Thinking About a New Scope? Think Big!
From the Obsessed
22" UC Owners
Ted Harp, 22" UC owner in Oklahoma - June 3, 2025
Doug Finch, 22" UC owner in Hayden, Alabama- Feb. 24, 2025
My old friend Dave Kreige from Obsession Telescopes is still around (thank goodness) and hooked me up with a killer 22” UC, with an Ostahowski quartz primary mirror, Argo-Navis computer, and a passel of Tele Vue Ethos eyepieces.
Before I get into the details, the scope setup was easy peezy. I set up and collimated the first time in the garage. Really easy, no issues. I then wheeled it out to the front yard. Shimmed the base to level, and re collimated. It was so close it only took a couple of tweaks. A good sign.
Dew is always a problem here so I snapped a 9v on to the secondary dew heater, And waited for clouds to move out and sunset. The clear sky clock was right on the money and by 1900hours it was dark enough and I was ready.
Venus was sitting low, fat and happy in the SSW. With the Ethos 21 hand grenade I swung her over and aligned the telrad. Venus was dazzling, showing a nice crescent and proved once again, PHOTONS HURT!
Twilight was waning and I couldn’t help myself. Swinging the scope up to Jupiter which was near transiting the meridian. My goodness! The Great Red Spot was prominent, and I was astounded at the colors, and details visible at relatively low power. It was granular and “hairy”. I tried to bump up and due to the rapidly dropping temperature and seeing it was mushy through the 13 ethos. I shall return…..
At this point I initialized the Argo-Navis computer. I synced the vertical “FIX ALT REF” using the auto adjust ON. For alignment stars I used Polaris and Rigel. No issues. Using the telrad I swung her up to M42 the Great Orion nebula.
Let me just say, seeing it through the 100 degree field of the Ethos 21 was a religious experience. Tack sharp edge to edge, the flowing glowing nebulosity was spread out so far I felt like I had to move my head around to see everything. The trapezium was tight surrounded by mottled nebulosity. Of course I had to bump up to the 13 Ethos and cough cough …… OMG. The contrast was so great. I immediately noticed six stars now visible in the trapezium. It was a sight to behold. More power! The 6mm Ethos was a little mushy due to the seeing but even more stars in and around the trapezium.
The Horsehead was calling my name so I popped in the venerable 31 nagler with a h-beta filter and slid up to Zeta Orionis, I could easily make out IC 434, I had to move around and once my mind made out the orientation (upside down) from the gap in the nebula there it was. Jiggling the scope actually helped to see everything better. Once you see how it’s oriented it’s not that difficult. It’s large!
Time to try out the Argo. M78, bam! Time for a galaxy, or two…M81 and M 82…bam again. Did I tell you how good the Ethos 21 is. Well the 13 Ethos may be my new favorite. The cigar shaped M82 showed marvelous detail in the core. M81 was cruising with spiral structure, and embedded stars near the stellar core. I soaked these in for a while.
NGC 2392 I always referred to as the “Eskimo” from Burnham’s Celestial Handbook is a fine fine planetary in Gemini. It also takes power very well. The 13 and 8 showed the gap around the central star. The blueish green color was obvious. This is the first time I’ve looked at this (and many of the following objects) in a long time. Before my 10-12 year hiatus. It felt like I was visiting an old friend. I reminisced about the many great times with friends looking at this from Chandler Mountain and West Texas.
I visited my old friends M35 and M41. Then over to one on my top favorites NGC 2359 in Canis Major. The 21 and 13 with OIII filter knocked my socks off. We always called this the “Klingon bird of prey “ nebula, but it’s currently referred to as “Thors Hammer”. I don’t care what you call it because it’s a jewel of the winter sky through a big dob. The bubble and leading shock wave was easy with much intricate detail. After soaking this in a while it was up to Leo to see the Ngc 3190 galaxy cluster. Bam!
How about the trio M65, 66, Ngc 3628. All fit in the 100 degree Ethos porthole. I love galaxies through a big scope. How about M101.., bam!
Then I noticed the old sea monster Hydra was coming up in the east and the Argo guided me to the finest (in my opinion) planetary in the sky, NGC 3242 also known as the Ghost of Jupiter. To me it looks like an eyeball or the CBS emblem. Talk about an object that will take power! The more mag the more detail you see. Using the 6mm ethos it was an experience. It felt so good to see this after many years. Hand guiding the big Obsession was smooth and easy.
