meade truss tube dob now available

[h0ughy]

http://www.bintel.com.au/MeadeLightbridge.html

yes guys Bintel has just posted this. Now where is that GS dob????????

here is the meade link http://www.meade.com/lightbridge/

the costs look as though they range from (in US dollars)

STANDARD DELUXE
8" $469 $569
10" $649 $749
12" $949 $1049

I noted that Meade did not mention a 16 inch on the official site!


LIGHTBRIDGE 8", 10" 12" and 16"
Truss Tube Dobsonians
It's not just a big telescope. It's a big telescope that goes anywhere. New LightBridge truss-dobs from Meade take down and set up quickly. So you can take one of these massive windows on the universe out to your favorite dark sky locations with ease. LightBridge dobs give you high quality Meade optics, premium components, and ultra portability - all for about the same price as an ordinary tube dob. So get a LightBridge truss-dob. And prepare to cross the universe..




FEATURES STANDARD DELUXE
Diffraction Limited Optics (BK7 Optical Glass) • •
Meade Optical Coatings • •
2" Crayford-Style machined aluminum focuser with 1.25" adapter • •
Red Dot Finder •
Advanced Red-Dot Finder (includes four reticles) •
Steel RA roller bearings •
24mm Series 4000 Super Plossl Eyepieces •
26MM QX - Wide Angle Eyepiece (70" field-of view) •
Built-in Primary Mirror Cooling Fan • •


• Diffraction Limited Optics (Bk7 optical glass) Meade optics consistently outperform telescopes of similar and larger aperture. Consumers know that “Meade Optics Inside” means that what they see through our telescopes will be views that are detailed, crisp and full of contrast.

• Meade Optical Coatings Aluminum Coatings with magnesium fluoride over coat provides bright images full of detail.

• 2" Crayford-Style Machined Aluminum Focuser With 1.25" Adapter Smooth precise focusing is achieved with this classic design. A unique focus tension knob and focus lock design gives complete control over focus.

• Built-In Primary Mirror Cooling Fan Bring the telescope into thermal equilibrium quickly and efficiently with the battery powered cooling fan. The fan is mounted to the rear of the “vented” primary mirror cell for fast cool down.

• Steel RA Roller Bearings (deluxe model only) Roller bearings make movements smooth and effortless.

• Red Dot Finder (standard model only) Red dot finder makes locating objects quick and easy.

• Advanced Four-Reticle Red Dot Viewfinder (deluxe model only) Four reticles and varying brightness controls allow this deluxe finder to adjust to your observing needs.

• 26mm Series 4000™ Standard Model This is a Premium 4-element 1.25" eyepiece with a stunning 52° Apparent Field of View.

• Super Plössl Eyepiece 26mm QX™ Wide Angle Eyepiece Deluxe model This premium eyepiece has a 2" barrel, and boasts a whopping 70° Apparent Field of View

EASY TO ASSEMBLE


Metal Optical Tube with 2" Focuser Lightweight Aluminium Trusses Metal Optical Tube with Primary Mirror Cell Solid Base
SPECIFICATIONS: 8" STANDARD 10" STANDARD 12" STANDARD 16" STANDARD
Optical Design Newtonian Reflector Newtonian Reflector Newtonian Reflector Newtonian Reflector
Clear Aperture 203mm (8") 254mm (10") 318mm (12") 406mm (16")
Focal Length, Focal Ratio 1016mm f/6 (8")
1270mm f/5 (10") 1524mm f/5 (12") 2030mm f/5 (16")
Primary, Secondary Mirrors Aluminum coated with coated magnesium fluoride over coat. Mounted in adjustable mirror cell. Secondary mirror aluminum coated with magnesium.
Maximum Practical Visual Power 500x 600X 600X 800X
Eyepiece Meade 26mm Super Plossl. Deluxe models are equipped with a Meade 26mm QX Wide Angle Eyepiece
Optical Tube Assembly (OTA) Metal open Truss Design Metal open Truss Design Metal open Truss Design Metal open Truss Design
Materials White with black trim swivel base with Teflon bearings for both altitude and azimuth. Deluxe models are equipped with steel roller bearings for azimuth
Focuser 2" Crayford style focuser
with 1.25" adapter 2" Crayford style focuser
with 1.25" adapter 2" Crayford style focuser
with 1.25" adapter 2" Crayford style focuser
with 1.25" adapter
Cooling Fan Battery Powered Fan Battery Powered Fan Battery Powered Fan Battery Powered Fan
Red Dot Viewfinder Standard Red Dot Viewfinder. Deluxe models are equipped with a deluxe 4-reticle Red Dot ViewFinder

[davidpretorius]

anyone want to buy my 10"???

any prices anywhere????

