Guang Sheng 8", 10", 12'

[astronut]

It appears that G.S.O. will be selling their 8", 10", 12", along with their 16" early next year. So hold off on those Meades until you've seen the others. cheers, John:)

[Starkler]

I take it that you mean that GSO will be directly selling 8,10,12 inch truss dobs?

[janoskiss]

I want 16 or more portable inches! Else I'll stick with my 8".

[Starkler]

I'd take a 14.

[Stu]

I'm sure some dealers wouldn't like hearing that but the reality is that we all would have done this anyway.

What really suprises me is that a lot of people, in another country (which shall remain nameless; in case they get pissed off and bomb us ;) , although that would be complicated because then we would have to join in and bomb ourselves :o ) seem to have no idea who the real manufacturer is. This goes for any scope really. After all the Orion 80mm semi-apo is a "clone" of the William Optics scope (ZS80) not the same scope.

Tell me this, who in their right mind would grab a compeditors scope, decide to "clone" it, pull it apart, spend heaps of money reverse engineering it and be able to get it into production within a few months of the original companies release date and with same performance spec's? This would be prohibitively expensive.

The only way it would be possible is to send the scope to china and get them to reverse engineer it (they are clearly the best in the world at this) but in this time frame the chinese would just go to the original manufacturer in Taiwan and buy the scope for cheap with a few different fittings (cheaper), print "Orion" and send it to the U.S.

No major globally successfull company will do this because they will know how to get it cheaper. They will cut the middle man and go straight to Taiwan. The Taiwanese are prefectly capable of printing "Orion" on a scope.

Same with the GSO scopes and Meade. Maybe it's because we are closer to SE Asia that we take more notice of there economies and actually know how they make their money. :confused:

Or maybe we as aussies are just so naturally cynical that we never belive any of the advertising...or anyone. Even our mates we know are bulls***ing most of the time.

[ving]

i'll have 2 16"s and a 15.3" thanks :)

[astronut]

Geoff, 1. Yes
Steve 2. unfortunately I can't fit a 16" in my Laser, only a 12"
Stu 3. Yes, and the Orion is actually a clone of the Saxon scope
Dave 4. We're getting greedy now. Hope to see you at the next meeting. Full of great guest speakers next year. Cheers, John

[Stu]

Sometimes I just get in one of those moods. Sorry for the big slab of text.

I will be instrested to see how many second hand GSO dobs there will be on the market. I don't think I'd buy one though because I don't really like the bearings too much in the solid tube version. Hopefully the truss version is smoother.

[ballaratdragons]

I was about to write "Do you want fries with that?" but then I noticed we are in the 'Equipment Discussions' area, so I won't say it.

I will stick with my steel tube 12" as I am very happy with it. But if someone wants to swap a new GS 16" Truss dob for my genuine 'JOHN DOBSON AUTOGRAPHED' 12" steel tube Dob then I may consider letting it go!

Very interesting that GS will be making Trusses in all the sizes! There must be a market for them or they simply wouldn't bother. At least it gives the High quality optic/low price buyers more options and that is good.

[astronut]

Hi everyone,:) well if the g.s. scopes are similar to the meades, they should have a roller bearing setup for the azimuth movement ( deluxe model only ) and I know that Meade are fitting a friction brake for the alt bearing in their production models, this should fix any problems with heavy accessories;) . Cheers, John

[iceman]

As far as I know, the Meade are made by GS and rebranded as Meade. Sure, they may be made to Meade's specifications instead of GS, but they'll use the same mirrors and I'll bet they'll be almost exactly the same in every other aspect.

I think it's a great thing that a mass-produced 16" is coming out. The GS quality is good, they're affordable, and it will satisfy aperture fever for those on 8" and 10"'s. Whether the people with 12"'s can justify an upgrade is debatable, but i'm sure some people will.

