Astonomy withdrawl

Kieth,
with a badly collimated 12'' (club) Dob I could without doubt make out
the spiral arms in the Whirlpool Galaxy one of the first nights
Dave and I went to the West.

I'm lucky enough to have a mate like Dave that is happy to share his
monster dob.
Let me tell you, app fever never ends!
I was at one stage seriously considering a 22'' !

Again, the old adage,, it all depends on what you want....

Dave was looking to head to the Burren tonight,
I couldnt make it ,
(I have the Munster match to blame for that!)
but it just go's to show,
Even in the summer when you get what...2 hours darkness...
the urge is there to drive for an hour to look at faint fuzzies.

Are we all plain insane or what?

yea, I almost went to the Burren tonight, but as the sun set, clouds formed overland so that was history.
and likewise after Munsters win, I felt like celebrating

the best thing about a large aperture scope is the surprises, I just could not believe the detail in M33, the central star in M57, the arms of M51, the blaze of galaxies in Coma Berenecies + Virgo and been able to clearly see M101 for the first time was shocking, you can see some detail in most non elliptical galaxies, I didn't think that was possible.
I remember seeing M57 in my 60mm refractor for the first time back in the 80's, what a difference aperture makes,
For me, observing is what it's all about.

From my back garden and on the best night I had, had at that point, the night where a looked at about 30 Virgo galaxies was also the night where I finally found M51. While I couldn't 'see' the arms, I felt I could just about detect contrast differances I think the term is. I mean, I couldn't see anything and yet there was something there I felt just beyond the limits of visual perception.

I understand what you are saying Frank about a 12 dob at a true dark site being able to resolve the arms somewhat but I think this rather than make me truely satisfied with my current apeture will only make things worse because isn't M51 one of the only Galaxies that show anything other than the core at this apeture. It'll whet my apetite for that kind of detail on much more galaxies and for that I need to go BIG

As great as my current scope is (Orion XT12i) and even after all the research I did, (I had paralysis by analysis for months before deciding on the scope), I am disappointed I got scared out of the idea of a larger truss by worries about set up and collimation, specifically how set up of a truss meant 'a lot of collimation' Of course now, collimation holds absolutely no fear, with my Howie Glatter Barlow laser, I now I have a very accurate repeatable tool and now I understand the theory and process, collimation is an absolute non issue.

So, looks like the car is going to have to go for something cheaper and big enough to transport a 20"

I see a clone of Dave's scope in my distant future How much to build me a mobile powerstation like yours Dave

In the meantime (ie for the next couple of years) I pray for more viewing opportunities to get as much out of my current scope as I can. Now that I say that I realise one problem about going reasonably big (12in) for a beginner was I had no frame of reference for objects. What I mean is like how I got the biggest astro thrills when I saw things so much better than before. ie. My first view of M42 was WOW, but my first view of M42 up at a darker site in Cloonwood was WOW WOW WOW. Seeing M57 for the first time in the 12in was WOW....but NEXT....but if I had only seen M57 in a 6in scope before.....and then saw it in my 12in, I would have been WOW WOW WOW. So I really do need to see everything I can with the 12in to get those frames of reference so that when I come back to them in a few years with a 20" they will really blow my mind.

It looks like you have been bitten by the bug and a serious dose of aperture fever!
After using Daves 20" in the burren it is hard to beat aperture. I was impressed with what I could see in my 11" from a really dark site though.
Try using a smaller scope for a while (like a 3-6 inch) and see how much detail you can see. You may be surprised by how much you can see. A small scope really helps to train the eye. When you go back to your 12" it will have that wow factor again.
My next scope will be a 4-5 inch televue refractor.(someday )

Going through some serious withdrawls at the moment. Its been weeks since I was out with the scope.

I know the feeling.

Like Seanie......................i think January was the last time i was outside.

IF you want massive aperture and bad debt, I think I saw a 28" scope for sale in Ireland somewhere, I cant remember the site though.