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Zenith R&D 8" Reflector Telescope

GordonB

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John

John

Posted
Posted

If you can I'd recommend going to 10" to get a really noticable jump in performance, especially on deep sky objects. For visual observing the Skywatcher Skyliner 250PX dobsonians are immensely popular with some justification. They offer about as much performance per £ spent as anything out there:

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Skyliner 250PX Dobsonian

That's a bit of a shot in the dark from me though as I don't know anything about your wider needs such as a GOTO mount, future imaging potential, compactness, portability etc.

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  • 2 months later...
Graeme

Graeme

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I too saw the Zenith R&D 8" for sale on Ebay and was tempted so I Googled it to find out if it was any good and found myself here on this thread! I asked the seller "Is the primary mirror hyperbolic or spherical?" The answer that came back was "Mirror is semi-spherical." I did like the idea of "Includes Polfinder (you can look through a sight-lens in the equatorial mount to line up with the pole star, for easy set-up.)" even if it wasn't spelt correctly. However, I read this post and decided to move on.

So further investigation has led me to a Skywatcher Explorer 200P OTA. This beast has an 8" primary mirror, seems to have good reviews, has a parabolic mirror and costs only £250. The catch is that it comes without a tripod.

I currently have a 4" reflector with a EQ3 (I think!) Equatorial mount. So with a bit of ingenuity I could probably reuse my old tripod and have an eight incher for £250.

Then I spotted that the advert is through First Light Optics and that First Light Optics sponsor this forum. Never the less, what do people think of my plan?

Regards

Graeme

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Tribal-Wolf

Tribal-Wolf

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They are about the same a s Seben scopes which anyone who knows anything about scopes are junk

I would say you 6" Celestron is miles better.

Incidentally Graeme what the hell is 'hyperbolic'?

Sky's the Limit do a similar scope branded Phenix and they'll admit it's just a starter scope and not great with a spherical mirror.

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John

John

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I think your EQ3 mount will struggle with an 8" newtonian mounted on it. The Zenith is to be avoided though - Skywatcher scopes are much, much better.

The thought of an 8 inch F/4 newtonian without a parabolic primary mirror is pretty awful :)

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Graeme

Graeme

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Tribal – My 4” is a Seben and I couldn’t agree more! A Hyperbole is the shape you get when you cut a slice through a cone vertically. As opposed to a parabola which is the shape you get if you cut a slice through a cone at an angle parallel to the side. Telescope mirrors are parabolic, please excuse my lapse of concentration.

John – Thanks, I thought my EQ3 might be a bit flimsy for the 8” telescope. I shall have to see what they recommend for it. The 8” is the Skywatcher with the parabolic mirror and at £250 without a mount still seems like a bit of a bargain.

Cornelius – Agreed, on both points.

So, has anyone got experience of the www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-200p-ota.html

Regards

Graeme

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Tribal-Wolf

Tribal-Wolf

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The good thing about this forum is that there are people on here with the practical hands on experience to guide people who are new to astronomy so they don't go a buy a lemon. This is not always the case with many forums as too many opinions come into to it. The one solid thing here is that there are so few brands worth buying that most people will do ok if they come here first. If you have plenty spare cash you can always take a chance and suck it and see but on your own head be it as there is enough info in these board to make a very informed choice.

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  • 4 weeks later...
PeteE

PeteE

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Hello Everyone,

Before I found these posts I bought an 8" Zenith R&D reflecting telescope off eBay's UK site for £200 + postage of £35, total £235. Yes I know that you're thinking but please read on...

A) The bad news is that all previous comments I've read about the optical performance of this scope appear to be correct. I found that the views except using the low power eye piece supplied were very disappointing. In my opinion the construction of the telescope, mount and tripod all left a lot to be desired. I too would recommend giving this item a wide berth.

:) The good news is that I had used eBay's 'Buy it now' option which, here in Europe, means that you can return the goods for a full refund if you're not satisfied (excluding postage). This I did and the £200 was returned to my Paypal account promptly. All in all I think £35 wasn't too much to pay for the experience I have gained.

I have subsequently done more research on-line, here and elsewhere, and have now bought a TAL 100 RS refractor and an EQ5 mount from a local astronomy store here in the Rother Valley, UK. Total cost was £435, plus a Baader Hyperion III 8-24mm zoom eyepiece and matching Barlow at £170 & £80 to go with the TAL supplied 25mm Super Plossl. I'm absolutely ecstatic about the performance and construction of all these items.

The lessons I have drawn from my recent experiences are:

1) Buy from a knowledgeable supplier who has a track record in the field, either on-line or in person.

2) You get what you pay for, this is now helped greatly by internet access to a wide range of competing suppliers.

3) Modern eyepieces give fantastic views and have fantastic eye relief making observing while wearing glasses easy.

I hope anyone else starting out in this hobby finds this information useful and that they save their time, money and energy for more rewarding activities than purchasing an 8" Zenith R&D reflecting telescope currently found for sale on eBay UK in early 2012.

PeteE

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knobby

knobby

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They are about the same a s Seben scopes which anyone who knows anything about scopes are junk

I would say you 6" Celestron is miles better.

Incidentally Graeme what the hell is 'hyperbolic'?

Sky's the Limit do a similar scope branded Phenix and they'll admit it's just a starter scope and not great with a spherical mirror.

hyperbole - Definition and pronunciation | Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

pretty much sums the scope up spookily enough !

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John

John

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@ PeteE:

Thanks very much for posting that feedback on this scope. There is nothing more valuable than first hand experience and it was good of you to post yours even though the purchase did not turn out a good one.

I hope it has not put you off the hobby and welcome to the forum :)

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