Then up to M51, the shot of the night, the 13 Ethos just blew me away. It was like looking at a picture, with direct vision, in real time. I could go on and in but that view, made it all worthwhile. The months of waiting, and driving 1800 miles to pick up this scope. Just a masterpiece.
Clouds, dew, drifting through along with a cold breeze made me shut it down just as Spica, Arcturus and Corvus the Crow was telling me “spring is just around the corner “ which means Virgo and the Hair of Bernice, and MORE GALAXIES.
If you read this far thank you for allowing an old guy to reminisce. I look forward to many hours of astronomical ecstasy using the “Obsession.”
I thank you for your time.
Doug Finch
Jeff G., 22" UC owner in Louisville, Kentucky - December 7, 2024
Hey I just have to say that tonight was the first super clear night and I took it out to my dark sky site. Holy…. Crap…. Love this thing! Thank you so much! My 8 year old stared at Saturn for probably 20 minutes haha Amazing… it’s simply amazing!
Jeff G.
Jaimie H., 22" UC owner in Redwood City, California - July 8, 2024
Hi Dave,
Just wanted to drop a quick note to say thanks for expediting the scope – it’s awesome! For the first time, I was able to really appreciate all the detail and structure in M51, mostly using direct vision! The Veil and Swan nebulae with my 27 mm Panoptic and narrowband filter were crowd - pleasers – many people camped close to me came and I heard plenty of “ooohs” and “aaaahs” and “oh my goodness” at the eyepiece. And I was able to start really exploring how deep I could go, with the Siamese Twins (NGC 4568) in Virgo an easy and satisfying target at mag +10.73, and IC 3583 (small dim +12.61 companion to M90) detectable with averted vision. I can tell this scope is going to give me many years of satisfaction!
Best,
Jaimie H
22" UC owner
Redwood City, CA
Brandon H., 22" UC owner in Colorado Springs, Colorado - August 1, 2023
Hi Dave,
Here is a photo from an evening of observing in Lanesboro, Minnesota. The 22 inch UC, all my astronomy gear, and camping equipment fit into my Subaru Outback, quite easily. Some floodlights cut on behind me at the local schoolhouse that night but it didn’t stop me from accidentally seeing galaxies while slewing to better known objects in class 4 bortle skies. Deep sky objects light up in the eye piece so well that I have just been using a Telrad (and The Messier Marathon) for observation.
It was a big hit at the Rocky Mountain Star Stare this year, and in my club, as I have now met a few other Obsession owners eager to talk about the telescope and my experiences. I plan to to take it down to the Okie-Tex Star Star Party this coming September.
Have a great evening!
Brandon H
Tom B, 22" UC owner in Derry, Derry, NH - January 28, 2023
Hi Dave,
It was a brief 1st light. With conditions not ideal:
Seeing and transparency below average.
Eyes weren’t fully dark adapted.
I observed M42. It was probably 25-30 degrees high in SE sky.
What an amazing sight. I have never seen it in its full extent until last night with the 21mm Ethos. The detail in the nebulosity was incredible. Saw more than 4 stars in trapezium. I was blown away. I saw strong greens and some turquoise and this is with Bortle 5.8ish skies.
You made quite an amazing instrument. Worth the wait and every penny. The movement was silky smooth. Air temps were at about 15 degrees F but I didn’t even notice it.
I then looked at the Pleiades. Wow. Saw some nebulosity around Merope with out a filter.
By far my most exhilarating observing session even with how short it was.
I didn’t have finder calibrated but they were close enough with the 100 degree FOV of the 21mm Ethos. I think it gives me a 0.9 degree AFOV.
Simply amazing.
More snow coming but I can’t wait for my next session.
Thanks again,
Tom B
Dave M., 22" UC owner in Plano, Texas - August 14, 2022
Hi Dave,
I just wanted to let you know I received the barlow laser collimator and
I'm patiently awaiting the Delos 6mm eyepiece.
Had the scope out for two hot nights in July.
Dobsonian feel - perfect - equal friction in both axes and equal and low static and dynamic friction - sweet
Optical quality - I was too excited to star test but everything looked great
One person thought I was using a coma corrector but it was just an ethos eyepiece by itself
Dave M
22" UC
UPDATE Nov 11:
I love the scope overall and am still learning. Some highlights so far are seeing the horsehead nebula, Deimos and Sirius B at the El Dorado Star Party. Sirius B was only 12 arcsec from Sirius but I used an occulting eyepiece at 1000X magnification. To me that is amazing to see something the size of Earth from 8.5 light years away.
keep looking up,
David M
Cecil L., 22" UC owner - December 26, 2021
I can’t thank you enough for your help and for building such and amazing scope. Never have I seen so much through the eyepiece.