[xrekcor]

That pretty easy, just take the US price convert it to AUD then double it for Bintel then add GST.

I'm interested in looking at the 16" though but if it cost the same price can get
a mirror grinded here by one of Oz's pro's then may will probably reconsider.

Already by looking at the photo's it looks like the struts will be the first thing
to replaced. They just dont look all that ridged to me. All in all they do look good.

regards,CS

[xrekcor]

Just a thought! I wonder how many bugs they managed to put into this one hehehe.... :ashamed:

[iceman]

hmm that looks really nice..

Competition for the GS versions! The 12" looks like it might be around $2-2.5k, given the price conversions etc. Not cheap compared to under $1k for the tube version from GSO.

Will be interesting to see how the GS ones compare, if they ever do come out.

[dhumpie]

They look great and they may be the first GS or Synta dob prototypes to hit the market paving the way for the 16" later (or should I say earlier next year). More reason for me to wait until I have more upgrade cash :) My take on it is let the first batch come out and let some other people do the troubleshooting. Then when the dust settles get the scope :)

But they do look cool nevertheless....

Darren

[xrekcor]

You see those Celestron 12" dobs going for 2k, funny I never have seen one
in the field. But hey I've only ever been to 2 star parties. I think it would be
a no brainer going for the 12" GSO.

I wonder if the 16" version possibly has a GSO mirror.

regards,CS

[xrekcor]

Sorry for the off post, But I did notice Bintel offering Astronimiks 1.25" filters
for $129.00 each in NOV AS&T, that must be a typo!! I know they're showing
the cheaper EUHC for <200mm aperture scopes. But they seem to have
replicated the price on the rest. If it isn't a mistake now is the time to get a
few if you want excellent quality filters

regards,CS

[netwolf]

I thought that a closed tube would be better to combat light pollution.

Regards

[iceman]

You can put a light shroud around them to combat stray light.

[h0ughy]

Well Mike, you would have to deduce that they (GS) will come out, and that to head them off from dominating the market with a cheap fold down dob, meade have "invented" there own. Now the interesting bit is if they have gotten GS to manufacture the components and meade assemble in the US. Maybe this is how GS can come up with there own version of this truss design and without breaking copyright market them. I hope that they are cheaper in cost but comparable in quality :)

[dhumpie]

Wasn't the 12" GS dob mirror american made? I always though they were...I know that the smaller ones (6", 8", 10") are all taiwanese made.

Darren

[Starkler]

The only light that matters is the light that can reach the eyepiece.

If light is reflected off the primary at some oblique angle that wont make it to the eyepiece who cares? There are some considerations like light comming in from underneath the secondary cage and illuminating the inside and light scatter from dirt on the primary.
Other reasons for having a shroud is keeping dew and dust off the primary, and preventing thermals from body heat entering the light path.

[xstream]

The 16" would certainly be worth thinking about as an alternative to building my own, depending on the mirror.

[h0ughy]

OK, some more goss.

I just spoke with Mike from Bintel. All advice and information gained by twisting Mike's arm until he gave up his secrets ;) are purely speculative :P as the information Broke yesterday as news. Yes Meade are looking at a 16" but when they will come out with the goods ia anyones guess. The other sizes would be due to hit our shores early next year. Now for the oh no :scared: bit, there must have been a deal between GS and Meade, where by Meade have exclusive rights to the design, so that means there will not be a GS version anytime soon. So with respects to my other thread on the 16" GS, that may answer the question of its impending arrival.

It seems to have been the Meade all along???

Now save your pennies Ladies and gentlemen, and wait for day to draw near......... :help3: :wink2:

[xrekcor]

That fits with what I have known all along is that GS were making these truss dob
for a US firm. Maybe it's a lil harder than first thought to mass produce a 16" mirror.
Or maybe they needed to redisign the box to take a 16" and found it wasn't cost
effective... who knows


regards,CS

[Starkler]

I wonder if Lee Andrews knows anymore about this?
C'mon Ken, get on the phone to your mate :lol:

[xrekcor]

Yeah!!! Ken!

