Revelation Astro 8" Dob

[Darren27]

After several months of deliberation over which scope was going to be right for me, I finally made up my mind and ordered a Revelation Astro 8" dob from Telescope House at what appeared to be a very good price.  I had considered the Skyliner 200p and the Orion XT8, but to me the extras supplied with the Revelation tipped the balance.

I ordered the scope mid morning yesterday and today just after lunch the Interlink driver was knocking on my door asking for my signature.

The scope was delivered in two well wrapped boxes.

The smaller box contained the flat pack base

And the larger box contained the OTA and various accessories.

Unfortunately, the one thing the boxes didn't contain were any instructions, however there is a good manual which can be downloaded from Zhumel, the US distributors website and there is also a very good assembly video on YouTube.

Assembly of the base is very simple and in under half an hour the base was assembled and the OTA was carefully lifted into place.

The build quality looks very good, I especially like the two machined adjustable bearings which are mounted onto the sides of the OTA.  The position of these can be varied to balance out the scope to compensate for additional accessories being fitted, eg Telerad, without having to attach weights to the bottom of the tube.

The scope is also fitted with a dual speed Crayford style focuser, which appears to move very smoothly, although I have only the very basic all plastic rack and pinion on my small cheap refractor to compare it with.

There is also a small cooling fan fitted at the base of the OTA, although I'm not convinced as to how much difference it will make, especially considering that its going to live out in my garage most of the time so it probably will always be close to ambient temperature.  

It was some of these added extras along with the bundled accessories that made me choose the Revelation over the Skyliner and on first sight I'm impressed.

The scope was supplied with 2 EP's as standard.  A 5 element, 70 deg FOV 2" 30mm (although the Telescope House website lists a 26mm 2" EP) and a 1 1/4" 9mm Plossl .

There was also a 35mm extension tube.

Although not part of the kit, I ordered a 2" ED 2x Barlow.

I am very impressed by the apparent quality of the supplied EP's and accessories, although first light will be the real test.  One slight negative is that the supplied EP holder which is attached to the base, has a single 2" hole and it is not quite big enough to allow the 2" EP to be stored there with the end caps on.  A minor point really as I have a separate case to keep them in anyway.

Overall I am very happy with the whole set and cant wait for clear skies to see just how it performs.  First light report will follow once the curse of the new scope has passed.

[baggywrinkle]

Nice....thanks for sharing and clear skies. Though of course now it has arrived it will mean clouds etc... ;-)

[Daniel-K]

Very nice and welcome to the dob mob

[Uplooker]

Congratulations Darren on your new acquisition, I am sure you will have many hours of enjoyment. 8" is certainly a very good size to start with.

Ian

[rory]

Looks very good. I'm thinking of a. 10" dob in the future and revelation is amongst the contenders .

Are those big black and white knobs at the mirror base collimation adjusters. If so that's better than skywatchers Alan key and screwdriver set up .

[Darren27]

Rory,

Yes, the white are the lock screws and the black are the spring loaded adjusters (I think, well the black ones definitely have the springs so I assume they are the adjusters).

[rory]

Rory,

Yes, the white are the lock screws and the black are the spring loaded adjusters (I think, well the black ones definitely have the springs so I assume they are the adjusters).

Thanks Darren , look forward to hearing about your first light . Enjoy .

[Mike73]

Congrats on a great looking scope, the forecast looks promising for the next week so lets hope it gets its first light soon.

[Reeny]

I still use my 9mm Revelation Plossl in the 8" Skywatcher dob.

It is a quality eyepiece which always delivers.

9mm barlowed = 266x magnification = excellent views of the moon craters in the right conditions.

I also have the 42mm version of the 30mm eyepiece which you have in the bundle.

The view through the 42mm is nothing special, but it does the job OK.

The 42mm makes it really easy to star hop around to the next object. 

But your 30mm will be much more usable at 40x magnification (42mm is too wide)

You may need one of these cut-price 14mm Meade 82degree eyepieces soon to fill the gap.

http://www.astroshop.eu/meade-14mm-ultra-wide-fishes-eyepiece-1-f-/p,10259

Delivery is just before August (2014) - it is too much of a bargain to ignore.

[rory]

That is a cheap price indeed. Bit of a waiting time though .

[Chris]

Great looking scope Darren, I like the DS focuser and the base looks relatively compact. an 8" Dob is a great bit of kit (I had the skyliner), they are big enough to show you alot and small enough that its easy to setup

Chris