It's the BIGGEST telescope I've ever used!

In this video, I try out the Sky-Watcher FlexTube 350P GoTo Dob. This monster has a 14" aperture, officially making it the biggest telescope I have ever used!

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[tg_channel]

BEFORE WATCH: Throughout this video, you will not see even one photo of what can be seen through this telescope.

[myztklkv]

I own an 8 inch dob and I specifically bought the non-goto version because most of the time when im looking at the sky, im not looking at anything in particular usually, I just scan the skies and then get dopamine when I completely by accident see a star cluster or something. Also, they are so expensive

[dubbleOHnegative]

Cool to see myself in your video! It was great spending the evening hanging out with you guys and Adam. Your hospitality was much appreciated! — Aaron

[lowellmccormick]

Here's a suggestion. Use a shroud to block ambient light. Even in a perfectly dark sky location. My friend was doing live stacking with his camera on his 17.5" dob under very dark skies without the shroud. The image looked good. When he put the shroud on, the background sky immediately got darker, and the contrast increased. The Milky Way was creating light pollution ;^) I've had a Nightsky 16 f4.5 for 25 years and I love it. It's heavy enough to have given me a couple of hernias. I've taken it around the country to various dark sky locations and my best views, by far, were at New Mexico Skies above Mayhill, NM. Unfortunately, they stopped taking guests. From there, I could see detail in bright galaxies that were as good or better than photographs. M31 showed not only the spiral arms distinctly but also showed the billowing nebulosity at the left and right ends. M51 showed the dark lanes in the spiral arms distinctly and also dendritic-like dark threads coming out of the main dark lanes. When it comes to visual observing, dark skies, transparency and altitude are everything. My favorite locations have been, the Grand Canyon, the Texas Star Party and the Okie-Tex Star Party. New Mexico Skies is by far the best of all of these. It would be nice to observe from Hawaii, Chile and the Canary Islands.

[oryanastro]

It was such a cool thing to be able to talk with you and Ash in person. Seeing you filming and working on this video all day last weekend, then watching the final product today really inspired me to work hard to share the special moments in this hobby with the world. You guys are awesome.

[mrekcoockerm]

I've got the same 14'' scope, just not a goto. Which I do enjoy as it forces me to look for my objects. I remember the first time I used it, seeing Omega Centuari happened to come across my gaze. The wonder you get from it all...largely thanks to the light buckets size and ability to show more details.

[wchphoto]

I used to do my astrophotography (during the end of the film era) at the top of a local mountain called Mt. Pinos, just north of Los Angeles. In order to avoid the crowds, that were growing every year during new moon weekends, I would go during the week and I was often by myself or just a handful of others in an area the size of a football field. One evening this guy pulls up and asks for help unloading his scope from a small trailer. It was a 43" Dob and it was amazing. We had to get to the eyepiece by climbing a good-sized ladder! He got real excited and called me over to look at the tiny smudge of light that was a quasar. His resource said it was few billion light-years distant. Blew my mind! Enjoy your new toy!

[duran]

Ten minutes video with ZERO space pic 😒 shame😒

[jedislayer]

If it has goto tracking, you can do astrophotography with it. Many experts warn against this due to field rotation, but it can be done by limiting exposures to 20 seconds and compensating for field rotation by turning the camera. Even if you only have a tracking alt azimuth or a dobson like this, you can still take great DSO images, even if it requires more dedication and perseverence

[johnstewart]

14" dobs are nice and portable. I enjoy my 14" f4.7 at Cherry Springs, PA. However the universe OPENS up with my 22" f4 dob

[Tommyr]

I had a 13.1" Coulter Odyssey back in the 90's. It was a Beast! Eventually sold it as it was too heavy to keep moving around. The views through it were AMAZING!

[photogazer]

I built my own 15" f4.5 Truss Dobsonian years ago and added the StellarCat GoTo Tracking system to it a few years after I built it. I recently converted my 20" f3.6 Explore Scientific Truss Dobsonian to a StellarCat GoTo Tracking system as well, running both with Nexus DSC Pro computers. Both are a bit of a lug to set up, but tracking with aperture is much better for staying on the eyepiece to allow your eye to pick up the subtle details of the object. It is hard to go back once you use a big, tracking dob.

[twastro]

Nice one Trevor, glad to see yet another picking up this scope.

By the way, with the Synscan GoTo, it's possible to set up a satellite tracker for ISS imaging. I've used it on my 400P 16" and it's a bit of a pain to setup, but the views of the station beat out the likes of Saturn easily - well worth a shot!

[combatwombat]

I thought my 18" f4.5 Dob was big, but then you look through a 30"... Aperture fever is real 😂 That said, in theory, even a 12" will detect just about everything published in any deep sky atlas. But when you get to see the central star of M57, and realise it's blue - only aperture can do that.

[caleb]

Nice telescope!

When I purchased my 16" Dob a decade ago, the first thing I did was also snap a photo of my wife standing next to it! Then I built an outdoor shed to store it in and a cart to haul it around with so I wouldn't have to take it apart.

[ThePred]

My first telescope was the 12 inch version. I had a blast with it but it was a pain setting up.

[Spaceandthings]

This is a great video helps me learn more about telescopes. Especially me not having the money for even a 400 dollar telescope, I like dreaming about them though.

[jonperry]

Still on my first scope; it's a 114/500. I'm about three weeks away from ordering a 10" dob (apertura ad10), and I'm really excited to see what such a large scope can show me. I just don't have the frame of reference for what a 14" can show.

[astrophysicistguy]

I designed and built a removable wheelbarrel style attachment for my 14” since it weighs 148# fully assembled. I leave the entire base and primary mirror assembly together and with a wooden ramp I built I just wheel it into my Nissan pathfinder and have the secondary mirror assembly and 4 trusses in carry bags. I can roll it out of my vehicle and in 10 mins have setup and performing a collomination. Without designing that integrated wheelbarrel assembly I never would have been able to get a scope that big but I set it up faster than most guys who have 9” SCTs😬

[MrGppo]

My Dob is the Orion 10" with push-to system. It works well once you figure it out and pick up a few tips. It comes apart within seconds and each piece is about 35 pounds, so it is manageable by one person. "Commitment" is a good word for anything bigger.