Cecil L
Sam S., 22" UC owner in Wyoming - May 19, 2021
Your ultra compact 22" rocks! It's become our favorite telescope.
Sam S.
Wyoming Stargazers
Grant S., 22" UC owner in Winton, Australia - December 15, 2020
Hi Dave,
We got a first light view in the 22" on M42 with the 31mm and I was blown away. Best view I have ever seen through a telescope. It was incredible, colour was visible. It was worth all the time and effort to get to this point.
Grant S
Eric T. de Jonckheere III, 22" UC owner in Elko, Nevada - August 24, 2019
I have seen all of the "holy grails" in amateur astronomy including the HH nebula, all 7 stars in m42's trapezium and all 4 stars in Einsteins cross, and many others. My FAVORITE target is m42 - the Orion Nebula. Under dark skies I can see greens and blues in the Nebula. The hydrogen (red light) is always gray, but we both know that is because if how we see faint color. Red is the hardest. So, the only "red" I see is on Mars & Jupiter and stars, like Betelgeuse.
But, thank you.... thank you for providing me, and MANY others with a window to our Universe. I have thrown/attended several star parties at Elementary Schools. Children are our future, and are SOOO excited when they see Saturn or Jupiter, or m51 - the whirlpool galaxy. They LOVE seeing the arms of the primary Galaxy and the star bridge between that Galaxy and the one it is consuming.
Have a GREAT day!
Eric T. de Jonckheere III
Bruce B., 22" UC owner in Colorado Springs, Colorado - April 2, 2019
Bruce B
Bryan W., 22" UC owner in Glenwood, Colorado - December 19, 2018
Views are unbelievable, the star images in the 22" are excellent, I dare say even without the Paracor. In addition, 1) never have seen M33 with more detail, including many H2 regions 2) M42 had the most colors I have ever seen, turquoise in the trapezium and pink in the arms 3) amazed at the wide field using the 31 eyepiece can easily get M81 & M82 in the field with incredible detail... Also, I am impressed on how fast I can set it up and be observing.
Bryan W
Update: February 1, 2018
Hi Dave:
I thought I should get back with both of you on the status of the 22 UC.
I have spent the last two nights observing; with the 22 performance simply amazing. The drive is very accurate and I even like the sound of the motors when slewing to the next object. Spent last night just galaxy hopping from my front yard. Of note is one of my favorites (NGC 2903) in Leo. After slewing and looking with the 31mm I was astonished at what I saw. I had to run inside and look at a "Hubble" image to confirm what I was witnessing. I could easily observe the very faint outer spiral arms with more magnification brining out more detail. Kind of took my breath away.
Clear Skies!
Bryan W.
Frederic R., 22" UC owner in Paris France - May 22, 2018
Hi Dave,
This UC22 is a pure marvel. Having such a light bucket moved and installed by a single person and a classic space wagon is a dream when you chase dark skies at one hour drive from Paris.
I was a few days ago at the « Rencontres Astronomiques du Printemps » (spring astronomical meeting) and a very expert guy told me that among the 500-600mm that was there and he had a look through, the UC22 was delivering the best images, with the highest contrast. I have to say that I pay of lot of attention to collimation too. We had a still air window on Jupiter that delivered the best views I ever had on the big planet, with intense red on the big spot and curled clouds in the band. It’s almost ten years I own the UC22 and close to 15 years for the classic 15" and I am always an absolute fan of yours.
Thank you again for these scopes.
Clear skies, Frederic R - Paris France
Peter O., 22" UC owner in Gelorup, Western Australia - April 15, 2018
The mobile astronomy business is working out great over here in Western Australia. Your telescope works flawlessly every time and tracks better than all of my other telescopes.
Peter O
Gelorup, Western Australia
Dr Ravindra Vottery, 22” UC owner in Hyderabad, India - March 1, 2017
Dear Dr Dave,
Using your 22 inch UC we could see the Omega centauri globular cluster, eight burst nebula, Jewel box cluster in Crux, ring nebula, lagoon nebula, Sombrero galaxy, coat hanger cluster, and a running Asteroid yesterday night from our rooftop. Could see Uranus 4 weeks ago.
Scope is sturdy, well balanced and searches are very easy with the Telrad finder.
Do let me know whenever you launch a new product.
Regards,
Dr Ravindra Vottery.
MD.DM
Update March 6, 2017
Dear Dr Dave,
Sending few solo pics of mine from relatively dark urban terrace of my villa. This would encourage Indians to get into this environment friendly engagement with astronomy.