Plus, the truss will definitely be more portable than the long tubes we have now (especially the 12") and will be easier to fit in the car and take to dark skies!

I wouldn't mind seeing a picture of the GS truss dobs though.. to see how similar they look to the Meade Lightbridge.

[astronut]

Hi Mike, I unfortunately found out that the 16" won't fit in my Laser. Oh well I'll have to put up with the 12" Ha, Ha!!;) . I have a Unitron 4" refractor at the moment. Cheers, John

[Starkler]

John if you have dimensions for the 16 incher Im sure many of us would be interested to know :poke:

[h0ughy]

well you have just described the 80's and 90's battle between Meade and Celestron, which has fuelled the fire of hardened debate and a few court cases in the US between the company's. :P

[astronut]

Geoff, I don't have the measurements yet. I'm just going on the measurements of the Meade clones. Fortunately the box for the 12" just fits in through the openings in my Laser, going by that I would have to say that the 16" box won't fit into my car:sad: So I'll just have to put up with the 12";) . Cheers, John:)

[ving]

I dont want to sound like a nag, but are you sure the 16" wont fit? it does pull apart. 1 part is the bottom box holding the primary, then theres the top section holding the secondary and focuser... the rest is just a bunch of tubes.

anyhow, yeah i'll be at the next meet :)

[astronut]

Hi David,:) The part I'm having trouble with is the base, going by the Meade 12" size, short of it ( 16" base ) being made of rubber I don't see how I'm going to fit it in. I don't really feel like pulling the base apart each time. Hmmmm.!!!!!........I wonder if the clever handymen ( or women ) out there, could think of a quick release system for it .Hmmmmmm:help: Cheers, John;)

[[1ponders]]

Ken from the perspective as a no-dob user (simply because I've run out of room in my study and funds in my checkbook) and I was looking to buy a dob. Or as someone who would be new to astronomy and looking as well, if I had the choice between a steel tube dob (8, 10, 12, or 16) and a truss dob, my first choice would be the truss.

Why? Because they look damn sexy. All those struts and clear space reminds me of the sort of telescope you would see at Mt Palomar or Kitt Peak etc. The OOOhhh factor carries a lot of weight, especially if you are into impressing friends and potential partners. They are a marketing persons dream. Sure they are going to be easier (lighter in bits) to move around even though the truss needs to be assempled each move (another joy for the tinkering junkies) I think GS and Meade have done their "susceptible client" market research very well. It won't matter if the tube type and the truss type do exactly the same thing and perform exactly the same. Anyway you look at it I would always want the sexier looking camel (Sorry if you don't know the joke).

M2CW

[ballaratdragons]

hehe! Yep, I know the joke. But I like my ugly camel . . . err, I mean scope. It's got a good personality! ;)

[astronut]

Paul, How true about the advertising lure. But really!!! I can't fit a 12" fixed length tube in my car. ;) A truss is a different story.:) I still love my old camel. Cheers, John.

[ving]

I'll stick to my 8" relector thanks.... besides funds wont allow me to go bigger :confuse3:

not much into camels tho.

[Orion]

Reading all this made me wonder if it would be worth while buying two 16" telescopes and making a bino......Hmmm :confuse3:

[[1ponders]]

good idea Ed. Get intouch with binoviewer (Dave Moorehouse) from NZ he has already built himself a 16" binoscope. If they are anything like his 8" that I was fortunate enough to have a look through, they would blow you away.

[astro_south]

I know what you mean Paul - though I'm going to be keeping a closer eye on you and my scope in the dark up at Ron's next time! ;) :P

[ballaratdragons]

:love: :love: :love:

[astronut]

Hmmmmm, Camel, DOH!!!

[ving]

ok, maybe i am slow but I dont get the camel association :confuse3:

[ballaratdragons]

It's a very VERY old joke David.

You see these guys have been working in the Desert for months . . . . :lol:

Put it this way, Telescopes, Truss or not, are the last things on their minds.