite heavy) to attain a comfortable viewing height.

Has anybody here ever had any experience with such a small scope on a Dob?
Or should I just buy him a good quality 60 or 70 mm refractor?

Dob mount should work fine. There are several 4.5-inch Dobs on the market.
You can buy a brand new Orion 4.5-inch dob for $199.00 -- go to the Orion
website and check it out.

Otherwise, do a search for "dobsonian" or "dobsonian mount." Also look for
"sidewalk astronomy." You'll find all sorts of plans and design info for
building a Dob.

--

----
Joe S.

"donutbandit" wrote in message
...
I have a Meade 4.25 reflector that I want to make suitable for my son to
use. However, the German equatorial mount is extremely hard to use. It's
bulky, hard to manage, and since the scope is mounted on a tripod, is
quite
top heavy. I actually had it tip over once and hit me on the head! It
appears to be well built, but actually, the bearings are sloppy and there
is no provision to adjust them. You can tighten them, but the end result
is
binding of the shafts.

The tube assembly itself is very light. I'm wondering how well it would
work on a home made Dob mount.

It seems maybe it's too short and that the Dob mount would have to be
quite
high (and quite heavy) to attain a comfortable viewing height.

Has anybody here ever had any experience with such a small scope on a Dob?
Or should I just buy him a good quality 60 or 70 mm refractor?

Dob mount should work fine. There are several 4.5-inch Dobs on the market.
You can buy a brand new Orion 4.5-inch dob for $199.00 -- go to the Orion
website and check it out.

Otherwise, do a search for "dobsonian" or "dobsonian mount." Also look for
"sidewalk astronomy." You'll find all sorts of plans and design info for
building a Dob.

--

----
Joe S.

"donutbandit" wrote in message
...
I have a Meade 4.25 reflector that I want to make suitable for my son to
use. However, the German equatorial mount is extremely hard to use. It's
bulky, hard to manage, and since the scope is mounted on a tripod, is
quite
top heavy. I actually had it tip over once and hit me on the head! It
appears to be well built, but actually, the bearings are sloppy and there
is no provision to adjust them. You can tighten them, but the end result
is
binding of the shafts.

The tube assembly itself is very light. I'm wondering how well it would
work on a home made Dob mount.

It seems maybe it's too short and that the Dob mount would have to be
quite
high (and quite heavy) to attain a comfortable viewing height.

Has anybody here ever had any experience with such a small scope on a Dob?
Or should I just buy him a good quality 60 or 70 mm refractor?

See http://www.wmich-astro.org/scope2.htm ...Dennis

"donutbandit" wrote in message
...
I have a Meade 4.25 reflector that I want to make suitable for my son to
use. However, the German equatorial mount is extremely hard to use. It's
bulky, hard to manage, and since the scope is mounted on a tripod, is
quite
top heavy. I actually had it tip over once and hit me on the head! It
appears to be well built, but actually, the bearings are sloppy and there
is no provision to adjust them. You can tighten them, but the end result
is
binding of the shafts.

The tube assembly itself is very light. I'm wondering how well it would
work on a home made Dob mount.

It seems maybe it's too short and that the Dob mount would have to be
quite
high (and quite heavy) to attain a comfortable viewing height.

Has anybody here ever had any experience with such a small scope on a Dob?
Or should I just buy him a good quality 60 or 70 mm refractor?

See http://www.wmich-astro.org/scope2.htm ...Dennis

"donutbandit" wrote in message
...
I have a Meade 4.25 reflector that I want to make suitable for my son to
use. However, the German equatorial mount is extremely hard to use. It's
bulky, hard to manage, and since the scope is mounted on a tripod, is
quite
top heavy. I actually had it tip over once and hit me on the head! It
appears to be well built, but actually, the bearings are sloppy and there
is no provision to adjust them. You can tighten them, but the end result
is
binding of the shafts.

The tube assembly itself is very light. I'm wondering how well it would
work on a home made Dob mount.

It seems maybe it's too short and that the Dob mount would have to be
quite
high (and quite heavy) to attain a comfortable viewing height.

Has anybody here ever had any experience with such a small scope on a Dob?
Or should I just buy him a good quality 60 or 70 mm refractor?

See http://www.wmich-astro.org/scope2.htm ...Dennis

"donutbandit" wrote in message
...
I have a Meade 4.25 reflector that I want to make suitable for my son to
use. However, the German equatorial mount is extremely hard to use. It's
bulky, hard to manage, and since the scope is mounted on a tripod, is
quite
top heavy. I actually had it tip over once and hit me on the head! It
appears to be well built, but actually, the bearings are sloppy and there
is no provision to adjust them. You can tighten them, but the end result
is
binding of the shafts.

The tube assembly itself is very light. I'm wondering how well it would
work on a home made Dob mount.

It seems maybe it's too short and that the Dob mount would have to be
quite
high (and quite heavy) to attain a comfortable viewing height.

Has anybody here ever had any experience with such a small scope on a Dob?
Or should I just buy him a good quality 60 or 70 mm refractor?

The tube assembly itself is very light. I'm wondering how well it would
work on a home made Dob mount.

It seems maybe it's too short and that the Dob mount would have to be
quite
high (and quite heavy) to attain a comfortable viewing height.

Has anybody here ever had any experience with such a small scope on a Dob?
Or should I just buy him a good quality 60 or 70 mm refractor?

See: http://stargazer.isys.ca/

Steve has a couple of small dobs, and one on a tripod-like mount. You can
do something similar if you have rudimentary woodworking skills.

Dennis

The tube assembly itself is very light. I'm wondering how well it would
work on a home made Dob mount.

It seems maybe it's too short and that the Dob mount would have to be
quite
high (and quite heavy) to attain a comfortable viewing height.

Has anybody here ever had any experience with such a small scope on a Dob?
Or should I just buy him a good quality 60 or 70 mm refractor?

See: http://stargazer.isys.ca/

Steve has a couple of small dobs, and one on a tripod-like mount. You can
do something similar if you have rudimentary woodworking skills.

Dennis

The tube assembly itself is very light. I'm wondering how well it would
work on a home made Dob mount.

It seems maybe it's too short and that the Dob mount would have to be
quite
high (and quite heavy) to attain a comfortable viewing height.

Has anybody here ever had any experience with such a small scope on a Dob?
Or should I just buy him a good quality 60 or 70 mm refractor?

See: http://stargazer.isys.ca/

Steve has a couple of small dobs, and one on a tripod-like mount. You can
do something similar if you have rudimentary woodworking skills.

Dennis