I own an 8 inch dob and I specifically bought the non-goto version because most of the time when im looking at the sky, im not looking at anything in particular usually, I just scan the skies and then get dopamine when I completely by accident see a star cluster or something. Also, they are so expensive
@@JC-fv6fq 6" Dobs are nice and also more portable, especially if it's cheap and in good condition! More aperture is allways better but a 6" will show you a LOT, especially if you can get away from heavy light pollution. I also have a 130mm (5 inch) tabletop scope that I love too...that one goes to the beach with me, where it gets *really* dark.
Let me recomend a book, John Read's "110 Things to see with a Telescope". It has charts for four seasons, has every Messier item, and details on how to find each one. I am just over a year into astronomy, and bought several books. This one by far is the absolute best!
One thing is optical vision, another is astrophotography, for each category they need different telescopes, this because your eyes are not the same thing of a photographic lens, the classic photo of the deep sky or of a planet that you imagine is progressively made by long exposure to the interested object so spoiler: putting your phone on the telescopic eyepiece won't work (unless it's the moon). This is a review of an "optical" telescope, so it simply can't show you any photos.
@@aztronomy7457 He could have cut it differently and not show that he attached the camera to it, lol. I waited for some nice realistic live views but was disappointed
@@Roschu2000 even if he provided views, it would not be reflective of what the telescope can do for the human eye. A camera can absorb a much broader set of light.
Here's a suggestion. Use a shroud to block ambient light. Even in a perfectly dark sky location. My friend was doing live stacking with his camera on his 17.5" dob under very dark skies without the shroud. The image looked good. When he put the shroud on, the background sky immediately got darker, and the contrast increased. The Milky Way was creating light pollution ;^) I've had a Nightsky 16 f4.5 for 25 years and I love it. It's heavy enough to have given me a couple of hernias. I've taken it around the country to various dark sky locations and my best views, by far, were at New Mexico Skies above Mayhill, NM. Unfortunately, they stopped taking guests. From there, I could see detail in bright galaxies that were as good or better than photographs. M31 showed not only the spiral arms distinctly but also showed the billowing nebulosity at the left and right ends. M51 showed the dark lanes in the spiral arms distinctly and also dendritic-like dark threads coming out of the main dark lanes. When it comes to visual observing, dark skies, transparency and altitude are everything. My favorite locations have been, the Grand Canyon, the Texas Star Party and the Okie-Tex Star Party. New Mexico Skies is by far the best of all of these. It would be nice to observe from Hawaii, Chile and the Canary Islands.
Did you go to the New Mexico Skies Astronomy site? Just outside of Mayhill. I'm from Roswell and I agree, NM skies are amazing with high elevation and low humidity.
I live not too terribly far from Death Valley National Park. I would suggest trying stargazing there, but unfortunately it might not be the best time to do it. At this time of year it can get VERY hot. Especially if you aren't used to 80°+F (27°+C) nights.
I've got the same 14'' scope, just not a goto. Which I do enjoy as it forces me to look for my objects. I remember the first time I used it, seeing Omega Centuari happened to come across my gaze. The wonder you get from it all...largely thanks to the light buckets size and ability to show more details.
I used to do my astrophotography (during the end of the film era) at the top of a local mountain called Mt. Pinos, just north of Los Angeles. In order to avoid the crowds, that were growing every year during new moon weekends, I would go during the week and I was often by myself or just a handful of others in an area the size of a football field. One evening this guy pulls up and asks for help unloading his scope from a small trailer. It was a 43" Dob and it was amazing. We had to get to the eyepiece by climbing a good-sized ladder! He got real excited and called me over to look at the tiny smudge of light that was a quasar. His resource said it was few billion light-years distant. Blew my mind! Enjoy your new toy!
You definitely need a nice big scope to see any Quasar. I’ve imaged one with my 8” SCT (3C273) but that’s a relatively easy task compared to visual observation.
What guy has a 43-in dob that he's taking anywhere and then he's not prepared to set it up himself?. Would you take your biggest telescope somewhere and depend on somebody else to help you not knowing if that person's even going to exist? Shakes head. Doesn't seem a very likely story but a good one!
@@jimnunya1253 I didn't say he couldn't set it up by himself. I'm sure he could have because it was not heavy, just bulky and two made it easier. "You got to believe, Bodie!" (from Twilight Zone)
It was such a cool thing to be able to talk with you and Ash in person. Seeing you filming and working on this video all day last weekend, then watching the final product today really inspired me to work hard to share the special moments in this hobby with the world. You guys are awesome.
If it has goto tracking, you can do astrophotography with it. Many experts warn against this due to field rotation, but it can be done by limiting exposures to 20 seconds and compensating for field rotation by turning the camera. Even if you only have a tracking alt azimuth or a dobson like this, you can still take great DSO images, even if it requires more dedication and perseverence
Nice one Trevor, glad to see yet another picking up this scope. By the way, with the Synscan GoTo, it's possible to set up a satellite tracker for ISS imaging. I've used it on my 400P 16" and it's a bit of a pain to setup, but the views of the station beat out the likes of Saturn easily - well worth a shot!
