I have a 16" f4.5 Nightsky telescope with a Meade mirror. It was built in 1998 and I bought it used from Jim Nadeau in 2000. I saw it for sale on Astromart and contacted the seller. He did not respond. However, I got a call from Jim soon after and he told me that he purchased his scope back from the seller. He said that the scope had not been taken care of and he didn't want one of his scopes out there in bad shape. So, he bought it back to refurbish it and get the mirror recoated a Spectrum Coatings. While it was a used scope, it was like new when I got it. It's Jim's first telescope that he built and is the prototype for the rest of the dobs he built. Jim lived about 40 miles from my house and belonged to the same club I belonged to, so we saw each other often for about 15 years. After buying it I had him add a Sky Commander DSC & a few years later he added a ServoCat unit for me. I love the scope. I live in light polluted skies near New Orleans so many of our vacations tend to be to dark sky locations. Over the past 25 years it's been to the in-law's dairy farm in Upstate, NY, Stellafane, New Mexico Skies, Big Bend, Grand Canyon & Zion, along with a bunch of star parties in La. & Ms. It's a fantastic scope and has held up well. I tried to get in touch with Jim in the past year to check up on him but have been unsuccessful. One thing about the shroud. I was at New Mexico Skies with a friend, Jack Huercamp, who has a 17.5 " Coulter mirror in an Astrosystems truss dob that he built. New Mexico Skies is a very dark sky location. Jack is the US sales rep for Mallincam. Jack had a Mallincam attached to the scope without the shroud, and we were observing DSO's on a monitor. He added the shroud and the contrast on the monitor instantly improved, substantially. The light from the Milky Way had been washing the image out a bit. So even in a dark sky location the shroud will improve the view.
Ed, great video! I built a truss tube scope around a Coulter 17.5" f/4.4 mirror and enjoyed it for almost 25 years. It did well at 150x, but not significantly above that. John Hall of Pegasus Optics measured it at 1/2 wave and refigured it to 1/19. John was within driving distance so I got to meet him at his house several times. He was fluent in Chinese with a library of such books. I asked him how he got into optics. When he was a teenager he bought a 2" telescope. After looking through it, he said "I thought I could do better." He was a thin wiry guy with a mustache. I had to wait outside his house once, as he was late to our meeting. He had been making a trip to the pharmacy, as his health was then failing. He died about a year later.
That's really a beaut! I have so many trees grown up around my house in the last 20 years that I barely have any night sky to justify even dragging out my 10". What's there is light polluted and currently covered with smoke from the fire season out west... Oh well. Such is life sometimes...
HELP! I just bought my first telescope and I need an adult in the room to tell me to stop buying accessories, for now. Tell me I “have enough “ for now or what items I should return : 8” Dobsonian , Tele Vue 13mm Nagler, Tele Vue 2X Barlow , Baader 24mm , cheap neutral density “moon” filter for now. I can dream of a bigger better Tele Vue in 12+ months unless there is something else I need to get started. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR MUSIC VIDEOS TOO You are an awesome teacher. Thanks for talking me into a 8” reflector
You have enough. Except for a UHC filter. Get one of those. Those are good in any sky that has light pollution. I can't see the Dumbell from my backyard without one.
Be careful in the fall, you might ruin your night vision looking at m42 :) For those wanting a 26mm nagler, there are those now down to $199-329 28mm uwan types, stellarvue and astrotech uwa/82 are the best deals and the meade pwa is the most expensive, all the same optics. Just like the original 28 uwan version (originally $400), are very nagler like . My friend with the 12 got the uwan back then and it was great. I got the orion megaview version a few years ago to replace my stolen 31 nagler. The 24mm es82 is also good, the 30, not so much. There is an older 20" obsession for sale now at $3500
I'm 17 so would be part of the younger people entering the hobby, but all I want is to get amazing views. I like imaging, but the views are the best part of telescopes in my opinion. I hope that not all big Dobsonians will be gone when I'm old enough to afford them...
I'm pretty sure they'll be around. I got started in the hobby more than 20 years ago as a teenager myself and i just got my first big (ish) dob (only 12 inches ;-D ) a year ago. I love it to bits even though its a mass produced chinese one and not one of these piece of art american made ones :) Clear skies my young friend! BTW if you're able to join your local amateur astronomy society please do so, people like myself are all too eager to show the night sky at start parties and other astronomy events.
