Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

Discuss other brands of scopes. If the team sees enough activity we will add a new subforum.
User avatar
DozerBolt
Earth Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun May 03, 2020 11:49 pm
3
Location: Northern California
Status:
Offline

Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#1

Post by DozerBolt »


Greetings,

I was shocked - SHOCKED! - to discover that there was no thread yet on the Coulter Odyssey dobsonians!

For the rest of you - welcome to the Wonderful World of the Odyssey! I bought my Odyssey 8 in 1989 and it's been my constant companion ever since. Mine is strictly the original (even with the Telrad finder scope, which still works perfectly) I've never upgraded a thing, like a time machine (but then that's what they are, right?) The original 27mm Kellner was the eyepiece from a pair of binoculars - it has the plus and minus adjustment marks on the side! Perfect

FYI Dobsonians like my Odyssey 8 (nickname Big Red) are strict alt-azimuths, visual only newtonian reflectors, with super cheap but durable and steady parts (the primary tube is cardboard sonotube used for pouring concrete!); yet configured cleverly, they can easily operate above 200x. And they have fast, but solid optics.

Anyway, these Odysseys are bulletproof, awesome, and at any moment put you FIVE minutes away from looking through the eyepiece. Which you just can't beat. This thing is a member of the family, and heck, my wife wouldn't let me get rid of it even if I wanted to!

It's even 100% American designed and manufactured and assembled. Good stuff.

p.s. I'm including some pictures from the planetary work I did just last night:

Here's an old Dob trick - for high power work, cut a piece of cardboard into a circle which matches the primary opening, then cut a 2 inch offset hole in that (which avoids the secondary mirror and supports) then hang it with a piece of velcro from the rim - voila! You now have a KILLER Herschelian unobstructed reflector, which works high power up to the limits of the alt-az stand. And it works like a dream (if, of course, your dream is a 20lb 50mm Herschelian!) But it slays for the moon and planets...

Primary 200mm (off-axis stopped down to 65mm here), 900mm focal length --> f/13.8
1st picture is w 17mm Plossl --> 52x
2nd picture is w 10mm Plossl + 2x Barlow --> 180x
Last picture is Big Red in Herschelian mode
Attachments
Odyssey 8 Herschelian Mode.jpg
Moon at 180x.jpg
Moon at 52x.jpg
DozerBolt from Northern California
Odyssey 8" Dob, Dynamax 6" Cat, Orion Shortube 90mm, Restored Tasco 9F 60mm, Meade EclipseView 82mm tabletop;
Orion 9x63 Little Giant AK roofs, Orion Ultra 2x54 Galilleans, Vortex Crossfire HD 12x50 roofs, Nikon Owl II 7x50, Atlas Eagle Owl 10x50 Porros;
Swift Audubon 8.5x44 804b(2), 10x42 Orion Otter ED SP Roofs, more;
"My other telescopes are Hubble and Spitzer"
User avatar
The Happy Parrot
Pluto Ambassador
Articles: 1
Offline
Posts: 498
Joined: Mon May 13, 2019 10:03 am
4
Location: Massachusetts
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#2

Post by The Happy Parrot »


Hey, that's a really good tip on the 65mm offset hole, and that is a beautiful dob.

Thanks, DozerBolt!
User avatar
NGC 1365 Australia
Saturn Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 368
Joined: Mon Dec 02, 2019 8:30 am
4
Location: NSW Australia
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#3

Post by NGC 1365 »


I remember the Astronomy magazine adds from the early 80's, always wanted a Coulter scope, especially the 13 inch.
Ivan
User avatar
DozerBolt
Earth Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun May 03, 2020 11:49 pm
3
Location: Northern California
Status:
Offline

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#4

Post by DozerBolt »


They are still out there if you poke around! I really wanted the Odyssey compact at first, but my astronomy mentor said "the best telescope is the one you will USE!" The Compact (10.1 inch) is much larger than this one, and it would have been a bear to haul all the places I've taken this guy. In hindsight, this was the perfect size for me, "it's lasted longer than most of my relationships!" And this is the perfect chair height to observe from, as well.

