GSO GSD980 - First impressions

[Mr Flibble]

Well I've had my C6-N for just over 5 years now so not being able to withstand aperture fever any longer I've just splashed out for my second scope. After spending plenty of time looking around and asking advice from the helpfull community here on SGL I've decided on getting a 12" dob. I won't delve into the reasons why I chose this particular model but I will give my first impressions, and that's just after I say a big thanks to TS for such a good service and a prompt delivery - just 5 working days for a new scope is pretty good.

I've not owned a dob before, just an EQ mount set-up, but when it arrived I had no problems assembling the base even though there are no instructions. The steel azimuth roller bearing is slinky smooth with no hint of stickyness or judder and in fact I'll say its probably the best azimuth mechanism that I've used so far. Other than that there is nothing else in particular to point out about the base other than the black finish is quite clean looking and it feels nice and solid without being too heavy to lift into the back of the car.

The OTA arrived with the primary mirror in place and its fitted with easy collimating knobs so no extra expense is needed to buy any Bob's Knobs or equivalent style replacements. I have been told that the primary collimating springs are not too good so I will be getting replacements for those before I get first light. A 12v power pack is provided which holds 12 AA batteries to power the fan.

The OTA arrives with the spider vane in place but the secondary mirror arrives wrapped up seperately (in plenty of cotton wool) so I'll need to position this myself. I note that secondary collimation knobs will need to be bought seperately as the ones provided are only screws with a phillips head. But impressively, the secondary arrives with a metal washer between the secondary body and the collimation screws to ensure rotation of the secondary is free and won't be compromised by the screws digging in to the secondary body. Also another nice touch is the body of the secondary is blacked out to reduce chance of internal reflections.

The focuser arrives fixed in place to the OTA and its a TS dual speed crayford. It comes with a 35mm extension tube to help achieve focus. The action is impressively smooth and almost as good as the TS Monorail that I have on my C6-N. The dovetail joint on the focuser is the same as on my Monorail so if needed I can just swap the focusers between my two scopes. The supplied finderscope is a TS 8x50. I've only ever used a telrad before so I may well leave this finderscope in place to see how useful it is. I have an extra telrad base plate that I'll be fixing in due course so that I can swap my telrad between my two scopes.

The altitude friction knobs screw onto the mounting plates on the side of the OTA and provides large hand knobs to adjust the tension. The knobs are plastic and provide a good grip and the rest of the mechanism is metal and I must say the whole set-up oozes quality. There is also a sliding scale mechanism on the mounting plates to allow the OTA to be shifted backwards and forwards on the base to ensure correct balance is achieved if any extra weight is added to the front of the OTA such as a telrad or a heavy eyepiece, etc. Again the action is buttery smooth with no hint of judder.

Before I complete the build and get first light I'll take advantage of the opportunity to flock it and replace the primary springs and get some easy to adjust secondary knobs and then I'll be good to go. The weight of the OTA is fine for me to load into the car for transporting to dark sites but the diameter of the OTA does make it difficult to get a good grip. I suspected this may be the case so I'm awaiting delivery of a padded case with carry straps which will make the job of transporting the OTA pretty easy.

So overall first impressions are excellent, and I'm pleasantly surprised by the nice touches and extras. Good job GSO, lets hope first light will be equally as impressive. Oh, and did I mention......its HUGE!

[stevetynant]

Excellent, nice one dave welcome to the dob mob.great write up aswel.hope to do see you both in action before to long.congratulations on the new scope.

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[Mr Flibble]

Cheers steve. I've got it plonked right in the middle of the living room and I'm giving it a little swirl and caress everytime I go past

[garethmob]

Oooo they look nice Dave I can't wait to see her in the flesh!

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[Damo636]

Lovely scope David, congratulations! I bought one of these earlier in the year and it has not disappointed. The heavier springs are a must and simple to replace. I actually removed the locking screws altogether when I upgraded mine as I found them more of a hindrance than help. A set of these...

http://www.wdsltd.co.uk/products/Machine-Parts/Plastic-Hand-Knobs/WDS-8168-Thumb-Screw-240/ (you need 3x 8168-227) for the secondary will leave collimation virtually tool free.

[Mr Flibble]

Cheers Damo. I'll look into those secondary screws and price them up. I've also had an idea for a home made "much cheapness" version that I'm toying with - using araldite to secure a wingnut onto the head end of a m4 screw and then black it out with a permanent marker :-) The springs are next on my list :-)

Also thanks for the info that you gave me before about the scope, very much appreciated