Ricardo and Lulu Calderon, 22” UC owner in Guadalajara Mexico - January 30, 2017
Hi Dave.
My wife and I with 10 other friends had a star party with 8 telescopes including our amazing Obssession 22" UC, we named Hypathia. We saw many DSO all of them looked incredible, but M104, NGC 891, the Eskimo Nebula, M81 and M82, The Double in Perseus, the Orion Nebula, M31, M97, M51 and many others had seen like NO EVER BEFORE.
Thank you so much for your great telescope.
Lulu, my wife and myself Ricardo Calderon
Update: May 22, 2017
Last Saturday, May 20th, 5 friends, my wife and I were able to see the QUASAR PG 1634+706 in Draco (8.633 billion light years away, nearly 2/3 toward the edge of the visible universe).
This happened because of the EXCELLENT Ostahowski optics and all the great Obssesion UC 22.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for your work.
Ricardo Calderon
Guadalajara Mexico
Update: April 13, 2019
Hi Dave.
I tell you that my wife and I used to go to the country for watching the sky a few days before, during and after the new moons close to Fridays and Saturdays.
Because we love to see a lot, a weeks ago also I decided to put my 22" UC in my backyard in weekdays (we live in the suburban area of Guadalajara, the second largest city of Mexico, just imaging the light pollution).
Well I feel very proud for using my 22" because we can see many sky objects very quite well: M41, M42, NGC 2362, M50, M36 M37, M38, M46, M47, M93 in winter skies and M4, M80, M24, M6, M7, M18, M21, M22, M13; even with filters, M20, M8, M17, M16, etc. in Summer skies (I wake up at 3:00 o'clock for this).
Conclusion, you can really enjoy you 22" UC OBSESSION also in suburban skies...amazing.
Thank you for your great telescopes.
Ricardo Calderon
Dr Ravindra Vottery., 22” UC owner in India, December 1, 2016
Good morning Dr Dave Kriege,
We took out your 22 inch UC for the third time yest. Called a couple of neighbors too.
Saw eskimo nebula from my roof top using Obsession 22, though its magnitude is 10.1.
Scope is very strongly built. Collimation does not budge at all on taking it out on subsequent nights.
Sending a few pics from my terrace. You can use them whatever way you like. Will send more and better ones with family soon.
Regards,
Dr Ravindra Vottery
India
Ken, 22” UC owner in Aloha, Oregon, September 14, 2016
Hello David,
Oh and yes, I've been replaced by a telescope. He is so happy with this telescope and he is the popular one at the stargazing gatherings at the park he goes to. Ken has the biggest telescope there and they all wait for him to arrive and then they end up at his telescope instead of their own. He found M51 and they all were amazed that they could see the two arms very clearly. I guess you don't normally see that and the whole place was oohing and awing over it.
Vicki - The X wife..... just kidding..... I'm still #1 and that telescope is #2 in my eyes and hopefully Ken's as well. lol
Jürgen Breitung, 22" UC owner in Kreuznach Germany, May 28, 2015
Hi Dave,
Hope you are well.
Just want to post you that picture from a star-party in Germany so called ITV in May 2015. ITV means international telescope meeting in Gedern just 100 km north of Frankfurt in a quite rural area. Its me with the 22" UC. Still after now 5 years I am absolutely happy with that scope since it's compact and relatively easy to transport (no problem in my Audi A7). People came in the night and were impressed by the very good performance and easy to maneuver. At the daytime some guys stated: "Oh, an 18 incher" ... and were impressed that it is 22 inch in such a compact form.
Best regards
Jürgen Breitung
Bob Rose, 22" UC owner in Savannah, Georgia - December 30, 2014
The 18 UC is probably one of the best configurations anyone has come up with since the development of the dob in general. I got to use one for a few nights back in 2007 and quickly realized it was a very comfortable size scope. The only problem was I already had a 20" Classic and could not give up aperture. I agonized over getting a 18UC for a while then Dave came out with the 22UC and I quickly made the upgrade. The 18 just seem to be the right size for observing with both feet on the ground. It also breaks down in subassembly that makes transport easy.
Bob Rose
Paul Koller, 22" UC owner in Austria - February 12, 2013
Dear Dave!
Last October 31st to Nov. 1st 2013 my friend Justin Kabaus (22" UC) and I had a very successful night, observing on the location of Hohe Dirn (Elevation app. 3,000 ft), Austria.
I found my most distant object ever seen -> the Quasar PG1634+706 in Draco -> almost 9 Billion Light Years away !!