I built my own 15" f4.5 Truss Dobsonian years ago and added the StellarCat GoTo Tracking system to it a few years after I built it. I recently converted my 20" f3.6 Explore Scientific Truss Dobsonian to a StellarCat GoTo Tracking system as well, running both with Nexus DSC Pro computers. Both are a bit of a lug to set up, but tracking with aperture is much better for staying on the eyepiece to allow your eye to pick up the subtle details of the object. It is hard to go back once you use a big, tracking dob.
Still on my first scope; it's a 114/500. I'm about three weeks away from ordering a 10" dob (apertura ad10), and I'm really excited to see what such a large scope can show me. I just don't have the frame of reference for what a 14" can show.
This is a great video helps me learn more about telescopes. Especially me not having the money for even a 400 dollar telescope, I like dreaming about them though.
Nice telescope! When I purchased my 16" Dob a decade ago, the first thing I did was also snap a photo of my wife standing next to it! Then I built an outdoor shed to store it in and a cart to haul it around with so I wouldn't have to take it apart.
I recently sold my 12 inch version, had a blast with it for quite a few years , fantastic visual scope and like you will see great for solar system imaging.....have fun.
I had a 13.1" Coulter Odyssey back in the 90's. It was a Beast! Eventually sold it as it was too heavy to keep moving around. The views through it were AMAZING!
Same here...hauled my 13.1" to hell and back and it always was easy to use, held its collimation and gave good views. After 25+ years of hauling it around I finally sold it due to a lack of room in the car. Great scope for the money.
It would be interesting to see you get your hands on a Sky-Watcher Starlux 190 mm Maksutov-Newtonian on an equatorial mount. Excellent aperture, relatively fast at F5.3, and built-in field correction. Somewhat like an SCT, I suppose, but different enough it would be interesting to investigate and use. Might be the best all-around scope out there, considering aperture size, speed, field correction, cost, and ability to view or photograph equally well.
That’s my primary scope! I love lugging it to the Grand Staircase to observe the Great Wall from Leo to Coma Berenices…. Only drawback is you need to wiggle it around after setup to make sure the extenders are in position, otherwise it can abrupt pop out of collimation.
Having transported and setup a 16" Sky-Watcher DOB a few times this winter... I know what you mean! We had an 8" and 16" DOB in the back of a GMC Yukon. Took up the whole back area and left zero room for our bags!
Good to see you do a review on a Dob. I have always been an astronomy buff. My first telescope was a 6 inch Edmund reflector on a german equatorial mount. My Dad bought me that because as a 11 year old, I was already interested in astronomy. I would drag that outside each clear night to explore the night sky. As an adult, I switched to using Dobsonian telescopes to observe. They are more portable and the mount of my six inch scope was no longer functional. I now have an 10 inch and 16 inch Dobsonian scopes for my visual. I despised goto mounts because half the fun was searching for objects in the sky using star charts and the telescope. Recently, I have taken up astrophotography and I realized i needed one of those goto mounts. A shift in my hobby can quickly change my mind those goto mounts.
It was awesome meeting you and talking at the Cherry Springs Star Party! (I was the one who mentioned using per-channel deconvolution as a way to handle chromatic aberration from an achromat--and attached two cameras to a Star Adventurer)
Did the ASIAIR improve their ability to capture video for lucky imaging? Last I tried, frames per second were very low so had to go to laptop to process frames per second faster.
When I was younger I ordered a mirror from Coulter and a kit and built a 17.5 dob. Like yours they are nice telescopes. Thanks for the video. I rolled mine out of a storage building at home and hauled it around with a enclosed trailer.
I have the 12" and Kevin is right...The base on the 300p isn't something you lug round unless you are young and have a van! Be interested to see how you get on with the AIR in video mode as mine suffers with interference patterns and is almost impossible to use.
Fantastic images of the exterior of the telescope, great selfies and video of transport and unboxing. Great images of the star party, campsite and grassy fields. Gee, I wonder what stars, galaxies, planets and other celestial bodies look like through the 350P.
I thought my 18" f4.5 Dob was big, but then you look through a 30"... Aperture fever is real 😂 That said, in theory, even a 12" will detect just about everything published in any deep sky atlas. But when you get to see the central star of M57, and realise it's blue - only aperture can do that.
Hi Trevor, I have the 16" version of the same scope. I have been able to capture some nice DSO shots with this scope. So you can image more than just the Moon and Planets. Good luck with your setup. Cs
As always, love ALL of your videos, but especially this one because I make an appearance! It was great briefly meeting you and Ash in person, and I look forward to chatting with you more next time around! Thanks for inspiring me to dive into this hobby - one that I'm sure will last me a lifetime. :)
Hi Trevor! I have a skywatcher 200p solid tube , i use it for astrophotography, i have a homemade equatorial platform which is have a bit of "target bouncing" , the tracking accuracy will be repaired soon.Will you use this dob for astrophotography because its possible with it .
