Idea for 11" Teeter STS planet killer.

I'm thinking about getting a Teeter 11" F/5 STS as my next scope. It would give me a significant performance jump over my biggest scope a C-9.25. With a Zambuto mirror, focuser upgrade and RA finder it looks like it would come in around $3000. I haven't talked to Teeter yet. Add a AT coma corrector and I'd be all set. I like a solid tube for lunar-planetary. I've got a Ranger with a 7' bed and am strong so transport wouldn't be a issue. I've got a great telescope lineup but no newts. Way back when I had a excellent 6" F/8. David

I suggest the 12.5" f/6 PK with Servocat JR.

While I really like my STS, I have come to believe that tracking is just as important as good optics.

David, I hope Rob has gone to a conventional mirror cell instead of the wooden ones he was originally using on those 11" STS scopes.

I’ve got a Teeters STS 11 F5 with a Royce conical mirror. Viewing Big Jove from down here in Vero Beach Florida a few nights ago using a 4.8 Nagler I was astounded. Let me put it this way, It seemed as though it was a balloon with a light bulb inside.

I have an 8" f6 zambuto STS on order and upgraded (at Rob's suggestion) to his new cell made by Aurora Precision. He sent me some pictures- its the nicest 8" cell I have ever seen. all machined aluminum. can't wait!

How do you like your 12.5" f/6? Same FL as the Teeter PK im obsessed with.

awesome. I am mostly a homebound observer who deals with light pollution, and the I think that that the extra contrast oomph of the f6 and small secondary makes up for some aperture over the bigger scopes if used at my location. regardless of conditions, I always see more in that scope than anything else I have.

It's not a standing only scope, but I use either a couple of small step stools that I can kick around, or lately I have been using a package of foam exercise floor mats (the interlocking kind). I cut the package in half, and doubled the thickness and duct taped it together, this gives me an approx. 12x24 platform about 5" tall. very light and easy to use.

I was wavering about selling it when I got the CPC11HD, which is a very nice scope, and much easier to use (tracking, goto, eyepiece height, etc) but the swayze always shows a better image. the stars are really sharp pinpoints, only bettered by a small margin by my refractor.

Very nice with a 30mm 82* ES, or the 20mm 100* for scanning too. I can usually catch the swirly stuff on jupiter with the 12.

dscarpa, I would strongly consider a Zambuto quartz or Royce conical mirror. In fact, you may even want to consider a 10" Zambuto quartz in the 11" structure, for two reasons:

1) You will have more clearance around the mirror, the same amount of clearance that exists in the 8" model

2) You can go longer, beyond f/5. Reducing the need for Paracorr and collimation sensitivity.

I would opt for the Aurora mirror cell upgrade Whoapiglet speaks of. I haven't had any astigmatism issues in my 8" but I can't speak for a larger mirror.

The STSs have many things going for them. They are smoother than any Dob I've used and hold balance very well. I could switch from a 5mb TMB Supermono to a 35mm Panoptic and seldom have to re-balance. Not to mention, they are very nice looking scopes.

Thanks for the great compliments, guys! Yes, correct, for 2013 we are moving to an upgraded mirror cell design from Aurora Precision. They will be providing an incredibly well built 6-point flotation mirror cell, done out of machined and anodized aluminum. The mirror will still be silicone'd to the cell but instead of 3 static points, they'll be 6 flotation points which will better support the mirror, particularly on our 11" model.

Attached is Aurora's CAD of the new 11" cell we'll be using. The 6 points are actually machined aluminum "cups" that will hold the silicone used to attach the mirror, which will ensure the silicone "blobs" (scientific term!) are of uniform diameter and thickness. So really a slick design.

Our STS scopes were originally designed in the Winter of 2010 and officially added to our product line up in April of 2011 as a scope to bridge the gap between the mass produced, imported, scopes and the high end Truss-Dobs. So we were looking to hit specific price points in order to put these scopes within reach of a larger market segment than we were currently focusing on. Much to our surprise, it wasn't the amateur astronomers who had a budget in the $1500-$2000 range that were coming to us (a few have and we're thankful they found us!), it was the amateur astronomer looking for a supped up 8" or 11" scope in a solid tube that came knocking. What was originally an 8" scope priced at $1475 became a fully upgraded scope costing twice that, and the same went for our 11" (more so than even the 8"). A $1975 scope quickly became a $3500 to $4000 scope after the primary mirror was upgraded to a Zambuto, the secondary to a 1/30 P-V from Antares, the focuser to a Feathertouch, SkyCommander DSCs added, custom wood finishing and hardware, etc.

Therefore, now that I know these scopes are appealing more to the premium Dob market and not the people who were going to buy a mass produced scope but are willing to save up longer to buy a higher quality instrument, I feel comfortable starting to make higher quality components standard equipment (which, unfortunately, necessitates an increase in pricing). So we've learned a lot so far in the nearly 2 years that we've been marketing our STS scopes and we look forward to continuing to optimize them and make them the type of instruments for which our customers are looking.