See if Lee will source the 16" mirrors, hell I'll have a go at building one.

regards,CS

[h0ughy]

I sent lee the link to this thread!!!! :)

[xrekcor]

Did you manage to twist his arm enough to get rough pricing in AUD$?

regards,CS

[h0ughy]

Sorry, my interrogation skills need refreshing :lol:

[xrekcor]

Time for some retraining... I hear there is the odd camp in the middle east
that could help you out :) :ashamed:

Hey Wow! my msg count has finally surpassed the membership count!!

regards,CS

[ving]

looks good...

buy me that big one!!!! :D

[iceman]

Mike emailed me about it (the Meade truss dobs) and regarding price (which I asked), he said

So, read into that whatever you choose I guess :)

Whatever the price is, I think they'll sell quite well.

[h0ughy]

hey Mike ;) the little toucammy on the 16 would be nice :P

[davidpretorius]

Mick Pinner,

now if i we can get you some 16" mirrors............................ .........?

[dhumpie]

Wow wow. Timing seems to be perfect if it is going to be available next year. better start penny pinching :)

Darren

[mick pinner]

Lee Andrews and GS have done a deal and Andrews have exclusive rights to marketing the 16" in Australia, there goes competitive pricing.

[h0ughy]

When did you find this out Mick? was this recent News?

[mick pinner]

go to Andrews site and click on telescopes.

[xrekcor]

Maybe not, If Lee can do a deal directwith GSO then he'll cut out Meade and
ship out of the US tax, and may get the same mirror in a GSO setup alot cheaper.

Maybe wishful thinking on my part :prey:

regards,CS

[slice of heaven]

John(asimov) had a link to that just recently.

So how can Lee have exclusive rights to the 16" gs if their also being branded as Meade who supposedly have the exclusive rights for the 16". Or is Meades deal only restricted to the US and it's open slather here.

Anyhow, that's a very sweet looking scope.

[h0ughy]

http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm for those who don't know where to look. thanks Mick!

[xrekcor]

It's will be the same mirror but in a GSO built structure and the other in the Meade built structure. It's a pretty common practice.

regards,CS

[iceman]

hmm, that's kinda disappointing but I guess it's to be expected.. after all, Bintel have Televue exclusive rights.

I guess it will be interesting to see how the scopes differ, what the price and feature differences are between the Bintel Meade version and the Andrews GSO version.

[xrekcor]

Could be why Meade doesn't yet list the 16" model on their site too! maybe Bintel are jumping the gun on that one.

[xrekcor]

Just got an email from Lee @ Andrews

didn't see this posted here, forgive me if it has already....

Quote from his email on the 16" GSO Dob

"The price will be about $2499 and we hope to receive them from GSO in March, 2006"

That's not too far away : ) and I think a reasonably good price for something of that
aperture.

regards, CS... if only!!!

[h0ughy]

WooHooo, now I need to save the pennies, anyone want a nagl... oh no wont do that. Might have to rationalise the armoury??????? ;)

[janoskiss]

Are you serious?! :scared: You expect me to get through a whole summer with just 8 inches of aperture? :lol:

Sorry, after a night of galaxies, I'm bugbitten. But it will pass hopefully... :help:

[xrekcor]

I've been using my 8" for two years now and it still rocks my boat lol, although I tend
to think because I live in the bush under beautiful dark skies the 8" does well. Still I am
hankering for aperture. Galaxies aren't too hard to nab from here in the 8" but I would
like to see more spiral armage. Have been waiting awhile for this to surface 4-5 months
more is cool it'll give me time to save up, and also buy the 20mm t5 off Houghy lol

The price is good $3500.00 with an Argo Narvis, just what I'm look for. It will be a better
step up than going to 12" from 8".

regards,CS

[Starkler]

Looking at the design of the Meades, I reckon the base assembly will be huge on the 16 inch. :eek: and I think too big for many cars.

Compare it to a compact design 16 inch truss dobb like this.

[h0ughy]

:lol: N20t6 or sale for 2499 :P

[xrekcor]

Done!! :P

regards,CS... looking like maybe

[xrekcor]

Hey Geoff,

Did you buy that Dob? ...was looking at it myself as I saw it up at AstroFest two things
annoyed me about that scope A) the lil star cutouts glued to the side, which I thought
looked pretty tacky B) the mirror had several marks on it. Never did get to look through
it. Still apart from those two things it looked ok.

regards,CS

[h0ughy]

hang on where did the decimal point come from :scared: :sad:

[ballaratdragons]

What decimal point?

[h0ughy]

Ops sorry guys off topic, my error.
Rob, the big question is going to be supply and quality. There might just be a few eager people out there and some 12" scopes for sale early next year.

