+Bino-viewer Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Hi all.........i've been reading an interesting thread over on SGL & though i'd ask my fellow EMS buddies their opinions on Revelation Dobsonian telescopes. You may (or may not) be aware the Telescope house has a 10% Easter promotion on (expiring Monday night) I'm looking at buying a 'biggish dob' in the near future, and was taken aback a bit on the low cost of these scopes. They (Telescope house) are offering a : 10" Dob for £399 12" Dob for just under £500 ....and a 16" monster for the really low price of £1172...........now thats a lot of aperture for the money, and delivery is included for all 3 scopes. The nutter in me wants to go in head first and order a 16" er. The sensible me fancies the 12. I want to modify the scope of course....pimp it up a bit and only intend to do low power visual down at our DDAS obsy (or up at Belper) Needless to say..........you can spend big money on 12-16" scopes from other manufacturers. Thats why the cost of these is very tempting ; i know the optics won't be top notch and appreciate that most Dobs can be a work in progress before they start to really deliver. Anyway, what are your opinions guys and gals............? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Dobs are addictive - the more aperture you get the more you want. May as well go for the biggest you can afford straight away. Otherwise you'll only end up spending money upgrading through the different sizes lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 By comparison Kim, the 16" light bridge retails at £2000. What are your thoughts on yours....? I'm still trying to get my head round the price they are doing this 16" Revelation for......£1172 ! Wow.........there must be a catch somewhere......? A set of 16" optics alone would cost loads more than this......... Theres a loud voice in 'the sensible me' saying ....."Robert : don't go there" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DaveJW Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 If I had the spare cash and I could lift it, I'd go for that 16" dob (currently own a 12" flextube, which is a great scope, but as Kim says). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 .........trouble is......i've not got the spare cash......and i'm not sure i could lift it either Minor problems though........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 Here's the link by the way....... http://www.telescopehouse.com/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 I've no idea on the optics or quality of the £1172 one - but it sounds like a bargain - might just need a few mods like all dobs. The LB shows very nice tight round stars and is a beaut for deep sky faint objects. I'm very happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 (edited) I've been eyeing the 16" scope for about 6 months now and have done a bit of research and asked a few questions. I have not actually looked through one or even seen one in the flesh, but here is a few notes I made when weighing up the pro's and cons that might be helpful in making your decision...Measure your car boot. The ground box (largest single piece) is 32" high and 32" in diameter! That is huge!The ground box is so tall it causes flex in use and would require some stiffening fins fitting, which would further increase the heavy weight. I can't remember the weights for the stripped down parts of this scope, but I remember thinking that this thing is heavy and more to the point, its sheer bulk means it is going to be a back breaking awkward lump to shift. Hows is your back? Some improvised wheelbarrow setup is going to help, but that is likely to increase the required car boot size/height further otherwise you still have to do some manhandling and shoe horning the lump into the car The upper tube assembly suffers from stray light and requires some sort of lightweight glare shield to be attached opposite the focusser above the UTA to improve contrast.Suffers from slow cool down times with just a single fan, but that can be rectified by fitting more fans.The collimation changes on moving the scope in altitude due to the heavy mirror on light springs. This can easily be fixed with stiffer springs. Apparently using the mirror cell locking bolts is not the way to prevent this problem as they pinch and cause astigmatism, so stiffer springs will solve all that.Replace Philips secondary adjuster screws with Bazs Knobs. Fit hard metal washer for screws to press against plus teflon washer, otherwise parts will wear with repeated collimation and will never stay put.When setting up, DONT LET GO OF THE UTA UNTIL ALL THE STRUT BOLTS ARE TIGHTENED, it could easily fall.Make sure teflon pads on ground board are glue not screwed or stapled. Can wear down to metal and cause damage.The strut bolts from new are a little stiff to screw in/out. DO NOT LUBRICATE as this will eventually attract dirt and grit. Re-tap the holes to clean them up instead.The finder is cr*p, replace with telrad or laser.I don't know about the optical quality (it has to be on the lower end at this price), but would suggest that even if not the best you won't notice too much of a problem if your main interest is using this on faint fuzzies.The price was a giveaway at £1299, so the deal is even better with the Easter discount.The big knurled tension adjustments on the altitude bearings are brilliant, and will let you swap a 31mm Nagler for a little plossl with just a light tweak of the tensioner, and no adjustable balance weights needed.M-CRF means Micro CrayFord Focuser, I think. It is a 10:1 dual speed. After all this time I'm