Your own telescope.

[Michael]

This forum has many visual observers and the most visual observers have a Dobson. Very simple, nothing beats aperture.

In the Netherlands (and maybe whole Europe) a 20" telescope is a very large telescope. My own telescope is a 16" and large enough for me but what I see in the signatures 28", 32" and even larger are no exception. So maybe it's nice to show a picture of your telescope. Nothing special because most forums have a thread like this but in this case, only Dobs.

I will start with my own telescope, a 16" f-4.5 Dobson.

[Jimi Lowrey]

This is my grab and go scope!Dsc_0095.jpg

[Dragan]

Hi Michael,

Welcome to Deep Sky Forum! Gorgeous looking scope!! Truly!

My primary scope is a 25" f/5 Obsession from 2001 named "Toto". Its serial is #610. I used it manually until a few years ago when I installed the Argo/Servocat systems.

Small bit of trivia about my scope. It actually contains James Mulherins (Optical Mechanics) very first production 25" mirror. I didn't learn this until years later when I visited his shop for a re-coat.

toto.jpg

[nicoscy]

Oh, great. A refractor guy in a forum dominated by Dobs...

I refuse to post my tiny refractors here so I will just have to wait next month when I get my Dob.

Thank God this is not a contest otherwise I would be feeling very "substandard" with my upcoming 12" Dob

[MarcE]

Good chance for me to present my new 24" f3.3 made by Tom Osypowski. Very well made with a fine mirror by Mike Lockwood.
Picture shows the happy owner after first light session last month in the bavarian alps.
Compared to Jimi's "grab'n go scope" i should call it "pocket scope".
CS
Marc

4.jpg

[nicoscy]

This is my grab and go scope!Dsc_0095.jpg

Jim, your finderscope is the size of my current grab n' go

[Jimi Lowrey]

Marc your new scope looks great, who made the platform that you are using?

[MarcE]

Hu Jimi, platform is also made by Tom O.
It was built in 2010 and i used it last two years with my 15 inch Obsession.
Was a bit big for the 15incher but the plan was to make it work with both scopes 15" and 24".
Indeed a very well working platform - perfect finish and tracking.
Best regards
Marc

[Jimi Lowrey]

This is my 28" F/4 that has a excellent Steve Kennedy mirror. I built this scope last year and it won a merit award at the Texas Star party last year. I named the scope Black Betty.

2012_Lowrey_meritaward.jpg

[MarcE]

Very cool scope, Jimi.
I often remenber the great days in West Texas.
Where is Black Betty at home right now?
BR
Marc

[Uwe Glahn]

Great stuff.

Jimi, I'm a fan of your both "grab and go telescopes". The trend is towards travel scopes like yours

My main instrument, 27" f/4.2 can be seen in the picture below - the right one Left you can see a 60mm Takahashi (finder)scope.

[Howard B]

28withHowardatSSP.jpgAnd this is my 28 inch f/4, also with a Steve Kennedy mirror. I made this scope in 2004 and designed it as a combination of Tom Osypowski's Spica Eye's OTA and Dan Gray's azimuth base to accommodate Dan's then brand new Sidereal Technology drive - I was one of his beta testers. Everything worked so well I still use his prototype controller. Anyway, I love everything about this scope. The only problem is that it's in the wrong location - it (and me) should live somewhere with a lot fewer clouds!

[Bill Weir]

Oh, great. A refractor guy in a forum dominated by Dobs...

I refuse to post my tiny refractors here so I will just have to wait next month when I get my Dob.

Thank God this is not a contest otherwise I would be feeling very "substandard" with my upcoming 12" Dob

It certainly isn't a contest. There are more than a lifetime of objects to be seen with a 12" scope. This is my f/5 12.5" that was built by a friend.

Bill Me 1 - Copy.jpg

[Bill Weir]

20 Super FXQ.jpg And here is what is now my most used scope a f/3.3 20" Starmaster with a quartz Lockwood mirror.

Bill

[RolandosCY]

...And here is my baby, an 18" f4.5 Obsession Classic, #1934. It is seen cooling down in the backyard, yearning for dark skies... This is the biggest telescope I've ever owned and has given me already tons of pleasure! It is presently accompanied by two refractors, a Takahashi FS102 and a SW ED80, along with several pairs of binoculars (including a wonderful set of Takahashi's 22x60 "Astronomer")....


