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This review is based on my many "inspirational" observing experiences through my 18" Obsession. I hope you enjoy reading about my personal experience with this fine scope and even find it useful in helping you make your decision on selecting an Obsession as your own instrument of a lifetime.

The Decision

Let's start by taking you back to the beginning of my quest for the perfect deep-sky scope; before Obsession. After many years observing through smaller instruments and cycling through "aperture fever", I was finally ready for my very own "final upgrade"! I determined there were two paths I could take: 1) high-tech computerized telescope with GPS and loaded with "features", or 2) pure simplicity and quality aperture. The former would take me down the path of digital astrophotography and merge my interest of computers with astronomy while the latter would take me down the path of observational deep-sky astronomy in one of its purest forms.

I seriously contemplated going for one of Meade's new-fangled RCX400s. This would satisfy all of my computerized astrophotography adventures for years to come. As I was going through my evaluation "soaking period", my thoughts swayed more and more towards the simple elegance of pure observational deep-sky astronomy. I began thinking it wise to let the faster-paced computer technology run its course while I maximized my visual enjoyment through larger aperture and simpler mechanics. Indeed, some time in the distant future, I fully intend on rounding out my astronomical portfolio with a "higher tech" scope (probably after they bring out the RCX5000) and then again, based on my experience with the Obsession so far, perhaps that distant future may remain very distant for many years to come.

As I was heading down the path of determining the one instrument that would give me my best mileage, I browsed the web and read the multitude of reviews on Dave's Obsession Web site (www.obsessiontelescopes.com/). It didn't take me long to realize that the Obsession was exactly what I was looking for. I had finally pegged my primary choice instrument: a beautiful 18" Obsession. As I continued my research, I came to the clear conclusion that there was really no substitute for elegant simplicity combined with pure quality. Let me just say now, based what I've experienced with my own 18" Obsession, I believe Dave's design has reached the epitome of the ideal "commercial" deep-sky observational telescope!

Yes, I had made my decision. I would purchase the beautiful, top-quality, fine-craftsmanship 18" Obsession Telescope. After many years of "star hopping" and getting to know my way around the night sky, I felt fully prepared for a high-quality large-aperture telescope. My last 14+ years of owning a beautiful Televue Genesis 4" have made me appreciate top quality optics and mechanics. Indeed, I was looking forward to "benchmarking" the mechanical and optical performance of the significantly larger Obsession!

Another key factor in my decision to go for the Obsession was my family moving to a new private "Dark Sky" location where I could "wheel" the Obsession straight out of the garage and enjoy my own private dark sky. The only limiting factor was the horizon was limited to -10 degrees dec. (just enough to catch Orion nebula and Rigel) due to very tall trees on my South horizon. Even if we eventually move from this location, the portability and set-up time of the Obsession are very attractive when considering I could easily pack it to go in our Minivan!

Of course, the final, final decision was made in consulting with my dear wife who gave me the "go ahead" that I should get the biggest scope I could practically use while providing me with a lifetime of quality astronomical enjoyment. Yes I love my wife very much and her "balanced" encouragement for my hobby :) I was now ready and confident to get the telescope of my dreams!

The Order, Arrival, and Setup

As soon as I made the decision, I e-mailed Dave with great excitement and anticipation. I was pleasantly surprised when he responded directly to me almost immediately! I placed my order on Friday, February 25th, 2005 including the following:

1. Obsession 18" f/4.5
   
2. Shroud
   
3. 2" Barlow-Laser Collimator
   
4. Starlight Feather Touch Focuser

Dave promptly replied with some great suggestions and feedback to further "calibrate" my order to my needs. Thank you, Dave!

The mirror arrived first, on Thursday, March 10th. It came directly from Galaxy in a secure, well padded ~50 lb box, about 2' square and 6" thick. I was amazed it only took about 1 week to arrive (shipped on Thursday, March 3rd). My very own beautiful 18" primary mirror arrived safe and sound and I dared not open it until I was ready to assemble the full scope.

Dave had my scope completed and ready for shipment by Monday, March 14th! Right after this, it was packed / shipped to my new home by Friday, March 18th. Dave was extremely helpful through the whole order and Margo was a great in arranging smooth packing and shipping.

My scope arrived in perfect condition a week later (Friday, March 25th) in 4 boxes from UPS: one box each for trusses, upper tube assembly, mirror box, and cradle. As I commenced the "unpacking "ceremony", I wanted to take it all in and enjoy building this instrument so I decided to do it all inside our living-room! I was impressed by the solid quality of the packing and as each piece revealed itself, it was quite clear to me the attractive quality of this instrument. What a beauty (I loved seeing the wood finish with my own eyes in my own house!)... I was ready and very excited about carefully assembling my Obsession.

