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Orion optics Europa

Richard136

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John

John

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Which one Richard ?

They ranged from 6" to 14" or more and came in different focal ratios. 

For what it's worth, the current Orion Optics VX range are pretty much the same weight and size. Their specs can be found here:

http://www.orionoptics.co.uk/

The tend to be a fair bit lighter than the Skywatcher equivalents.

I had the Europa 10" F/4.8 for a year or so and it was a pretty decent scope.

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cotterless45

cotterless45

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Thoroughly recommend the 8".

I use a lovely 8" f6. It's very light and easy on an heq5 mount. It's big enough to see everything, but not unwieldy or big enough to pick up breezes. If you get the 6" , it'll feel too small, if you get the 10" it might feel. Too big.

Keeps collimation very well, really lovely scope. Can't beat a 1200 mm ota.

Bought second hand for £100 with a 2 speed Crayford focuser, hurrah !

Nick.

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sbooder

sbooder

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Thoroughly recommend the 8".

I use a lovely 8" f6. It's very light and easy on an heq5 mount. It's big enough to see everything, but not unwieldy or big enough to pick up breezes. If you get the 6" , it'll feel too small, if you get the 10" it might feel. Too big.

Keeps collimation very well, really lovely scope. Can't beat a 1200 mm ota.

Bought second hand for £100 with a 2 speed Crayford focuser, hurrah !

Nick.

I had their Europa 8" f8 with Hilux and made the mistake of selling it!  What an error.  It was such a good scope on planets.

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NGC 1502

NGC 1502

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How do the coatings hold,up.with time?

R

Hi Richard.  There's no fixed time for coatings to last, lots of factors, how good the original coating was done, if it was overcoated, was it stored when damp inside the tube, etc.

But I really wouldn't let that put you off, if the coatings look ok when inspected (ignore any dust) you should get good use out of it.

A careful wash may be all it needs. 

Last resort is a recoat, Orion Optics, or Image Optics Basildon Essex.

Regards, Ed.

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sbooder

sbooder

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I'd love one of those to compliment my 12" F/5.3  :smiley:

I bought it cheap from ebay on an EQ5 with motors but got aperture fever once more and bought the Europa 10" with standard coatings on a Vixen mount, then sold the 8" (but kept the motors) without comparing the two...D'OH!  And you can imagine how disappointed I was with the latter.

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Mike73

Mike73

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In theory yes, in practice it was a whole lot more.

Sure I don't doubt what your saying for one minute, I bet it gave some stunning views.

But if you had two standard 8" and 10" scopes stood next to each other and the 8" just had the benefit of a HiLux coating the 10" would still be brighter than the 8". But as Stu mentioned if you add in a higher strehl with high Pv optics and then that gap will decrease.

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John

John

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I take the claims about the extra reflectivity of Hilux coating with a pinch of salt to be honest but it's the longevity of the coatings that appeals to me. 

You buy Orion Optics scopes for the optics. The mechanicals of the ones I've owned have been OK but nothing special. Their OC-1 focuser is quite poor.

Also buy used - OO used values depreciate considerably from the new prices. 

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sbooder

sbooder

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I take the claims about the extra reflectivity of Hilux coating with a pinch of salt to be honest but it's the longevity of the coatings that appeals to me.

I don't. Having used them, the difference is quite startling.

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Stu

Stu

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I take the claims about the extra reflectivity of Hilux coating with a pinch of salt to be honest but it's the longevity of the coatings that appeals to me.

You buy Orion Optics scopes for the optics. The mechanicals of the ones I've owned have been OK but nothing special. Their OC-1 focuser is quite poor.

Also buy used - OO used values depreciate considerably from the new prices.

I think there is something in the additional reflectivity John. I had a 6" reflector upgraded from standard Celestron coatings and I was fairly convinced I could see a brightness benefit afterwards.

Stu

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sbooder

sbooder

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Do you mean the comparison with OO's standard coatings and Hilux or Hilux compared with, say, Skywatcher ?

I mean against any reflector I have ever had, which would be 1 Helios/SW 8" f5 (I think it was f5, it was a while ago), 1 Celestron C10-N, 1 OO 10" f4.8 and my present SW 10" f4.7.

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Mike73

Mike73

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I think it all depends on exactly what you are comparing and as the quality of all mass produced optics from Celestron, Skywatcher and GSO seems to vary the only way to find out if you can actually see any difference between a HiLux coated scope and one without is to have them both tested and then do a real world test under the stars.

For me the biggest attraction of OOUK isn't the high rated Pv or HiLux coatings but having a mirror tested and of a known quality.

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