Cooldown.jpg

[Michael]

Beautiful (and large ) telescopes. This thread is not only for Dobs so here are a few other scopes of mine I use pretty much. Except the 12" Travel Scope. That one is for holidays only.

IMG_3893.JPG
12" f-4 Travel Scope

IMG_8610.jpg
102mm f-7 ED Grab & Go

IMG_4715.jpg
Bresser f-5 R-152S

[Preston Pendergraft]

Well I think I have the smallest scope.

Here is my 10in LX200R GPS. This is now sold as the LX200ACF. It is a decent little scope. I would like to move up to a big dob or a C14 someday. Sorry some of the pics are sideways... not sure why they are that way.

[nicoscy]

Bill, so true about not being a contest. My back rules the day (a couple of discs are not what they used to be), hence my order for a lightweight 12" Dob courtesy of Michael. Oh, it's gonna keep me busy for a looooong time!

I do admit that I would like to take a peek through some of the dobs you guys are toting. Who knows? I might just get on a plane in the future and crash a few starparties across the globe

[reiner]

This is my 22" f/4.0 Dob, the scope I use almost exclusively.



It's a lowrider with the secondary being more tilted than in a classical Newtonian. This deflects the light path down by 30°, so I can use the scope with my feet on the ground all the time (even with my EQ platform, that you can hardly see underneath :-) )

[ChristianR]

Hi,

first off all I'd like to say Hello to everybody since this is my first post within this forum.

My name is Christian, I'm from Südtirol (it's somewhere in middle of the Alps, don't tell me that you've never heard about it ....) and interested astronomy and deep sky observing since quite some years. Actually I live near Munich in the south of Germany.

Compared to most of the other people here in the forum, I observe with small scopes (you would call it finderscopes), i.e.
a 12" f5 dobson

IMG_5577b_comp500.jpg

and
a 2,9" refractor telescope.

IMG_5430_comp500.jpg

[deepskytraveler]

My primary scope...an Obsession 15 Classic. Pictured with me at Dragan's home.

IMG_0071_01.jpg

[Steve Gottlieb]

Here's a photo from a recent star party with my 24" f/3.7 Starstructure (built by Mike Zammit) with a Kennedy mirror, Argo/Servocat, etc.

24-inch photo.jpg

[nicoscy]

Photo 20-12-2012 06 11 51.jpg
And here's mine Work in progress...

[vesna71]

This is my 14", below you can see the assembly sequence.

dob1.jpg dob2.jpg dob3.jpg dob4.jpg dob5.jpg dob6.jpg

Ciao.

[omahaastro]

A little late to the topic... and welcome Christian... I've noticed the Germans tend to have the nicest looking home built scopes, is there like, an engineering gene or something??

I've had this 18" f/4.5 Obsession #264 since about the turn of the century (formerly owned by the guy who formerly owned Dragan's 25" ) This is my 'grab and go' scope, absolutely love it, no setting circles/GOTO, when I use it I'm in star hopping heaven, rolls in/out of my Honda Element like a hand in a glove.


Earlier this year, quite by accident, I acquired 30" f/5 Obsession #102, somewhat unique, originally ordered by a JMI employee, another then JMI employee Yuri Petrunin (aka TEC today) ordered the Sitall mirror from Lomo of St Petersburg. Full thickness mirror, cored in the back to 'reduce' weight (about 300 lbs). It's a beast, has been updated with Argo Navis/ServoCAT... star hopping with this scope is a bit more challenging, although it actually moves on it's teflon bearings with ease (up and down the ladder is the real issue).



I have been attempting to get going with astrophotography using a C9.25 mounted on a GM8, but I find it difficult to sacrifice my deep sky observing time for it. Oh, and lastly, I have the original Cave 8" f/6 I obtained (after detasseling corn for two summers) when I was 15. A few years ago, I adapted it to a Dob mount, but I'll share the original Cave Astrola mount photo, as it is a fairly impressive GEM accommodating an 8" (and a lot for a scrawny 15 year old to lug in/out of the house).