@@ziggyfrnds I hope so! I actually should really try to join an astronomy club. I have never really thought about it, but now that you mention it I think i should really look into it. Thanks for this reply, clear skies! (btw any big dob is cool even if its a mass produced chinese one!)
Viewing with a big instrument will absolutely spoil you , especially if it has a truly premium primary and secondary . Mass produced dobs have always been hit or miss with their optical quality , although several brands have managed to put out some rather consistently good optics . As much as I would love a 20"+ scope , I doubt I would want to have to futz around with moving and assembly / disassembly every time I used it . I think twice now about taking my 8" and 12" dobs out as it is at my age . My back is just not what it used to be . This getting old stuff is getting old .
Understandable my friend. The positive these days is the availability of excellent telescopes and mounts that are convenient in both size and set up time. Dobsonians are lots of fun when set up though.
Thank you, Ed! Most entertaining and interesting. What a nice story. Wish I could look through one, but at my age, lugging around a Dwarf II is pushing it.
Yep my other friend made a split tube dob out of the meade 16. Turned edge. He just blacked out the outer 1/4" of the mirror. That was a fun scope to use. He also built a 28".
I'm an imager, but I love to take my 12" Dob out. It's a great balance of light gathering and portable and provides some really amazing views. Great video, as always, Ed, Thank you.
What a great Video. Just 3 Weeks ago i "bought" one of these 16" Meade Starfinder in excellent condition for 100€ . The owner made some really good improvements like adding some kind of plastic to match the also exchanged bigger and round teflon pads at the bottom. Or a good focuser. Let´s see what the future brings for this massiv thing.
Hi Ed , would it be easier to put the truss rods on the secondary and focuser assembly first then fit it on the primary mirror box ? No ladder needed.I would love to have one of these beasts , love your videos,
Ed, Nice report on Jim Nadeu's scopes. I owned his personal 18" f/4.3 with a Pegasus mirror and the scope was very nicely built and performed beautifully with a very well figured primary mirror. It turns out that Jim essentially utilized the designs that Rick Singmaster of Starmaster Portable Telescopes designed into his scope. One thing that was erroneously stated in your video is that Starmasters did NOT use a sling and the mirror cells on the Night Sky were essentially copied from Starmasters that did not use slings. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and Nadeu clearly stood on the shoulders of Rick Singmaster who really pioneered large aperture, driven Dobsonians and I know that you have owned his smaller scopes in the past.
Wow, you had Jim's personal scope! I'm surprised how many people remember these. Yes, the Obsessions had a sling, the Starmasters had a mirror cell (not whatever I said).
I have a 16" F/4.5 Swayze truss tube dob. Swayze made most of Meade's 16 inch mirrors. It is a great telescope, but I have to sell it because at age 67 my back cannot handle it anymore. I am selling it for $1500 at an astronomy swap meet in Prescott AZ on August 4th 2024.
Hey Ed, loved this vid. It’s rare to see anyone review a large dob like this Also I was wondering if you could make a video on if you know what’s going on with Orion as a company? Have they gone out of business? I heard they closed their main California office and looks like their website went offline today. Any insight you have would be greatly appreciated! Edit: I see you’ve already addressed this with other commenters. By the way I bought the Orion Observer 134 based on your review and I love it thanks :) I wonder if I have one of the last of Orion’s telescopes
Thanks for all you do! BTW, you mentioned mirror slings on Obsessions and Starmasters. I have never seen a Starmaster with a sling. Just a slip of the tongue? Gordon G
I owned one of these Night Sky dobs and a 16" too! Jim was a pleasure to work with back in the early 2000's. Eventually I sold it to help finance my 22" dob.
There's a good reason that sales of big dobs has tanked. While there is no substitute for having done visual astronomy which is far more impressive with a large scope, the computer image processing revolution along with modern cooled CMOS cameras has opened up many astronomical targets to small telescopes. Small telescopes can even image things that can't be seen visually using any size of amateur telescope. I've imaged Hubble's Cepheid in Andromeda with a 4" refractor when it was magnitude 19.5, identified a magnitude 23 comet with my 6" Petzval - almost as low as the Palomar 200" could do with film, and done blink comparisons with 60 year old 48" Palomar images that showed where a star once was that has since disappeared. My current project is to use precise computer astrometry to show Barnard's star's proper motion over just a few days time, I just need another clear night.
