Deep Sky Stargazing Season

[Sunsettommy]

I just bought an used 18* F4.5 Telescope. A 125 pound beast, but I have the wheelbarrow handles that I attach to each side of the Rocker box in photo #2 at the bottom section, the two indented threads are obvious, then I can wheel into the back of my Caravan, using two board runners that I have yet to build.

This is a DOBSONIAN Newtonian Telescope, Photo #1 is called the Ocular cage, with a Telrad base, that hold a Telrad Finder

Photo #2 is called the Rocker box assembly

Photo #3 is the fully assembled Telescope

Photo #4 is the bottom of the mirror box, with a cooling fan.



Working on fixing the balance problem by adding some flat steel bars at the bottom of the mirror box in photo #4, there are two existing holes I will use. My Stargazer friend has donated the 16" long Steel bars for the fix.

Here is a link to the Tri-City Astronomy Club website, where you can look up the top left photo of the even bigger 25" F5 Obsession Telescope I used to own, it is still owned by the man who bought it from me, he is in the club, as me and my daughter are. I had to sell it to support by growing family 10 years ago, but now one of my teen daughters has come to love the dark sky, has been learning the constellations and Star names in every visit north of the Tri-Cities.

Soon I will enjoy sleepless nights!

 

[Ringel05]

I just bought an used 18* F4.5 Telescope. A 125 pound beast, but I have the wheelbarrow handles that I attach to each side of the Rocker box in photo #2 at the bottom section, the two indented threads are obvious, then I can wheel into the back of my Caravan, using two board runners that I have yet to build.

This is a DOBSONIAN Newtonian Telescope, Photo #1 is called

Photo #2 is called the Rocker box assembly

Photo #3 is the fully assembled Telescope

Photo #4 is the bottom of the mirror box, with a cooling fan.



Working on fixing the balance problem by adding some flat steel bars at the bottom of the mirror box in photo #4, there are two existing holes I will use. My Stargazer friend has donated the 16" long Steel bars for the fix.

View attachment 328509

View attachment 328510
View attachment 328512
View attachment 328513

Here is a link to the Tri-City Astronomy Club website, where you can look up the top left photo of the even bigger 25" F5 Obsession Telescope I used to own, it is still owned by the man who bought it from me, he is in the club, as me and my daughter are. I had to sell it to support by growing family 10 years ago, but now one of my teen daughters has come to love the dark sky, has been learning the constellations and Star names in every visit north of the Tri-Cities.

Soon I will enjoy sleepless nights!

And I thought this thread was about paparazzi.........

 

[Sunsettommy]

I just bought an used 18* F4.5 Telescope. A 125 pound beast, but I have the wheelbarrow handles that I attach to each side of the Rocker box in photo #2 at the bottom section, the two indented threads are obvious, then I can wheel into the back of my Caravan, using two board runners that I have yet to build.

This is a DOBSONIAN Newtonian Telescope, Photo #1 is called

Photo #2 is called the Rocker box assembly

Photo #3 is the fully assembled Telescope

Photo #4 is the bottom of the mirror box, with a cooling fan.



Working on fixing the balance problem by adding some flat steel bars at the bottom of the mirror box in photo #4, there are two existing holes I will use. My Stargazer friend has donated the 16" long Steel bars for the fix.

View attachment 328509

View attachment 328510
View attachment 328512
View attachment 328513

Here is a link to the Tri-City Astronomy Club website, where you can look up the top left photo of the even bigger 25" F5 Obsession Telescope I used to own, it is still owned by the man who bought it from me, he is in the club, as me and my daughter are. I had to sell it to support by growing family 10 years ago, but now one of my teen daughters has come to love the dark sky, has been learning the constellations and Star names in every visit north of the Tri-Cities.

Soon I will enjoy sleepless nights!

And I thought this thread was about paparazzi.........

Ohh really! I changed the thread title, better?

 

[Ringel05]

I just bought an used 18* F4.5 Telescope. A 125 pound beast, but I have the wheelbarrow handles that I attach to each side of the Rocker box in photo #2 at the bottom section, the two indented threads are obvious, then I can wheel into the back of my Caravan, using two board runners that I have yet to build.

This is a DOBSONIAN Newtonian Telescope, Photo #1 is called

Photo #2 is called the Rocker box assembly

Photo #3 is the fully assembled Telescope

Photo #4 is the bottom of the mirror box, with a cooling fan.



Working on fixing the balance problem by adding some flat steel bars at the bottom of the mirror box in photo #4, there are two existing holes I will use. My Stargazer friend has donated the 16" long Steel bars for the fix.

