A Note from Dave in Peotone, Illinois...

Hi Dennis:

Now that I've had 8 or 9 months to use the scope, I wanted to update you on my thoughts:

1. The general construction is excellent. Visually the telescope resembles a piece of fine furniture in the house. In fact I leave it assembled in my home when not in use.

2. The durability of the telescope great. The telescope is made rock solid!

3. Though the telescope is built solid, the movements of the Alt bearing and Azimuth are quite smooth and very easy to move.

4. The balance on the scope is good. The center of gravity is slightly off making the bottom of the telescope slightly heavier. I added a small diver bag with lead shot in it (less than 2lbs) to the top so the scope would balance.

5. The mobility of the telescope is excellent! I am able to disassemble the scope and load in my vehicle in 5 minutes. I can remove from my car and assemble within 10 minutes.

6. The collimation is easy to adjust and holds well through an observing session.  Obviously after a ride in a car I have to tweak the collimation a bit but that is true on most dobs.

7. Customer service throughout the build and after was nothing short of spectacular. Dennis it was an absolute pleasure working with you.

Overall I am extremely pleased with the telescope.  If i were rating the scope on a 5 star system, this scope would be 5 stars! Everyone who sees the telescope is completely impressed by it, both aesthetically and functionally! Combined with the custom Ostahowski mirrors this scope is a dream come true. The images are absolutely incredible.  Just the other night i was noticing the swirls in one of Jupiters equatorial bands. Ive also seen the central star in M57, and even was able to find Pluto from our somewhat light polluted skys. Over the winter i was able to view the horsehead nebula (briefly). Star clusters, and galaxies look amazing.

Dennis feel free to post this review. And if anyone out there is considering Dennis for building their telescope, your search is over, Dennis is the Man!!!

Dave
Peotone IL
16in dob
Optics by Terry Ostahowski
Structure by Dennis Steele