Great video Ed, Can you recommend buying something like this for the same money, and leave the coatings, instead of an 8" dob ? It can be left setup and covered with a nightlight near or in the rockerbox. Wiith the wheelbarrow handles or a rolling platform, is is not hard to move. L
It’s still done today but automation and cost reduction has made it cheaper to just buy one. Mirror grinding Enthusiasts are still out there using their gear and craftsmanship
I have three questions related to NASA space missions. 1. How can Friendship 7 have paint intact, IF it orbited the earth 3 times and re-entered the earth at 3000 F heat? Take a look at bare aluminum Apollo capsule, Shenzhou and Soyuz capsule. They are burnt read or black. But paint that melts at 200-300F survives that heat? Oh, bare aluminum melts at 1200 F too. 😉 2. Shuttle weighs up to 140 tons, and total orbiter + external tank + 2 boosters weigh 2,000 tons. So, 140/2,000 = 7% of the weight orbits. Soyuz orbiter weighs about 6-8 tons, and the total rocket with 4 boosters weigh about 300-350 tons. So, 8/350 = about 2 - 2.3% of the weight orbits. Which means, shouldn't the shuttle have to have 6 boosters and 3 external tanks to put into orbit at the speed of 28,000 km/h? Doesn't shuttle look way too big compared to other LEO capsules or satellite that sits little on top of huge rockets? 3. Seen Shenzhou crew crawling out of their capsule after they land? Even 5 days of orbit make crew not able to stand or walk properly. Look at the STS-134 landing footage. Space Shuttle crew, after they land, after 15-17 day missions, they walk out as if they came back from some Disney ride. Can you explain this?
Probably the wrong place to ask those questions bordering on conspiracy theories. But I'll give some hints. 1. The full heat is only on the heat shield end which is impacting the atmosphere. The rest of the capsule is in the wake of that. The air is also extremely thin at the altitudes where the velocity is high enough to create those temps on the heat shield. In the wake of a hypersonic vehicle as blunt as the capsule, basically an even higher vacuum is pulled. The air simply doesn't have time to get back to the surface of the narrower parts of the capsule, before the capsule has moved along. The flow is detached from the capsule surface, there is basically an empty cylinder of vacuum around the capsule, except on the surface facing the direction of travel 2. The dry weight of a shuttle orbiter is 86 tons. Do you really think your 140 ton number doesn't include fuel burned on the way to orbit? Orbit height matters. The shuttle (or anything else) can carry more weight to a lower orbit, less weight to a higher orbit. Different launch vehicles have different efficiencies at delivering payload to orbit. Even the same launch vehicle, won't even get one pound into orbit, if it starts out carrying too much weight. Or it won't make it to orbit if a less aerodynamic shape (such as of a wide payload) is used. Each mission is a series of compromises and a series of engineering calculations. Mission objectives are not always just to get the most weight into orbit with the lightest launch vehicle. The main point is that each launch, by almost any country, comes within one or two percent at most, of doing exactly what it's supposed to do, as long as there is not a failure of some sort. 3. American astronauts used to also be pretty wobbly when getting out of small capsules, while the Space Shuttle crews had room for exercise programs developed over many years of trial and error. Likewise for nutrition, sleep, workload, and many other things which got optimized from experience.
@@EfficientRVer My advice to you is, before giving "hints" to anyone, do some homework first? 1. Take a look at Shenzhou and Soyuz capsules, or the apollo capsules. As I said, the ENTIRE surface above the bottom is ALL RED or BLACK. The WHOLE THING is burnt. Whut air vacuum man..... 2. Do you realize if dry weight of the shuttle is less than the launch mass, Soyuz's dry weight would be ALSO less than its launch mass? Funny thing is, Soyuz's dry weight is only half of its launch mass, like 3-4 tons dry, compared to 6-8 tons at launch. Do you know why? Because, they have to carry the fuel to slow down the capsule when they are coming back to the earth. Yet, Shuttle did not seem to have carried so much fuel for slowing down, although it's far more massive. Without cargo was like 100 tons, while dry mass was 86 tons? Do you know why they have to slow down before reentering to the earth's atmosphere? Take a guess, please, or do some homework? And solid boosters are way more INEFFICIENT than liquid rockets, like American muscle cars of the 1960s. Did you know that? No? 3. Take a look at the live video of STS-134 crews, exiting the Shuttle, walking like cucumbers from a garden, and Mark Kelly giving historic speech, standing straight. They "allegedly" spent 15 days in orbit, weightlessness. Then take a look at how Shenzhou 6 crew crawling out of their spacecraft with help of ground crew, barely walking and standing. They spent 5 days in orbit. Please do comeback and give me more "hints". LOL.