Still, if you feel the itch, get one! They are cheap and tough and lovable and capable...
DozerBolt from Northern California
Odyssey 8" Dob, Dynamax 6" Cat, Orion Shortube 90mm, Restored Tasco 9F 60mm, Meade EclipseView 82mm tabletop;
Orion 9x63 Little Giant AK roofs, Orion Ultra 2x54 Galilleans, Vortex Crossfire HD 12x50 roofs, Nikon Owl II 7x50, Atlas Eagle Owl 10x50 Porros;
Swift Audubon 8.5x44 804b(2), 10x42 Orion Otter ED SP Roofs, more;
"My other telescopes are Hubble and Spitzer"
User avatar
Unitron48 United States of America
Local Group Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 2747
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:48 am
4
Location: Culpeper, VA (USA)
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#5

Post by Unitron48 »


Great looking scope! I just acquired one on loan that has been setting gathering dust. Hope to get it out under dark skies after some TLC!!

Dave
Odyssey8_02.jpg
Odyssey8_01.jpg
Unitron (60mm, 102mm), Brandon 94
Stellarvue SVX127D
http://www.unitronhistory.com

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
User avatar
kt4hx United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 4
Online
Posts: 3489
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:18 am
4
Location: Virginia, USA
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#6

Post by kt4hx »


The main thing about the Coulter mirrors were their variability. You never knew for certain just what you would get. There were some really good ones and some clunkers. I bought a 17.5" Odyssey II about 1980 which had a pretty good mirror though slightly under-corrected, which was fairly common for them. The structure was a behemoth and exceedingly heavy, even for the strapping young man I was at the time. :) My first view of M51 through the scope was a paradigm shift for me as the views of the famous galaxy were nearly photographic in appearance. From that moment on, the majority of my observing has been the pursuit of galaxies.

However, in time I grew very weary of the ginormous structure, as well as growing older and less strapping, so I got rid of all the plywood and sonotube. The truss dob you see in my avatar has for some time been the home of the re-figured and re-coated Coulter optics. The old thick Pyrex optics live on and scooping galaxy photons at our dark site where it is permanently housed in the garage of our second house in the mountains of western Virginia. :)
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?” (Scarecrow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
User avatar
DozerBolt
Earth Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun May 03, 2020 11:49 pm
3
Location: Northern California
Status:
Offline

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#7

Post by DozerBolt »


Also, I must give some serious love to perhaps the most magical, yet underrated component - the stand! 30 years in, it's still this bizarre combination of butter-like motion from the Teflon thumbtacks/ plastic bearing combo, which yields near- perfect, finger pressure balance. It's an alt-az that can track literally anything.

It's kind of hard to describe how good it is considering the Neanderthal components - and a face only a mother could love! Cheesy black painted pressboard? 30 years in and it's exactly as good as the day it was made. Crazy. But crazy good! If you ever get a chance you simply must try one and see for yourself...
DozerBolt from Northern California
Odyssey 8" Dob, Dynamax 6" Cat, Orion Shortube 90mm, Restored Tasco 9F 60mm, Meade EclipseView 82mm tabletop;
Orion 9x63 Little Giant AK roofs, Orion Ultra 2x54 Galilleans, Vortex Crossfire HD 12x50 roofs, Nikon Owl II 7x50, Atlas Eagle Owl 10x50 Porros;
Swift Audubon 8.5x44 804b(2), 10x42 Orion Otter ED SP Roofs, more;
"My other telescopes are Hubble and Spitzer"
User avatar
helicon United States of America
Co-Administrator
Co-Administrator
Articles: 584
Online
Posts: 12275
Joined: Mon May 06, 2019 1:35 pm
4
Location: Washington
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#8

Post by helicon »


I saw these in Astronomy Magazine ads back in the 80's. Slightly beyond my price range as a teenager. So I made an 8" Dob. Really wished I had had one. But it was not to be at the time.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
User avatar
kt4hx United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 4
Online
Posts: 3489
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:18 am
4
Location: Virginia, USA
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#9

Post by kt4hx »


