Review of the new GSO 16 incher

[coldspace]

For your info. http://www.astromart.com/articles/article.asp?article_id=660 sounds good buying.

Matt.

[jjjnettie]

Thanks Matt.
A good read.

[erick]

Yes, apart from a few things that are not too hard to fix (springs, straylight shield, fix the staples in the teflon etc), he is giving it a good review.

One thing I didn't understand. The centre of gravity can be altered at the altitude bearings. It looks like it needs a screwdriver to loosen two screws then slide the OTA forward or back, then tighten. I wouldn't have thought that was a job one would do between eyepiece changes, but he seemed to be suggesting that he was doing this?? He says "all I had to do was crank down the ALT bearings". Or perhaps he meant - tighten the bearings?? What do you understand by this?

[dugnsuz]

I thought that he was loosening/tightening this...

This does look innovative on a mass produced Dob, and is the element that the reviewer seems to love about the scope.

(I'll wait though till Andrews are selling them for $399)

[gary]

Hi Erick,

The trunnions on either side of the lower part of the OTA (i.e. the mirror 'box')
can be adjusted in two ways.

Firstly, there are two screws on each trunnion that, when loosened with a Philips
head screw driver, allow the trunnions to slide up and down slots on the side of the
OTA. This then changes the center of gravity of the OTA. Since both trunnions
are identical, one needs to adjust both to prevent the OTA being skew and a
graduated scale helps the operator determine they will be at the same height.
This is certainly not an operation you are likely to perform each time one
changes to a different weight eyepiece.

The second level of control is provided by the large aluminium knobs. Tightening
or loosening them controls the function of the needle thrust bearings and one
can therefore control the amount of stiction the OTA has in altitude. Tighten
then way up and the OTA will not shift under gravity.


Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[erick]

Thanks Gary, that makes much more sense. Sounds like a GSO altitude stiction system that really works! Eric :)

[Kevnool]

Kev is now in decision about the gso 16 or the lightbridge 16 now a big question for Gary ( wildcard innovations )how will the argo navis connect to this alt bearing ? this could influence my decision greatly...cheers Kev.

[gary]

Hi Kev,

Thanks for the question.

We already can provide an encoder kit solution for the LB 16 today and have them in
stock.

As you are aware, the GSO 16 is only a new mount. However, an encoder installation
kit is currently in development for it as well and we hope to make an announcement
in the coming weeks. The kit will be end-user installable, however, one of
the metal altitude trunnions, which are easily removable, will require modification.
We anticipate some vendors will provide scopes with trunnions made encoder-ready
by us when you buy the scope. Alternatively, we will provide a service whereby
you mail us one of the trunnions and we will modify it for you. The trunnion will
still operate as normal even when the encoder is installed.

As this is a new product in development and all such developments are not without
some technical risk, we advise not to make a purchasing decision based on
this product preview until we have completed testing and made an official product
announcement.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[Kevnool]

Thx for the reply gary when you make the announcement you`ve got to let me know......i,ll buy the gso and the argo unit and wait for the encoders to become available till your announcement + i,ll get the encoders for my 10` light bridge so i can swap the main control unit between the two scopes....cheers Kev.

[gary]

Thanks Kev,

When we make the official announcement, I will drop you a line as a heads-up.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Wildcard Innovations Pty Ltd