william optics accessories

[lightman]

Hi out there, I have just purchased a great William Optics 110mm Zenithstar and I think it the best scope I have ever had, the optics and superb, but I was wondering if anyone has info on the 2'' diagnol and the binoviewer kit. They are quite expensive so I would like some feedback from other William Optic owners if possible, Lightman

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi Lightman! to the forum.

I believe there's a few WO owners onboard, hopefully they'll see your thread.

Where abouts in Sydney are you? Where do you go observing?

[Harb]

I know I am bais , but I don't think WO make any bad acc's.....
Their worksmanship is just great for the price, and you will have to spend a lot more to get any improvement.

I am about to order a WO bino viewer soon, will let you know how it goes.

Cheers
John

[Miaplacidus (Brian)]

Hi Lightman,

I love my Megrez (although I think it is a bit heavy for an 80mm scope), and I have the WO binoviewer, but as popular as binoviewers are these days, I think they mainly work really well in scopes of decent aperture. I mainly bought mine 'cause it was on offer at the time and I envisage getting a bigger scope in the next couple of years, but probably not being able to afford Denkmeiers in the foreseeable future.

On the other hand, I see WO now have a 8-24mm zoom. I've avoided zooms to date, but I would be interested to see how this performs in a small scope (and in daytime too).

Good luck,

Brian.

[skies2clear]

Congratulations on your new Zenithstar.

About a week or so ago, I purchased the WO binoviewer package, but haven't had a chance to really evaluate it properly yet because of focus issues in my scopes.(I opened a thread recently under equipment, eyepieces). All of my comments are based on use with newtonian reflectors, and not being able to get enough in travel on my focuser. However, this can be fixed. You won't have these problems with your WO scope.

Like a previous post, I suspect but can't confirm yet, these will probably work better in bigger scopes, but I had a lot of fun with a 5" reflector, having said that.

My impression so far is that the package is great value ($309), and includes the 1.6X OCS and 2 pretty good 20mm 66deg ep's. The finish and fit looks very good and everything works well mechanically. Collimation looks very good too. You can't go wrong really.

I'll have more to say on the subject soon hopefully.

[Stan]

First post, and have to strongly disagree with this one. I have spent a considerable amount on WO stuff over the last few years and would like to make a few points;

The new dual-speed SCT Crayford-style focuser doesn't fit properly on the visual back of SCT's. There is a gap in the new design, which means the unit runs out of thread before butting up to the back of the telescope. The old design didn't suffer from this. Why WO ever changed the design is a bit of a mystery - I got a pain in my face asking them: in the end the chided me for not buying from a dealer in my own country (UK). Also, the inner barrell of this focuser wasn't concentric with the outer casing. So pretty bad workmanship there I'm afraid.

The 66mm Petzval will not work (come to focus) with the WO 1.25" dialectric diagonal. I only discovered this after buying the diagonal specifically for the 66mm. Their response to this was to say the diagonal wasn't designed for the 66mm Petzval although I'm pretty certain I saw an accessory diagram where this arrangement was possible.

WO do not enclose any useful instructions with their equipment. This is unfortunate as not all their customers know how things fit together straight out-of-the-box. The focuser referred to above comes unadjusted and unless you know how to make the necessary adjustments you will become unstuck.

WO legendary customer service is a myth. I, and at least one other person that I know of, and spent a lifetime in engineering, e-mailed WO about these concerns and got nowhere. This was all played out in the WO Yahoo site a few months back and in the end I told WO I wasn't going to buy their equipment anymore because of the way I was treated. I've since replaced the focuser with a Moonlite and my dealings with them have been totally opposite. Now if only WO had realised that a happy customer is a returning customer they could still have relied on my cash. But that's their problem.
Best wishes to all.
Stan


I know I am bais , but I don't think WO make any bad acc's.....
Their worksmanship is just great for the price, and you will have to spend a lot more to get any improvement.

I am about to order a WO bino viewer soon, will let you know how it goes.

Cheers
John[/quote]

[allan gould]

Well I know there are some that will hammer WO - but let me tell you my story.
I purchased a WO Megrez II tripet APO. First one was severely compromised optically which was changed without hesitation from Andrews Comms. Lee has very good after sales service. The replacement scope was perfect.
The reason I bought this scope was that I had purchased a binoviewer from Andrews Comms and it was a WO unit. It really impressed me with fit and finish as well it fitted perfectly with the Megrez. I ummed and ahhed about a diagonal. I DID'NT get the WO one instead I got the GSO quartz diagonal (2" with 1/16th wave and 99% etc) for $129 instead of $400+. The diagonal really impressed me as its brilliant and up with WO standards. The next thing I purchased was a 30mm GSO 80 degree 2" UWA Andrews eyepiece. This really is a brilliant eyepiece for the money and works beautifully with the 80mm scope and a 4" refractor I have. But back to WO.
I was so impressed with the WO stuff that I purchased an SCT 10:1 WO focuser for my 8 and 10" SCTs - brilliant as it makes focussing and DSLR photography very easy. I also purchased a WO focuser for the 4" achro to replace the cretinous floppy thing that synta put on it. Its fixed the focussing but since its better centered, the CA is also lower.
WO is great for the money, but GSO also makes some very worthwhile stuff that I'm glad I bought to save money.
You'll love your scope but a 2" GSO diagonal will go just as well as the WO.
Allan