@@EfficientRVer On April 30, 2023, Dmitry Rogozin, the former head of the space agency Roscosmos (Russia’s NASA) said this. “Ten years ago, when I was working in the Government, I sent an official request to Roscosmos to provide me with documentary evidence of Americans on the Moon available to this federal agency at that time. I was too embarrassed by the fact that Soviet cosmonauts returning from ***multi-day expeditions could barely stand on their feet*** and underwent a long recovery after such flights, and the Americans got out of their lunar spacecraft like cucumbers from the garden.”
No, you are good. I might advise you to get a star atlas so you can find your way around. I like The Cambridge Star Atlas and S&T's Pocket Sky Atlas (either version)
Hey ED, could you tell us whats going on with Orion and Meade? their shops have closed up the doors in CA, cant get any of them onthe phone anymore....websites are still up but its weird no phones....
First! Is that one made by James Grigar in the new Orleans era? I forgot the name of his company, but my friend had a 12" built by him in 2004 or 2005, around the optics from a hardin dsh12 . Which we later got Alan raycraft to refigure the primary. Yep, you just confirmed it was him :) night sky sounded real familar
I would love to, but I'm in the dark just as much as you are. I hope this gets resolved and someone buys the company. It would be awful to lose their legacy.
@@edting I hope so. I was worried about something like this when Ken stopped making his videos. Maybe you can have him on as a special guest. He really knows his astrophotography. I hope he's OK.
Ed, do you know of any nice spots local to say alton nh? I really want to take a trip up to the Kanc this summer, or dianas bath. Thank you for the afternoon video to go along with my iced coffee. 4h of sleep last night after observing jupiter until the sun came up... worth!
Try the stronomy forums with classifieds sections like Cloudy Nights , etc .. You can try Marketplace and Clost as well , but it is very sketchy at times . I have acquired scopes through all of them , from 60mm to 305mm .
The standard names for the top part of the truss dobsonian is the "Upper Cage Assembly" or "Secondary Cage", not the Upper Truss. Other than that, good explanation of a Truss Dobsonian.
Everything good needs money, money needs work and suffering, life is sh*t. The only way to have something you want in life is to not have it and to be content with nothing. The only way to live is to see something you really want and know you are 100% never gonna get it, to remove the desire of anything that it is never possible to achieve without suffering. To be free is to avoid the suffering, which means to never get what you desire and watch everyone else have it while you don't, to stop caring about it and to be content with the wall, or dirt, that is life.
I have a 16" f4.5 Nightsky telescope with a Meade mirror. It was built in 1998 and I bought it used from Jim Nadeau in 2000. I saw it for sale on Astromart and contacted the seller. He did not respond. However, I got a call from Jim soon after and he told me that he purchased his scope back from the seller. He said that the scope had not been taken care of and he didn't want one of his scopes out there in bad shape. So, he bought it back to refurbish it and get the mirror recoated a Spectrum Coatings. While it was a used scope, it was like new when I got it. It's Jim's first telescope that he built and is the prototype for the rest of the dobs he built. Jim lived about 40 miles from my house and belonged to the same club I belonged to, so we saw each other often for about 15 years. After buying it I had him add a Sky Commander DSC & a few years later he added a ServoCat unit for me. I love the scope. I live in light polluted skies near New Orleans so many of our vacations tend to be to dark sky locations. Over the past 25 years it's been to the in-law's dairy farm in Upstate, NY, Stellafane, New Mexico Skies, Big Bend, Grand Canyon & Zion, along with a bunch of star parties in La. & Ms. It's a fantastic scope and has held up well. I tried to get in touch with Jim in the past year to check up on him but have been unsuccessful. One thing about the shroud. I was at New Mexico Skies with a friend, Jack Huercamp, who has a 17.5 " Coulter mirror in an Astrosystems truss dob that he built. New Mexico Skies is a very dark sky location. Jack is the US sales rep for Mallincam. Jack had a Mallincam attached to the scope without the shroud, and we were observing DSO's on a monitor. He added the shroud and the contrast on the monitor instantly improved, substantially. The light from the Milky Way had been washing the image out a bit. So even in a dark sky location the shroud will improve the view.
Hey Lowell, I'd like to touch base sometime.
@@jimnadeau8878 the man the myth the legend!
