Andrews Communications

[Juno]

Is Andrews Communications a good company when considering GSO scopes?

[casstony]

Andrews and Bintel are both long established and reliable businesses to buy from.

[Juno]

Originally Posted by casstony

Andrews and Bintel are both long established and reliable businesses to buy from.

Thank you.

[04Stefan07 (Stefan)]

Yep!

I have dealt with Andrews on many occasions and they always aim to help you find the right product and offer excellent service.

[Juno]

Originally Posted by 04Stefan07

Yep!

I have dealt with Andrews on many occasions and they always aim to help you find the right product and offer excellent service.

Thats great to hear!

Can they collimate a scope, if the person is not that confident?

I was looking at the Guan Sheng GS-880 10" f/5 ASDX.


Im kind of torn now between this one and Sky-watcher version.

I have time to think it over though.

[Juno]

How are the views through the Guan Sheng GS-880 10" f/5 ASDX?

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

if you want to have the scope collimated - buy from Bintel
to my knowledge, Bintel open the box and check collimation before delivery
i believe Andrews does not (will stand corrected on this point if needs be)

geoff

[dylan_odonnell (Dylan)]

Can confirm Bintel will check equipment before it goes out.

Also they have a much better website

(Disclaimer - I built their website)

d

[doug mc]

My last scope a Bintel 8inch asdx was well collimated straight out of the box. It has the best optical figure of any scope I have owned. Was able to see sirius pup for the first time with it, Jupiter detail also excellent. If I was to get another scope, it would be a bigger GSO dob. The mount is a pleasure to use. Smooth movement with no stiction even at high power. Just get the 10. ASDX.

[sharpiel]

Originally Posted by dylan_odonnell

Also they have a much better website

(Disclaimer - I built their website)

d

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

to Andrews , yes their web page was designed by Noah's geek nephew but their service is awesome , .

I have got lots off them over the years and never had a problem ,,,,, except the time I ordered a 150mm f5 SW refractor and they sent a 150mm f5 reflector , but a few phone calls and the refractor was on its way and they payed the return shipping for the reflector , no problems , just great service and good quality gear .

Brian.

[casstony]

Juno, if you happen to live near a shop buy local. The shop should have a Dob on display and they could show you how to collimate the scope with a laser collimator. After you've been shown once it will only take a couple of minutes to do it yourself.

[Juno]

Originally Posted by brian nordstrom

to Andrews , yes their web page was designed by Noah's geek nephew but their service is awesome , .

I have got lots off them over the years and never had a problem ,,,,, except the time I ordered a 150mm f5 SW refractor and they sent a 150mm f5 reflector , but a few phone calls and the refractor was on its way and they payed the return shipping for the reflector , no problems , just great service and good quality gear .

Brian.

Would you have any idea of the optical quality of the 10" Guan sheng GS-880 ASDX? I saw it advertised by Andrews for $799 and was wondering how the scopes mirror performs on planets and deepsky objects.

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by Juno

Would you have any idea of the optical quality of the 10" Guan sheng GS-880 ASDX? I saw it advertised by Andrews for $799 and was wondering how the scopes mirror performs on planets and deepsky objects.

Optically they are OK, but don't expect 1/50th wave RMS for eight hundred bucks....

....but mechanically they are not great, you will have to replace the focuser with a feather touch or similar for imaging applications, which will add to the cost.

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

As Peter said for $800 for a 10 inch Dob is basically that ,
the money has gone into the optics not the mechanics '

But don't be discouraged as every GSO 10 inch Dob I have ever looked thru has had good - excellent optics and one of our members here has one one it has some of the best optics I have ever looked thru bar none , just exquisite .

If you do a Google on ' How to make my Dob mount better ' you will find 1000's of utube and other sites giving instructions on making them easier to use and it wont cost a bundle just your time ,,, its time well spent as you will get to know the scope better .
There are also a few right here on IIS that are help full in the 'Projects & Articles' section .

I disagree with Peter on the focuser tho , you really dont want to spend $600 for a FT ( as good as they are , and thats VERY good ) on an $800 scope ?? , as always old 'Mate' Google has all the info on how to fix the standard focuser , that's if it even needs it as the newer ones are way better than they were say 5-10 years ago , perfectly OK for visual .

Most of all just enjoy the views 10 inches can give , that's if you decide to buy .

Brian.

Originally Posted by Juno

Would you have any idea of the optical quality of the 10" Guan sheng GS-880 ASDX? I saw it advertised by Andrews for $799 and was wondering how the scopes mirror performs on planets and deepsky objects.

[casstony]

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

Optically they are OK, but don't expect 1/50th wave RMS for eight hundred bucks....

....but mechanically they are not great, you will have to replace the focuser with a feather touch or similar for imaging applications, which will add to the cost.

Assuming Juno is a beginner the GSO Dob is an entirely decent scope. No need to worry about comparing it to the highest end equipment.

[Juno]

Originally Posted by casstony

Assuming Juno is a beginner the GSO Dob is an entirely decent scope. No need to worry about comparing it to the highest end equipment.

Yes, sorry I should have said Im a beginner in the hobby. I currently have a 4.5/900mm reflector and want to upgrade to a nice Dob.

[Juno]

Originally Posted by brian nordstrom

As Peter said for $800 for a 10 inch Dob is basically that ,
the money has gone into the optics not the mechanics '

But don't be discouraged as every GSO 10 inch Dob I have ever looked thru has had good - excellent optics and one of our members here has one one it has some of the best optics I have ever looked thru bar none , just exquisite .

If you do a Google on ' How to make my Dob mount better ' you will find 1000's of utube and other sites giving instructions on making them easier to use and it wont cost a bundle just your time ,,, its time well spent as you will get to know the scope better .
There are also a few right here on IIS that are help full in the 'Projects & Articles' section .

I disagree with Peter on the focuser tho , you really dont want to spend $600 for a FT ( as good as they are , and thats VERY good ) on an $800 scope ?? , as always old 'Mate' Google has all the info on how to fix the standard focuser , that's if it even needs it as the newer ones are way better than they were say 5-10 years ago , perfectly OK for visual .

Most of all just enjoy the views 10 inches can give , that's if you decide to buy .

Brian.

Thanks so much, that makes me feel better about the scope lol! I was concerned about it optically performance on planets and deep space wise.

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

No worries , the one over here that a mate owns gives such good views of the planets and deep sky ( easily as good as my C9.25 on the planets that has a focal length of 2350mm compared with his 1200mm fl , that is his 10 inch GSO takes magnification well , easily 300x plus and its not the optics that are the weak link here its the Dob mount as it gets hard to keep a planet centred at these mag's ) it's scary that optics this good can be had for such a small price , not even a dream 10-15 years ago . We are so lucky .

The Chinese have come a long way in optic manufacture in a short time .

Brian.

Originally Posted by Juno

Thanks so much, that makes me feel better about the scope lol! I was concerned about it optically performance on planets and deep space wise.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Andrew's been around for a while. Always great to deal with. Their website might be old but still not out dated. It loads faster than some and easy to navigate and find the info you're after. That's all that matters in the end. Not bells and whistles.