Send you a map of this Quasar and a picture from our observation site from the morning after a cold, but beautiful clear night.
Still by far not satisfied to do much more observing with the UC22“ – just would like to have better weather to have more clear nights.
Greetings from Austria,
Paul Koller (;-)) 22UC
Erik Eighme, 22" UC owner Greenfield, Wisconsin - November 30, 2013
Hi Dave,
Amazing telescope. I've had a lot of fun with it the past few months. When we met I mentioned that my first telescope was a Bausch & Lomb 4" (circa 1983). Attached are a couple of pictures. One of them I call "My first telescope and my last telescope". Thought you might enjoy them.
Erik Eighme
Chris A., 22" UC owner in Eddyville, Kentucky - Nov. 18, 2013
The views are stunning. With a Paracorr in place, the stars are tack sharp edge to edge. And, with the Ethos 21mm, you really can just about put your head inside the eyepiece FOV and look around! I found myself moving my head up to look "down" into the field. Amazing. Well, during my first dark night a week ago, wow. Of course, I had to train it on M42, even as it was just rising off the horizon. Color?! Incredible. No need to use any averted vision to see the detail in the 22! M31, M81/82, Jupiter... Jupiter! Holy dog shit! Was I shocked! I wasn't expecting this scope to be very good at the planets but WOW! I've never seen such detail. Glad to own such a fine instrument. And to say I'm impressed with Dave and his insight is an understatement. Can't wait to get back into the local astronomy community and show it off.
Thanks, Chris A
Brad Y., 22" UC owner in Tulsa Oklahoma - Nov. 10, 2013
Oh my god I love this scope. Used it at Three Rivers in Texas, Okie-Tex, and every clear weekend or holiday I could. Cold weather may slow me, but this is quite a machine.
David Naughton, 22" UC owner in Queensland, Australia- June 11, 2013
Hi Dave,
I wanted to send you a photograph of myself and my new Obsession UC 22" and to tell you about my early impressions.
I find it difficult to put to words the feeling of awe I have experienced when I have pointed my new scope skywards and focused on the wonders that are on display. The performance of your scope is jaw dropping. I have particularly enjoyed the reactions of others when they first look through my scope and my new popularity with my Astronomy Club.
Some outstanding moments have included observing:
The Great nebula in Eta Carina with a 31mm Nagler V and OIII filter. The whole field filled with detailed nebulosity. When one of the members of my Astronomy Association saw this he shouted "that's just nuts! It goes on and on!".
When the seeing is good I have been able to push the magnification using the 3.7mm Ethos and have enjoyed seeing the 'Homunculus Nebula' surrounding Eta Carina in exquisite detail. It was like looking at a Hubble image!
Centaurus A with 13mm Ethos. Again exquisite detail. I had the 12 year old son of another member declare incredulously, "it doesn't look like that in my scope!"
Omega Centuari with 31mm Nagler V. Simply stunning! At a public viewing, a young boy (with his Dad beside him), who had heard about the Globular cluster in the short talk before viewing, was obviously not prepared for what he saw because he exclaimed a profanity when he placed his eye to the eyepiece.
Colour in the Great Orion Nebula! And I have seen the 'Flame' and the 'Horsehead' Nebulas from my backyard!
Colour in Saturn's clouds, plenty of details and at least 6 moons! Jupiter... I could go on and on!
I could not be happier and I certainly can say that I am now 'Obsessed"!
Thank you Dave for such a wonderful instrument!
Kindest regards,
David Naughton
John Nymark, 22" UC owner in Edina, Minnesota - May 20, 2013
22" UC loaded in 2012 Corvette
I have to tell you Dave that your scope is a work of art. I put it together a day or so after I got home. Amy and our daughters were quite amazed at the transformation from mirror box one minute to completed scope the next. Truly elegant engineering, form and function. They also couldn’t get over that we fit the 22" into the Corvette Z06. John Nymark
Bill Magan, 22" UC owner in Cortlandt Manor, New York - May 5, 2013
As always the scope itself was excellent. M 64 looked like a photo. NGC 4565 was stunning. And lots of little NGC and IC galaxies were easy. I look forward to getting the scope out under dark skies.
Bill Magan
Eric S., 22" UC owner in Cave Creek, Arizona - November 20, 2012
Had first light on Saturday, medium-dark area but with a lot of moonlight - very impressive so far though - I must say that outside of photographs, I have never seen anything like that level of detail on Jupiter. At 300X the red spot was clear and sharp, as were the turbulent swirls behind it.