Before getting too excited, I sat down and read all of the documentation and also watched the excellent video Dave produced on assembly and maintenance of his Obsession line. I successfully set-up and collimated my scope, enjoying every fine detailed step along the way.

After the scope was completely assembled in my living-room, I waited patiently for clear skies up here in the North West while Thunder Storms continued to roll through! It was already such a rewarding experience ordering and receiving my scope while appreciating the fine attention to details incorporated into the Obsession design! I was now a very happy and proud owner of a beautiful Obsession... Next step, "first light"...

First Light

After many patient days and nights (actually, weeks and months) of waiting for a good clear night here in the Northwest, the clouds finally cleared to give me a chance to "test drive" my new Obsession! I must say it is the most pleasing and joyful instrument to use with absolutely beautiful views through optical and mechanical excellence!!!

My first night was partly cloudy with a crescent Moon and Saturn in Gemini. I went through my new ritual of setting my Obsession up, letting it cool down and arranging my observing table with chairs in preparation for the nights observing with great anticipation. Using the barlowed Laser, I was able to collimate the scope very easily during the cool down period (actually, far easier than I would have thought). I gave my new Obsession about 1 hour to settle to ambient temperature then immediately pointed towards Saturn. As I was aligning the scope with the Telrad and scanning for Saturn, I couldn't believe my eyes to "accidentally" see the Eskimo Nebula casually pop into view so bright! What a wonderful surprise to see this so bright and distinct! I could clearly see the inner ring with outer "parka" smoke ring. From this point onwards, I knew my observing experiences would forever be changed to a new level of enjoyment!

I nudged my new scope over to Saturn and my first impression was how crisp and clear and intensely bright it was! Quite blinding actually. With this enhanced brightness came amazing clarity and color definition and contrast. I've never seen Cassini's division and the bands look so well defined. What also struck me was there was a "loose cluster of stars" hovering around Saturn that were clearly its moons! Wow, so enriching. I watched and popped in various eyepiece combinations and was able to push to 400x with my 5 mm Nagler. What amazed me was how transparent and smooth the mechanics were. I was able to easily nudge and track Saturn at this high power and capture beautiful moments of steady seeing where I couldn't believe the details that would reveal themselves to me. For the first time in using a telescope, I felt like I was purely observing and the telescope became a "transparent" extension to my vision. By the time I became conscious of myself expressing my amazement aloud, clouds started coming in too thick for the Obession to penetrate so I had to sigh and pack up for another night. However, I ended the night with a big smile on my face knowing that when the next time was right, this baby will reveal many more beautiful views of the heavens to my eyes.

I had to wait again for some time before I could go out a second time and again it was partly cloudy. Oh well. that's the Northwest for you. All the more reason to get the best view you can afford with what precious observing time we have. This time, I started in Leo. and let me just tell you that I stayed in Leo for as long as I could until the clouds came in again! The galaxies are simply beautiful through this scope. They appear everywhere :) I'm very familiar with star-hopping but I never thought I would be doing "galaxy-hopping"! You really need Uranometria 2000 (which luckily I had) in order to identify all of the galaxies you stumble upon while scanning. It really is a deep sky observers dream come true. Yes, the clouds game in again and another smile on my face :)

My third night was finally clear but with a full moon! I thought, "why not". let's see what the Obsession can do in the "worse conditions". I was not disappointed. I was still able to check out the galaxies in Leo and while the contrast was reduced, the views were very pleasing. It was simply great to be free to swing this scope around without any restrictions and have another night of fine observing.

Finally, the night I'd been waiting for had arrived. no moon and perfectly clear. Rather than write a single paragraph of my experience, let me just say it was awesome and I had the Obsession swinging from object to object like a dream.

Since those first couple of nights, I logged many hours and hundreds of objects (actually, 480 and counting) and enjoyed many repeated visits to my favorites (M51, Veil!!!, Cats Eye, Omega, Dumbell, Ring, Orion, 891, 4565, M5, M33, M81/82, M106). I am happy to say that the summer in the Northwest is absolutely beautiful (both in day and night) and I had many great nights letting myself become obsessed with my wonderful Obsession instrument.

The Experiences (of a lifetime)

Over the course of becoming a seasoned Obsession observer and developing a keen sense of what this instrument can do, I jotted down my inspirational thoughts as I logged my observing sessions. Here are the "highlights" for your enjoyment:

• Imagine starting out each observing session by using the detection of M51's spiral arms as your benchmark before diving into fainter deep sky objects.
  
  
• It's a great feeling when you know your way around the sky (I think it is an essential part of astronomy). What's really cool is when you're able to swing this baby through the "Gems of the sky" by heart.
  
  
• Honestly, you quickly adapt and become accustomed to the consistent enjoyment of an Obsession! It never lets you down.
  
