New Orion Skyquest XX14i

[Rick Petrie]

Assembled the new scope and it had first light on Thursday.
After collimating and giving it a star test I was very happy with the overall performance. Nice and bright crystal clear views of the Moon, 47 Tuc and Christened with a very sharp Io Jupiter transit. All I can say is bring on a dark sky and get the object locator smokin' on plenty of deep sky stuff.:thumbsup:

[Astroman]

Saw this scope in an advert this morning, looks better than the ad... hope it gives you years of awesome viewing pleasure.

[Rick Petrie]

Yes thanks Andrew, the build quality is very good and instructions for assembly is first class.:thumbsup:

[mozzie]

sounds great rick,dont forget to bring it to moonee when your up next!!!

[Rick Petrie]

No worries Moz, it'll be packed before the caravan.:P

[gb_astro]

Excellent Rick.

MoonLite focuser?

What's it like weight/transport wise?

gb.

[Rick Petrie]

Hi Greg
Moonlite is not standard but the focuser that comes with it isn't too bad.
The heaviest part is the OTA housing the mirror and cell but I can lift it OK.
I ordered the padded cases for both OTA and truss poles so packed up will fit in your average car. The base is also collapsible if your cramped for space.
All up it is very good optically and well worth the money I think.
Cheers Rick:thumbsup:

[Inmykombi]

Awesome detail on the Moon and Jupiter tonight.

I cant wait to see what its like under a dark sky.

Good work with the small modifications too Rick. I love the Controller post, it works a treat.



Cheers

[Rick Petrie]

Geoff (Inmykombi) and I got this scope out last night again.
The seeing conditions were probably about 8.5/10 and this scope more than exceded my expectations of how it would perform.:eyepop:
The views of Jupiter and the Moon were literally "out of this world" no kidding! So much detail.
If this is any indication of it's performance under dark skies then I'm holding my breath.:P

[RB]

Wow Rick that's awesome mate.
Can't wait to have a look-see next time @ the PC.

:)

[Rick Petrie]

I have just read on the Orion website that there is a new model of this scope the 14g which has Goto and Auto tracking capability. :thumbsup:

[mozzie]

always happen rick!!! you wait and wait the day you buy theres a new model a week later. hows the scope going????

[Rodstar]

Congratulations, Rick. It looks very smart, and by the sounds the "looks" are pretty "smart" too!

It is amazing what a bit of extra aperture does, just wait until you have some time looking at M42 under a dark sky, stupendous!

I am interested to hear how the controller compares with the Argo. Does it work on a similar principle, with direction arrows indicating where to swivel the scope? How comprehensive is the database? Can you download ephemera?

[Rick Petrie]

Yeah Moz, a new model, but I'm quite happy with push to.
Itchin' to get under some good dark sky.
By the way, will be up your way around February 3rd and hope to catch up then.
Cheers

[mozzie]

sounds good rick.my new scope lands into sydney tomorrow fingers crossed..

[Rick Petrie]

Hi and thanks Rod
Lookin' good so far. Maybe PC on the 6th.:thumbsup:
The controller is pretty good mate and has a database of about 14,000 objects. Finds things just like Argo and I like the instant input of the keypad rather than turning the dial. It has the direction arrows like Argo and some interesting things that argo hasn't (mind you I like argo as well and argo certainly has some features that the object locator hasn't) but it does the job quite well. It hasn't got an external power source jack,(it is battery powered) but I'm sure I could adapt one to suit if need be.
It has an RS 232 jack for downloading software updates but I'm not sure whether it can be used for direct download of ephemera?
You can add up to 99 user defined objects by RA and Dec to use as favourites or whatever, so it has some versatility.
Cheers Rick:)

[Rick Petrie]

That's good we can compare notes!;) Hope it all goes well and congrats on your new scope too.:thumbsup:

[Rodstar]

The 'puter sounds good, Rick. Will be interested to see it in action some time soon.

[Allan_L]

Sounds great Rick.
You make it sound very tempting.
I may have to cross to the dark side myself if you keep that up.

LOL! I guess you would say "cross FROM the Dark side" :)

[Rick Petrie]

The 'FORCE' could be with you too Al!;):P

[Allan_L]

Would that be the "Debt Collection ... FORCE " ?

or the "Missing Persons FORCE" ... once my wife finds out ;)

because I did try to order one of the Orion 14g models from the States.
They hate to disappoint but I would have to go over there and pick it up. :(
(I wonder if I went to Hawaii if that would qualify ?

[Rick Petrie]

As an alternative Al, if you went to Hawaii, you could pick up a Keck or two! :P