This is the 17.5 inch Odyssey II - not mine but the same outrageously bulky and heavy structure!
Odyssey II.jpg
Odyssey II.jpg (5.63 KiB) Viewed 18920 times
Then there was the short-lived and rarely bought special order 29 inch Coulter. Again another gigantic tribute to the times!
Coulter 29 inch.jpg
Coulter 29 inch.jpg (24.93 KiB) Viewed 18920 times
A unique part of amateur history but I do not miss the structure from my Odyssey II in the least. The thing had a total weight of around 300 lbs when totaled up! I was young and I was strong, but sheesh! :lol:
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?” (Scarecrow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
User avatar
DozerBolt
Earth Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun May 03, 2020 11:49 pm
3
Location: Northern California
Status:
Offline

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#10

Post by DozerBolt »


@Unitron48 - great score! It looks kind of like Captain America right when he was pulled out of the ice - "He's Alive!"

And @kt4hx, re: optics, yup, so I've heard, but a couple of things (1) I just got lucky - and yet maybe not! As you know, smaller mirrors are simply easier to configure, so I'd bet that the percentages of good 8" Coulter mirrors is probably higher... as you can see from the pictures, I think mine is pretty good;

and (2) your back - spot on! The 8" is small, and short! It fits in the trunk of any car in 3 minutes, in or out. Big Dobs are truly Humongous (what a picture!), "portability is not an option" unless you have a team of Sherpas! I think my mentor may have been on to something...

Of course, as the Navy SEALs say, "anything worth doing is worth overdoing!"
Last edited by DozerBolt on Sat May 09, 2020 3:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
DozerBolt from Northern California
Odyssey 8" Dob, Dynamax 6" Cat, Orion Shortube 90mm, Restored Tasco 9F 60mm, Meade EclipseView 82mm tabletop;
Orion 9x63 Little Giant AK roofs, Orion Ultra 2x54 Galilleans, Vortex Crossfire HD 12x50 roofs, Nikon Owl II 7x50, Atlas Eagle Owl 10x50 Porros;
Swift Audubon 8.5x44 804b(2), 10x42 Orion Otter ED SP Roofs, more;
"My other telescopes are Hubble and Spitzer"
User avatar
Unitron48 United States of America
Local Group Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 2747
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:48 am
4
Location: Culpeper, VA (USA)
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#11

Post by Unitron48 »


Just located an ad for the Odyssey 8 in the June 1984 issue of S&T...

Dave
ST_Odyssey8.jpg
Unitron (60mm, 102mm), Brandon 94
Stellarvue SVX127D
http://www.unitronhistory.com

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
User avatar
Unitron48 United States of America
Local Group Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 2747
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:48 am
4
Location: Culpeper, VA (USA)
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#12

Post by Unitron48 »


Having nothing better to do in "self-quarantine", I found these additional ST advertisements (1981 and 1982) :)

Dave
ST_Odyssey 1.jpg
ST_ OdysseyGroup_1982.jpg
Unitron (60mm, 102mm), Brandon 94
Stellarvue SVX127D
http://www.unitronhistory.com

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
User avatar
kt4hx United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 4
Online
Posts: 3489
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:18 am
4
Location: Virginia, USA
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#13

Post by kt4hx »


Thanks for the adverts Dave. In the second image, the middle scope, bigger than the guy, is the one I had! At the time I kept it in the house (back in Indiana) in a spare bedroom. When I deployed I would move the parts using a dolly through the house and out a doorway into the bed of my pickup. Drive them to the far end of the house and wrestle the base and OTA out of the truck and marry them up. Then put the mirror in. It was a major production. What we will endure sometimes to get a peek at the sky! :)

Eventually I wised up and built a roll off roof observatory and just kept the mirror in the house. Sure made life easier. I had no plans, no idea how to build one other than a few pictures and a general idea of the concept. It was ugly as sin, but it worked and did what it was intended to do. :lol: But I am much happier now with the truss structure and the ability to roll it out of the garage over there any time I want to use it using wheel-barrow handles.