Ed, great video! I built a truss tube scope around a Coulter 17.5" f/4.4 mirror and enjoyed it for almost 25 years. It did well at 150x, but not significantly above that. John Hall of Pegasus Optics measured it at 1/2 wave and refigured it to 1/19. John was within driving distance so I got to meet him at his house several times. He was fluent in Chinese with a library of such books. I asked him how he got into optics. When he was a teenager he bought a 2" telescope. After looking through it, he said "I thought I could do better." He was a thin wiry guy with a mustache. I had to wait outside his house once, as he was late to our meeting. He had been making a trip to the pharmacy, as his health was then failing. He died about a year later.
Nice story!
That's really a beaut! I have so many trees grown up around my house in the last 20 years that I barely have any night sky to justify even dragging out my 10". What's there is light polluted and currently covered with smoke from the fire season out west... Oh well. Such is life sometimes...
Thanks for rescuing the scope. I know if I ever donated one it'd feel really good to know it was going somewhere loved like this.
HELP! I just bought my first telescope and I need an adult in the room to tell me to stop buying accessories, for now. Tell me I “have enough “ for now or what items I should return : 8” Dobsonian , Tele Vue 13mm Nagler, Tele Vue 2X Barlow , Baader 24mm , cheap neutral density “moon” filter for now. I can dream of a bigger better Tele Vue in 12+ months unless there is something else I need to get started. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR MUSIC VIDEOS TOO You are an awesome teacher. Thanks for talking me into a 8” reflector
You have enough. Except for a UHC filter. Get one of those. Those are good in any sky that has light pollution. I can't see the Dumbell from my backyard without one.
I always look forward to seeing your videos thanks!
Be careful in the fall, you might ruin your night vision looking at m42 :)
For those wanting a 26mm nagler, there are those now down to $199-329 28mm uwan types, stellarvue and astrotech uwa/82 are the best deals and the meade pwa is the most expensive, all the same optics. Just like the original 28 uwan version (originally $400), are very nagler like . My friend with the 12 got the uwan back then and it was great. I got the orion megaview version a few years ago to replace my stolen 31 nagler.
The 24mm es82 is also good, the 30, not so much.
There is an older 20" obsession for sale now at $3500
I'm 17 so would be part of the younger people entering the hobby, but all I want is to get amazing views. I like imaging, but the views are the best part of telescopes in my opinion. I hope that not all big Dobsonians will be gone when I'm old enough to afford them...
I'm pretty sure they'll be around. I got started in the hobby more than 20 years ago as a teenager myself and i just got my first big (ish) dob (only 12 inches ;-D ) a year ago. I love it to bits even though its a mass produced chinese one and not one of these piece of art american made ones :)
Clear skies my young friend!
BTW if you're able to join your local amateur astronomy society please do so, people like myself are all too eager to show the night sky at start parties and other astronomy events.
@@ziggyfrnds I hope so! I actually should really try to join an astronomy club. I have never really thought about it, but now that you mention it I think i should really look into it. Thanks for this reply, clear skies! (btw any big dob is cool even if its a mass produced chinese one!)
Your videos are always enjoyable Ed
Recently picked up a 16" StarFinder for $500. Will be modding the tube and base into a lighter, truss until I can do a new structure.
Viewing with a big instrument will absolutely spoil you , especially if it has a truly premium primary and secondary . Mass produced dobs have always been hit or miss with their optical quality , although several brands have managed to put out some rather consistently good optics .
As much as I would love a 20"+ scope , I doubt I would want to have to futz around with moving and assembly / disassembly every time I used it .
I think twice now about taking my 8" and 12" dobs out as it is at my age .
My back is just not what it used to be .
This getting old stuff is getting old .
Understandable my friend.
The positive these days is the availability of excellent telescopes and mounts that are convenient in both size and set up time.
Dobsonians are lots of fun when set up though.
Thank you, Ed! Most entertaining and interesting. What a nice story. Wish I could look through one, but at my age, lugging around a Dwarf II is pushing it.
Another great vid Ed. Thank you for all the insight and wisdom.
Yep my other friend made a split tube dob out of the meade 16. Turned edge. He just blacked out the outer 1/4" of the mirror. That was a fun scope to use. He also built a 28".
I'm an imager, but I love to take my 12" Dob out. It's a great balance of light gathering and portable and provides some really amazing views. Great video, as always, Ed, Thank you.
12 inches?
@@PetraKann yes. Meade Lightbridge.
@@AstroDenny lightbridge?
@@PetraKann
@@user-nu7kf5vs2h
@PetraKann?
