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Deciding on 8" Telescope please help

NEDSTER1972

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NEDSTER1972

NEDSTER1972

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Posted

I have decided to get a new scope in stead of buying a new mirror for my 4.5" meade as i wrecked it trying to clean it. (but thats another story)

was looking at this 

Revelation 8" F/6 M-CRF Premium Dobsonian

http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Revelation-8---F-6-M-CRF-Premium-Dobsonian--White-.html

or this

Skyliner 200P 8" Parabolic Dobsonian Telescope

http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Skyliner_200P_8__Parabolic_Dobsonian_Telescope.html

What are the differences & which one is best.

or are there any others for around the same price probably max of £350 I know that is not much for a good 8" scope but it's all i have.

I have tried looking but to be honest I am not that clued up & my brain started hurting after a while.

Thank you in advance.

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cantab

cantab

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Since the Revelation dobs have been out I've been seeing lots of discussion of them vs the Skywatchers here. The general view seems to be that the Revelation dobs are better mechanically, but Skywatcher might (might, not will) have slightly better optics. Bothshould be good scopes.

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Reeny

Reeny

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I have the Skywatcher - and would have gone for the Revelation if it was available at the time.

The dual speed focuser would have been useful, the Plossl eyepieces are much better, and the cooling fan would have been a freebie.

The only advantage I can see on my Skywatcher is the carrying handles.

And it's going to be much easier / cheaper to retro-fit handles onto the Revalation, than it is to retro-fit the cooling fan and dual focus onto the Revelation.

Both are the same price around £275, but the Revelation has more extras.

http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Revelation-8---F-6-M-CRF-Premium-Dobsonian--White--1-2.html

Add on the £100+ focuser / £55 bundled eyepieces / plus the cooling fan - and the Revelation makes much more sense

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NEDSTER1972

NEDSTER1972

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Both will serve well , and last many years .

I'd like to hear the mirror story , what happened there then ?

Well as I'm new to this I put my scope away in the back spare room about 3 months ago & forgot to put the covers on tube. Needles to say mirror was covered in dust & grime. so I decided to clean the what i thought was glass mirror with a solvent based cleaner. which I found out isn't a good thing to do to an Aluminium not glass mirror. OOPS yes I am a fool.

But at least it gives me an excuse to get a new telescope & I will never do that again. A very expensive trial & error experiment.

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umadog

umadog

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What makes you think you need a new telescope? Take the mirror to have its surface assessed and re-coated. At worst, you'd need a re-figure or re-polish to get rid of scratches from the cleaning you did. Although that wouldn't be cheap, it would probably not cost more than a new scope and you'd quite possibly end up with a better optic than you had before.

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NEDSTER1972

NEDSTER1972

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What makes you think you need a new telescope? Take the mirror to have its surface assessed and re-coated. At worst, you'd need a re-figure or re-polish to get rid of scratches from the cleaning you did. Although that wouldn't be cheap, it would probably not cost more than a new scope and you'd quite possibly end up with a better optic than you had before.

I looked into it mate & it's going to be about £100+ minimum. so I thought i may as well just add about another £170 & upgrade to an 8" telescope.

Thanks anyway.

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Sneezy24

Sneezy24

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Have you considered looking at the second hand market, I was looking on Astro Buy and Sell recently and there were quite a few 8" Dobs going at reasonable prices. 

I did think about it, but the Rev or SW 8" Dob is at my price point, and at least there is a warranty if anything is not right.

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Avocette

Avocette

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Hi Nedster. I don't want to stop you going ahead and buying a new 'scope but you may well be able to rescue your mirror and make the scope usable again. Take a look on Youtube for a video

about cleaning your mirror - the proper way to do it. It's by Steve Richards (Steppenwolf on SGL) who knows a thing or two about 'scopes. The important steps are to use only a little mild soap, lots of warm water, lots of clean cotton wool, and the important final rinse with distilled water (de-ionised water is second best). Try it and you may well have undone the majority if not all of the 'damage'. The aluminium metal surface of mirrors is often coated these days with a clear protective layer of silicon oxide, and this may well be what you have smeared with your solvent.
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NEDSTER1972

NEDSTER1972

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Hi Nedster. I don't want to stop you going ahead and buying a new 'scope but you may well be able to rescue your mirror and make the scope usable again. Take a look on Youtube for a video

about cleaning your mirror - the proper way to do it. It's by Steve Richards (Steppenwolf on SGL) who knows a thing or two about 'scopes. The important steps are to use only a little mild soap, lots of warm water, lots of clean cotton wool, and the important final rinse with distilled water (de-ionised water is second best). Try it and you may well have undone the majority if not all of the 'damage'. The aluminium metal surface of mirrors is often coated these days with a clear protective layer of silicon oxide, and this may well be what you have smeared with your solvent.

Cheers Mate but i think i actually took the layer of silicone off with the cleaning solution i used. Could not watch the video it seemed stretched across the screen but there was another on the same thing i watched http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y8xFnXFVGQ.

Cheers

I used my scope last night & saw jupiter & 3 moons but it was a little blurry & went out of focus as i moved the scope. so it's still usable but not clear.

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Avocette

Avocette

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Oh well - thought it might be worth a try! I've noticed a strange effect with that video. It works fine (on an iPad) in this thread, but cut and paste the link into my usual browser (Google Chrome) and it's all stretched out.

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NEDSTER1972

NEDSTER1972

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OK I think I might go for plan b. I have a meade 4504 telescope with goto on mount. If i bought this telescope http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/info-10220.html would it be able to fit on my current tripod as i would like to take photos, video's etc but the dobsonian 8" is not recommended for astro photography. Would the Sky watcher be a good scope for astro photography if it fits on my tripod.

Cheers in advance.

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rory

rory

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Also can you edit a post after you have posted. I have searched everywhere but cant see anything.

As I also wanted to add this telescope into the mix http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/info-BC185.html.

Cheers

I think you need a certain amount if posts or time on forum before you get the edit option . Not sure why , but a reason was posted by the moderators .
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Sneezy24

Sneezy24

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.. and it arrived at 08:16 this morning!! (hadn't even finished my first cuppa!).

Now built, finderscope calibrated, and I've found out what the screws on the focuser do (thought it was broken - DOH!)

Sorry that I have ensured the weather stays bad!

Pics to follow soon..

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