Re: Help me pick my Birthday Present?

Hi Mark,

I didn't read all the replies to your request, but I didn't see anyone mention weight. I agree these Orion dobs and the Meade equivalents are good low-cost portable scopes. In my opinion, their major weakness is their weight. Since you revealed your age, I have to point out that I've seen low weight become a more important requirement as we get older, develop back problems, etc.

Other peoples' opinions, including my own, are of questionable value. The advice may or may not be relevant depending on whether others share your goals and requirements. I recommend you start with a clear statement of your goals and requirements and see whether the scopes measure up.

For me, weight is very important. The published weight of the Orion XX12 is 86.5lbs!!! In contrast, my 13" weighs 40 lbs, and I've built others that weigh around 50 lbs. Fortunately, the heaviest sub-assemblies of the XX12 weigh only 34 lbs. The weight of the XX14 is 120 lbs, 25 more than my 20". The heaviest sub-assembly of the X14 is 47lbs.

Unfortunately, I don't know any commercial suppliers of inexpensive, lightweight, portable scopes. Instead of saving up for a commercial 18", you might consider building your own, especially if weight is important.

Happy Birthday.
Albert

***************************
Many thanks to everybody who has weighed in so far. It has been very
helpful and your comments have pretty much confirmed my choice to get the
12" dob. Of course, now I have to think about waiting until the end of
December for the 14", but I think the 12" is a better fit for me right now
in terms of cost and portability.

I do love my little 8" SCT. The optics are very good, I love the GOTO and
tracking functions, and, once I figured it out, I have been amazed at how
much I can see with it. But after a year of pursuing this hobby I think it
will be good to push a dob around for a while and learn more of the sky.
And anyway, it has a computerized finding system. My long term goal is to
save up for an 18" Obsession, so the 12" makes even more sense right now.
My impression is that for people whose primary interest is pure observing,
as opposed to imaging, dobs are the way to go. Is that about right?

Thanks again and I hope to see some of you soon--my actual birthday is the
19th, so I'm hoping for good weather on the following Saturday at a nice
dark site. There's nothing I want more for my 50th than a good night of
observing!

Mark.

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