[astroron]

The upper tube assembly for my 16" fits into my rocker box and the trusses fold up into one piece, fits most modern medium to large station waggons. I think that 16" scope is still for sale at Sirius Optics at Underwood. :thumbsup: :)

[Starkler]

I enquired about it and learned that it had Meade optics. The meade mirrors of that time had something of a bad name I learned.

[xrekcor]

Actually my next thought on that was, ok we got a general cost, we got a
possible date. Now who is going to be the ginea pig and buy the first one :)
and tell us if it's any good

regards,CS.... wow I actually got a couple in last night.

[xrekcor]

Oh ok, I just thought someone must of brought as the last time I look on
Sirius Optics used gear page it had been removed. Boy how long has he
been trying to sell it. He had been trying for some months prior to Astrofest.

regards,

[slice of heaven]

Maybe Lee could send one to Mike for a full test and review ;)
I think he owes the site at least that much :)

[iceman]

Hey that's a good idea Geoff :) I'll also speak to Mike @ Bintel regarding the same, when the Meade versions come in. :)

[slice of heaven]

Should be a few planets worth toucamming by then too.

[xrekcor]

I knew there was something else about it I didn't like, you could alway send
it down to Mark Suchting to refigure.

regards,CS

[xrekcor]

No offence intended Mike, but if that can be arranged any chance we can get
someone with a few more years of experince with optics and truss dobs in
general to do a review?

regards,CS

[iceman]

No offence taken, Rob.

Anyone is welcome to do a review and i'll put it on the site if they get their hands on one. Alternatively, if I can get my hands on one, i'll be inviting John Bambury and Andrew Murrell (hector) to do the field review with me.

[xrekcor]

Interesting Bintel appears to have removed the Meade Light Bridge page off their site.
Anyone know or remember what the focal ratio was on the 16"?

http://www.bintel.com.au/MeadeLightbridge.html

[h0ughy]

refer the beginning of the post

[xrekcor]

ok, humour me, as there are 6 pages of posts which one are you refering too? :confused: I must of missed it somewhere

regards,CS

[xrekcor]

ooop's ok I'm humoured :juggle: , I think I have Mars still bouncing around in my head
from Last night lol. I was looking for a post that had the reason they removed
it as apposed to your post that had the info I was after :ashamed:

regards,CS

[h0ughy]

this one right at the beginning

[Starkler]

Yep I even emailed him for a price on doing just that. In the end I decided it was all too much to buy such a homemade scope site unseen.

[Starkler]

I Just noticed that all references to the 16" truss and the GS refractors have been removed.

[h0ughy]

Quite true :scared: ! Well they are playing Ducks and Drakes :lol: !! both bintel and andrews :P

Remember it is all vapourware until it hits the shores!!

[xrekcor]

I think you might find that Lee was inundated with email that badly he had to
remove it from his site, now I guess everyone will email him and ask what's
happening lol... silly bugger maybe should of left it. I think he spent most of
the weekend answering email about it. I got my reply Sunday afternoon.

regards,CS ...not yet : (

[janoskiss]

Flood him with emails? Way to drive up the price, guys! :P It's looking more and more like my dream Dob will have to be an ATM project.

[Starkler]

Could be something to do with the posts I made in the American yahoo and CN groups. :doh:
They were speculating as to the manufacturer of the Meade dobs.
I could imagine Meade jumping on GS and then GS complaining to Andrews....
Or Bintel complaining to Andrews...
Or.....

[netwolf]

Does anyone make Truss kits in australia? Those who have ATM'd one maybe willing to share there plans. I have seen some cool designs beign shared on CN. One in particular I noted folded down into a box. I think the key with most big dobs boils down to portabiliy as with surburban light pollution they would not be an ideal backyard scope.

[h0ughy]

:)
Thats a shame really. it just makes you specualte more and want to know more goss, specs and want the thing on your doorstep tomorrow, rather than next march ;)

Hey did we poor aussies actually have some news the northerners didn't know. now thats news! :P

[xrekcor]

Actually it would not be anymore different than your usual scope. If you are
saying that because of aperture the effects light polution will be worst,
therefore a smaller aperture scope will perform better is incorrect. This has
been discussed on a few groups amoung people that I respect for what they
say, some have been in the hobby for several decades. That old wives tale, I
believe started out on the side of a well known brand of department store
scopes packaging, some years back. The same brand that still to this day
show fancy pictures of the views of what you will see threw their piece
of junk, no to mention the others statement they tend to make ie: a 60mm
refractor pulling 500x . It's a proven fact that although larger aperture
magnify sky glow it will still out perform a smaller aperture.

regards,CS

[astroron]

Peter Reid from Shepparton Victoria makes Truss dobs, Peter Robbins 30" a 25" and 22"for a couple of other Queenslanders,also John Connelly from the Gold Coast also makes them,I have some plans made but they are being used by someone else at the moment.
As I mentioned in an earlyer post My upper tube assembly fits inside my rocker box and the trusses fold together.
My mirror is a Meade mirror and have no complaints about it, and it was given the thumbs by more opticely experianced people than me
astroron :thumbsup:

[Stu]

I think the real advantage is that the large aperture allows you to use narrow band filters that block the sky glow.