You are more of a photographer, so what you say may not necessarily apply to lightweight truss tube Dobsonians. I will be getting a 414/1868mm truss tube Dobsonian in July. The mirror was ground by an expert, and the tube was built by the owner with Martini altitude wheels. The mirror weighs 7kg, 12kg with the mirror box, and the entire system weighs about 36kg. It is still easy to transport and set up alone without tools. My 10 pens to the topic of "goto," mine has digital readouts and endconder, similar to push-to, but actually a Telrad is sufficient. Tracking is not necessary even at 320x magnification due to its good mechanics, but I will be adding an equatorial platform underneath for planetary photography. Since I occasionally observe with guests from the region, it is more convenient. Clear skies from germany Felix
I designed and built a removable wheelbarrel style attachment for my 14” since it weighs 148# fully assembled. I leave the entire base and primary mirror assembly together and with a wooden ramp I built I just wheel it into my Nissan pathfinder and have the secondary mirror assembly and 4 trusses in carry bags. I can roll it out of my vehicle and in 10 mins have setup and performing a collomination. Without designing that integrated wheelbarrel assembly I never would have been able to get a scope that big but I set it up faster than most guys who have 9” SCTs😬
I had this exact scope, just 12 in. Good value but the size and weight made it a pain to lug back and forth. A laser collimator device was helpful. I think the mount was the weak point as there was a lot of play when slewing across the sky. And of course, with an azimuthal mount, it wasn’t appropriate for photography.
Great Video! My Wife has this scope in the 10" version. the Optics are incredible and also with the secondary focal position, it will focus with my stereo ocular. 🔭👍
I have the (non motorised) 12". Bought it about 10 years ago, the shroud is completely disintegrated :) I loved my 10" more because I could take it places. The 12" is larger than my self-motivation to lug it along xD.
I’ve had a 14” DOB for several years and always bring it to my Club’s outreach events. It happens to be the biggest scope in our Club and the line to look through it is never ending at these events. I’m also one of those guys you find on CN who does night vision astronomy. If you the view is amazing through the 14” with a glass EP you should see the universe through a 14” with an NVD attached to a 10mm or 7mm Televue. The first time I showed someone the ring nebulae or Orion or even M15 they thought they were looking through Hubble 😎. The love my WO GT81 for AP but aperture is everything in visual!
Even with the green NVDs the views are so amazing you quickly ingore the fact that the universe has a green tint to it, it’s really no big deal and with the ability to get a WP tube even that minor effect is gone
One thing is optical vision, another is astrophotography, for each category they need different telescopes, this because your eyes are not the same as a photographic lens, the classic photo of the deep sky or of a planet that you imagine is progressively made by long exposure to the interested object so spoiler: putting your phone on the telescopic eyepiece won't work (unless it's the moon). This is a review of an "optical" telescope, so it simply can't show you any photos.
Thanks for the video. I have been looking at the 8" version of this scope to do both visual and astrophotography from. Would love your thoughts on this. Thanks again!
A nice 14" Dobsonian is on my long-term wish list, thank you for getting this one and sharing the experience. Looking forward to your planetary images. We are relocating near Pennsylvania so I hope to get to that star party too!
Thanks for your video. I used to take astrophotographs of the night sky, back in the pre-digital era. It required a whole dark room, film processing chemicals, enlarger after the night of pictures. Long half hour tracking and exposures. After I got married, didn’t do it as often. All back in the last century. Since then I’ve retired to the high desert and have been thinking of a Dobsonian light bucket. I still have the Takahashi parabolic mirrored reflector, but not the camera or darkroom anymore. I have to figure out how to stack photos and do the photoshop things, and how to mount a digital camera on my telescope. Its mount is still working great with 4 D batteries but no goto capability. That came well after when I bought my telescope. I didn’t do much with it when my wife got sick and when I lived in a large city. Last few times out with my scope I was having a hard time contorting my old bones to find some targets through the spotting scope. But I can usually see the Milky Way even with a half moon. Nice dark skies outside my front door. Maybe I should build an observatory for a big light bucket. Yours looked nice, 14”. I wonder how big a 24” would be. Might need a ladder for it.
One thing is optical vision, another is astrophotography, for each category they need different telescopes, this because your eyes are not the same thing of a photographic lens, the classic photo of the deep sky or of a planet that you imagine is progressively made by long exposure to the affected object so spoiler: putting your phone on the telescopic eyepiece won't work (unless it's the moon). This is a review of an "optical" telescope, so it simply can't show you any photos.
I was curious about how much this cost, and my jaw dropped at first. Actually my main concern is how will I get that thing out of the house and put it back in.
My Dob is the Orion 10" with push-to system. It works well once you figure it out and pick up a few tips. It comes apart within seconds and each piece is about 35 pounds, so it is manageable by one person. "Commitment" is a good word for anything bigger.
imho I really wouldn't use the asiair for video here. You are vastly limiting yourself - it will only do 1080p crop max of whatever camera you use, and the frame rate will be a fraction of what you will get direct via a laptop. I love my asiairs - I have 3 of them - 2 in the observatory, 1 in the motorhome, but for planetary stuff I just use the asiair to handle the guiding - I plug the camera directly into my mac and use firecapture, capturing to the SSD
I have a question. I wanna buy the 8” of this version without the goto. But does the gab of tube thats replaced by the flextube affects its performance?
Great review, as always. Is goto accurate enough to track the objects during few minutes? Could you provide the OTA weight and the base weight? I am thinking of buying this telescope. Thank you & kind regards from Spain.
