How bad are the OO newt focussers?

[Ags]

A well-known retailer is suggesting that even the upgraded dual-speed OO newt focusser is not worth buying. And I've heard other stories that OO scopes are not great mechanically. Which is a shame as I would like to support European manufacturing. So, what's the truth about OO focussers?

[John]

I would describe mine (a single speed OC-1 unit) as adequate but no more. I have tried all the adjustments I know of and flattened the underside of the draw tube to give the steel bar that bears on it a smoother, flatter surface. The unit looks great but it's not as good as the standard Skywatcher single speed crayford, for example.

Usable for visual but not great by any means.

[Ags]

I suppose I can always upgrade the focusser later when I have more funds. The optics are the most important thing of course.

[John]

The optics are the most important thing of course.

Yes - I can't fault the optics of my 10" OO - and they are only the medium quality in OO's range.

[johninderby]

OO has made big improvements in the last few years and their current series of newts are well made. The mirror cells, spider vanes etc. are better than you'll get in a SkyWatcher or Meade. And then of course there's the OO optics.

The one thing I'm not particular about are the 2" OO focusers though. OK, but no more than that. However that's not a problem as you can buy the newt OTA directly from OO without a focuser, and then send OO any focuser you want and they'll install it for you when they build the scope.

As they build each scope to order you can customise it pretty well any way you want. I had OO install a Baader Steeltrack and had the tube powder coated blue.

John

[John]

My OO was made in 2007. I assume that the improvements that John refers to have been introduced since then as, optics apart, my old Skywatcher 250PX was better mechanically in all departments than my OO is. If I could find an empty 250PX tube assembly I'd happily put my OO mirrors in there. To be fair though my OO was the "budget" Europa Deluxe - only £600 when new.

[johninderby]

The mechanical components in mine built late 2008 are better than the SkyWatcher parts. Better quality spider vanes and then there is the CNC mirror cell, really solid. This year OO has been dumping the lower end stuff and are moving up-market. Makes sense for them to get out of the SkyWatcher / Meade end of the market.

Still wish they'd dump the focusers as well and offer things like the Baader Steeltrack or Moonlite or Feather Touch.

John

Photo of CNC 9 point cell.

[Ags]

Actually I am glad they offer OTAs with affordable focussers - if they only offered moonlights and steeltracks there is no way I could afford it. As long as the affordable focusser is functional and adequate, that's good enough for me.

[cs1cjc]

Both my dual speed OO focusers have minor issues : slight backlash and the draw tube can go too far in and stick on one, and on the other the fine focuser is not concentric. However, despite the lack of perfection, in practice they both do their job well.

[Ags]

Thanks for the info. I'm looking at buying a 150mm telescope next year and weighing up the options. I was looking at a mak but a newt would be more versatile and cheaper, even from OO. Upgrading an OO newt to 1/10 PV is affordable for me - less than the cost of a cheapish eyepiece.

[Moonshane]

I have two OOUK scopes and really like them both (bought used). Unfortunately I cannot answer your query as one had no focuser when I bought it and the other had a GSO Crayford.

OOUK do get a lot of criticism for their build quality which I feel is often unjustified. I think this sometimes stems from their relative cost. When people pay more they expect something they do not have to fiddle with at all to fine tune and improve performance. Their newts are possibly designed for a dobsonian mounting and therefore the tube rings are not as heavy gauge as they could be but perfectly fine for dobs. Their dob base is excellent in the bigger scope sizes (albeit the footprint is too small on the 6-8" and possibly even the 10" versions). Skywatchers and Meads also need a fair few tweaks to get them working well and just like the OOUK scopes you then have a fine instrument whichever way you look at it.

I'd not change mine and would buy another used one in a shot; the new ones though are a little pricey for me personally.

[cs1cjc]

I would also buy from OO again - we in the UK are very lucky to have a maker producing such wonderful optics and at a reasonable cost. I am very happy with 1/8 wave performance on both of mine.

[Peter Drew]

A fairer question might have been "how good are OO focusers.?" They're obviously not "bad", just not as good as some others.