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Hello , no alterations whatsoever to the design and motors (they have a switch for S/N hemisphere). Just point the pivot to the north and motors to the south :) I think I should have a 32 in the plans already.

@astralfields1696 oh great thanks! Are the designs specific for a size of dobsonian? Mine is 8 inch dob. Also, would you be able to help me with my segment pieces so they're exactly correct? I live in Perth, Western Australia which is 32 degrees latitude

@@Madeaus96 Hello , there are two variations. 4 up to 10" and 12 up to 22". I have had a lot of requests lately for all kinds of info around the plans/segments so I've been working on a donation based version of the plans/segments. You got caught in the middle as I published it today so if you are interested I can give you a 50% discount. Please re-check the description of the video for the details.

@@astralfields1696 oh sure thanks

Hello. Yeah the 'red lines' do have their limits, for cellphone imaging it might help removing the rubber guards. There are several options for eyepieces around 100$. My favorite one with ample eye relief, actually a bit too much eye relief so that I had to buy some extra eye guards is the AngelEyes 14mm, same eyepiece as the Oberwerk (Link below). I have the 14mm one and I am very satisfied, although the AFOV is a bit smaller , around 63 degrees which is about the same as the 'red lines'. The best thing about this eyepiece is that it is very sharp at the center, sharper than the 'red lines'. The edges are a bit imperfect but that is fine for me. This eyepiece is incredibly comfortable to use and the sharpness on center makes it one of my favorite eyepieces and definitely a keeper. Another thing I do for observing planetary is to simply 2x barlow my SVBony SV191 Zoom. For this reason I do not own a sub-11mm fixed eyepiece anymore. My highest power eyepiece is the MaxVision 11mm and of course the Zoom which goes to 7mm. Barlows are quite understimated (I made a video on this topic look it up) www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006468085635.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.62c17c3d5CcnrQ&algo_pvid=ac7b53c4-48bc-4954-afcc-3a45221f432f&algo_exp_id=ac7b53c4-48bc-4954-afcc-3a45221f432f-0&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%21215.38%2194.77%21%21%21215.38%2194.77%21%40211b804117320022353552932eaa61%2112000037304815843%21sea%21CZ%21753145200%21X&curPageLogUid=0IFOuoYYEwUO&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A

Yeah , that is something I am planning on making a video but the weather here has been abysmal. Haven't had the chance to do a single imaging session since August :/

Sure why not, it is a bit stressful watching the segments so that they don't run out of space :)

Hello, I sold my 30mm GSO SuperView that came with my 12" for several reasons: 1. After selling it for about 80$, the investment into the Sky Rover was more manageable. 2. I really like low power views so I just wanted to have the best view. 3. The SuperView is not bad at all but a couple of things bothered me compared to the SkyRover (I was able to test them side by side). The field stop in the SuperVIew is not sharp but gradual.. I like a sharp field stop. The stars at the edge of course were not as clean as it is a simple Erfle Design. The AFOV is a bit smaller, the SkyRover is a real 70 degree eyepiece. You can have a look towards the second half of this video: ruclips.net/video/mj7KnKQxCe8/видео.html I don't think it is a 'must have' upgrade, the SuperView is a perfectly fine mid-tier eyepiece but for me personally it was worth it.

Indeed in the case I could sold the superview it would be envisageable. But I can't. That's why I'm in a bad situation... I live in Nicaragua, here I will never found someone to buy my GSO SuperView. I will have to keep it like the 9mm Plossl. That's why I need a very good reason. But there isn't. Thanks a lot for your reply. I know the SuperView is not perfect, but I can live with it. Maybe in a few years... who knows.

Ha, I never thought about that. Looking at those cosmetics bags on AliExpress, they are great for eyepieces and stuff. Would've probably bought one if I didn't get the Ekster Camera Cube for free. s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DEJxQZf

Thank you! I agree, I did not like most designs I found online as they are usually overengineered. While it may be sometimes fun to overengineer things, it makes for a poor DIY design that anybody can replicate. That was my main goal, simplify as much as possible and keep the costs to a minimum. Glad to see that now over 10 000 people have viewed both videos. 1. This is why I love the GSO , over there they have a lazy susan type of azimuth bearing and it is very nice. Other than that, there is a trick with rubbing the wood and teflons with soap every now and then. The thickness of the base plays no role whatsoever in the EQ platform performance in terms of accuracy. 2. Oh yea , the 34 will work just nicely, then all you gotta do is when using the platform , raise the southern pivot by 0.70 degrees... which most of the time is irrelevant anyway as this is within the margin of error of most surfaces. You don't really need to do it unless planning for 5-10 minutes of high power tracking for imaging etc. The commercial platforms are actual sold with 5 degree increments of the segments.

