Information about on my telescopes can be found below, please see also:
Dobson
Discovery Truss Dobson 15 inch f/5
One of the more recent addition to my equipment. This Dobsonian gathers significant more light than any of the telescopes I have owned to date.
Deep sky objects as galaxies and globular cluster show much brighter and with more details than I was used to.
The scope can be easy dismantled but it is still big even when it is collapsed. Due to the impressing thick mirror is the main mirror cell really heavy – about 30kg.
In addition to the weight is temperature adjustment the other issue with such a big mirror. In order to help the mirror to reach ambient temperature faster, I have added a fan.
ICS Newton Dobson mounted - 10 inch f/5 1270mm
A fine instrument with very good mirrors. A step changed compared to my 8 inch SCT.
I use it for visual observations and take it out to dark places with me.
Plusses:
- No-nonsense easy set-up
- Robust - the Aluminia tubus is a ‘weapon’
- Good and guaranteed optical quality
- Smooth positioning and very good and precise handling
- After initial calibration quite prone against de-adjustment
- Fast temperature adjustment
- What is dew?
Minuses:
- Weight
- Initial calibration not that easy.
German mounted Telescopes
Celestron C8 f/10
Telrad finder
The Working horse
Plusses:
- Good ratio between weight, size and optical performance
- Powerful for CCD and webcam use
Minuses:
- Vulnerable by dew
- Longer time needed for temperature adjustment
Refractor TMB 4 inch f/8 APO
Plusses:
- Remarkable mechanical craftsmanship
- Visual can be rotated for best viewing position
- Guaranteed optical performance
- Compact
Minuses:
- Heavy (or is this a plus?)
- Rotating of visual end limited when using finder scope
Equatorial mounted telescope
Celestron Nexstar 5
 
Small integrated telescope
Plusses:
- Portable, fits into aircraft overhead compartment
- Well done
Minuses:
- Works only with power, no manual way to operate
- No persistent memory for date time and some other settings
- Small optic with relative large obstruction
Mount
Vixen GP-DX Skysensor 2000 PC
Recently I have upgraded from Vixen GP to the Vixen GP-DX. This DX is an ecelelnt an steady mount handling the 10kg of my 4" APO very well..
Plusses:
- Stable and robust
- Portable
- Skysensor functions are reliable and comprehensive
- ‘Open’ system with PC and autoguider connectivity
- Fast positioning
Minuses:
- When using the clutches that allow also manual operations certain ‘moves’ of the mount are not possible without the two clutches running into each other. I typically had this when I wanted to observer Orion with a polar aligned mount.
A very worthwhile addition was to put the GP-DX mount on a Baader tripod. When using this solid wooden tripod, the whole setup is much more stiff and prone to vibrations.
TeleVue Pronto
A recent addition. Nice scope with excellent mechanics. Fits well for my Coronado Solar filter.
I use the Giro mount for all my refractor, typically with a light Vixen wooden tripod.
I did improve some things including replacing the small screw heads with proper handles to have better and painfree way to fasten the tripod legs after adjustment. They are standard M8 and inexpensive. (Sorry if you use imperial system.
|