Funny thing in retrospect is that I never once thought about attaching wheel-barrow handles to the old structure in order to move it around easily! :doh:
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?” (Scarecrow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
User avatar
DozerBolt
Earth Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun May 03, 2020 11:49 pm
3
Location: Northern California
Status:
Offline

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#14

Post by DozerBolt »


Hah! That's great @Unitron48 - I see they are showing the "Premiere Line", you know, the one with an actual focuser! Interesting to note that, although mine is later, it has the more primitive plastic friction slide tube; not my favorite part of the scope, but hey, it's muy authentica - and the doggone thing just continues to work! Plus, I guess it's more in the spirit of John Dobson... CHEAP (but effective)

p. s. That picture of the dob sticking out of the station wagon looks like a homemade Rail Gun!

p. p. s. See @kt4hx, it even had it's own bedroom! I tell ya, they become members of the family...
DozerBolt from Northern California
Odyssey 8" Dob, Dynamax 6" Cat, Orion Shortube 90mm, Restored Tasco 9F 60mm, Meade EclipseView 82mm tabletop;
Orion 9x63 Little Giant AK roofs, Orion Ultra 2x54 Galilleans, Vortex Crossfire HD 12x50 roofs, Nikon Owl II 7x50, Atlas Eagle Owl 10x50 Porros;
Swift Audubon 8.5x44 804b(2), 10x42 Orion Otter ED SP Roofs, more;
"My other telescopes are Hubble and Spitzer"
User avatar
kt4hx United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 4
Online
Posts: 3489
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:18 am
4
Location: Virginia, USA
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#15

Post by kt4hx »


DozerBolt wrote: Sat May 09, 2020 3:42 pm
p. p. s. See @kt4hx, it even had it's own bedroom! I tell ya, they become members of the family...
That was indeed the case then, but I do not miss that structure in the least as it was truly a load off my back to get rid of it! :) Life is much better with a more portable housing, plus the mirror is better performing after being re-figured and re-coated. In general, it served its purpose then and I enjoyed it immensely, but I am much happier with it now. :)
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?” (Scarecrow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
User avatar
DozerBolt
Earth Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun May 03, 2020 11:49 pm
3
Location: Northern California
Status:
Offline

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#16

Post by DozerBolt »


@kt4hx, absolutely - and I was looking at your dob thumbnail - clever, good looking, functional, and I love that the Coulter optics live on in a modern Dob body.

How long did it take you to settle on that design? To build it? Please post a picture or two here in higher resolution, I'd love to see more...

p. s. The nickname 'Big Red' is an inside joke - many Dobsonian owners consider an 8" too small to be a 'real dob' so my guy is basically the " jumbo shrimp" of dobs 😉
DozerBolt from Northern California
Odyssey 8" Dob, Dynamax 6" Cat, Orion Shortube 90mm, Restored Tasco 9F 60mm, Meade EclipseView 82mm tabletop;
Orion 9x63 Little Giant AK roofs, Orion Ultra 2x54 Galilleans, Vortex Crossfire HD 12x50 roofs, Nikon Owl II 7x50, Atlas Eagle Owl 10x50 Porros;
Swift Audubon 8.5x44 804b(2), 10x42 Orion Otter ED SP Roofs, more;
"My other telescopes are Hubble and Spitzer"
User avatar
kt4hx United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 4
Online
Posts: 3489
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:18 am
4
Location: Virginia, USA
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#17

Post by kt4hx »


DozerBolt wrote: Sat May 09, 2020 4:28 pm @kt4hx, absolutely - and I was looking at your dob thumbnail - clever, good looking, functional, and I love that the Coulter optics live on in a modern Dob body.

How long did it take you to settle on that design? To build it? Please post a picture or two here in higher resolution, I'd love to see more...

p. s. The nickname 'Big Red' is an inside joke - many Dobsonian owners consider an 8" too small to be a 'real dob' so my guy is basically the " jumbo shrimp" of dobs 😉
I don't have much in the way of photos other than the avatar. I have attached a larger version thereof. It is pretty much a standard truss style design with the rocker box and base, truss poles and upper cage. I did not build the structure myself. I ordered it from a company called AstroSky, which was based in Louisiana. The owner James Grigar built it in 2009. I had the mirror re-figured and re-coated by OMI in Iowa. They then shipped the mirror to James who did the final build with the mirror so he could bet the structure properly sized and then field tested before shipping it all back to me.