With a small instrument you are stuck with the sky glow, but less likely to look for faint fuzzies.

[xrekcor]

You wouldn't use narrow band filters just to get rid of sky glow, narrow band
filters are used to tease out certain emission lines from an object, correct me
if I'm wrong :confuse3: Sky glow you would use say a CLS filter from astronomiks
which is designed to limit sky glow and can be used on all aperture sizes ;)

regards,CS

[janoskiss]

My DGM narrow band is great for gaseous nebulae from my light polluted back yard, but not much else. Definitely no help with clusters or galaxies. I lose about 3 magnitudes to light pollution compared with darker skies 150 km away.

[xrekcor]

There is a good reason for that, Neb filters are for nebula, they tend to tone
down unwanted star light, Dust disc of galaxies are mainly made of star
light so your filter will be useless on galaxies. A light polution filter like the
one I mentioned above will be better for you. they let in everything except
artifusal <-- Mmmmm... ummm err.... man made light ie street lighting...etc...etc...

regards,CS

[xrekcor]

Every time I hear someone mention Peter Robbins 30"er I get all lagooned out
and start doing a Spanish dance(r) for 1365 reasons only to fly through
the "Spare Tyre" . I should hide behind a Veil but I had to come out to see
a Trifid Bloom :P

regards,CS

[h0ughy]

you forgot to say that was at 3am in the morning at -3deg C with a 2" meade 26mm ultrawide eyepiece ;)

[xrekcor]

Some thing you wanna ferget :cold: and somethings you want to remember :scared: sorry I fergot about the 2" meade 26mm ultrawide eyepiece :ashamed:

regards,CS

[h0ughy]

All is forgiven, realy doesn't matter which eyepiece was in there Peter gave us a great tour, even when he put in that 5mm eyepiece, that really accentuated the turbulance in the atmosphere on that glob he put his scope onto, I know it wasn't tuc47, but in that thing it was almost as good. :)

Basically we were drunk on stardust! :lol: :lol:

[xrekcor]

Tis why I'll be going all week instead of 5 nights next year, those first few
nights with not too many folks there allowed us to get unhindered access
to the big Dob!!! and a quick rotation of objects, before the crowds on Friday
and Saturday. Infact I think I'll even bring a bottle of good Port next year
to keep the cold at bay and spend those nights just going :jawdrop: garrr :jawdrop: garrr :prey2: :drink: :prey2: :drink: :prey2: :drink:

regards,CS

[h0ughy]

this was taken from Bintel's online shope site. Good news Peoples!!


"Meade Lightbridge Deluxe 12" Dobsonian
It's not just a big telescope. It's a big telescope that goes anywhere. New LightBridge truss-dobs from Meade take down and set up quickly. So you can take one of these massive windows on the universe out to your favorite dark sky locations with ease.

Diffraction Limited Optics (Bk7 optical glass) Meade optics consistently outperform telescopes of similar and larger aperture. Consumers know that “Meade Optics Inside” means that what they see through our telescopes will be views that are detailed, crisp and full of contrast.

• Meade Optical Coatings Aluminum Coatings with magnesium fluoride over coat provides bright images full of detail.

• 2" Crayford-Style Machined Aluminum Focuser With 1.25" Adapter Smooth precise focusing is achieved with this classic design. A unique focus tension knob and focus lock design gives complete control over focus.

• Built-In Primary Mirror Cooling Fan Bring the telescope into thermal equilibrium quickly and efficiently with the battery powered



$1,499.00




Stock code: 7113 "


now where is the 16" ;)

[iceman]

I think we've all agreed that there won't be a 16" Meade? GSO are producing the 16" as their own brand.

As for this 12", $400-$500 more for truss as opposed to steel tube. Is that extra portability worth it? I guess it depends on the individual, how big their car is, etc.

[janoskiss]

The title of this thread is cruelly misleading.