I know you and a few other U tubers are considered the best individuals teaching and demonstrating astrophotography methods and testing new gear. I am a fan and appreciate all the help and advice you and others provide us who are learning this hobby. I asked this question also to the “lazy geek”…how come none of you have tested the new AWO ASI 2600 DUO camera? I am considering an ASI 2600 but would go with the DUO if I had solid advice from you and other astrophotographer pro’s that the camera can provide great guiding and excellent photos as demonstrated by the 2600 Pro’s. Thank you for all your help along the way. I love the excitement of photographing the reality of the night sky.
Even my 10" Skyline manual dob is a PITA to drag up from the basement, transport and set-up. I'm tentatively planning on bringing it to the Manitoulin Eco Park later this summer, which would be the first time it's been used in six or so months. Otherwise I have my 4" apo refractor on my permanent pier at home that I use virtually every clear night.
Damn! Missed you again! I was one of the many who didn't know that CSSP would be sold out in THREE DAYS! Sorry the star party was such a washout. Glad you got one night in, though. So, crossing over to the dark side, are we? Never thought I'd see you with a visual scope! LOL! Good luck with the Canadian Star Party later this summer. Maybe you'll make BFSP? If so, I'll see you there! Keep up the great work, Trevor!
Dobsonian RULE as big telescopes. The mount is included, saving huge! Refractors over 4" or 6" are prohibitively expensive. SCTs are nearly so, but need big mounts. I own binos, 2 small APO refractors, and a SCT .... I'm missing the Dobs. If I lived in a dark site, I'd own one. Nice video!
This is awesome!! If you are ever in NC, you're welcome out to the farm anytime. We are designing an observatory for the island in our 5 acre pond. Keep up the great videos!
Can you look at the zenith with that scope with your feet on the ground, not a step or ladder? That was the reason I stopped at my 13.1" dob. I stop the van, take out the rocker box, extract the tube and place it on the rocker bearings, clip on the Telrad, insert eyepiece, oh yeah, shut the door and I'm observing! The poor guy with the equatorial mount is still wrestling with the inherently unbalanced mount and a tube assembly that's just too heavy when you have to lift it to the level of your shoulders or maybe just a bit below. THEN he has to polar align. By the time he's done I've been observing for half an hour. There's beauty in curbing your ambition and "settling" for a 13 or 14" scope.
I own an 8 inch dob and I specifically bought the non-goto version because most of the time when im looking at the sky, im not looking at anything in particular usually, I just scan the skies and then get dopamine when I completely by accident see a star cluster or something. Also, they are so expensive
Same here, I love to just wander the night skies with my 8" dob with no real plan...
Dopamine from tik tok❌
Dopamine from astronomy√
Would it be worth buying a 6” dob skywatcher its the only one i can find thats second hand, close and cheap.
@@JC-fv6fq 6" Dobs are nice and also more portable, especially if it's cheap and in good condition! More aperture is allways better but a 6" will show you a LOT, especially if you can get away from heavy light pollution. I also have a 130mm (5 inch) tabletop scope that I love too...that one goes to the beach with me, where it gets *really* dark.
Let me recomend a book, John Read's "110 Things to see with a Telescope". It has charts for four seasons, has every Messier item, and details on how to find each one. I am just over a year into astronomy, and bought several books. This one by far is the absolute best!
BEFORE WATCH: Throughout this video, you will not see even one photo of what can be seen through this telescope.
its a Dobsonian what kind of pictures do you expect? Could maybe do a 1 second exposure. Im sure its not up to his standards.
One thing is optical vision, another is astrophotography, for each category they need different telescopes, this because your eyes are not the same thing of a photographic lens, the classic photo of the deep sky or of a planet that you imagine is progressively made by long exposure to the interested object so spoiler: putting your phone on the telescopic eyepiece won't work (unless it's the moon). This is a review of an "optical" telescope, so it simply can't show you any photos.
@@aztronomy7457 He could have cut it differently and not show that he attached the camera to it, lol. I waited for some nice realistic live views but was disappointed
@@Roschu2000 even if he provided views, it would not be reflective of what the telescope can do for the human eye. A camera can absorb a much broader set of light.
incredible, not one through the lens photo. Many reviews of these telescopes are like that
Cool to see myself in your video! It was great spending the evening hanging out with you guys and Adam. Your hospitality was much appreciated! - Aaron
You too, Aaron! I know Adam was ESPECIALLY glad you were there this year!
@@AstroBackyard 😂 yeah he was ever so grateful! Hope to hang out with you guys again, I’ll bring the libations next time
Hey, what is the event? May I know where I can find the calendar, really want to join you guys!
