GSO and Skywatcher 8" dobs - again

[bombassa]

Looking at GSO and Skywatcher 8" dobs I see the GSO version is fitted with a Teflon 'Rollenlager' (sorry don't know the english term).

Is this actually an improvement? Has anyone tried both versions?

GSO also supplies a 9 mm plossl and a 2" 30 mm erfle.

Is this worth the pricedifference of 150 euros (SW 8" 300 euro and GSO 8" 450 euro)?

[umadog]

Must be "roller-bearing", I'm betting. Those roller-bearings sound weird to me. A good Dobsonian doesn't have roller bearings. Usually it's Teflon pads on counter-top material. Looking around on the net, it sounds like the roller-bearings are not well thought of: CN FORUMS ARCHIVE Telescope Reviews: roller bearing mod? It sounds like their resistance is too low.

Better bearings are worth the money. The cheaper Orion Dobs, for instance, have awful bearings and are a real pain to use. It is possible to upgrade bearings yourself once you have the scope. Beacon Hill Telescopes can probably help: when I used to build I bought bearings from them. Teflon and formica works well IIRC. Right now I have Teflon and Ebonystar on one Dob, and Teflon and fiberglass on the other. The latter seems to change friction with temperature, however.

[bombassa]

Hi Umadog

Yes it rollerbearing.

Thanks for the link and the feedback.