Thanks again,

Side view CAD of the new 11" Aurora cell...

Last...a link to our DropBox Gallery of pictures taken of the 8" prototype cell from Aurora Precision that we've tested and REALLY like, hence we've commissioned the 11" cells and will be using these 8" cells as well.

Last last thing...final STS pricing for 2013 is still TBD. We hope to have new pricing for our STS (and Truss-Dobs) up this coming week.

Hey rob that cell looks awsome.


Why side posts if its glued on?

Rob, is the secondary holder of the same type as the one on Royce's site? The traditional 3 screw type drive me crazier! I really like that primary cell. Are the 11" Zamboto mirrors available in F-5? David

The side posts are there for a couple reasons. They'll help during the gluing process to ensure the mirror is centered perfectly on the cell and they'll provide lower edge support.

An 11" F/5 is definitely an option from Zambuto, no problem there.

Our standard spider is the 3-vane, 3-point collimation, curved spider from Destiny, which we like a lot. In terms of collimation, it's a sturdy piece of equipment that holds collimation very well. The actual process of collimation is smooth and repeatable. We also have the Astrosytems 4-vane, 4-point collimation, spiders available for use.

Take care,

I'm glad to hear a Zambuto F-5 is available! I like the curved spider. Truth be told the only thing I didn't like was the wood cell. This scope would gave so much more performance than the 5"-5.5" APOs I've been looking. I've got a WO ZS-110 so I'm not lacking in that department. David

How much will this Aurora Precision mirror cell upgrade cost?

After thinking about it some more I may need to go with a F/6 mirror. The coma corrector needed with a F/5 might be a problem. I've got mostly heavy high lens count eyepieces with the shortest FL being 7mm that would need to be barlowed for lunar-planetary. The scope will bust the bank as is so getting shorter FL eyepieces wouldn't be an option. David

Mr. Marbles,

We've released our 2013 pricing, updated across all of our product lines (see our website). We were also able to derive what the upgrade cost to existing STS owners would be for these new mirror cells...

8" Upgrade: $305 (including cooling fan, grill guard and cabling)

11" Upgrades: $360 (including cooling fan, grill guard and cabling)

These costs have been incorporated into the new 2013 STS pricing on our website since these cells will now be standard equipment.

Take care,

Mr. Marbles,

We've released our 2013 pricing, updated across all of our product lines (see our website). We were also able to derive what the upgrade cost to existing STS owners would be for these new mirror cells...

8" Upgrade: $305 (including cooling fan, grill guard and cabling)

11" Upgrades: $360 (including cooling fan, grill guard and cabling)

These costs have been incorporated into the new 2013 STS pricing on our website since these cells will now be standard equipment.

Take care,

Rob, Given that the primary mirror cell is one of the most important variables in how a mirror performs across temperature changing environments, I greatly applaud your move to the new Aurora mirror cells. Premium optics deserve premium cells to get the most out of their potential performance. Bob

Bob,
Thanks for the kind words. I totally agree with your sentiments regarding the mirror cell. As I stated above, the original intention of these scopes was to be low(er) cost alternatives to the larger scopes out there and be a higher quality alternative to the imported scopes on the market. I was looking to hit a certain price point, thus had to compromise on some of the components, the mirror cell being one of them. Now, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of STS owners out there with premium (Zambuto, Waite) mirrors with our original cell design who are quite happy. So it's not like the original cells were totally inferior, they did the job and did it well. Could they be improved upon? Sure. That's what this upgrade to the Aurora cells is all about.

Plus, the other intention of these scopes, originally, was "mass production". Instead of doing each one one-at-a-time like we're doing now, I was planning to do batch runs of 6 at a time and didn't plan to offer any options. They were to be sold "off the shelf" and ship within a week of ordering. And, as such, the mirrors weren't going to be of premium quality, just very good quality since the price point necessitated the mirror maker (Waite, at the time) to turn them around quickly. Again, the original plan was not for a premium Dob but one that would look nicer and perform better than similar sized imported Dobs. The mirror cell, then, didn't need to be as high quality as we're currently talking about.

But, the STS has morphed into a custom-made, premium, solid tube Dobsonian, which I think is great! I didn't think the market would bear it, but I stand corrected. Because of how this has played out, we've adjusted our business model and the STS product line to now reflect what our customers want. Therefore you see this premium mirror cell as standard equipment to match the premium mirrors our customers are electing to have installed.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it! ;-)

Take care,

Proud to be part of Teeters STS product to market transition history Rob.
...and a very proud owner of my STS.

In 8 months I will be too! David

Side view CAD of the new 11" Aurora cell...

Hi Rob,

I think this will go along way in getting the best views out of a quality aperture.

Best of luck with this new cell.