@astralfields1696 That sounds perfect! And, yeah, I read all the "tricks" - from RainX to corn starch - baby powder to bar soap - CD's to vinyl records. I just wasn't willing to go down that "just for now" path of lazy that would cause more problems in the long term than solutions in the now. The OG's raved about a laminate that's now discontinued so, I figured that would be my best starting point. I pulled the specs for it and realized that it's incredible performance had nothing to do with it being a laminate - it was due to its rough texture. This gave me the idea of using a textured, self lubricating, plastic that was as durable as yet less expensive than PTFE (Teflon)... ABS! I found a company that produces round ABS sheets so I got an 18" for less than $20 and... just... WOW! I seriously almost cried the first time I took it out after adding it. I can literally guide whatever I'm viewing right back into frame as of I just hit a rewind button. **Almost forgot - your design states the top is to be 18mm thick and the bottom 12mm thick but your layout is showing all pieces being cut from the same board? Have I misunderstood something?

That is an option if you want to save some weight, the bottom can be thinner. It has zero impact on accuracy so no worries. I should put an explainer in the plans. Thanks.

Hello, 20 is really low, the telescope would topple over after a while as the segments would be really steep and the platform would have to be really long. I am afraid for such low latitudes you will need to use a different design altogether. Try asking on CloudyNIghts.

​@@astralfields1696Ok, I will post my question there and hope that someone can help me. One more thing, could you tell me what is the measurement of the radius of each circumference of the mount 4 to 10 inches? The red, yellow and green?

That is just an illustration of the different sizes of DOB bases where they would roughly fit on the board. There is no specific pre-defined dimension. My 8" SW had about 54cm and my 12" has about 64cm

Yeah a box for eyepieces is nice when you have a location in your garden :)

Hello , they would but I added 32 for you at the bottom of the plans :). Enjoy

@@astralfields1696Wow you’re fast! Thank you!

Thats the thing, it has only a 0.965 focuser so it can't fit most nice eyepieces. Also I just prefer a laser/rdf combo. If I had more space though, it would make a nice decoration. It looks real nice in person. 😅

@@astralfields1696 Isn't only the diagonal 0.96 inch? because the focuser itself seems wider. A normal quality but cheap 1.25 inch mirror is then about the same price as the telescope itself :-) What I had in mind is attaching such tiny telescope on a dobsonian with magnets and then using it as a counterweight compensating for a heavy eyepiece or something. Imagine how cool would that be.

Yeah.. btw one of the biggest amateur telescopes uses an 8" DOB as a finder 😅

Also is it possible to do one at a lattiude of -12.97? I live in the southern hemisphere lol

Ahh, that is sadly way too low for this type of a design. The scope would tople over in few minutes.

Oh yeah, that is clear to see from the data we have available in youtube studio, they send out the videos to a new audience for few hours per day for a while. Too bad they can't filter out the low quality AI stuff. I've seen a lot of those myself.

Thank you and that is great to hear that you have made your way into the hobby!

@@lucasmorawetz4934 Good questions. 1) Regular water has many minerals which will make patches of dirt if you rinse the mirror with it. It is ok to wash it with regular water but the final rinse must be with distilled water which has zero minerals. 2) Hair dryer is OK ONLY if it blows cold air. Hot air can damage the coatings. My dryer was blowing cold.

@astralfields1696 thanks

I agree. Amateur Astronomers, especially in smaller online communities can be very hostile to anybody who disagrees about anything with them. Recently I got accused of misleading people because I said straight view optical finders are not my preferred way of finding objects. Happy you got the 8" with some budget eyepieces. That will easily keep you busy for a couple of years. The premium stuff is nice but in no way necessary.. literally a nice to have. I told myself I would never buy anything premiumish until I deserve it.. and by deserve I put myself the condition to observe the entire Messier catalog ;). Took me 18 months to complete with my 8" and budget eyepieces.