It looks like all the wasps are quite infatuated with that telescope as well!
In the late 90s I owned a Meade Starfinder 8" Dob. It was a terrible scope, but it did get me back into astronomy after a 20 year break.
What a great Video. Just 3 Weeks ago i "bought" one of these 16" Meade Starfinder in excellent condition for 100€ . The owner made some really good improvements like adding some kind of plastic to match the also exchanged bigger and round teflon pads at the bottom. Or a good focuser. Let´s see what the future brings for this massiv thing.
100€ only?
@@Thewanderer738 yes. They kind of needed to clear the house and get rid of it. I helped
This set up is very similar to the Starmaster design. In fact, it is almost identical.
Hi Ed , would it be easier to put the truss rods on the secondary and focuser assembly first then fit it on the primary mirror box ? No ladder needed.I would love to have one of these beasts , love your videos,
Great review, very informative and entertaining! Always a good day when Mr Ed uploads a new video :)
Ed, Nice report on Jim Nadeu's scopes. I owned his personal 18" f/4.3 with a Pegasus mirror and the scope was very nicely built and performed beautifully with a very well figured primary mirror. It turns out that Jim essentially utilized the designs that Rick Singmaster of Starmaster Portable Telescopes designed into his scope. One thing that was erroneously stated in your video is that Starmasters did NOT use a sling and the mirror cells on the Night Sky were essentially copied from Starmasters that did not use slings. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and Nadeu clearly stood on the shoulders of Rick Singmaster who really pioneered large aperture, driven Dobsonians and I know that you have owned his smaller scopes in the past.
Wow, you had Jim's personal scope! I'm surprised how many people remember these. Yes, the Obsessions had a sling, the Starmasters had a mirror cell (not whatever I said).
Thanks for the scope review Ed. This one and the original from 20 odd years ago. If you ever want to sell that scope I'd love to snag it from you!
I have a Meade 16” Starfinder. Always thought it’d be so much better as a truss assembly instead of the sonotube .
I have a 16" F/4.5 Swayze truss tube dob. Swayze made most of Meade's 16 inch mirrors. It is a great telescope, but I have to sell it because at age 67 my back cannot handle it anymore. I am selling it for $1500 at an astronomy swap meet in Prescott AZ on August 4th 2024.
Garage find! Wow
Big scope.
Hey Ed, loved this vid. It’s rare to see anyone review a large dob like this
Also I was wondering if you could make a video on if you know what’s going on with Orion as a company? Have they gone out of business? I heard they closed their main California office and looks like their website went offline today. Any insight you have would be greatly appreciated!
Edit: I see you’ve already addressed this with other commenters. By the way I bought the Orion Observer 134 based on your review and I love it thanks :)
I wonder if I have one of the last of Orion’s telescopes
Another excellent video! Thanks!
Thanks for all you do! BTW, you mentioned mirror slings on Obsessions and Starmasters. I have never seen a Starmaster with a sling. Just a slip of the tongue? Gordon G
Yes, I said the wrong thing. Obsessions have slings, Starmasters have mirror cells.
I owned one of these Night Sky dobs and a 16" too! Jim was a pleasure to work with back in the early 2000's. Eventually I sold it to help finance my 22" dob.
The shroud is very much needed for contrast.
Nicely done, but I missed you showing photos of the objects you say you observed.
There's a good reason that sales of big dobs has tanked. While there is no substitute for having done visual astronomy which is far more impressive with a large scope, the computer image processing revolution along with modern cooled CMOS cameras has opened up many astronomical targets to small telescopes. Small telescopes can even image things that can't be seen visually using any size of amateur telescope. I've imaged Hubble's Cepheid in Andromeda with a 4" refractor when it was magnitude 19.5, identified a magnitude 23 comet with my 6" Petzval - almost as low as the Palomar 200" could do with film, and done blink comparisons with 60 year old 48" Palomar images that showed where a star once was that has since disappeared. My current project is to use precise computer astrometry to show Barnard's star's proper motion over just a few days time, I just need another clear night.
Most repeated line on this channel: I should never have sold this telescope!
Great video Ed,
Can you recommend buying something like this for the same money, and leave the coatings, instead of an 8" dob ?
It can be left setup and covered with a nightlight near or in the rockerbox.
Wiith the wheelbarrow handles or a rolling platform, is is not hard to move.
L
There was a time when people would actuall grind/figure their own mirror.