Eric
Paul Koller, 22" UC owner in Austria - November 4, 2012
I got my UC 22" in March 2010. My friend Justin Kabaus, who lives just 10 miles away from my location wanted to see this big dob - so I invited him in spring 2012 to see it. He decided to get the same -> so he ordered his UC 22".
We had a really impressive observing session together on the night of 16/17th Sept 2012 with some other hobby astronomers at a really dark place -> Mountain HOHE DIRN (app. elevation 3500 ft).
After finding the supernova 2012ei in NGC 5611 (app. 13,6m) we observed so many objects under best conditions.
Highlights where:
- pn JONES 1 and Stephans Quintett in Pegasus
- eg NGC 891 in Andromeda, ...
- Uranus, Neptun, Jupiter (too bright -> the dark adaption is gone for several minutes, ...)
- M42 colorful + multiple Star Trapez with 6 members, ...
We could not stop observing till the morning was dawning - satisfied all over !!
Justin Kabaus made the video of this remarkable meeting - now it is linked to your homepage.
Clear nights!
Paul Koller (:-)))
Hohe Dirn - Deep Sky Nacht
YouTube video (slide-show) of Paul Koller and Justin Kabaus of Austria with a pair of 22 UCs at Hohe Dirn mountain.
Mike B., 22" UC owner in Florence, Arizona - September 12, 2012
Hi Dave, great to make the Okie-Tex star party and the opportunity for us to meet. I am very pleased (actually ecstatic) about my new 22" Ultra Compact. It is the best in design that keeps on impressing. Tell everyone the entire Virtual Mirror Box fits into my small car KIA Spectra trunk. Plus with the wheelbarrow handles and some angle positioning, the Virtual Mirror Box passes through my 33" wide door. Result is most light gathering, best in class quality, and able to transport or store in house.
Next clear sky weekend I setup at home.
Thank you
Mike B
Sandy C., 22" UC owner in Pearland, Texas - August 23, 2012
The 22 UC performed magnificently with the 17mm Ethos. What a great combination for star hopping! Besides the usual showcase M objects, which all looked great under the dark sky, I easily saw all 5 members of Stephan's Quintet, several of the faint Arp galaxies around NGC 7331 and a few planetaries in globular clusters. The 8mm Ethos was great to see detail in the galaxies. The dust lane in the ghostly NGC891 was especially memorable.
Eric T. de Jonckheere, 22" UC owner in Elko, Nevada
December 19, 2011
Hi Dave,
You had asked in your last email if I would send a picture of the scope after it was finished. I wanted to wait until first light before I sent anything off to you. After putting my 22” UC together, I had to wait for three weeks due to the “new telescope curse” before getting it out for “first light”. Last Friday night the sky was finally clear. It was a little cold at around 4 degrees Fahrenheit. The transparency and seeing were on the good side of “okay”.
My skies are not the clearest, or darkest in the world, because of the proximity of where I live relative to town – however, I am not complaining one bit. Truly “dark skies” are only a 20 minute drive away, however, I wanted first light to be in my back yard. An estimated NELM for that night was around 6.0. I must admit that I was ill prepared for what I was going to see through the 22” UC. I knew it would be good, but I had NO IDEA of what I was about to see!
After allowing the optics to equilibrate [acclimate] with the cold night air for about an hour, I needed to finalize the collimation. I must say that I’ve never had a telescope that is this easy to collimate. The build of the telescope in conjunction with the barlowed laser technique made for an exceptionally easy collimation. It took only five minutes. At this point, the last thing I needed to do was to align the Telrad. I used Alnitak for this task. I also performed a star test on Alnitak and was quite simply astonished. It was as close to perfect as I have ever seen – I also had no idea that Alnitak had a “brother”. After doing the star test, I immediately noticed that it was a binary system. I was able to see a much smaller, fainter, star right next to it. I now know that it is actually a triple system.
