Galileo DB-160 First Light Report Review

Telescope First Light Report Introduction & Background

First off, this was my first "real" telescope. Of course I've owned the department store brand rip off kiddie scopes as a kid but they don't count...lol I'll break down the "technical info" (as far as I can as a beginner....lol):

The Scope: Galileo DB-160 (1300mm x 160mm) Newtonian Reflector
The Base: Coonass Engineering modified Dobsonian base.
The Eyepiece: 32mm wide view Galileo lens

Unboxing and In the Box

When I purchased the scope it was OTA only and was missing the base and eyepieces. Luckily they were also selling the 32mm eyepiece (2") on their ebay site at an extreme discount because the marking on the eyepiece were "a little worn off" but I'll get to the eyepiece later.

The scope (or OTA) is rolled aluminum and has a 2" Cray focuser with a 1-1/4" adapter. There is a viewfinder connection/port/whatever if I ever buy a finder scope.

The eyepiece is a Galileo 2" 32mm wide FOV (i'd guess 50-60 deg...just a guess). Funny story, when I purchased the tube and the eyepiece, the tube was shipped UPS and the eyepiece was marked as shipping through USPS. Well, I was kinda bummed that I wouldn't get any eyepieces right away to try out the scope. Fast forward to tonight and I'm getting ready to throw out the shipping box when I noticed it felt a little heavier on one end. Lo and behold, Mary at Galileo's place snuck my eyepiece in the OTA box so I would get them at the same time! So, lesson learned, always check EVERYTHING before you throw something away...lol

The base....ahhh, my greatest creation and the bane of my existence all weekend...lol

First, I took an old nightstand that my brother left in our warehouse when he moved to Texas and had no use for. I cut off the top shelf and attached it to the bottom drawer (pictures will be attached). Then I took some Oak that I had saved for a guitar display case I was building and cannibalized it to make the rocker for the OTA. I used a small Lazy Susan (don't tell John Dobson!...lol) to connect the rocker to the cabinet and viola! (well, not that simple but that's pretty much it). It still needs a little tweaking but it works and that's the point! After connecting the OTA to the rocker (after many, many, many trips to the hardware store...lol) I realized that my connection points on the rocker are a little too low! No biggie, I'll just find a way to raise it 2 inches and it'll be (relatively) perfect.

Initial Telescope Setup & Testing

Ok, on to First Light! It's been rather cloudy lately here in Southern Louisiana but tonight we have a rather spotty cover, enough to get great looks at ole Luna herself. Of course I'm only using a 32mm lens so I'm not gonna see much else worth truly looking at, at least in these weather conditions.

All in all, the 6" (ish) Dob with a 32mm Plossl (2") lens gave me a SPECTACULAR view of the moon. Very clear and crisp images with nice contrast even without a moon filter or any other light reducing technology/apparatus. Apart from a little shakiness from the rocker in the wind (yet another tweak to twik? tweak? whatever...lol) it was AWESOME! The Cray focuser was extremely smooth and easy to operate and considering the shakiness of the rocker it actually didn't cause any wobble it was that smooth!

Just so I don't sound like a total newbie I do have some "cons":

The left knob of the Cray Focuser is either out of alignment or bent. (but it's not bent at the pinion, just at the knob itself)

A couple of skids/smudges on the tube itself. (I only notice because I looked over every inch of the thing in multiple lighting conditions because I thought I had no eyepieces...lol)

Other than that, I have no complaints and these really aren't worthwhile complaints anyway, mere cosmetics. Now, here comes the sucker punch... How much did I pay for a 6" dob? 60 bucks! That's right, 60, sixty, six-zero! Apparently not including a base/mount or eyepieces drops a couple hundred off the price? Who knew? So, for 60 bucks with 20 for the eyepiece + plus shipping and spare wood/a couple of splinters I got a 6" dob that is perfect in every way for $101.79!

Initial Impressions & Conclusion

Not too shabby! I'd suggest anyone looking to get into light buckets as a beginner check out these telescopes for great deals like that. Just make sure you go with a reputable dealer. Check for storefronts that actually sell through their own site and sell overstock/remnants on auctions/classifieds. That way at least you could probably be comfortable knowing you will not got screwed.

I also ordered 7 Vixen Plossil (1-1/4") eyepieces and should get them tomorrow. They're 4mm-23mm (I think 23mm). I've read good reviews about them on cloudy nights.com so I'll let you know about them tomorrow night. We have a front passing through here tonight and it should bring cooler temps and drier air tomorrow. I'll try and look at some DSO's and let you know how this baby works at a zoom.

I'm going to attach some pics of the scope, base and eyepiece for reference (assuming I don't screw it up...lol)

Well, thanks for listening (err...reading?) and let me know if I missed something or if you guys having any questions/recommendations/rants/etc...lol

Thanks Again!

--Johnny