Pulling the trigger on the Z10 Dob...

[Ccolvin968]

So finally after many, many months of asking around on here, I'm finally taking the leap.

Is there anything I should know or consider before I spend $550 USD on this scope?

Everything I've seen says it's an awesome scope for the price.

It comes with everything you normally get, plus a laser collimator.

I'm upgrading from my Celestron 127EQ.

I'm just looking for some reassurance here! haha

[pjsmith_6198]

Congratulations, the Z10 is a great scope.   I got mine last year just before they went out of stock.    It was a big jump from my Orion Starblast 6.  The extra aperture makes a makes a difference, especially with  galaxies and  resolving globular clusters.  

The only thing I should warn you about is the laser collimator might not be collimated when you get it.    Mine was off quite a lot.  If I would have tried to collimate my scope with it, I would have messed up the collimation quite a lot.   You can test the collimation by holding it steady, shining it at a wall and rotating it.  The laser pattern should be very close to a dot.  Mine was a large circle.     I  used a block of wood with nails making 2 V's and one nail in front to steady the collimator as I rotated it.  You can fix the colimation by using a 2 or 3mm hex wrench on the little screws on it's side.    

I bought a telrad and use that along with the RACI finder that came with the scope.   I found it's a lot easier to find objects.   I had a little trouble with just the RACI finder.   I think it's best to use both finders.  You need the RACI to compare with what you see in charts and the telrad makes it very easy to see where the scope is pointed

Phil

[John]

I believe the Z10's are good scopes from what I've read. On this side of the pond we don't get to see the Zhumell branding much but the same scopes are sold under Revelation branding in the UK and Telescope Services (TS) in Europe. These are all manufactured by GSO I believe and contain the same optics and mirror cells as the Meade Lightbridges.

[niallk]

Congrats + enjoy!!

From what I've read, I think you've made a great choice.

[Ccolvin968]

Thanks for the encouragement. I know I'll more than likely have to collimate the laser once it gets here. Stormy weather is predicted for every day this week, except Thursday and Friday... There is hope if it gets to me in 3 business days... Not likely. Figures as soon as I order my new baby it goes crazy outside. At least I'll not feel rushed and do a trash job on collimating the laser. 

[Luke]

I have the GSO 10 inch, I like it but feel my Skywatcher 12 inch had slightly better optics so I would buy the Skywatcher 10 if doing it again.