Here's a suggestion. Use a shroud to block ambient light. Even in a perfectly dark sky location. My friend was doing live stacking with his camera on his 17.5" dob under very dark skies without the shroud. The image looked good. When he put the shroud on, the background sky immediately got darker, and the contrast increased. The Milky Way was creating light pollution ;^) I've had a Nightsky 16 f4.5 for 25 years and I love it. It's heavy enough to have given me a couple of hernias. I've taken it around the country to various dark sky locations and my best views, by far, were at New Mexico Skies above Mayhill, NM. Unfortunately, they stopped taking guests. From there, I could see detail in bright galaxies that were as good or better than photographs. M31 showed not only the spiral arms distinctly but also showed the billowing nebulosity at the left and right ends. M51 showed the dark lanes in the spiral arms distinctly and also dendritic-like dark threads coming out of the main dark lanes. When it comes to visual observing, dark skies, transparency and altitude are everything. My favorite locations have been, the Grand Canyon, the Texas Star Party and the Okie-Tex Star Party. New Mexico Skies is by far the best of all of these. It would be nice to observe from Hawaii, Chile and the Canary Islands.
Thank you for the suggestion! Kevin from SW suggested a shroud, too, for best performance - just haven't ordered it yet!
@@AstroBackyard The Saxon brands one also fit if you have trouble finding stock
Did you go to the New Mexico Skies Astronomy site? Just outside of Mayhill. I'm from Roswell and I agree, NM skies are amazing with high elevation and low humidity.
@@buffhomer Yes. Fantastic location. And Apache Point at Sunspot is just one mountain away. I enjoyed visiting there also.
I live not too terribly far from Death Valley National Park. I would suggest trying stargazing there, but unfortunately it might not be the best time to do it. At this time of year it can get VERY hot. Especially if you aren't used to 80°+F (27°+C) nights.
I've got the same 14'' scope, just not a goto. Which I do enjoy as it forces me to look for my objects. I remember the first time I used it, seeing Omega Centuari happened to come across my gaze. The wonder you get from it all...largely thanks to the light buckets size and ability to show more details.
It's nice that your wife gets involved. Nice place, nice telescopes. You've got it all.
I used to do my astrophotography (during the end of the film era) at the top of a local mountain called Mt. Pinos, just north of Los Angeles. In order to avoid the crowds, that were growing every year during new moon weekends, I would go during the week and I was often by myself or just a handful of others in an area the size of a football field. One evening this guy pulls up and asks for help unloading his scope from a small trailer. It was a 43" Dob and it was amazing. We had to get to the eyepiece by climbing a good-sized ladder! He got real excited and called me over to look at the tiny smudge of light that was a quasar. His resource said it was few billion light-years distant. Blew my mind! Enjoy your new toy!
You definitely need a nice big scope to see any Quasar. I’ve imaged one with my 8” SCT (3C273) but that’s a relatively easy task compared to visual observation.
I've had 2 friends over the years with 28" scopes and we would sometimes go to Mt pinos, but more often went to darker sites in the desert
What guy has a 43-in dob that he's taking anywhere and then he's not prepared to set it up himself?.
Would you take your biggest telescope somewhere and depend on somebody else to help you not knowing if that person's even going to exist?
Shakes head.
Doesn't seem a very likely story but a good one!
@@jimnunya1253 I didn't say he couldn't set it up by himself. I'm sure he could have because it was not heavy, just bulky and two made it easier. "You got to believe, Bodie!" (from Twilight Zone)
My first telescope was the 12 inch version. I had a blast with it but it was a pain setting up.
Very cool. Perfect description of this scope!
It was such a cool thing to be able to talk with you and Ash in person. Seeing you filming and working on this video all day last weekend, then watching the final product today really inspired me to work hard to share the special moments in this hobby with the world. You guys are awesome.
If it has goto tracking, you can do astrophotography with it. Many experts warn against this due to field rotation, but it can be done by limiting exposures to 20 seconds and compensating for field rotation by turning the camera. Even if you only have a tracking alt azimuth or a dobson like this, you can still take great DSO images, even if it requires more dedication and perseverence
14" dobs are nice and portable. I enjoy my 14" f4.7 at Cherry Springs, PA. However the universe OPENS up with my 22" f4 dob
Nice one Trevor, glad to see yet another picking up this scope.
By the way, with the Synscan GoTo, it's possible to set up a satellite tracker for ISS imaging. I've used it on my 400P 16" and it's a bit of a pain to setup, but the views of the station beat out the likes of Saturn easily - well worth a shot!
Thank you! Wow, I didn't realize that - I can finally take a better picture of the ISS!
I built my own 15" f4.5 Truss Dobsonian years ago and added the StellarCat GoTo Tracking system to it a few years after I built it. I recently converted my 20" f3.6 Explore Scientific Truss Dobsonian to a StellarCat GoTo Tracking system as well, running both with Nexus DSC Pro computers. Both are a bit of a lug to set up, but tracking with aperture is much better for staying on the eyepiece to allow your eye to pick up the subtle details of the object. It is hard to go back once you use a big, tracking dob.
Still on my first scope; it's a 114/500. I'm about three weeks away from ordering a 10" dob (apertura ad10), and I'm really excited to see what such a large scope can show me. I just don't have the frame of reference for what a 14" can show.
This is a great video helps me learn more about telescopes. Especially me not having the money for even a 400 dollar telescope, I like dreaming about them though.
Nice telescope!
When I purchased my 16" Dob a decade ago, the first thing I did was also snap a photo of my wife standing next to it! Then I built an outdoor shed to store it in and a cart to haul it around with so I wouldn't have to take it apart.
I recently sold my 12 inch version, had a blast with it for quite a few years , fantastic visual scope and like you will see great for solar system imaging.....have fun.
