Orion Goto Dobs Announced

[AG Hybrid]

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=goto_computerized/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=08952 (http://www.telescope.com/control/product/%7Ecategory_id=goto_computerized/%7Epcategory=telescopes/%7Eproduct_id=08952)

Comes in the 8", 10" and 12" varieties!

Bingo! Theres my next scope :D I hope it wont be obesely expensive when it gets to Australia.

-Adrian :thumbsup:

[Visionoz]

IMHO looks like a SW FlexDob's tracking motordrive and dressed in Orion's gray color!!

Cheers
Bill

[mic_m]

There is another IIS thread about the Orion XTg dobs here: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=56560

[MortonH]

I was told by one of Sydney's biggest retailers that the Skywatcher auto-tracking Dobs don't actually track very well, so not sure how good the GOTO Dobs will be. He reckoned it might take a few generations before they get it right.

[mic_m]

The Australian pricing is in for these and they aren’t cheap: http://www.sirius-optics.com.au/index11.htm

I was hoping that they might be about the price of the SW Autotracking dobs, but they are several hundred dollars more.

If you do the math to work out the implicit shipping cost to Australia that is included in the price of these scopes (based on the prices on the Sirius website), the shipping for the XTg series is very high compared to the XTi and XXi series scopes they have for sale.

[PeterM]

What is the pricing of the Skywatcher GOTO dobs?

Peterm.

[mic_m]

The skywatcher Autotracking dobs are AU$1499 for the 10" and AU$2399 for the 12" at Andrews: http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm

[andrew2008]

I think Peter was trying to point out the SW dobs are not go to all. Only auto tracking. You still need to find the object. With the Orions you DON'T, hence the extra $$. Money i'd be willing to spend on one if the quality is good.

I moved from a 10" dob to an 8" SCT on a HEQ5 to get tracking and go to but the 12" at same price has me considering going back for the aperture.

[PeterM]

That's right Andrew thanks. The SW Dobs are listed as auto tracking. Sirius Optics haven't got prices yet for the SkyWatcher GOTO so there is no comparing Dobs with Dobs (at Sirius Optics) just yet.

PeterM.

[mic_m]

I realise that there has been some hearsay about the SW’s Autotracking's GOTO ability but I assume that Andrews is selling the SW Autotracking dobs that appear on the SW website which apear to be GOTO capable (they are explicitly stated to be GOTO capable on the SW site), but perhaps you need to buy the SynScan controller separately to achieve this.

Here is the link to the scope on the SW website:
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?id=172&class1=1&class2=106

I did not mean to imply that the price of the XTg should be in line with the SW soley because thay are simmilar scopes made by the same manufacturer. Rather, it was my comparisons based on the implicit shipping costs of other Orion dobs that led me to expect the price to be close to the SW.

Consider the following for the 12” Orion XTg:

The AU price is $2810 which is about US$2615.

The US price of the 12” Orion XTg is $1599.

So the implicit cost of shipping those dobs to Australia is (US$2615- US$1599) US$1016.

Do the same calculations for the 12” XTi which is 8kg lighter than the XTg, but about the same dimensions, and you get a shipping cost of US$500.

Do the same calculations for the XX14i which is 9kg heavier then the XTg and you get a shipping cost of about US$800.

So the shipping cost of the XTg is substantial, being US$200 more to ship than the XX14i and US$500 more than the XTi.

Given the preceding I was expecting a shipping cost somewhere between the 12” XTi and XX14i, about US$650 for the XTg. Add this to the US price of $1599 and you would get a total cost of US$2249 (AU$2412), a price close to the SW.

IMHO the pricing of the Orion XTi and XX series in Austrlaia is very reasonable at the moment it is just the XTg series that seems expensive based on my reasoning above.

[Satchmo]

Skywatcher released the auto tracking dobs at the time because they had not ironed the bugs out enough for good GOTO performance. I would assume there are some hardware and software tweaks in the newly released GOTO dobs and its not just a matter of buying a different hand paddle.

[mic_m]

On the SW site there are two 12” Autotracking/GOTO dobs;

The first is the Autotracking which is stated to be GOTO capable (I realise that the quality of this system has been debated):
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?id=158&class1=1&class2=106

This is a firsthand report of the GOTO ability of one of these scopes with the SynScan added - it appears to work:
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=3265288&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=all&vc=1

The second comes with the SynScan as standard, I beleive it is a different version, possabley the same as the Orion (it appears to have a different base to the Autotracking scope above):
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?id=172&class1=1&class2=106

Anyway, I don’t have one of these scopes, nor have I ever used one; all I'm going off is the manufacturers website and peoples reports of use. Indded is is possable that the Orion could have a G2 tracking system that is better than the original SW system.

But the point that I really wanted to conveay was about the pricing of the XTg reletive to the Other Orion dobs, not about the SW.

I have amended my previous posts to refer to the SW dobs for sale at Andrews as Autotracking (instead of GOTO); their advertised name.

[brightstar]

The price for the Orion XX12 and 14i has had to be increased by a couple of hundred dollars due to an increase in freight rates from the US. Orion underestimated the cost of freight for these scopes but did not renege on their quoted price to me. Remember that the XTg 'GOTO' Dobs are a long solid tube and not a collapsiable one like the XX12 and 14's and therefore attract bigger freight costs as the airlines cube everything out. Do not go on the scope weight alone, a tube assy that weights 15kg can and most likely will cube out to 70 or 80kg and this is what you pay for.
Sirius Optics endeavouras to charge the US Retail price converted to $A at the time of purchase plus freight and GST only.
The Orion 'GOTO' Dobs have heavy duty motors in them as opposed to the SW Auto Tracking Dobs but the SW Dobs can be made into GOTO's as we have done this and all are working very staisfactorily. Want to know how to convert? Buy one from us and we will tell you.

Ron:rofl:;)