Thinking of upgrading

[stopusinmyid]

I am thinking of upgrading to a (ASDX) heavy-duty 10" Dob from Andrews. I have decided to go for this one as the price is right and I have seen some positive comments on IIS. We would be wanting to look at the moon and planets and also I want to have a go at the Nebulae. Steven (hubby) is wanting me to get peoples opinion.

[Brian W]

I don't know the brand and just what heavy duty means escapes me but if the optics are reasonable a 10" will show you an awful lot of very neat stuff.
Brian

[stopusinmyid]

It's this one Guan Sheng GS-880 10" ASDX
250mm x 1250mm, I'm assuming that's the brand

[mental4astro]

That is a lot of telescope, a 10" dob! Magnificent upgrade from your 130mm. Should proove easier to handle too compared to the equatorial mount you've got. I have a 10" dob too, my first DIY project. I've still got it, and love using it.

I promise that your first view of Omega Centauri through the 10" will leave you gasping and you won't look back.

GSO makes very, very good optics for mass produced scopes. I wouldn't be concerned that way. Nothing to sneeze at.

[Brian W]

It looks like just what the doctor ordered, and at quite a good price. With Scorpio positioned so beautifully and the Milky Way following behind prepare yourself for very little sleep on clear nights.
Brian

[ericc]

Hi Tammy,I purchased one of these 10" gso model scopes a couple of years ago from Bintel --and I still really love it!
Alot of research and guidance (from some very knowledgable and helpful people on this site) helped seal the deal.
Its a great scope--and best of luck deciding-----
Cheers-Eric

[2stroke]

There a great scope my wife Forgey on these forums just got one 2 weeks ago. She quickly got a 2.5 x barlow though and is now in chase for a 6mm eyepiece for closer views of saturn. The only probs she had was there was no instructions to put it together, though its pretty easy to work out, a tinny scratch on the primary mirror and you need a barlow if you wanna catch saturn with the standard eye pieces. If she was buying again i would have got her to go bintel because when you add the extras over andrews you pay the same and its local well for us anyhow. Another thing you wanna get is a collimation tool which she has yet to get.

There a great buy anyhow as we googled like mad for 3 weeks finding out all we could and its got me hooked to. Heres a vid she shot through the 9mm eye piece along with a 2.5x barlow of saturn http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/153/l1c.mp4 was dodgey filming by hand with a cheap cannon powershot camera lol. Anyhow its a great hobby for a couple to get into as well.

[stopusinmyid]

Thanks people for you help in making up my mind. Steven said go for it, so today I put a deposit on one from Bintel (took your advice 2stroke) as I don't want to have any issues if there is anything wrong being in S.A. Not dogging Andrews but I don't want to take that risk. Yes it is a little dearer but the tax man is paying for it so I don't mind so much.

[Gem]

Good choice. I had years of fun with my 10" dob... but mine was 1400mm focal length. Yours is that little bit shorter - which makes it fit better into vehicles. Should be good.
Andrews have been ok in my dealings with them, and their prices are very good.
Have fun! :)

[barx1963]

Good choice Tammy. The GSO dobs are excellent, I have the 12" and love it. I upgraded from an 8" to the 12" which is not as big a leap as from 130mm to 10" and was blown away by the difference.

[stopusinmyid]

Andrews have been ok in my dealings with them, and their prices are very good.
Have fun! :)

Yeh Gem I have read a lot of positive posts about Andrews and only a few who weren't impressed. I just didn't want to take the off chance that I would end up being one of the few. But then there is still no guarantees going through Bintel either. It's all a risk being so far away from the shops.

Now it's just a waiting game. Steven reckons he'll use it more then me, pfft. I'm the one who's been getting up in the early hours of the morning :cold: to look at Jupiter

[Brian W]

Foe what it's worth... I live in the Philippines and have dealt very satisfactorily (as in superb advice, and dead honest dealings) with Frontier Optics.
http://www.frontieroptics.com.au/
Brian

[Groove]

Well I only just purchased my 10" DOB (collapsible) in June this year... It was my first scope... and I absolutely love it!! :D

The views I get from darker skies are magnificent – although am still learning what I am looking at... :eyepop:

I'm sure you will love the 10” dob & get a lot of viewing pleasure out of it! Great choice! :thumbsup:

Cheers
Grant