The first object (and one of my favorites) I chose to observe was Betelgeuse. I love Betelgeuse because it is so close and bright. Once I had Betelgeuse centered in the Telrad, I took a look into my 31mm Nagler eyepiece. The sight that I saw was simply breathtaking! Betelgeuse was perfectly focused and ablaze with its’ brilliant orange light. It was so beautiful that it (truthfully) almost brought a tear to my eye. At this point, I knew I was in for quite a treat. Jupiter was my next target as it was very bright and high in the sky. People often say that there are no planetary views as good as through a top-notch APO refractor. While this may be true for some scopes, it certainly was not for my 22” UC. Jupiter literally snapped into focus. The view through my 17mm Nagler showed two, very distinct, very red, equatorial bands. They were bustling with detail. Swirls and notches within the bands were clearly visible. There were five moons visible in the eyepiece. My only complaint was that Jupiter was too bright, which is not really a complaint as it was easily remedied with a neutral density filter – after this the brightness/contrast was perfect. I have never seen Jupiter look like this, through ANY scope. I’d be happy to wager my view against the “best” planetary scopes out there. Because of the bitter cold, I only had two more targets for that way-too-short “first light” observing session. M42, the Great Nebula in Orion, was my next target. Once again, I’ve NEVER seen a view like this through any other scope. I was expecting a lot of detail, and a lot of detail is what I got. There were filaments and tendrils galore. I never realized that there were more than four stars in the trapezium. With my 9mm Nagler in, I counted seven, however, there were four more that were in extremely close proximity to the “main four” so I guess that the total would end up being eleven. There was one other surprising thing about that nebula – color. There was A LOT of it. The view I’ve had in EVERY other telescope I’ve looked through was grey. The view in the 22” UC displayed blues, greens, and even some places that appeared to be a reddish brown. These were also not “dull” colors. They were definite and beautiful. I NEVER imagined that I’d see color like this in a telescope. I was told, and thought, that you could only see color in astro-photographs. I was wrong! The last target of the night is something I’ve never seen before – the flame nebula. The famous dark nebula nicknamed the “horsehead” is on my observing challenge list -- I wasn’t even looking for it tonight. However, I did want to see if I could see the flame nebula. I had mentioned before that I performed a star test on Alnitak. At that point, I was centered in on the star, and not looking around. I re-centered the scope in on Alnitak. I also used my 17mm Nagler for this task. I looked through the eyepiece, and low and behold, there it was, as plain as day, just above and to the right of Alnitak. I could easily see the dark lanes (I counted three major dark lanes heading down and to my right of Alnitak – there were also several smaller dark lanes stemming from the three major ones). The flame nebula did not produce any color in my eye, however, I did not need a H-Beta filter to see it. I sat and studied the flame nebula for what felt like five minutes, but I am sure it was at least an hour. I could see some amazing detail in the nebula. After I was done observing the flame nebula, I did receive one final unexpected treat for the night. As I scanned around Alnitak, with direct vision, I noticed an even fainter nebulosity. Just above Alnitak, heading up and slightly to the left was a faint, grey strip. I had found IC 434! I never thought that I’d be able to see IC 434 on a night and location like this!. It was less than a minute after this that the seeing diminished for the night. In only a few more fleeting moments was I able to see IC 434. I could have put my H-Beta filter in and begun the hunt for the horsehead, but I was tired and cold, and I had seen way more than I had expected for my 22” UC’s “first light”. I would dream of seeing the horsehead nebula that night while I slept, and will continue the hunt on another night.
Dave, you produced an absolutely amazing telescope for me – a DEFINITE work of art. I COULD NOT be happier. Thank you SO much for fulfilling my dream. Not only did you fulfill it, you blew it away!!!!! I know that I will never own/buy a nicer telescope. I don’t want/need to own a better telescope, because I am pretty sure there isn’t one. The engineering of my 22” UC is amazing. The curves and edges of the wood-working are exquisite. The way the rockers and base are put together is simply genius. The look and function of the UTA is incredible. This telescope looks like it could be a piece of furniture in my living room, or a professional telescope in an observatory. You are a master at your craft and I will DEFINITELY more than recommend your telescopes to ANYONE who wants to by the best that there is. There is NO better than Obsession, which is probably why I see the majority of other scopes advertised as “Obsession like”. Oh, and thank you for your fantastic customer service. It was second to none. One final thought. I would NOT give a rave review like this unless it was 100% true and absolutely deserved. The Obsession 22” Ultra-Compact you constructed for me is definitely deserving of the best review I could give. Amazing Dave…simply amazing. Thank you so much! I hope to see you at a star party some time. If I do, you will have to take a look through the unbelievably fantastic piece of equipment that you produced. Oh, and the 22” UC telescope already has a name – “Inspiration”.
Eric T. de Jonckheere
Project Geologist
Exodus Geology Department
Newmont Mining Corp.