Btw, the friendliest communities are on Cloudy Nights and Stargazers Lounge. I've never gotten over there into a single fight. Very friendly and open minded people, very fair too.

@@astralfields1696 the point is that, as you said, we are amateur astronomers. Its okay if you want to spend 400€ in a Televue but that doesn't mean a can't enjoy this hobby without breaking my bank account. Thanks again for offering us a more "humble" point of view of Astronomy for those like me who always dream about reaching the stars but don't have de budget to buy a 5k equipment.

@@astralfields1696 Are these forums better than reddit?

Yeah , many times better. Reddit is a lot of hit & miss. You will find there the best experts in the field like Don Pensack (Starman1) on Cloudy Nights with decades of experience.

Oh yeah, I am actually ready to image Mars in opposition. Trouble is here the weather has been quite bad. I am also going to image Jupiter in opposition which will give me the last two things I need to make a review of the 12". But Saturn in the 12" was absolutely amazing, I spent a lot of hours on it this summer 😀

@astralfields1696 I remember when I was able to see messier-51 in bortle 7 and seeing a halo around the stars that were in the same place as the veil nebula and I can't wait when I finally will leave the city on a weekend because like I said my young eyes can detect way more details that that anyone else I know and I don't even have to order anything from amazon or astrophotography we have a local telescope store in austria and that is a good thing because I can't trust amazon

Oh yeah, buying locally is always better when it comes down to a big thing such as a telescope. My preferred shop is AliExpress for most stuff and a Polish eshop for telescopes. I give out Amazon links for folks in the USA who may not be able to order from Ali. Amazon is pretty cool there with free return policies etc.

Благодарам, голем поздрав до Македонија! ❤

Hello, I use and recommend AngelEyes.. 1.25" s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DDHgVx7 The 2" seems to be sold out, I found only one offer which is a bit pricier, it should normally cost around 45$ s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DCam91r I will be making an UHC video soon where I go into the detail. I don't like spending a fortune on UHC filters as I had to opportunity to test out some premium ones in a 16" at a star party and I was not impressed by the improvement, given their price compared to my cheap UHC.

In my huble opinion imaging with a refractor rig is a completely different hobby than visual observation with a DOB. I think you will love it. It is more about the experience of getting that original light directly in your eyes, finding those objects manually and getting excited when managing to observe the entire Messier catalog. There is also a certain 3D feeling to some of the brightest clusters in a big DOB that is missing in an astrophoto.

Thank you, honestly I was never expecting to get any subs past a 100 or so. That was the reason why I never put any serious effort in audio/video quality. I just wanted to put out there few videos that I can share with beginners when they ask good questions in various online places. Somehow I keep discovering more topics that are worth covering and yeah .. knowing 1000+ people look forward to the content is an added motivation. Also now the channel is monetized (makes like a dollar per day) so it definitely deserves a better microphone lol

@@astralfields1696 I buck a day; how cool is that! Seriously, that's a great start! By the way, it doesn't matter if someone else already discussed about a topic. What people like is your personal angle/way of telling things. This is my first impression of yourself: You want to get the best bang for your bucks. So, not the best ever quality (too expensive), but not bad/junk quality either. I especially appreciate that you don't sugarcoat your deliberate choices. You explain what are the limitation/compromises and THAT gives a lot of value in your proposition.

@@alexandrevaliquette3883 Oh yea, if you want the truth the way I see it you've come to the right place :)

Yeah , I just ordered a Marvo MIC-03. I've been using my Sonoflow headset with 5 mics but apparently it was not enough ;)

@@astralfields1696 I agree, headset generally don't have a great built in mic. Marvo should be fine, but remember to get it very close (4-6") from your mouth. The mic position (distance AND orientation) make a HUGE difference. Pro tip: Get the mic about 45 degree on your left or right, but aim it toward your mouth. So, if we get a top view of yourself and the mic, the mic should be at 45 degree, not in front of you. Hope it's clear? If the mic is straight in front of you, the beam of air (especially the 'p') will produce a loud pop. So, having the mic offside will avoid that and you could bring the mic closer. You could remove the pop filter (sponge) if you notice the sound is muffled too much for your liking. If you get more than 10" distance, you will start to hear the echo again, witch defeat the purpose of getting a new mic! Do some quality testing and, as always, have fun in the process!

