16" of aperture for £1,172

[faulksy]

thank alex, after reading this i feel like i have a bigger scope already so my strehl of 0.992 is pretty good, happy with that then :smiley:

[faulksy]

sorry john, its your post mate, and now its gone way of the original topic. sorry again

[gooseholla]

Let's be straight... you buy this, you're not going to be disappointed, or notice it being different by .01  of a whatcha-ma-jiggy. You're going to complain about the clouds, or lights, or seeing conditions more! That is a serious scope for some not so serious money. The sheer size and power of the thing! If anyone decides to buy it they're in for a "WOW!" moment when they first use it I suspect!

In fact, I am trying to avoid buying one myself!!!

[John]

sorry john, its your post mate, and now its gone way of the original topic. sorry again

No problem Mike it's all interesting stuff 

My only gripe with the Revelations is that they state "1/12 wave" without clarifying RMS or PV and there is quite a difference between the 2 measures. 

[faulksy]

No problem Mike it's all interesting stuff 

My only gripe with the Revelations is that they state "1/12 wave" without clarifying RMS or PV and there is quite a difference between the 2 measures. 

sorry to be dum(i find it quite easy) i take it 1/12 is less than 1/10 in terms of finish/figuring

[Dreadz]

I think its safe to assume thats 1/12th rms as a set of 16" 1/10th mirrors alone will cost around £2000

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[John]

sorry to be dum(i find it quite easy) i take it 1/12 is less than 1/10 in terms of finish/figuring....

No, 1/12 would be better, if we were comparing like for like. If the Revelations had 1/12 wave PV mirrors for that price they would be utter bargains. Orion Optics charge well over £2,000 for a 16" 1/10 wave PV mirror set 

Edit: Dredz got there 1st 

[AlexB67]

No, 1/12 would be better, if we were comparing like for like. If the Revelations had 1/12 wave PV mirrors for that price they would be utter bargains. Orion Optics charge well over £2,000 for a 16" 1/10 wave PV mirror set 

Edit: Dredz got there 1st 

I highly doubt for that price as said. I do recall one member here, may have been  the other Mike, as in Cornwall Mike ( Mike73 ?) showing us a test report of his 16 inch GSO mirror, it looked pretty healthy at 1/6 PV or so, but my memory may be failing me.

[John]

I highly doubt for that price as said. I do recall one member here, may have been  the other Mike, as in Cornwall Mike ( Mike73 ?) showing us a test report of his 16 inch GSO mirror, it looked pretty healthy at 1/6 PV or so, but my memory may be failing me.

A mirror of that quality in a 16" dob for £1,170 would be a fine result 

It's if you get a duff one that the headaches start.

[AlexB67]

A mirror of that quality in a 16" dob for £1,170 would be a fine result 

It's if you get a duff one that the headaches start.

Yep. the luck of the draw perhaps a bit or who knows, but if I start mentioning one of my slight reservation about GSO and my preference to synta. Rightly or wrongly I felt a bit more comfy buying one of those set of optics ( reading various sources, that went both ways anyway in some cases, but some builders that dealt with batches of them ).

But we've been there before and it stirred a bit of conversation hotter than a mild curry, so I'll say no more on that   

[alan potts]

Well thank you to everyone for trying to help me understand. I find it a bit confusing that any manufacturer is talking two different sets of readings, in my books it is probably a legal effort to confuse the unknowing buyer into thinking the mirror is a good deal better than it is. I laso think it is fair to say OOUK system of measurement is beyond question, site has many happy owners

What was the line, lies, dam lies and then statistics.

Talk of duff mirrors, I believe a site member got a duff mirror in his Sumerian who on the starting models I am sure use GSO mirrors, This was sorted out without issue I understand in the way one would expect from a fine company.

Alan.

[vlebo]

That deal makes the Revelation 12" dob £497.90.

Not a bad price for 12" of aperture compared to the SW Flextube at £849

Having said that the 14" Flextube is up for grabs at £1269 which , for the aperture , I think is good value. It has by all accounts a better mirror set and that all important collapsible base. 2" less aperture from a more proven manufacturer makes the 14" also quite tempting compared to the Revelation 16".

[estwing]

If this thing gets any cheaper I'll be buying one just for the hell of it?!!!...OO mirrors are fantastic but when I picked mine up after it's coating I was asked why I hadn't bought theirs instead of Johns it was simply down to price...anyhow if your in the market for a big dob....get it bought!

[alan potts]

Estwing,

Can I ask what you would be using it as, a finder scope? I'm impressed.

Alan

[estwing]

No I'm kidding Alan but I find it hard to resist bargins

[Ptarmigan]

As I recall, this telescope received a good review in Sky at Night Magazine.

Thanks, the vendor's site makes ref to the review as well (Oct'13 - they say)

Does anyone know if it is online ?

Has anyone on the forum got one of these scopes, and/or reviewed it here ?

They also say "scope will happily disassemble quickly into manageable sections" etc&etc.

but they dont help themselves to sell these things with all this publicity double-sugar-speak

I cant see anything about size or weight or what kind of army is needed

and all this talk of PV and RMS double speak is putting me right off !

(actually, I dont see anything about that on their site, am I going blind or have they given up? )

What is M-CRF ?

So, I'd love to hear from an owner first (by PM if desired ) before I break open the piggybank

but nevertheless it is very tempting and bordering on pocket-money teritory !!!

