GSO scopes: Are they any good for astroimaging?

[Star Hunter]

I'm thinking of getting an GSO 8" 10" or 12" OTA scope to use with a Canon 60Da. What are the pros and cons of these scopes and how good are their RC's? Does anyone know the tube length and weight of the 8, 10 and 12" OTA scopes?

[Barrykgerdes]

The secret to good imaging is to get the best mount you can and don't overload it. The OTA's available today are all quite good for imaging but some get better results than others. A 12" OTA will require a very heavy duty mount probably costing much more than you are prepared to pay.

A good 80mm refractor with a 5" or 6" newtonian on a EQ6 mount using one or the other as the guider will probably give far superior results for a beginner

Barry

[allan gould]

The 8 or 10" GSO RC will be OK on the EQ6 but definately not the 12". I was going to get the 12" for my Losmandy G11 mount but decided not to as it was too heavy. Weight of the GSO 10"is 21Kg the same as my 10" SCT. My 10"GSO RC gives great detail and you may need an Astrophysics CCDT67 focal reducer to cover the DSLR chip with a flat field.
Hope that helps.

[2stroke]

There newts are grate value for the dollar, though they use bk7 over pyrox glass so cooling times can be an issue. The springs in the newt cell's for the dob's anyhow are to soft, besides that there very nice. I have never used or seen one of the RC's but from what iv'e read and herd they seem like another good bang for buck. I think someone here asked awhile back with gso rc vs celestrons cXX's and most replies seemed postive, both have there pros and cons. Lol thats one fine mount you have drool ......................... Paramount GT1100

[clive milne]

Jay... the BK7 substrate has lower thermal mass though a higher coefficient of thermal expansion, meaning it will maintain its correction slightly (imperceptibly) worse than pyrex but will reach thermal equilibrium slightly (imperceptibly) faster than pyrex and show less interference from tube currents whilst doing so.

The quality of the optics in GSO's up to 12" are unlikely to win any awards but are absolutely fine for imaging.

The issues that prevent these scopes from routinely challenging high ticket price OTA's are mostly mechanical in nature.

~c

[2stroke]

cheers for the heads up clive :) looks like i've being misled :(