Soligor scopes?

[Mr Bob]

Howdy

Anybody heard of these?

There is an opportunityto get one of these cheap (a Soligor MT-800/8"E)

Cant find too much english info on it. One thing I have noticed is if price is any reflection then its possibly not too bad a scope (€700-900, £499)

http://www.astroshop.de/shop/en/117/

What doyas reckon?

Thanx

[[1ponders]]

Don't do it to yourself Bob. Certainly not at that price. Especially once you consider postage to get it here. You probably wouldn't see much change out of $1800 -$1900. You'll get a much better deal over here in Aus.

Even if the optics and ota are up to scratch that mount would probably drive you nuts trying to carry that ota. If you have a look at Ezystyles scope here http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=7577 you will see that it is almost the same scope and mount.

As an alternative check out some of the scopes at Myastroshop, if you're dead keen on getting one on an equatorial mount. This one is a slightly slower scope so will be more forgiving when selecting eyepieces plus the mount is better (though I'd try for a better tripod. preferably with tubular steel legs) and is only half the price http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-028

Or check out this page for one that grabs you http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/reflectors.asp

[Mr Bob]

Lol, thanx for your input

Its in NZ currently @ $101NZ. My reckoning is that because its an obscure brand it'll go for well under $500NZ.

As I said "if price is any reflection then its possibly not too bad a scope". A new GSO of the same specs cost $1029NZ. €899 = $1578NZ


(without trying to be a wisearse) What do you mean by this?

More comments opinions welcome.

[[1ponders]]

Scope "speed" is determined by its f/ratio. (Aperture/Focal length) She smaller the f/ratio the "faster" the scope. More light gathering power per given magnification (Scope Focal Length/Eyepiece Focal Length).

From a photography point of view the faster the better. Less exposure time require for a given shot. But there is a tradeoff. You will often get more coma near the outer portions of the mirror. And that is in mirror configuration. It is much more difficult to configure a fast mirror than a slower mirror. For photography you can either use a smaller chip to avoid the coma, or get a coma corrector. For visual work it may mean getting better eyepieces that will deal with the coma. (I'm sure the visual guys will jump in here if I get this too wrong :) )

If you read through some of the Eyepiece forum threads you will notice many talking about Nagler eyepieces. Why? because they deal with mirror/lense issues better than many other eyepieces. Problem is you pay for them, Naglers are not cheap. Two or three naglers may cost more than your whole telescope setup. They are not the only eyepieces that do this but across the board probably better than most, especially at the longer focal length eyepieces.

[ving]

fogs?

[Volans]

I was looking at the Great Orion Fog last night...:P Don't you just love translated English?? Maybe we could start up the Fog Catalogue.

I agree with [1ponders]...don't get this scope. The mount in particular looks very flimsy for that size of scope. It does not matter how good your optics are, if the mount is dodgy then so are your images.

Peter.

[ving]

and here i was thinking fog was a bad thing?

was loking into a large refractor on a similar mount, mount is a ouch wobbly :(

[Mr Bob]

Keep the comments coming folks. Still undecided, guess I'll wait and see what the price gets to. Got a GS-680 tentavely ordered from Andrews (already in NZ but with wrong base) gotta wait till April tho.

Soligor is an optics co based in Germany more known for photographic lenses.

Seems there maybe competition from your side of the Tasman (a member here perhaps?)

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=47750839

[Mr Bob]

btw - heres a better piccy (the best I can find so far).

http://www.optikversand-behnke.de/images/102-3.jpg

[barees63]

I assume you know that the GSO scopes are available in New Zealand from www.astronomy.co.nz (http://www.astronomy.co.nz) (and StarDome in AKL)..

[Mr Bob]

Thanx barees63, yes I do. $235 more than the Andrews scope delivered to my door.

[barees63]

damn! wish I'd known that last year :doh:

[ving]

lol crikey!
andrews cheaper than buying locally!!!

[Mr Bob]

Theres a catch tho.

Gotta wait till he comes over for communictions field days / expos (packs it all into a container).

Sending a scope by itself aint worth it.

[barees63]

aah.. I'm far too impatient to wait for anything ;)