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Jaycin
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/09/06
Posts: 2140
Loc: SW FLorida, USA
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Congratulations Trevisc! 
I'm glad to hear that you have caught the "BUG"  I think that you and your son are going to love this scope. I would recommend a Telrad if you haven't ordered one already.
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I then took the advice of a few guys here and contacted a local star gazer member and he asked me where I was raised. I told him Central Texas and he replied: "Can you tell me from central Texas how to get to Austin?" I replied: "Yes". He then asked me if I knew how to get to Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, etc. After telling him "Of Course I do." He then told me the same way that I learned about the surrounding cities from where I grew up is the same way that I will learn the different Galaxies and planets in a one year cycle.
This is a great analogy! I work in traffic data collection and roadway inventory. I have conducted traffic studies in every county in the state of Florida and I'm sometimes called a "walking road atlas" by my co-workers. I'm quite sure that this is the reason I have been able to learn the sky so easily. It's really no different than reading a roadmap. 
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Jason
Zhumell 8" Dobsonian
60mm Meade Telestar
Sketching the Cosmos
Messier countdown: 102 down, 8 to go! 
Yalta Observatory- North Port, FL
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conus
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/12/03
Posts: 2978
Loc: OC, Calif
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I think I have set off some nostalgia throughout the forum. Who knew?
I used to listen to him when it was a local show on KPPC, a local FM station in Pasadena, CA before his show was syndicated. That was around 1970. Wasn't yet into astronomy and had never heard of a CCD, though for some reason the first color images of nebulae that I ever saw seemed somehow familiar.
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Steve R.
12" Orion XTi
Fujinon 10x42
Oberwerk 12x60
My toUcam Images
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Schmendr1ck
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 581
Loc: Orlando, FL
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Jason, do you know the people who can fix the horrible traffic congestion in east Orange County? If so, send 'em my way, I'd like to have a little, erm, "talk" with them. 
Sorry for the thread hijack, but the skies stink tonight and I have nothing better to do...
</hijack>
Trevisc, the 10" Zhumell dob has made me very happy so far. I haven't had it long but each time I take it out, I feel more confident that my money was very well spent. Congrats on your decision, looking forward to a first light report.
Obligatory Dr. Demento:
They don't come when you call,
they don't chase squirrels at all,
dead puppies aren't much fun...
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Chris
Home: 
Dark sky site: 
Zhumell 10" Dobsonian
Nexstar 8SE
Vixen R130Sf and ED80Sf
Sirius EQ-G, Vixen Porta Mount
SBIG ST-2000XM w/CFW8A
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NewAstronomer
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/03/04
Posts: 2690
Loc: Scranton, PA U.S.A
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Great choice! Now remeber the following, as I too have a 10" f/5 GSO Dob (same as yours):
1. Get a Telrad or Rigel Quickfinder!!!! $44 well spent. Start a new thread of search the forums for what these things are, invaluable.
2. Setup the scope and let it "cool down" for 1 hour before use. The mirror MUST reach ambient temperature as much as possible before high magnification.
3. Be patient! Stress this with your son!!! This is NOT an instant gratification hobby, tough to accept at first for type A's, like myself.
4. If a planet is low to the horizon, the view won't be great, the atmosphere, same as cloudy weather, is our biggest bane. Even if its high in the sky (later in winter for you most likely) "seeing" might make the view "not great" abopve 200x magnification. But at 100x to 150x its still good.
5. We are here to help! There are more thing to look at than planets and the moon, a short drive to a dark site will do wonders.
6. The Year-Round Messier Marathon Field Guide by Harvard Pennington will help you A LOT with #5 above, but get that Telrad/Rigel Quickfinder first. I use the Quickfinder, its easier to see thru.
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Chris
AT66ED f/6
C80ED f/7.5
10" GSO Dob f/5
SVP w/ autoguide mod
Oly E-500 DSLR, DSI-P, DSI-C, NexImage
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trevisc
member
Reged: 08/07/06
Posts: 29
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What exactly does the quickfinder do?
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dgs©
Postmaster
Reged: 03/29/04
Posts: 14068
Loc: West Monroe, Louisiana
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It's similar to the Telrad... go up to my previous post and hit the link for the "Reflex Finder Shootout". There you'll find pictures and other info for both the Telrad and Rigel Quickfinder as well as 7 other variants.
