There are two or three people in TAC who have really pushed the limits on both ends of the money, size, and portability equation. Mark, Jane, Jamie, Steve, Jay, et. al. have it right. There is no rush. Go LOOK through all sorts of scopes. Ya know, I have never had someone ask "Can I help you setup that scope to see what it's like?" ... or "Can I help you tear down?".. but I'll be durned if you'll not find folks in TAC who'll say "SURE! Be glad to if it helps you find out how things setup/break down." They are truly an amazing clump of humanity to stumble upon.
I just happen to think that the 18 inch dob is a 'sweet spot'. For some reason it seems the next step up to 20 inches is an enormous jump in weight and size. Maybe it's all in the design. And while 16 and 15 inch are a 'sweet spot' for transportability, they can not quite hit that "Amastro" level I talked about in my previous post. It's like a 15 inch or 16 inch will take you to the edge of the NGC, and a bit beyond. But a 17.5 or 18 seems to take you into the 'truly obscure'. Or at least into the 'detection' of the 'truly obscure'. Myself, being someone who unlike Mark Wagner has barely seen a 15% of the NGC, I -have- seen a lot of 'obscure and challenge' objects because that is what I like. It sharpens your skills when observing that bright NGC stuff. :) However there are exceptions to my 18 inch rule. Jay Freeman took his C14 to the limits and beyond. Jay is (or was??) an observer of truly amazing (and rare) skill. I prefer to think of Steve Gottlieb and his notes with a
17.5 inch. Just incredible. And Wagner with his 18... Mark is a highly underrated observer... the guy is great. Go back in the archives and read his ORs. It's like being there. And it's mostly with an 18 inch. Spend a night with him at his scope, you'll want Michelle's 18. :)
I am not trying to make this into a dissertation. I am THRILLED to hear Michelle may be backordered. I hope so. No one deserves success more than she. She's a GIA certified GEM amongst GEMs (TACos). If and when I climb back onto my financial feet, good Lord willin and the crick don't rise, she will get my call to build my next dob.
Guess that is long enough... good luck.
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Jeffrey D. Gortatowsky
Fullerton, California
-- 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 Wed Nov 29 21:15:46 2006