View attachment 328509

View attachment 328510
View attachment 328512
View attachment 328513

Here is a link to the Tri-City Astronomy Club website, where you can look up the top left photo of the even bigger 25" F5 Obsession Telescope I used to own, it is still owned by the man who bought it from me, he is in the club, as me and my daughter are. I had to sell it to support by growing family 10 years ago, but now one of my teen daughters has come to love the dark sky, has been learning the constellations and Star names in every visit north of the Tri-Cities.

Soon I will enjoy sleepless nights!

And I thought this thread was about paparazzi.........

Ohh really! I changed the thread title, better?

Is that anything like the deep state spying on movie stars?

 

[White 6]

I just bought an used 18* F4.5 Telescope. A 125 pound beast, but I have the wheelbarrow handles that I attach to each side of the Rocker box in photo #2 at the bottom section, the two indented threads are obvious, then I can wheel into the back of my Caravan, using two board runners that I have yet to build.

This is a DOBSONIAN Newtonian Telescope, Photo #1 is called

Photo #2 is called the Rocker box assembly

Photo #3 is the fully assembled Telescope

Photo #4 is the bottom of the mirror box, with a cooling fan.



Working on fixing the balance problem by adding some flat steel bars at the bottom of the mirror box in photo #4, there are two existing holes I will use. My Stargazer friend has donated the 16" long Steel bars for the fix.

View attachment 328509

View attachment 328510
View attachment 328512
View attachment 328513

Here is a link to the Tri-City Astronomy Club website, where you can look up the top left photo of the even bigger 25" F5 Obsession Telescope I used to own, it is still owned by the man who bought it from me, he is in the club, as me and my daughter are. I had to sell it to support by growing family 10 years ago, but now one of my teen daughters has come to love the dark sky, has been learning the constellations and Star names in every visit north of the Tri-Cities.

Soon I will enjoy sleepless nights!

That is really cool! Not much decent star gazing around here due to high humidity and light pollution. The night sky fascinates me though when in New Mexico or mountains of Colorado. Too darn cold to enjoy for long at night on ski trips and I don't get out to the Jamez, or Sandia Mountains any more, now that I'm retired.

 

[MarathonMike]

I just bought an used 18* F4.5 Telescope. A 125 pound beast, but I have the wheelbarrow handles that I attach to each side of the Rocker box in photo #2 at the bottom section, the two indented threads are obvious, then I can wheel into the back of my Caravan, using two board runners that I have yet to build.

This is a DOBSONIAN Newtonian Telescope, Photo #1 is called the Ocular cage, with a Telrad base, that hold a Telrad Finder

Photo #2 is called the Rocker box assembly

Photo #3 is the fully assembled Telescope

Photo #4 is the bottom of the mirror box, with a cooling fan.



Working on fixing the balance problem by adding some flat steel bars at the bottom of the mirror box in photo #4, there are two existing holes I will use. My Stargazer friend has donated the 16" long Steel bars for the fix.

View attachment 328509

View attachment 328510
View attachment 328512
View attachment 328513

Here is a link to the Tri-City Astronomy Club website, where you can look up the top left photo of the even bigger 25" F5 Obsession Telescope I used to own, it is still owned by the man who bought it from me, he is in the club, as me and my daughter are. I had to sell it to support by growing family 10 years ago, but now one of my teen daughters has come to love the dark sky, has been learning the constellations and Star names in every visit north of the Tri-Cities.

Soon I will enjoy sleepless nights!

Awesome! So give me some perspective on it's power. I have a simple reflector telescope that I can make out the rings of saturn but no detail and Jupiter's red dot and 3 or 4 moons. What can you see through yours?

 

[ReinyDays]

Aren't one of your local high school football teams called the Isotopes? ...

WOW ... just beautiful ... does it have a good figure on the primary? ... I didn't know what you were talking about when to said "125 pound beast" ... an 18" telescope needs at least a 2,000 lbs mount ... you're going to need a 1-1/2 ton truck ... [giggle] ...

The basket mount is cool ... perfect for your needs ... something you can load up and drive out into the desert and set up, away from the light pollution along the US-395 urban corridor ... and just wear a couple more sets of clothes, no getting around the cold sitting perfectly still looking through the eyepiece on top of some lonely dark mountain top ... the worst part is all the really cool objects are in the winter sky ...

 

[deannalw]

That is awesome, truly.

The best one I ever had I got for 95 cents and 3 Fruit Loop box tops.