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- david
8"Ø Newtonian on SVP, Moonlite CR2, Telrad
PST Oberwerk Ultra 15x70 Orion Ultraview 10×50
Hand-me-down Sears Refractor (Discoverer) 60mm×900mm
"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world, remains and is immortal." --Albert Pike
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Jaycin
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/09/06
Posts: 2140
Loc: SW FLorida, USA
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Jason, do you know the people who can fix the horrible traffic congestion in east Orange County? If so, send 'em my way, I'd like to have a little, erm, "talk" with them.
I feel your pain! 
There's not much worse than getting stuck in Orlando traffic (except Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach). Tampa isn't much better, and Jacksonville is no picnic. The problem is that "The Powers That Be" (I don't want to name specific entities) are 10 to 15 years behind on roadway improvements and new construction and the population in FL has been booming over the past few years. I could go on forever on this topic, but I won't do it here...
..Sorry for the off topic stuff, Trevisc! 
I can't speak for the other reflex finders, but I wouldn't give up my Telrad for anything. It's the best $39.00 investment I've ever made!
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Jason
Zhumell 8" Dobsonian
60mm Meade Telestar
Sketching the Cosmos
Messier countdown: 102 down, 8 to go!
Yalta Observatory- North Port, FL
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Deep13
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/25/05
Posts: 1497
Loc: NE Ohio
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1. The mount shakes and one bump gets the telescope all out of whack.
It may be possible to remount the scope you have. This would necessarily require some improvising and some wood-working skill. Inexpensive scopes are notorious for bad mounts.
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2. The more magnification we use the "Fuzzier" the planets look.
That is actually normal. Make sure the scope is cooled off to ambient temp. before observing. You may also be limited by aperture, optical quality of the scope, of the eyepiece and by bad atmospheric seeing. For reflectors, you may also be limited by collimation errors. Bigger, better quality scopes and EPs will give better resolution.
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ave no idea how to find the planets and would love to have a scope that has the automatic find feature. (autostar,etc)
You don't need digital setting circles or "go-to" to find planets. The map in the middle of Sky & Telescope or Astronomy Magazine will show you. Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are all naked-eye objects and are pretty obvious once you know where to look. Automated guidance requires that the observer first orient the telescope by sighting on particular star that you must find so the scope knows where it is pointing. Also, these gagets are expensive and you will sacrifice a lot of optical capability to get that dubious convenience for the same price.
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4. We want to see details on the planets like the "Eye" on jupiter or the rings of saturn.
Rings: piece of cake. They are obvious even in a small scope. The red spot is not all that red and takes some practice before you can see it. Still, when facing the Earth, you should be able to see it. Also look for shadow transits of its moons and the moons themselves. A 6" Dobsonian will reveal these objects and an 8" will reveal them even better, sky permitting.
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IF possible I don't want to spend over $350 on this first Telescope.
You're in luck. Good scopes have never been cheaper. I don't remember how much a 6" or 8" steel tube Dob costs, but it is not a lot.
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Am I dreaming to think that we can find a scope that meets all those requirements. One that seems like a good fit is the Meade ETX 80 refractor but I am having a hard time finding example pictures of this scope (I can find tons for the ETX 90).
Maybe not dreaming, but I would forget about the computer guidance. The ETX 80 is a short, wide-field refractor that is not suited to the planets. Sufficient magnification will also result in a lot of false color that will partly obscure the image. The ETX 90 has a long focal length that is more suited to planets, but you will still need that alignment procedure for the computer navigation. Also at 3.5", you will be limited by aperture.
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Any insight would be GREATLY appreciated. I'm looking to purchase one on the 15th of this month.
oops, that was two days ago. 
Have a great day!
Trevis
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That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
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Deep13
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/25/05
Posts: 1497
Loc: NE Ohio
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I see you got a 10" Dob. The resolution on planets and tiny lunar features will be a huge improvement. What will really amaze you, howver, is the job is does on faint deep sky objects, especially from a dark site. Remember, collimation and waiting for the scope to cool to ambient temperature is the key to mirror performance. I recommend on of those $40 Cheshire/sightubes over a cheap laser.
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That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
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