13 Inch Dobsonian Telescopes Reviewed

13-inch Dobsonian telescopes seem like huge things as compared with some of the smaller brands and sizes out there, but Dobsonians actually come as large as 40 inches. The best study of 13-inch Dobsonian telescopes was the information provided by an amateur astronomer who made 13-inch Dobsonians for himself and his family.

This astronomer first started making 13-inch Dobsonian telescopes in 1991 after reading a magazine article about it. He said the first of these 13-inch Dobsonians that he built was a big success right off the bat. He said that he lugged it out onto the sidewalk of his home in San Francisco for nighttime viewing of the sky. He also tossed it on the back seat of his car and took it with the family to the Sierra Mountains. He even stored it as part of his luggage when he traveled by plane. Once he'd mastered the creation of the Dobsonian 13 inch telescope he redesigned another larger telescope he had - a 17.5 inch telescope - applying the things he'd learned by trial and error as he built his 13-inch Dobsonian.

Once he felt he had learned enough about designing 13-inch Dobsonian scopes he wrote out the instructions and put them on the Internet. He also founded an amateur astronomy group. Through the years he has been the guide for thousands of amateur astronomers eager to make their own 13-inch Dobsonian telescopes.

He says that while some of the other commercial manufacturers of telescopes have finally started to mimic the Dobsonian concept of making alt-azimuth Newtonian scopes that are also economical, the big three manufacturers have still failed to follow suit. The big three telescope manufacturers, he says, are Celestron, Meade and Orion.