It’s still done today but automation and cost reduction has made it cheaper to just buy one.
Mirror grinding Enthusiasts are still out there using their gear and craftsmanship
Yes, and it was a lot easier to grind a 6 inch mirror than a 16 inch mirror.
I have three questions related to NASA space missions.
1. How can Friendship 7 have paint intact, IF it orbited the earth 3 times and re-entered the earth at 3000 F heat? Take a look at bare aluminum Apollo capsule, Shenzhou and Soyuz capsule. They are burnt read or black. But paint that melts at 200-300F survives that heat? Oh, bare aluminum melts at 1200 F too. 😉
2. Shuttle weighs up to 140 tons, and total orbiter + external tank + 2 boosters weigh 2,000 tons. So, 140/2,000 = 7% of the weight orbits.
Soyuz orbiter weighs about 6-8 tons, and the total rocket with 4 boosters weigh about 300-350 tons. So, 8/350 = about 2 - 2.3% of the weight orbits.
Which means, shouldn't the shuttle have to have 6 boosters and 3 external tanks to put into orbit at the speed of 28,000 km/h?
Doesn't shuttle look way too big compared to other LEO capsules or satellite that sits little on top of huge rockets?
3. Seen Shenzhou crew crawling out of their capsule after they land? Even 5 days of orbit make crew not able to stand or walk properly.
Look at the STS-134 landing footage. Space Shuttle crew, after they land, after 15-17 day missions, they walk out as if they came back from some Disney ride.
Can you explain this?
Probably the wrong place to ask those questions bordering on conspiracy theories. But I'll give some hints.
1. The full heat is only on the heat shield end which is impacting the atmosphere. The rest of the capsule is in the wake of that. The air is also extremely thin at the altitudes where the velocity is high enough to create those temps on the heat shield. In the wake of a hypersonic vehicle as blunt as the capsule, basically an even higher vacuum is pulled. The air simply doesn't have time to get back to the surface of the narrower parts of the capsule, before the capsule has moved along. The flow is detached from the capsule surface, there is basically an empty cylinder of vacuum around the capsule, except on the surface facing the direction of travel
2. The dry weight of a shuttle orbiter is 86 tons. Do you really think your 140 ton number doesn't include fuel burned on the way to orbit? Orbit height matters. The shuttle (or anything else) can carry more weight to a lower orbit, less weight to a higher orbit. Different launch vehicles have different efficiencies at delivering payload to orbit. Even the same launch vehicle, won't even get one pound into orbit, if it starts out carrying too much weight. Or it won't make it to orbit if a less aerodynamic shape (such as of a wide payload) is used. Each mission is a series of compromises and a series of engineering calculations. Mission objectives are not always just to get the most weight into orbit with the lightest launch vehicle. The main point is that each launch, by almost any country, comes within one or two percent at most, of doing exactly what it's supposed to do, as long as there is not a failure of some sort.
3. American astronauts used to also be pretty wobbly when getting out of small capsules, while the Space Shuttle crews had room for exercise programs developed over many years of trial and error. Likewise for nutrition, sleep, workload, and many other things which got optimized from experience.
@@EfficientRVer My advice to you is, before giving "hints" to anyone, do some homework first?
1. Take a look at Shenzhou and Soyuz capsules, or the apollo capsules. As I said, the ENTIRE surface above the bottom is ALL RED or BLACK. The WHOLE THING is burnt. Whut air vacuum man.....
2. Do you realize if dry weight of the shuttle is less than the launch mass, Soyuz's dry weight would be ALSO less than its launch mass? Funny thing is, Soyuz's dry weight is only half of its launch mass, like 3-4 tons dry, compared to 6-8 tons at launch. Do you know why? Because, they have to carry the fuel to slow down the capsule when they are coming back to the earth. Yet, Shuttle did not seem to have carried so much fuel for slowing down, although it's far more massive. Without cargo was like 100 tons, while dry mass was 86 tons? Do you know why they have to slow down before reentering to the earth's atmosphere? Take a guess, please, or do some homework? And solid boosters are way more INEFFICIENT than liquid rockets, like American muscle cars of the 1960s. Did you know that? No?
3. Take a look at the live video of STS-134 crews, exiting the Shuttle, walking like cucumbers from a garden, and Mark Kelly giving historic speech, standing straight. They "allegedly" spent 15 days in orbit, weightlessness. Then take a look at how Shenzhou 6 crew crawling out of their spacecraft with help of ground crew, barely walking and standing. They spent 5 days in orbit.
