The weight is part of the reason dobs are sturdy and steady. It's going to come down to your priorities. Bob -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Richard Tenney Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 11:23 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Scope Upgrade Advice I have a 16" Astrosystems Telekit, but unusually long focal length (6.25) which results in a heavy mirror box. It's solid and heavy and that makes lifting a challenge but worth it if there's a slight breeze. FWIW, /R --- On Thu, 4/22/10, JayLEads <jayleads@gmail.com> wrote:
From: JayLEads <jayleads@gmail.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Scope Upgrade Advice To: "Utah-Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Thursday, April 22, 2010, 8:05 AM Ok, now's the time. I am beginning the process to upgrade to what I hope is the first of second major purchases over the next five years in the hobby. This one will be a dob, and I'm looking for a truss design. I have a bad back, deteriorating disc at L5/S1 so weight is an issue. I know Ron Ford has Bill Cowles Coulter Dob for sale and I'll be sending him email to take a look at it, but is there any other recommendations (thoughts on Bill Cowles Dob)?
Here is where I am leaning. I have a 10 inch so I think upgrading to a 12.5 won't give me much bang for my buck. So I'm thinking a 15 inch and I am willing to go used or new (probably prefer used). A used Starmaster or Teledit comes to mind. An Obsession 15 inch comes to mind but they do have a rep for the upper cage to be small causing in some scopes a vignetting issue. I have also thought of a used Discovery, I won't go new with them because of what is going on with that company lately or the Orion XXi14. The XXi14 I like because of the intelliscope feature, if I don't want to star hop I can simply input and go. So I would love input into these or other choices others may have:
15 inch Obsession 15 inch used Starmaster 15 inch Teeter (see Teeter Telescopes, they are back east) XXi14
Thougths? Thanks for the input ahead of time. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
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