Experience with Explore Scientific Ultra Light Dobsonian 16"

Dear Mr. Kloss,

I would like to preface this by saying that I am observing purely visually, with a focus on deep space. My entry-level telescope was a 10" Dobsonian Galaxy, but I wanted more.

After the package arrived, it took about two hours from unpacking, reading the manual, etc., until everything was fully assembled. It would certainly have been faster with help, but it was easily manageable on my own. I disassembled it into three parts (rods and secondary mirror, box with primary mirror, and rocker box) for transport from the storage location to the setup site and practiced setting it up and dismantling it a few times. I've used it for three nights so far.

First night: Focus on coordinating the eyepiece, Telrad, finderscope, and setup/dismantling, as well as handling in general. I replaced the included red dot finderscope with my existing 8x50 finderscope (fits into the existing finder shoe) and attached the Telrad to the other side. A small "problem" arose: the eyepiece shaft was a bit too narrow at the beginning, so I could only get the two eyepieces in with a lot of effort and a lot of twisting, which of course meant the whole thing was messed up every time I changed the eyepiece. The telescope was misaligned. I fixed it with a bit of filing, so the eyepieces can now be adjusted perfectly. On the

second night, I fine-tuned the center of gravity, which took me about 45 minutes. Then I took a "tour" through the sky, looking at my favorite objects, and finally, the full moon. I was absolutely thrilled! On the

third night, it took me about 2 minutes to set up the telescope and less than 10 minutes to fine-tune it, so I'm already confident in my handling. This telescope is in a completely different league than my old 10-inch Dobsonian Galaxy. In addition to the significantly better resolution and detail compared to the old telescope, there are three other positive experiences: firstly, the ease of adjustment of elevation and windage compared to the full-tube telescope, and secondly, the ability to comfortably observe tall or even vertical objects while standing without contorting myself like with the Galaxy (I'm 1.80 m tall, and the vertical viewing height is estimated at 1.70 m). Third: While objects in the Galaxy 16" telescope move very quickly across the field of view at high magnification, they do so very slowly and are barely noticeable in the 16" telescope, even at the highest magnification.

I am extremely satisfied with the telescope and the eyepieces. Thanks again for the excellent advice!

Best regards and CS!
Peter Z.

Link to my experience with the Explore Scientific Ultra Light Dobsonian 16" telescope:

https://www.teleskop-spezialisten.de/shop/Teleskope/Dobson/ab-300mm/Explore-Scientific-Ultra-Light-Dobson-16-406mm-Gitterrohrdobson-Generation-II::1230.html