[John]

The scopes have been around for a few years. Here is a 2008 review of the same scope banded Astro Tech in this case:

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1817

This is from the "More information" panel on the Telescope House web site:

"......This telescope's heart is its 16" f/4.5 Parabolic primary mirror, which is made from BK7 optical glass, is figured to 1/12 wave to ensure excellent optical performance and is well-supported on an 18-point mirror cell with integral 4.7-inch cooling fan to help reach thermal equilibrium quickly....."

I ought to make it clear that I'm not recommending this scope particularly, merely wondering whether such a low price justifies accepting the inevitable "rough edges" that are likely to be presented to an owner.

[Ptarmigan]

I ought to make it clear that I'm not recommending this scope particularly, merely wondering whether such a low price justifies accepting the inevitable "rough edges" that are likely to be presented to an owner.

Thank you John,

noted about not recommending, all understood, and also I am wondering if as is mostly the case "you gets what yous pays for".

Which is why I hope a current or past owner will spy the thread and add a ha'penth

Thanks for the cloudynights review, but a lot might have changed since then !

That is curious, I had not got a "more information" link on the page I was looking at,

however, at your prompting, I found the little picture and the subtitle model name were a link to a further info. pop-up window. Normally I dont click little pictures cos they usually just link to a slightly bigger picture !

I see what you mean about the 1/12wave, craftily not saying what type of wave

Not very inspiring when put together with the expert analysis in this thread

Very tempting though !!

[gooseholla]

I purchased a dob with Orion Optics mirrors in, freshly re-coated. Most of the scope seems to be home made, and well, rough. I had to make the mount myself. Would I worry about rough edges if it had good optics in? Not really. Spending that kind of money on a scope you'll use for life, a few quid in upgrades isn't much trouble.

After a while, you learn to live with quirks though, or devise ways to overcome them. I suppose that is also part of the fun of owning a dobsonian telescope.

[HD-AP]

Seems like fair value for the money, for what it is .

BK7 glass has simular but not quite the same properties as pyrex ,it's denser and will take longer to cool down .Accuracy is what you see at the eyepiece .

1/12 th wave wavefront would be 1/24th wave surface nice spec more likeley 1/12th wave surface 1/6th wavefront still nice but these are more likely 1/4er wave but whatever if not ASTIGMATIC which a lot are is still a lot of bang for your buck.

You could spend £5000 for a premium primary mirror alone ,and given our great british weather /seeing the difference on most nights woudn't be much different .

my only caveat at this price point ,is that their are likely to be more lemons than peaches out there.  

[scarp15]

You could spend £5000 for a premium primary mirror alone ,and given our great british weather /seeing the difference on most nights woudn't be much different .

my only caveat at this price point ,is that their are likely to be more lemons than peaches out there.  

That can be the case concerning typical UK weather conditions. Would be hard to reckon concerning the 'lemons' and 'peach' ratio, though I suspect that in principle,  it offers very good value, that is adequately portable, with good enough mirrors quite fit for purpose.. My only chinese built scope was a Skywatcher 12" flextube. A brilliant scope with great optics, which provided many unforgettable views both on planets and DSO's at least up to my highest mag at around x235.

[crashtestdummy]

I heard that the 16" gso dob didn't hold collimation well which is why I avoided it when I we looking for a 16".It's similar to the lightbridge but has a different truss pole arrangement which is where the collimation must be lost.I'm sure it's a bargain but be prepared to fettle.plus the alt bearings are massively too small.

[alan potts]

I think if I could get one at that price I would buy one but I can't and courier is not really an option. The thing with a Dob is I doubt I would use it as a high magnification planetary scope, I have better toys for that. For me it would be a big light bucket that I would use most of the time on it's lowest magnification and for that I reckon it would be a great tool. I also thought they had up-graded the Alt bearing a few year back to something larger, I'm sure I read this somewhere.

Ok it may need a few nips and tucks here and there but all accounts they all do, I think the wow factor as a site member pointed out could well soften the blow of any pitfalls found along the way.

Alan

[Dude_with_the_tube]

every factory made dob will require some sort of tweaks and adjustments to your liking,unless you are willing to spend some serious money to have it custom made to your specs,in likes of Sumerian or any other reputable telescope makers.However,recently these chinese made dobs have improved massively in quality of build.it is a day and night in build in comparison of my 14" i got now and 10" i had earlier.(skywatcher) and if you can get one cheap,get it,twek it and use it.At the end of a day,in few years time you can always re-coat the original mirror.

I personally dont use my dob for planetary as such i dont need that super high wave length mirrors and i am happy with the SW 1/4th mirror for DSO`s.For planetary and solar i use my F14.4 refractor what gives  me better views as my dob.thats my 5 p.

[cotterless45]

My cynical side says that this was released at the price range for the gap in the market appealing to those with aperture fever at a snap up price. A well figured 16" mirror would be a challenging price.

My other head says that for the money it's a steal and even taking the mirror out and doing a DIY job would be worthwhile.

Acute collimation required for planets would not be much of a problem, unless it's wildly out with flex. I saw some really nice trampoline uprights going spare recently.

I'd be using this for galaxies and nebulae where 1/10 th wave or nudging the ota at higher magnification is not essential. I can't begin to imagine the views from a dark site.

I'm very interested to hear from some current first lighters

Nick.