If Plettstone scopes were not rigid and stable, I honestly don't think Michelle would sell them. She will not sell things that don't work. That would be my choice today. I like my LiteBox 18 very much, but if I were to do it all again, I'd get a "push to" Plettstone 18. Keep in mind she'll be happy to sell you all the goto stuff that you can fry again ( :( ). But there is less hassle, and less to worry about without it. That of course is a matter of holy wars. So take it FWIW.
While gawking at bright(er) objects, a leap from 15 to 18 inches is not a great leap. However if you go "DEEP" the 18 can make a difference. If you are going to go after some really obscure and challenging PNebs or BNebs (B being a misnomer here), the 18 can make the difference between detecting and not. If you are not an "Amastro kinda guy*", then I agree with Rob (gasp!) the 15 is just dandy and you can use the extra coin to buy other goodies.
Finally as someone pointed out, I think of BIG dobs as anything over 20 inches as they tend to have a 'presence' of size that smaller scopes miss out on.
---------------------------------------
Jeffrey D. Gortatowsky
Fullerton, California
*amastro = discussion group where people look for objects on the aintno list or dimmer. :)
"Madam, there's no such thing as a tough child -- if you parboil them first for seven hours, they always come out tender. " - W.C. Fields
"What wretched scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?" - W.C. Fields
----- Original Message ----
From: Rob Hawley <robhawley@No-Spamink.net>
To: The Astronomy Connection <sf-bay-tac@No-Spam>
Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 7:35:54 AM
Subject: RE: [TAC] Recomendations on a BIG dob
Well of course I am going to endorse a Plettstone also.
Think carefully on whether you want an 18" or not. Before buying my 15" I
did a "bakeoff" of a 15" against several 18" scopes. I could really not
detect a difference in any of the objects I looked at. It was not until you
compare with a 20" that you get a definite difference.
The 15" will be easier to transport which will encourage you to use it more.
For full disclosure mine is an f/5 which Michelle indicated she could no
longer get mirrors for. You should check the current status with her.
Rob Hawley
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-- What TAC Is About. http://www.observers.org/Join.shtml Webcam, DSLR, CCD Imaging use NorCal AI. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/norcal_ai/ Designing and improving TAC's website. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/tac-ops/ Sub-scribe or Unsub-scribe from TAC http://seds.org/mailman/listinfo/sf-bay-tacReceived on Tue Nov 28 10:31:09 2006