Hello everyone,

I have a small cheap telescope right now and it's been an ambition of mine to purchase a telescope so I may eventually learn astrophotography. But the budget of mine currently can't support that hobby.

So I was looking at purchasing an Orion SkyQuest XT10 classic. (Relector).

The gentleman at RidersHobby shop in Livonia MI suggested this one and thought it would be a good idea to start with one of these until my budget can afford Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with tracking abilities.

Being an amateur who has never really studied the sky with anything larger than a D=90MM FL=900, should I take his suggestion or not. The reviews on this telescope and the 8" below it seemed to be pretty favorable for consumers who purchased one.

This telescope has a Crayford Style focuser which adapts to 2" eyepieces. Any feedback I would greatly appreicate and I really don't know what I will be able to see in this size telescope.

I would love to get any feedback because I really don't know if I would be happy with this purchase.

Thank you

Your question would probably be better answered here:

http://www.bautforum.com/astronomica...t-accessories/

But in general, most amateur astronomers would agree that a 6''-10'' Dob (from a reputable company like Orion) would make an excellent beginner telescope. However, a Dob is not the best choice to pursue astrophotography, as you mentioned. It is possible to mount the tube assembly onto an equatorial mount, but it takes some work.

Take a look at the Astrophotography forum for examples of images fellow enthusiasts are able to make. They will often include info regarding the type and model of scopes and cameras used. You might want to look them up and check how they might fit into your budget.

Mods: can you move this to the telescope forum?

We just bought the XT10 classic for our Physics Department open houses. I love it. It is not easily single-person portable, and you'd need room in your car to transport it (the tube is quite long). But once on site, it is very easy to set up: set the mount on a flat surface, put the OTA on the rockers, pull the springs onto the tabs with the nylon cords, done! And once you're set up, the views are quite nice.

As formulaterp said, you can't really do astrophotography with it. Certainly not long exposures, but you could do webcam stuff, or short eyepiece projection exposures of a few seconds with a consumer digital camera. But for a mark 1 eyeball telescope, it is great.

We're in Philadelphia, so the sky isn't great. But the XT10 gave great views of M42 and Saturn last week. If you've got a reasonably dark site, you should be able to hit all the Messier objects without trouble. And it will help you learn your way around the sky, which is always a good thing.

Hope this helps!

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"What do you care what other people think?" -- Richard Feynman
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled." -- Feynman, at the conclusion of his Challenger report

You probably don't have the computerized goto add-on, then, but I was kinda wondering how much complication that added to the dob set up, and start up. Anyone?

If you're talking about the Intelliscope version, that has a type of computerized "push-to" locator, not a a goto (i.e., you are the motor, the screen just tells you where the scope goes). In terms of set-up, it adds minimal time -- none if you're not using it, a couple of minutes at most if you are.

One thing I would add to the Dob is a 1X finder such as a Telrad, and maybe see if you can substitute a right-angle finder for the straight-through one that comes with it, especially if you plan on looking towards zenith.

Nick

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Nick Theodorakis

Ours came with a right angle finder. I think that's standard now (along with a very nifty laser collimator!). The finder isn't the most stable in the world, but it does the job.

__________________
"What do you care what other people think?" -- Richard Feynman
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled." -- Feynman, at the conclusion of his Challenger report

Thanks for the feedback and I will go over and check it out now.his I just purchased it today and it should be here next week. I've read that I might have to take a platform if I plan on putting this on the grass or in a park. My guess is that it could be off balance if the ground is not flat.

The base has three contact points with the ground, so it should be fairly stable unless the ground is very uneven.

Let us know how you like it!

__________________
"What do you care what other people think?" -- Richard Feynman
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled." -- Feynman, at the conclusion of his Challenger report