I had a 13.1" Coulter Odyssey back in the 90's. It was a Beast! Eventually sold it as it was too heavy to keep moving around. The views through it were AMAZING!
Same here...hauled my 13.1" to hell and back and it always was easy to use, held its collimation and gave good views. After 25+ years of hauling it around I finally sold it due to a lack of room in the car. Great scope for the money.
It would be interesting to see you get your hands on a Sky-Watcher Starlux 190 mm Maksutov-Newtonian on an equatorial mount. Excellent aperture, relatively fast at F5.3, and built-in field correction. Somewhat like an SCT, I suppose, but different enough it would be interesting to investigate and use. Might be the best all-around scope out there, considering aperture size, speed, field correction, cost, and ability to view or photograph equally well.
That’s my primary scope! I love lugging it to the Grand Staircase to observe the Great Wall from Leo to Coma Berenices…. Only drawback is you need to wiggle it around after setup to make sure the extenders are in position, otherwise it can abrupt pop out of collimation.
Having transported and setup a 16" Sky-Watcher DOB a few times this winter... I know what you mean! We had an 8" and 16" DOB in the back of a GMC Yukon. Took up the whole back area and left zero room for our bags!
Was so great meeting you and Ashley! Thanks so much for stopping by the CCTS booth!
Frank!! Great meeting you too, man. Matt was pretty amazed that you were able to fix his telescope, too!
I must say... That is the ONLY ceramic tiled garage I've ever seen! 😎
It's a monster!
Surprised there is not a mass produced ultra compact dob on the market yet.
Good to see you do a review on a Dob. I have always been an astronomy buff. My first telescope was a 6 inch Edmund reflector on a german equatorial mount. My Dad bought me that because as a 11 year old, I was already interested in astronomy. I would drag that outside each clear night to explore the night sky. As an adult, I switched to using Dobsonian telescopes to observe. They are more portable and the mount of my six inch scope was no longer functional. I now have an 10 inch and 16 inch Dobsonian scopes for my visual. I despised goto mounts because half the fun was searching for objects in the sky using star charts and the telescope. Recently, I have taken up astrophotography and I realized i needed one of those goto mounts. A shift in my hobby can quickly change my mind those goto mounts.
I had a 10-inch Dob and the views were awesome.
It was awesome meeting you and talking at the Cherry Springs Star Party! (I was the one who mentioned using per-channel deconvolution as a way to handle chromatic aberration from an achromat--and attached two cameras to a Star Adventurer)
Did the ASIAIR improve their ability to capture video for lucky imaging? Last I tried, frames per second were very low so had to go to laptop to process frames per second faster.
Where can I find a good list of star parties for future planning?
Have looked through 1 on the past was amazing , with my back not possible to use anything bigger than a 8 in don
When I was younger I ordered a mirror from Coulter and a kit and built a 17.5 dob. Like yours they are nice telescopes. Thanks for
the video. I rolled mine out of a storage building at home and hauled it around with a enclosed trailer.
I have the 12" and Kevin is right...The base on the 300p isn't something you lug round unless you are young and have a van! Be interested to see how you get on with the AIR in video mode as mine suffers with interference patterns and is almost impossible to use.
you should mount that in the observatory, it would look insane
I have looked through 500 mm Dobson (inches are for murica), and I have seen colour of Orion nebula
Fantastic images of the exterior of the telescope, great selfies and video of transport and unboxing. Great images of the star party, campsite and grassy fields. Gee, I wonder what stars, galaxies, planets and other celestial bodies look like through the 350P.
I thought my 18" f4.5 Dob was big, but then you look through a 30"... Aperture fever is real 😂 That said, in theory, even a 12" will detect just about everything published in any deep sky atlas. But when you get to see the central star of M57, and realise it's blue - only aperture can do that.
Question how do you find out where start parties are and what time
Hi Trevor, I have the 16" version of the same scope. I have been able to capture some nice DSO shots with this scope. So you can image more than just the Moon and Planets. Good luck with your setup. Cs
As always, love ALL of your videos, but especially this one because I make an appearance! It was great briefly meeting you and Ash in person, and I look forward to chatting with you more next time around! Thanks for inspiring me to dive into this hobby - one that I'm sure will last me a lifetime. :)
Hi Trevor! I have a skywatcher 200p solid tube , i use it for astrophotography, i have a homemade equatorial platform which is have a bit of "target bouncing" , the tracking accuracy will be repaired soon.Will you use this dob for astrophotography because its possible with it .
What are you using instead of “ dark skies” since the app is no longer available for iOS?
You are more of a photographer, so what you say may not necessarily apply to lightweight truss tube Dobsonians. I will be getting a 414/1868mm truss tube Dobsonian in July. The mirror was ground by an expert, and the tube was
built by the owner with Martini altitude wheels. The mirror weighs 7kg, 12kg with the mirror box, and the entire system weighs about 36kg. It is still easy to transport and set up alone without tools.
My 10 pens to the topic of "goto," mine has digital readouts and endconder, similar to push-to, but actually a Telrad is sufficient. Tracking is not necessary even at 320x magnification due to its good mechanics, but I will be adding an equatorial platform underneath for planetary photography. Since I occasionally observe with guests from the region, it is more convenient.
