garthbooks

13 hours ago, johninderby said:

You are reporting a problem that has never been reported by any Btrsser dob owner that I am aware of  in their reports on their new dobs so it is very strange as the fastening system is as I mentioned solid so perhaps the Explore Scientific version isn’t quite the same and is using different spec fasteners. 🤔

Also it seems like the scope was donated so not a new scope. Perhaps the original owner had taken the base apart a lot and worn out the fasteners or been heavy handed and overtightened the fastners.

It wasn't donated. Robert was donating it.

10 hours ago, Ricochet said:

This is not right. Are you sure that you have properly tightened the fasteners that hold it together? The large fasteners that go in the sides of the base are like a pair of hooks that grab onto the head of the parts that go through the end grain. My base has always been quite solid with nothing other than the supplied fixings. 

yes I'm sure. watch the video with spacetime with Robert: 

He mentions it in the beginning, bad fasteners. He glued his together as well. 

On 16/07/2016 at 11:34, Ricochet said:

The finder shoes on the Bresser only fit the finder foot on the included RDF. I don't know if a Meade type shoe would fit the same holes but a Synta shoe doesn't fit (the holes are the wrong orientation). I fitted a Synta shoe next to one of the the RDF shoes which required drilling a couple of new holes (after removing the mirrors of course).

 

Crayford focusers are better than cheap rack and pinion focusers but the Bresser hexafoc is absolutely solid with no slop or backlash. The Skywatcher on the other hand has a bit of notoriety for focuser slop, hence the regularity with which you see them with upgraded focusers. Neither are dual speed like the Revelation but you can buy a 10:1 gear ratio for the Bresser, although the single speed is good enough that I haven't got around to it yet. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/bresser-messier-1-10-gear-set-for-hex-focuser.html

 

My ES FL 8 arrived today. One of the first things I'm gonna do is change out the red dot finder to decent finder scope. I have to get the adapter from scope stuff to convert the shoe to work with an Orion finder-scope. Next I'm gonna add a Telrad. I think I found a nice place for it to fit. Assembly of the scope wasn't too bad. However, it did look like the base was put together before and there are a couple of chips/dents in the formica. This was bought sold and shipped by Amazon so I'll have to contact them. Though I like the size of the base and the weight wasn't bad, the base is not really that great and I probable will have to glue it permanently together like many others have. Before I do that though I have to make sure it is in square. As of now it racks and the bearings pop off the track (Very Frustrating). Overall it seems like a good dob, I chose it because of what I saw Ricochet was able to do as well as "Spacetime with Robert" (check out his youtube channel) he does a review of the 10" dob version of this. So there are some faults to the scope, but I really like and need to be able to rotate the OTA. There are not many dobs that you can do that with. Rotating the OTA helps me not to have to crane my neck (Cervical stenosis).  Mark from Astrogoods is building me a custom base and clamshell bearings foe my Apertura AD10. It is 16 pounds lighter and much stronger than the original base. I'm gonna see if he can make an extra set of bearings to fit on the ES 8 then I can use his custom base for my two dob telescopes. The collimation was off about an inch of center. Took me awhile to get it back in, definitely need to get Bob's knobs. Primary wasn't too bad. Gonna try and take it out tonight and see how it performs. I'll keep you updated. 

I am also am gonna pick up a Telrad for it!

Thanks Ricochet for the info! The bungie idea is great! I can't wait to get my dob! I'll try and post some pics when it comes in.

On 28/02/2016 at 13:46, Ricochet said:

When I was choosing a scope I had to make almost the same choice, except I also had the 10" Skywatcher in the mix. The difference in quality was enough  to make me chose the Bresser.

Bresser Pros:

• Much better focuser
• Smoother alt/az movements
• Secondary mirror edges blacked
• 6 point vs 3 point primary mirror cell
• Primary mirror collimation via knobs not screws (I think the Skyliners still come with screws?)
• Balance can be adjusted by moving OTA up/down tube rings

Now it's not all plain sailing with the Bresser. Firstly, if you want to add a magnifying finder, there is no quick release plate fitted to the tube so you'll have to fit one yourself. Secondly, my last "pro" is hampered by the fact that the mount actually isn't high enough to slide the tube backwards in the rings (for instance after fitting a RACI finder) and so I've had to add a 10cm riser between the circular base plate and the supplied side panels.

Hello Ricochet, I just purchased the Explorer Scientific FL 8" dob. From what I understand it is the same as the Bresser 8" dob. I think I am also going to have to add the 10cm riser that you added to get my heavier eye pieces to balance and to have enough room to move the tube. Do you have any photos of how you made the riser? Also, how are you liking the scope? Thanks