still on the fence with this one, and probably still will be at midnight tomorrow when the discount ends I will be watching Latest Purchases with interest and eagerly awaiting your first light post if you go for this.Hope this helps. Edited April 20, 2014 by petersull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tweedledum Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 There is alos a thread on SGL regarding this scope. :-- http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/214487-16-of-aperture-for-%C2%A31172/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckstar Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 There's a 12" Skywatcher on Gumtree for 550 ono. In Essex but bet you could get cost of fuel off. If I could I would:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tweedledum Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Just below the ad for dob is an obsy for £1500! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 I've been eyeing the 16" scope for about 6 months now and have done a bit of research and asked a few questions. I have not actually looked through one or even seen one in the flesh, but here is a few notes I made when weighing up the pro's and cons that might be helpful in making your decision... Measure your car boot. The ground box (largest single piece) is 32" high and 32" in diameter! That is huge! The ground box is so tall it causes flex in use and would require some stiffening fins fitting, which would further increase the heavy weight. I can't remember the weights for the stripped down parts of this scope, but I remember thinking that this thing is heavy and more to the point, its sheer bulk means it is going to be a back breaking awkward lump to shift. Hows is your back? Some improvised wheelbarrow setup is going to help, but that is likely to increase the required car boot size/height further otherwise you still have to do some manhandling and shoe horning the lump into the car The upper tube assembly suffers from stray light and requires some sort of lightweight glare shield to be attached opposite the focusser above the UTA to improve contrast. Suffers from slow cool down times with just a single fan, but that can be rectified by fitting more fans. The collimation changes on moving the scope in altitude due to the heavy mirror on light springs. This can easily be fixed with stiffer springs. Apparently using the mirror cell locking bolts is not the way to prevent this problem as they pinch and cause astigmatism, so stiffer springs will solve all that. Replace Philips secondary adjuster screws with Bazs Knobs. Fit hard metal washer for screws to press against plus teflon washer, otherwise parts will wear with repeated collimation and will never stay put. When setting up, DONT LET GO OF THE UTA UNTIL ALL THE STRUT BOLTS ARE TIGHTENED, it could easily fall. Make sure teflon pads on ground board are glue not screwed or stapled. Can wear down to metal and cause damage. The strut bolts from new are a little stiff to screw in/out. DO NOT LUBRICATE as this will eventually attract dirt and grit. Re-tap the holes to clean them up instead. The finder is cr*p, replace with telrad or laser. I don't know about the optical quality (it has to be on the lower end at this price), but would suggest that even if not the best you won't notice too much of a problem if your main interest is using this on faint fuzzies. The price was a giveaway at £1299, so the deal is even better with the Easter discount. The big knurled tension adjustments on the altitude bearings are brilliant, and will let you swap a 31mm Nagler for a little plossl with just a light tweak of the tensioner, and no adjustable balance weights needed. M-CRF means Micro CrayFord Focuser, I think. It is a 10:1 dual speed. After all this time I'm still on the fence with this one, and probably still will be at midnight tomorrow when the discount ends I will be watching Latest Purchases with interest and eagerly awaiting your first light post if you go for this. Hope this helps. Pete : thanks for your reply......most helpful. Well, i nearly went mad and ordered one, but like you, i've chosen to stay on the fence too, with my wallet intact, and my wife happy. But one day, not too far away, i'll be joining the Dob club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stash Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 With that review I would run a mile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest devil74 Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Rob save for about 100 years and get an Obsession... http://www.obsessiontelescopes.com/telescopes/15/index.php Ever since Kelling I have wanted one...I blame those posh folk up in the Red field Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 Would love an Obsession, but the cost and logistics etc........ I'm currently looking at David Lukehurst for a Dob..........and the best bit.......hes less than 15 miles away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 With that review I would run a mile Probably wise words Clive.........trouble is 16" Dobs aren't the easiest things to compare..... I'd love a look through one. The biggest aperture scope i've used was a 14" Orion (US) with a 21 Ethos. I was amazed........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 You can drop the mirror box down into the base with the Lightbridge and it makes it only 23" high. It just goes in my volvo estate boot with an inch to spare and I need ramps to get it in lol. But it is do'able. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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