Even had a lil cloth bag to carry it about in.

 

[Sunsettommy]

Marathon Mike writes,

Awesome! So give me some perspective on it's power. I have a simple reflector telescope that I can make out the rings of saturn but no detail and Jupiter's red dot and 3 or 4 moons. What can you see through yours?

I haven't used it yet, still getting the balance problem fixed, added 3 flat steel bars needing one more to make it work. Going to set up the collimation this evening anyway, since not using the giant 35mm Televue type 2 ocular for it.

When I had the 25" F5 Telescope, Cassini division and other clearly defined spaces were easy to see at low power (35mm). I think in the 18" I will have to use the 2" 19mm or even the 9mm ocular to see similar. Might use the off axis mask (7") instead to stay at 35mm, but now a higher power. With Jupiter the Charlie Brown wavy lines T shirt appearance is easily seen.

I did use HIGH power on Saturn once at the Oregon Star party (5,000' elevation), it was floating gently at 550 power (2x barlow/ 9mm ocular), it was AWESOME!

The 18" Telescope focal length is 2057mm, the 35 mm ocular power is then 72 power, the 19mm ocular is then 132 power, the 9mm Ocular is 279 power. I plan to buy a 25mm ocular later on to fill out the range.

Telescope Focal Length divide by Eyepiece Focal Length = Magnification

2057mm divide by 35mm = 72 power

High power is rarely useful, mostly for planets, moons and large bright objects. Nebulas are better in low to mid power with a Deeps sky, UHC or O111 Filter to make the Nebula more visible. Galaxies works best at low/mid power, with Deep Sky filter, I favor Lumicon filters over other brands, but a few others will work too.

I am a member of a local astronomy club, I will have my Telescope available for PUBLIC viewing each month, will get into some Private Star Parties later.

 

[Sunsettommy]

Aren't one of your local high school football teams called the Isotopes? ...

WOW ... just beautiful ... does it have a good figure on the primary? ... I didn't know what you were talking about when to said "125 pound beast" ... an 18" telescope needs at least a 2,000 lbs mount ... you're going to need a 1-1/2 ton truck ... [giggle] ...

The basket mount is cool ... perfect for your needs ... something you can load up and drive out into the desert and set up, away from the light pollution along the US-395 urban corridor ... and just wear a couple more sets of clothes, no getting around the cold sitting perfectly still looking through the eyepiece on top of some lonely dark mountain top ... the worst part is all the really cool objects are in the winter sky ...

The total weight of the Telescope is around 125 pounds. It is a Dobsonian design, using aluminum poles as the "tube" which greatly reduces weight. The 2" thick mirror is around 40 pounds, the heaviest item, it is a Galaxy Mirror, which means it WILL be of good figure, the same Galaxy quality figure I had in the 17.5" F 4.5 Sky Designs Telescope I used to own back in the early 1990's

I can attach a pair wheeled handles to move it like a wheelbarrow right into my caravan.

Example:

LINK

 

[MaryL]

I have a cheapo refractor. I live deep in the city, but because of the light pollution I can't see a damned thing anymore...

 

[Sunsettommy]

The Telescope balance problem is fixed, now I get a friends illuminated Collimator to finish the collimination process, always the hardest the first time. His Collimator is the one I plan to buy, thus using it will allow me to be sure it will be worth the $145

 

[Sunsettommy]

I have a cheapo refractor. I live deep in the city, but because of the light pollution I can't see a damned thing anymore...

I always drive out of the cities when I go observing, it is the best way to avoid the worst of the skyglow.

I have been on mountain tops of 6,100 feet (Table Mountain, near Ellensburg), Ochoco Mountains in Central Oregon (5,000 feet) and a few other elevated areas.

 

[Sunsettommy]

Here is what the 25" F5 Telescope looks like, the one I used to own, it is BIG!

I am NOT in the photo, too handsome to be photographed...., actually I wasn't even there, got it from the Clubs website, HERE

Weighed 250 pounds.

Greatly enjoyed it for 15 years, from 1996.

 

[Shawnee_b]

Now that's an awesome scope!

Back 2004 stepdemon wanted a scope, got her a nice Celestron but she never did use it, sad.

I still have a pic of Haleys Comet I took in Anza Borego desert. Someone had a scope set up but it was view best with binocks. I still have a picture of it somewhere.

 

[g5000]

The second date I took my future wife on was to a local astronomy club. They had telescopes set up to view the Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter.

She made of fun of what a geek I was taking her stargazing...until she looked through the eyepiece at Saturn.

It was almost a religious moment.