Please do comeback and give me more "hints". LOL.
@@EfficientRVer On April 30, 2023, Dmitry Rogozin, the former head of the space agency Roscosmos (Russia’s NASA) said this.
“Ten years ago, when I was working in the Government, I sent an official request to Roscosmos to provide me with documentary evidence of Americans on the Moon available to this federal agency at that time. I was too embarrassed by the fact that Soviet cosmonauts returning from ***multi-day expeditions could barely stand on their feet*** and underwent a long recovery after such flights, and the Americans got out of their lunar spacecraft like cucumbers from the garden.”
Thank you for the nice video! I wish you could do video on PlaneWave scope.
Dave Ramsey just posted: "You can't observe or image with a 401k. Buy that PlaneWave".
@@edting believe it or not, that is exactly what I plan to do: buy PlaneWave with my 401k money when it becomes available to me in 6 months
I just learned that Orion Telescopes which owned Meade, has apparently gone out of business. Will you do a video about it?
It looks like my 12.5-inch Starmaster
Can you do a video discussing the Orion/Meade fall through?
I don't know much more than you do! It took me by surprise too.
when you use hasselblad of the telescope world , using anything else is just playing games !
I am getting a sky-watcher classic dob soon. Should I get anything else?
No, you are good. I might advise you to get a star atlas so you can find your way around. I like The Cambridge Star Atlas and S&T's Pocket Sky Atlas (either version)
Hey ED, could you tell us whats going on with Orion and Meade? their shops have closed up the doors in CA, cant get any of them onthe phone anymore....websites are still up but its weird no phones....
I'm in the dark as much as you! I have no idea...
@@edtingSaw website went offline 2 days ago so they're apparently gone, likely with many unfulfilled orders.
First! Is that one made by James Grigar in the new Orleans era? I forgot the name of his company, but my friend had a 12" built by him in 2004 or 2005, around the optics from a hardin dsh12 . Which we later got Alan raycraft to refigure the primary.
Yep, you just confirmed it was him :) night sky sounded real familar
Hey thanks. I forgot Jim's last name.
Refigure the primary?
@@PetraKann yes, what is your question?
@@k.h.1587 question??
That looks like a great find. Could you recommend a good laser collimator?
It went from a pinto to Ferrari
Thanks, Ed! Great video. Are you going to do one on the Orion/Meade closing?
I would love to, but I'm in the dark just as much as you are. I hope this gets resolved and someone buys the company. It would be awful to lose their legacy.
@@edting I hope so. I was worried about something like this when Ken stopped making his videos. Maybe you can have him on as a special guest. He really knows his astrophotography. I hope he's OK.
Sundays are better because of Ed Ting.
Nothing on Meade / Orion folding?
I'm as much in the dark as you are...
Ed, do you know of any nice spots local to say alton nh? I really want to take a trip up to the Kanc this summer, or dianas bath. Thank you for the afternoon video to go along with my iced coffee. 4h of sleep last night after observing jupiter until the sun came up... worth!
someone mentioned the road side pull offs on the Kanc as decent places to observe ... I have never done so myself, though.
❤❤❤❤👽👽🛸🛸
Use kgs!
Yeah, sorry, I'm stuck in my primitive American mode...
14:04 How do I look for a good offer for one of these? Where?
Try the stronomy forums with classifieds sections like Cloudy Nights , etc ..
You can try Marketplace and Clost as well , but it is very sketchy at times .
I have acquired scopes through all of them , from 60mm to 305mm .
Local astronomy club, CloudyNights online forum, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, AstroMart (paid subscription)
Cloudy Nights or Astromart for sale areas are a great place to look.
The standard names for the top part of the truss dobsonian is the "Upper Cage Assembly" or "Secondary Cage", not the Upper Truss. Other than that, good explanation of a Truss Dobsonian.
How tall are you?
I'm about 5' 6"
Seen Bigfoot in the background. FO REALS.
Everything good needs money, money needs work and suffering, life is sh*t. The only way to have something you want in life is to not have it and to be content with nothing. The only way to live is to see something you really want and know you are 100% never gonna get it, to remove the desire of anything that it is never possible to achieve without suffering. To be free is to avoid the suffering, which means to never get what you desire and watch everyone else have it while you don't, to stop caring about it and to be content with the wall, or dirt, that is life.
Looks like a huge waste of time. A smart telescope is all anyone needs.
Say hi to the landfill for me.