  
• With it's great aperture, I often find that the sky rotates too fast since I can easily spend 1 hour observing 10's of objects in one quadrant of a constellation.
  
  
• The views this scope give to me are often so breath-taking that I often find myself talking to myself aloud saying things like "nice", "very nice", and "just beautiful". Indeed, I have entered into the "Obsession Zone" :)
  
  
• Imagine pointing your telescope and finding galaxies not shown on Sky Atlas 2000... You're talking U2000 and "galaxy hopping" (not only star-hopping). We're talking cruising the heavens in "style" :) Galaxy groups and clusters are within your grasp...
  
  
• Galaxies are everywhere! You start to get used to easily seeing NGC 6207 in Hercules near M13 and NGC 6552 near Cat's Eye Nebula which is, by the way, absolutely beautiful in my 11 mm Nagler at 184x, taking on a 3D perspective...
  
  
• Beautiful Planetary Nebulas, Galaxies, the central star and structure in the Owl Nebula, M81/82, 4565 dust lane, M51 Whirlpool!!! M64 Black Eye... Galaxies galore in Leo! The list goes on forever and so does the enjoyment.
  
  
• Imagine observing your favorite deep sky objects at 400 x comfortably and with pleasure on nights of steady seeing. Life is good with the Obsession :)
  
  
• Dave's recommendation for getting the OIII was excellent! I cannot tell you enough how superb observing the Veil Nebula is with this scope and filter. Talk about "cruising the Veil in style". Tendrils, twisting, turning, islands, protrusions, inlets, waves, knots, and every possible word you can use to describe nebular structure :) You simply have to see this with your own eyes.
  
  
• Good and sturdy. With the mechanical performance of this scope, I find nothing is missing like I though might be without tracking. So smooth at 404x with my 5 mm Nagler!
• "Easy on the eyes" both in day and night. Very comfortable viewing for long nights you feel relaxed while observing.
  
  
• As I re-observe objects from my past (before Obsession), I find myself reclassifying "bright" on my observing notes! Objects that were barely discernable or invisible in smaller scopes are distinct and "comfortable" to view even at higher powers through the 18".
  
  
• You don't even think about the scope you just observe... The instrument is so seamless you simply focus on the joy of viewing rather than "fiddling" with the instrument wishing for this or that... what a joy!

Additional Recommendations

Here are some hints I can offer based on my experience to maximize the enjoyment of your Obsession experience:

• You'll want to read the instructions on this baby :) You'll be pleasantly surprised as the "zip-lock" bag unveils its secrets as you assemble the scope. Quite an enjoyable experience and all part of the pleasure of owning such a grand instrument :) Dave has his Obsession "bill-of-materials" package down pat...
  
  
• No need for counter-weight. The natural tendency without eyepiece is to slightly pivot upwards. I ended up using the "shroud bag" around one of the support rods at the upper tube assembly filled with the barlowed laser and the tube has perfect balance.
  
  
• Dave commented that he's been using Galaxy for 17 years and Torus for the last 7 years and both have top notch quality while complimenting and supporting the supply while keeping up with demand.
  
  
• The Feather Touch focuser is absolutely perfect supporting all my range of eyepieces and barlows (from 40 mm PENTAX to 5 mm Nagler or 11 mm Nagler with 3x Barlow). Solid performance with incredibly smooth movement, long range of focus, robust for holding heavy eyepiece combinations and adjustable base. The way I see it, why not match mechanical excellence together if you're going for the best (no compromises). Werner (Starlight Instruments) was extremely helpful with helping explain how to rotate the focuser.

Memories and Closing Comments

To give you an idea how excited and how much anticipation / patience I had about getting my very own 18" Obsession, I still remember the first time I looked through such a large telescope. It was a 17.5" Dob around 1986 (when I was a teenager) at a star party up in Canada. This first experience had left such a big impression on me that I still remember viewing the "Eskimo Nebula" with detailed structure in the "face" and outer ring. It was such a long time ago, I forgot the name of the pair of interacting galaxies I was looking at but I remember seeing clear structure and "antenna" along with other galaxies showing clear mottling, spiral structure and well defined features using direct vision rather than averted vision... I also remember that I wanted to see much more and point the telescope myself to whatever I wanted. This lasting impression has been with me all these years and now that I'm all "grown up" and have "earned" my very own Obsession, there is no more rewarding experience than to own such a top-notch telescope that allows me to dig deeper into the sky for many years to come!

After 20+ years of observing through smaller instruments, nothing beats the combination of quality optics, elegant simplicity, mechanical excellence and pure aperture! What can I say, I allowed myself to indulge and become fully Obsessed :)

Thank you so much Dave, for creating this wonderful instrument for my lifetime enjoyment and the enjoyment of many other fortunate amateur astronomers around the world!

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