AstroSky is no longer in business as James retired from building, but he had a solid reputation in the ATM community and was a very nice person to deal with. He did post a few pics on his website at the time, but that has long since been closed. My wife took the picture attached at our dark site. I always leave the scope fully assembled in the garage at that house with a large tarp over it to keep the dust off. I leave the nylon light shroud on all the time. Not only does it block light from entering the mirror box at night, but it also keeps dust out and protects against dew.

The other house is located in the western part of the state in an area with some of the darkest skies east of the Mississippi. The skies are very reminiscent of those we had in southern Indiana back in the 1980s. The county (Highland) is the least populated in Virginia and nestled up against the West Virginian border and has no industry. We are nestled in a valley at about 2,700 ft elevation with mountain ridge lines to the east and west which mitigate the spread of sky glow from distant populated areas. During the summer the Milky Way is very bright and highly structured from horizon to horizon. So it is a terrific place to have that aperture readily available to facilitate my galaxy hunting. :)

Just to clarify, I am the fat one with the cap in this below picture! :lol:
17.5 cropped.jpg
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?” (Scarecrow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
User avatar
Unitron48 United States of America
Local Group Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 2747
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:48 am
4
Location: Culpeper, VA (USA)
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#18

Post by Unitron48 »


Couldn't help myself! Had to show you one more!!

Dave
ST_Odyssey_29.jpg
Unitron (60mm, 102mm), Brandon 94
Stellarvue SVX127D
http://www.unitronhistory.com

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
User avatar
kt4hx United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 4
Online
Posts: 3489
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:18 am
4
Location: Virginia, USA
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#19

Post by kt4hx »


Unitron48 wrote: Sat May 09, 2020 7:56 pm Couldn't help myself! Had to show you one more!!

Dave

ST_Odyssey_29.jpg
That is a nice ad Dave. That big 29 incher was a real rarity. I remember when I bought my 17.5 incher in 1980 (I believe) it was listed for $1195 plus FOB. The freight truck delivered it to my place of work and we put it directly into the bed of my pickup from the semi trailer. Two crates (OTA and base), plus a heavy cardboard box with the primary. The secondary was already mounted on a single piece of heavy flat stock steel (or iron) that was bolted to the tube at two points. I still have a few bits and pieces I took off the structure when I disposed of it. I also still have the primary mirror box as well, and it should be 40 years old now I reckon. :)
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?” (Scarecrow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
User avatar
DozerBolt
Earth Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun May 03, 2020 11:49 pm
3
Location: Northern California
Status:
Offline

Re: Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian

#20

Post by DozerBolt »


Hey Dave - this IS the Odyssey thread after all - post away!
Here are some from my "personal collection":
Owner's Manual, Product sheet (the typos drove me crazy so I corrected them, in red!)
And the cover of the Odyssey Order Guide, with all the OEM parts and prices from '89!
Attachments
Odyssey Order List.jpg
Odyssey Data Sheet p1.jpg
Odyssey Owners Manual.jpg
DozerBolt from Northern California
Odyssey 8" Dob, Dynamax 6" Cat, Orion Shortube 90mm, Restored Tasco 9F 60mm, Meade EclipseView 82mm tabletop;
Orion 9x63 Little Giant AK roofs, Orion Ultra 2x54 Galilleans, Vortex Crossfire HD 12x50 roofs, Nikon Owl II 7x50, Atlas Eagle Owl 10x50 Porros;
Swift Audubon 8.5x44 804b(2), 10x42 Orion Otter ED SP Roofs, more;
"My other telescopes are Hubble and Spitzer"
Post Reply

Create an account or sign in to join the discussion

You need to be a member in order to post a reply

Create an account

Not a member? register to join our community
Members can start their own topics & subscribe to topics
It’s free and only takes a minute

Register

Sign in

Return to “Other telescopes”