Clear skies from germany Felix
I designed and built a removable wheelbarrel style attachment for my 14” since it weighs 148# fully assembled. I leave the entire base and primary mirror assembly together and with a wooden ramp I built I just wheel it into my Nissan pathfinder and have the secondary mirror assembly and 4 trusses in carry bags. I can roll it out of my vehicle and in 10 mins have setup and performing a collomination. Without designing that integrated wheelbarrel assembly I never would have been able to get a scope that big but I set it up faster than most guys who have 9” SCTs😬
I had this exact scope, just 12 in. Good value but the size and weight made it a pain to lug back and forth. A laser collimator device was helpful. I think the mount was the weak point as there was a lot of play when slewing across the sky. And of course, with an azimuthal mount, it wasn’t appropriate for photography.
I just got a 8 inch 200p newton. That 14 inch must be enourmus
Did you have any seeing problem with an open tube?
So want more of this. Would love to see some photos through this beast.
Wow a wife who helps you build a dob, thats the most amazing thing here for me!
Great Video! My Wife has this scope in the 10" version. the Optics are incredible and also with the secondary focal position, it will focus with my stereo ocular. 🔭👍
Cool scope! Star parties are always a blast!
I LITERALLY just bought the 300P 12" and am going to set it up and look through it for the first time this weekend. I am SO PUMPED!
Hi It would be a dream if you replied What do you think about the sv503 80 ed F7 Telescope
0:56 That is absolutely insane I never would've guessed that to be true
Why don’t people use dob for deep sky astrophotography?
I have the (non motorised) 12". Bought it about 10 years ago, the shroud is completely disintegrated :) I loved my 10" more because I could take it places. The 12" is larger than my self-motivation to lug it along xD.
Damn dude ! Nice editing
I’ve had a 14” DOB for several years and always bring it to my Club’s outreach events. It happens to be the biggest scope in our Club and the line to look through it is never ending at these events. I’m also one of those guys you find on CN who does night vision astronomy. If you the view is amazing through the 14” with a glass EP you should see the universe through a 14” with an NVD attached to a 10mm or 7mm Televue. The first time I showed someone the ring nebulae or Orion or even M15 they thought they were looking through Hubble 😎. The love my WO GT81 for AP but aperture is everything in visual!
NVD only comes in white phosphor and green colors, correct?
@@knight2255 that is true only for what is available to civilians
Even with the green NVDs the views are so amazing you quickly ingore the fact that the universe has a green tint to it, it’s really no big deal and with the ability to get a WP tube even that minor effect is gone
10 minutes of video and not a single picture of a planet ...
Thanks for this, imagine not sharing a sine picture.
One thing is optical vision, another is astrophotography, for each category they need different telescopes, this because your eyes are not the same as a photographic lens, the classic photo of the deep sky or of a planet that you imagine is progressively made by long exposure to the interested object so spoiler: putting your phone on the telescopic eyepiece won't work (unless it's the moon). This is a review of an "optical" telescope, so it simply can't show you any photos.
Thanks for the video. I have been looking at the 8" version of this scope to do both visual and astrophotography from. Would love your thoughts on this. Thanks again!
It is my pleasure, Frank! The 8" version is a much more practical option - and still plenty of aperture for great views and planetary images
Hi i was wondering where in Ontario Canada you will be going to visit to see the stars??
7:38 "Honestly, anything over 8 inches is a big commitment."
A nice 14" Dobsonian is on my long-term wish list, thank you for getting this one and sharing the experience. Looking forward to your planetary images.
We are relocating near Pennsylvania so I hope to get to that star party too!
Thanks for your video. I used to take astrophotographs of the night sky, back in the pre-digital era. It required a whole dark room, film processing chemicals, enlarger after the night of pictures. Long half hour tracking and exposures. After I got married, didn’t do it as often. All back in the last century.
Since then I’ve retired to the high desert and have been thinking of a Dobsonian light bucket. I still have the Takahashi parabolic mirrored reflector, but not the camera or darkroom anymore. I have to figure out how to stack photos and do the photoshop things, and how to mount a digital camera on my telescope. Its mount is still working great with 4 D batteries but no goto capability. That came well after when I bought my telescope.
I didn’t do much with it when my wife got sick and when I lived in a large city.
Last few times out with my scope I was having a hard time contorting my old bones to find some targets through the spotting scope. But I can usually see the Milky Way even with a half moon. Nice dark skies outside my front door. Maybe I should build an observatory for a big light bucket. Yours looked nice, 14”. I wonder how big a 24” would be. Might need a ladder for it.
You seriously made this video without showing any pictures!!
One thing is optical vision, another is astrophotography, for each category they need different telescopes, this because your eyes are not the same thing of a photographic lens, the classic photo of the deep sky or of a planet that you imagine is progressively made by long exposure to the affected object so spoiler: putting your phone on the telescopic eyepiece won't work (unless it's the moon). This is a review of an "optical" telescope, so it simply can't show you any photos.
@@osvaldoalbanese9291 Ty
Has the Go-To function been working well for you? Appreciate your videos.