@@alexandrevaliquette3883 Thank you for the tips, I think that might have been the main reason. Had I used the headset a lot closer it would've been better. Anyway, I've been thinking about getting a better mic for some time now and your post was kind of the last drop in that process :). And now that the channel is getting some money back I feel it wouldn't be fair not to invest it back, especially as quite a few people keep coming back.

Hi, I added 30 degrees at the bottom of the plans. Use at your own risk, that is quite steep :)

You might want to watch my videos on how to build yourself an EQ Platform. That should fix it 😉

@@astralfields1696 Not sure it will fit my 8" dob.

@@danielbarbieri8199 It will. I have two videos on that. The first one was about my 8" DOB and the plans you will find under the video have a version for an 8".

@@astralfields1696 okay I'll check it

Hello, I am in the Czech Republic. Sending this anywhere outside of my country would be incredibly expensive. It is heavy (about 4kg) and big.

Yeah , they shipped it internationally from Poland to the Czech Republic.

@@astralfields1696 Oh thanks for the reply! I was asking because I'm also trying to purchase one abroad and they mentioned adding a wooden crate to the package so it would arrive safely. But as you'd imagine it would add a lot of weight. So since yours ended up fine, I guess I wouldn't need that! :D Keep up the great videos by the way!

@@goth.bunny. No, it should be fine. I don't see how a crate would help things considerably. The tube where the primary mirror resides (the most crucial piece) is well cushioned by a lot of Styrofoam inside a big box. These get shipped all the way from China so they are quite sturdy.

@@astralfields1696 Thank you! That helps a lot !!

This eyepiece is truly a treasure. I very rarely call anything perfect but in this case, I really feel that way.

The Sky Rover 30mm is an excellent choice for the 8" as well. The 24mm is more for faster telescopes, like a f/4.5 etc. It is a bit too much magnification to use as a finder eyepiece. With my SW I used the AngelEyes 'red lines' 6,9,15 and 20mm, they were fine for the money. I also used Kellner Meoptex 2" (AngelEyes) 26mm , 32mm and 40mm.. they were also fine for the money. A 1.25" that is going to be really nice for the 8" SW without breaking your bank is the AngelEyes 14mm , you will find the link in this video's description. I use this one in my 12" as well and am very happy with it. Another eyepiece I use is a MaxVision 11mm 82 degrees. It has a bit tight eye relief so it can't be used with glasses. For the 8" perhaps the 14mm is a better choice unless you go with the AngelEyes 14mm. That's all I use these days, just three fixed eyepieces & the SVBony SV191 zoom + 2x and 3x Barlows.

@@astralfields1696 Thank you so much for your advice and your quick reply. I am new to this hobby and don't have much experience so your youtube channel is literally a gold mine for me :D

@@Rick.Sanchez.C-137 That is great to hear. That was my main goal and remains my main goal.. a nice playlist of 20-30 videos for a beginner/intermediate level :). I love being an ambassador for amateur astronomy.

No, just a tiny little bit of a dust lane in Andromeda. I sold the 8' few months ago.

@astralfields1696 The 8 inch is good because you can use lower magnifications before reaching the exit pupil, so it is easier to observe the andromeda in one fov

@@lucasmorawetz4934 Yeah, Andromeda is better in the 8". I loved looking at it with my 40mm 2" Kellner Meoptex

@@lucasmorawetz4934 If brightness is enough, bigger image size makes low contrast details easier to distinguish for the eye so don't stick to just low magnifications. Using 12.5mm Morpheus in 10" I can pick two dust lanes in M31 in not the lowest light pollution. If I use 28mm UWA dust lanes simply become small and hard to distinguish. Dumbbell Nebula also likes medium magnification. And Ring Nebula can take towards high magnifications.

That GSO SuperView is old Erfle or something like that and has nothing to do with this modern design.

I upgraded my 2" 30mm from the SuperView (Apertura branded) to the UFF (APM branded). Although the SuperView is a decent eyepiece, the UFF is definitely an upgrade and well worth the price. IMO, it's one of the best values in eyepieces on the market nowadays. It's not cheap, but it's definitely a premium eyepiece at under premium price.

I did the same thing and covered in a previous video the jump in quality from a Kellner Meoptex 2" (which I had for my 8") to the GSO SuperView 30mm (which I got with my 12") and the UFF. I sold the GSO SuperView 30mm shortly after reviewing it.