Well, I've finally upgraded to a decent scope!

[thorsdad]

Hi guys,

after posting many questions, looking through countless reviews, deciding on the various pros and cons of different types of scopes, I've finally upgraded from my stepson's Tasco 60mm x 700mm refractor.

We were heading from Bathurst NSW after the big car race to the Gold Coast for more car racing, when we diverted slightly to go past Andrews Comms in Greystanes. I was considering the 200 x 1200 GSO dob, and the super deluxe (sd) model sounded good. With the 2" crayford with 1:10 drive, various eyepieces, fan and finderscope, I thought this would be a good step forward without going overboard on price. Unfortunately the new shipment of this model had not arrived yet, so I decided to get the deluxe model as these were in stock. Only differences from the other model was: no 1:10 drive on the focusser, no mirror cooling fan, no 6mm and 15mm 1.25" ep, and no SP32mm 2" ep. It came with a 9 and 25mm plossl, and I got a 2x long barlow, and moon filter. I would have liked the sd model, but if I didn't leave the store with a scope, my wife would have killed me before we got back to the car.

I assembled the scope while we were away, but the lights of the caravan park did not allow for any decent sort of viewing. When we got back to Melbourne last week, of course it was cloudy, but in a couple of nights of broken cloud we gave the scope a bit of a test drive.

We started with Jupiter as it was clearly visible with the naked eye, and we knew where it was which helped. The 8x50 right angle correct image finderscope worked well, and was very easy to align with the scope. I started with the 25mm plossl on jupiter, it was starting to get lower in the sky, and maybe seeing wasn't the best. I noticed a bit of shimmering around the edges, which may have been atmospheric. The four moons were clearly visible, and I could just make out some of the cloud bands.

Moving the scope around to some clusters, all the stars appeared sharp from the centre to the edge of view. Checking collimation seemed good, with nice concentric circles when I defocussed a bright star in the centre of the field of view. We will give it a better test run shortly, and I'll let you know how we go. One thing I found which you should check if you get a GSO dob, is to check the teflon pad staples are pushed in below the top of the pad. One pad on the top of the mount had the staple just up slightly, enough to make a small groove in one altitude bearing. Not happy. Just tap any in with a small nail punch. Check both sides, and also check the pads on the bottom az swivel.

The focusser is nice and smooth, although a bit coarse for my liking. I've contacted Lee to see what he can do in swapping to the one with the 1:10 drive. So far we are impressed with the clarity of the optics of the scope. Hopefully we'll get to a nice dark site shortly and put it through its paces.

Cheers

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Congrats, well done on your purchase! The 8" is the best of the GSOs IMO. My most used scope by far. Big enough to show heaps but still small enough to easily move around in one piece. I find mine very versatile, easy to use. The perfect party scope, never fails to impress.

[Lee]

I picked up the exact same one a couple of years ago from Lee.... good scope, I have cut the end off it since and moved the mirror though. I agree with you about the focuser.
Have fun!

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Excellent first light report.
You've made a good choice for your upgrade.

[OneOfOne (Trevor)]

You should get some good views down in Skye, my wife's family live down that way and I am always surprised at how much darker the sky (no pun intended) is down that way compared to Bentleigh. At times you can see some of the Milky Way when just standing in the street. Not so much a dark sky as darker sky.

[Ric]

Congrats with the new scope Rob and a great first light report. It sounds like you are going to have some great viewing with it.

Cheers

[Tamtarn]

Congratulations on your new scope purchase Rob.

[Tannehill]

congratulations.

Bintel was selling those 10:1 GSO focusers, also. If you do upgrade to the 10:1 focuser, you could ask the vendor provide you with the right curvature base for the new focuser, that matches your scope. Not critical...you can remove the focuser tube assembly from the base on your current scope via the small hex bolts in base - and swap out bases, basically - but it'd be nice if they did that for you.

That scratch in the alt bearing....I think 50% of us have those, that staple thing is a recurring issue. But that small a scratch won't affect the bearing function, it just mars the cosmesis a bit.

s

Originally Posted by thorsdad

Hi guys,

after posting many questions, looking through countless reviews, deciding on the various pros and cons of different types of scopes, I've finally upgraded from my stepson's Tasco 60mm x 700mm refractor.

We were heading from Bathurst NSW after the big car race to the Gold Coast for more car racing, when we diverted slightly to go past Andrews Comms in Greystanes. I was considering the 200 x 1200 GSO dob, and the super deluxe (sd) model sounded good. With the 2" crayford with 1:10 drive, various eyepieces, fan and finderscope, I thought this would be a good step forward without going overboard on price. Unfortunately the new shipment of this model had not arrived yet, so I decided to get the deluxe model as these were in stock. Only differences from the other model was: no 1:10 drive on the focusser, no mirror cooling fan, no 6mm and 15mm 1.25" ep, and no SP32mm 2" ep. It came with a 9 and 25mm plossl, and I got a 2x long barlow, and moon filter. I would have liked the sd model, but if I didn't leave the store with a scope, my wife would have killed me before we got back to the car.

I assembled the scope while we were away, but the lights of the caravan park did not allow for any decent sort of viewing. When we got back to Melbourne last week, of course it was cloudy, but in a couple of nights of broken cloud we gave the scope a bit of a test drive.

We started with Jupiter as it was clearly visible with the naked eye, and we knew where it was which helped. The 8x50 right angle correct image finderscope worked well, and was very easy to align with the scope. I started with the 25mm plossl on jupiter, it was starting to get lower in the sky, and maybe seeing wasn't the best. I noticed a bit of shimmering around the edges, which may have been atmospheric. The four moons were clearly visible, and I could just make out some of the cloud bands.

Moving the scope around to some clusters, all the stars appeared sharp from the centre to the edge of view. Checking collimation seemed good, with nice concentric circles when I defocussed a bright star in the centre of the field of view. We will give it a better test run shortly, and I'll let you know how we go. One thing I found which you should check if you get a GSO dob, is to check the teflon pad staples are pushed in below the top of the pad. One pad on the top of the mount had the staple just up slightly, enough to make a small groove in one altitude bearing. Not happy. Just tap any in with a small nail punch. Check both sides, and also check the pads on the bottom az swivel.

The focusser is nice and smooth, although a bit coarse for my liking. I've contacted Lee to see what he can do in swapping to the one with the 1:10 drive. So far we are impressed with the clarity of the optics of the scope. Hopefully we'll get to a nice dark site shortly and put it through its paces.

Cheers

[thorsdad]

Thanks for all the replies and advice guys.

Now only if these damn clouds will go away and I can give you a report on how well it goes.

[Alchemy (Clive)]

few days yet till clear skies, bet everyone in melbourne will be out that night. good to read about your buy. you will see lots more detail now.