New 12" GSO R/C Truss Arrives

[loc46south (Geoffrey)]

After a long wait at 3 pm this afternoon the carrier arrived with the new GSO 12" R/C Truss that I had ordered - It arrived packed in a double cardboard carton and the telescope was secured by styrofoam inserts. The carton was a bit the worse for wear but I was releaved to find the telescope has survived intact. The telescope is big, bigger than I expected and noticeably bigger than a 12" Mead SCT OTA - which means I will have to rebuild the Roll On Roll Off Roff of my observatory to fit it in.

The build quility is good and it comes with a crayford focuser plus 3 extension rings. I have already swapped out the stock focuser for a motorised Moonlite. I have yet to check out the collimation and mirrors, this will have to wait for the expected bad weather to clear and for me to fix the observatory roof.

Some photos attached for those interested - also one member asked if it came with covers for the mirrors, it does not.

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

What a Beauty ... Looks very Impressive....

Col....

[batema (Mark)]

That looks fantastic. Have a ton of fun.

Mark

[omegacrux (David)]

Those things look so good

David

[allan gould]

I'm so tempted by one of these and will be really interested to see how you get on with the scope. Are you going to let it ride on the G11?
Allan

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by allan gould

I'm so tempted by one of these and will be really interested to see how you get on with the scope. Are you going to let it ride on the G11?
Allan

The Bintel guys reckon the 12" is a bit heavy for a G11. They might have been trying to sell me an EQ8 to go with it, but ~$8500 for the two was a more than I could spring on the management. The 10" would be fine on a G11.

[loc46south (Geoffrey)]

I'm going to try it on a G-11 - it's big and bulky but not that heavy - I can lift it without difficulty. I've seen C-14's and 12" Mead OTA's on G-11's and they performed OK - I don't see why this should be any different - most of the weight is right over the mounting plate. We will soon find out. Earlier I was tempted to get a Paramount MX but the horror stories I have heard of the QC problems with them put me right off.

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

There are a few images on astrobin from a 12" Gso RC mounted on a neq6 - so I'm considering also ordering one of these and mounting it on a G11. I hope you keep us informed as you get going with this combination, I'll certainly be watching with great interest.
Good luck !
Cheers,
Andrew.

[DaveNZ (Dave)]

Scope looks great. I'm interested to see how it goes. Weather is still cloudy for you maybe better in a couple of days.

What did you think of the GSO focuser? I swapped the Gso 3" out for a 2.5" moonlite on my GSO 10 f4.

Cheers Dave

[loc46south (Geoffrey)]

Dave if you have a close look at the last pic you will see a heavy duty Moonlite Electronic already bolted on.

[DaveNZ (Dave)]

Yes, I see it. Thanks geoff