How does the open truss design not allow all the street lights to pollute the image? Is there a cover for it?
thanks!
Are these goto systems suitable for tracking the target for photography?
Very cool! Did you ever try the space station again?
I was curious about how much this cost, and my jaw dropped at first. Actually my main concern is how will I get that thing out of the house and put it back in.
My Dob is the Orion 10" with push-to system. It works well once you figure it out and pick up a few tips. It comes apart within seconds and each piece is about 35 pounds, so it is manageable by one person. "Commitment" is a good word for anything bigger.
imho I really wouldn't use the asiair for video here. You are vastly limiting yourself - it will only do 1080p crop max of whatever camera you use, and the frame rate will be a fraction of what you will get direct via a laptop. I love my asiairs - I have 3 of them - 2 in the observatory, 1 in the motorhome, but for planetary stuff I just use the asiair to handle the guiding - I plug the camera directly into my mac and use firecapture, capturing to the SSD
That eyepiece alone will give you great views!
I have a question. I wanna buy the 8” of this version without the goto. But does the gab of tube thats replaced by the flextube affects its performance?
Dude lovely scope. I have one! They are surprisingly good at planetary imaging. Will probably be your best scope for Jupiter this year 👍
Wow! That’s a beast Trevor! Not the most portable rig! Dr B from Manitoba, Canada 🇨🇦
Please tell me the specs of the red "setup" at 0:46 !!! That thing looks amazing! First time viewer!! Thanks for your time! Badass!!!
Why not a 16 inch. I have one and love it.
I enjoyed the edit and B role at the beginning nice 1
Congrats on the big 'scope! Visual observing is my jam.
Great review, as always. Is goto accurate enough to track the objects during few minutes? Could you provide the OTA weight and the base weight? I am thinking of buying this telescope. Thank you & kind regards from Spain.
I know you and a few other U tubers are considered the best individuals teaching and demonstrating astrophotography methods and testing new gear. I am a fan and appreciate all the help and advice you and others provide us who are learning this hobby. I asked this question also to the “lazy geek”…how come none of you have tested the new AWO ASI 2600 DUO camera? I am considering an ASI 2600 but would go with the DUO if I had solid advice from you and other astrophotographer pro’s that the camera can provide great guiding and excellent photos as demonstrated by the 2600 Pro’s. Thank you for all your help along the way. I love the excitement of photographing the reality of the night sky.
How do you find out about star parties? I don’t have any social media so I don’t catch news of anything.
I just got a 16 inch Dob very heavy but I have seen some galaxies but waiting for darker skies in autumn. But really pleased so far.
Even my 10" Skyline manual dob is a PITA to drag up from the basement, transport and set-up. I'm tentatively planning on bringing it to the Manitoulin Eco Park later this summer, which would be the first time it's been used in six or so months. Otherwise I have my 4" apo refractor on my permanent pier at home that I use virtually every clear night.
Damn! Missed you again! I was one of the many who didn't know that CSSP would be sold out in THREE DAYS! Sorry the star party was such a washout. Glad you got one night in, though. So, crossing over to the dark side, are we? Never thought I'd see you with a visual scope! LOL! Good luck with the Canadian Star Party later this summer. Maybe you'll make BFSP? If so, I'll see you there! Keep up the great work, Trevor!
Thank you both for a fun review. Don’t over do that lifting our good Astro friend.
Awesome!!
I cant wait to see EAA dso images with it
What is the weight of the two base pieces when seperated if you or anyone knows?
Cool video work!
Dobsonian RULE as big telescopes. The mount is included, saving huge!
Refractors over 4" or 6" are prohibitively expensive. SCTs are nearly so, but need big mounts.
I own binos, 2 small APO refractors, and a SCT .... I'm missing the Dobs.
If I lived in a dark site, I'd own one.
Nice video!
Thanks Trevor. Awesome scope. Looking forward to future pics. Had a sneak peak on Daylons channel. What fun.
This is awesome!! If you are ever in NC, you're welcome out to the farm anytime. We are designing an observatory for the island in our 5 acre pond. Keep up the great videos!
Glad to see you try 'visual'.
Always enjoy your videos, been following pretty much since the beginning. Great video but...how were the views through the eyepiece?
Hey Trevor! Any idea where the Ontario star fest is this year? When I click on directions on the site it says 2022. Is it at the same place?
Can you look at the zenith with that scope with your feet on the ground, not a step or ladder? That was the reason I stopped at my 13.1" dob. I stop the van, take out the rocker box, extract the tube and place it on the rocker bearings, clip on the Telrad, insert eyepiece, oh yeah, shut the door and I'm observing! The poor guy with the equatorial mount is still wrestling with the inherently unbalanced mount and a tube assembly that's just too heavy when you have to lift it to the level of your shoulders or maybe just a bit below. THEN he has to polar align. By the time he's done I've been observing for half an hour. There's beauty in curbing your ambition and "settling" for a 13 or 14" scope.
Thanks so much for taking the time to video the star party, I really felt I was there through your video. Keep up the great vids.......or
Cannot wait to see the amazing pictures that youll get from this
That's a big rig 14 wheeler! Sheesssh
Hi there can you tell me the measurements of the base please of the 14" flex tube thanks