1655 Mountain City Highway
Elko, NV 89801
Holger Voss, 22" UC owner in Germany - September 26, 2011
Hi Dave,
I just want to let you know that the UC22 arrived last Wednesday, everything made it over the ocean in perfect condition . Last night I had first light under less than perfect transparency conditions, but the new toy worked perfectly right from the start. The scope balances with my Ethoses perfectly without any counter weights, and the focal plane is at the perfect spot for my eyepiece collection. I was impressed with the setup of AN+SC that you already did, I expected some time fiddling with parameters. The views were outstanding and a good step up from my trusty "old" 15" classic. I hope to get under dark skies next week - at least all the stuff fits into my Audi A4 hatchback - quite remarkably for this aperture. Thanks a lot.
Holger Voss.
UPDATE:
Hi Dave,
Life's good with an Obsession! I had another enjoyable night out with the new scope with exceptional seeing (but poor transparency, again). I never saw before all these details in the blue snowball and on Jupiter. Wow! Attached please find a picture. Feel free to use it on your web site along with any excerpt from our conversation if you like.
All the best,
Holger V.
Paul & Charlene Kerans, 22" UC owners in Dashwood ontario, Canada - May 17, 2011
Hi Dave,
The scope set up very well and we only had 1 chance so far to view. WOW!!! Im sure you herd it all before, we are very happy with our new telescope. I attended a RASC public info session and the Obsession was all the rage with the members of the club.The skies have been the pitts, but can't wait to get out again.
Thanks again and much gratitude for your skills.
Paul & Charlene Kerans
Paul Koller, 22" UC owner in southern Austria - August 26, 2010
Dave, let me thank You for making this absolutely portable big scope. It is really impressive and gives soooo bright views! This is it, I was always dreaming of!! It will last many, many nights to look for all the possible objects I can reach with this giant. As a guide for the future I got now THE NIGHT SKY OBSERVER´S GUIDE Vol 1 + 2 + 3 (William Bell Inc., USA) -> so the potential of the instrument is necessary to find all the listed objects.
With the help of ServoCat GoTo and the ArgoNavis DSC it's really fun to jump from one object to the next. For me visual observing has got now a new dimension. I can find soo many different targets in short time, there is no problem to make public viewing and tracking of objects gives the easy possibility to use high magnifications.
Greetings from one that is now really obsessed !
Paul Koller (:o)))
"Emberger Alm" in southern Austria
Paul Johnson, 22" UC owner in Perth, Australia - August 13, 2010
G'day Dave, Last night I finally got my 22" Ultra Compact out to a dark site. I am happy to report that it fully lived up to all expectations - the optics, build quality, and electronics. Once the two star alignment was done, the telescope tracked accurately all night and it was able to find every object that I asked for.
Many of my old favorite objects look different through this new telescope due to the extra detail and the amazing number of stars coming into view around them. Globular clusters were resolved to the core as promised and I have never had planetary nebula's appear so bright in an eyepiece. I saw more galaxy's in the one night than I have ever seen before in my old scope - and averted vision was not needed.
Everyone in the group that I went out viewing with last night wanted to have a look to compare it with their view and they were all very impressed.
Thanks for producing such a high quality device. I am sure that this telescope will give me a lifetime of enjoyment.
Best regards,
Paul Johnson
Jürgen Breitung, 22" UC owner in Germany - May 22, 2010
Unfortunately the last days in Germany were cloudy, cold and rainy. But last night I had first light with the 22" Obsession UC in my backyard. Even with quarter moon and light pollution of nearby city Bad Kreuznach the 22" performed like a "starlight vacuum cleaner". M 13 was resolved into the core with 20mm Nagler but Hercules itself was hard to detect with naked eyes standing right over the city. In M97 the eyes were seen even under these conditions. I m looking forward for really dark skies. The scope is moving buttery easy and has an appearance more like a classic 18 incher. I have had an 16" self-made and 18" commercial Dobsonian with a couple of drawbacks but the overall mechanic execution of the Obsession 22" UC looks and feels more Mercedes or BMW like. Thanks Dave for this wonderful tool. Last night at 4:00 AM I finished my first session with a german Weizen Beer. Even my wife Ulrike says that this scope is the final choice for me and I agree.
Mr Cho, 22" UC owner in South Korea - April 8, 2010
I can't believe still what I've watched thru this dob last night. All of the messier star clusters were resolved, moreover its were better than the photos. We could identify the M27 as the nickname " Crunched Apple"..and the handiling weight was almost same as 11" sct with EQ mount..
What so aaammmaaazzzing...!!!
David D., 22" UC owner in Melbourne, Australia - March 16, 2010
Dear Dave, I have just had first light through “my” UC 22. It is a beautiful instrument. Many thanks! The only downside I forsee is that my wife will become an “Obsession Widow”.
