Orion SkyQuest XT 8G

[Warped Drive]

Hi I've been searching on here and the web for an in-depth review of this scope but all I can find is a couple of short reviews on sales sites and a couple of short videos on you tube from Orion themselves and an unboxing. One has come up for sale at the right money near to me and I was wondering if anyone here has any experience with one or has a link to a good in-depth review. In had planed on getting a Skywatcher 10" Flextube before Christmas but due to a financially disastrous December that got scrapped., so this may be my consolation prize.

Thanks for any help it will be much appreciated.   

[Pondus]

I own the XT8 Intelliscope, the 'push to' Version, so I cant give any help regarding the goto version.
However, maybe this review can help :

http://astronomy-avenue.blogspot.no/2011/05/product-review-orion-xt8g-dobsonian.html

I bought a secondhand XT8i and Im very pleased with it : It got that quality feel, good optics, runs smooth and
is well balanced. I can easily carry it up and down stairs in one piece (the goto is slightly heavier), and it holds collimation well.
The intelliscope part works fine, although a rarely use it.

As I sad, ive got no experience with the goto version, but the build and optics on Orion XT8 are, in my opinion, very good.

Good Luck With Your Choice.

Rune

[skfboiler]

Here is a link to Orion's website with several reviews of the XT8g.  I have the XT12g and the I can say the GoTo works fine on these.  However, the XTg scopes comes with a cheazy finder, the EZ II Finder. which is a red dot finder.  If you have any light pollution, these are worthless.  Plus they do not work well in the cold weather.  You will probably want to upgrade to a 8x30 or 9x50 finder scope.  I use an 8x30 RACI on mine.  You will need a good powertank with 12V DC output to power the mount.

http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes/GoTo-Computerized-Telescopes/Orion-SkyQuest-XT8g-Computerized-GoTo-Dobsonian-Telescope/pc/-1/c/1/sc/15/p/102019.uts

 

[Warped Drive]

Thanks  for the replies, I found the reviews very informing. I like the separate tracking feature if you don't what to go full goto. The scope I am looking at is only a year and a half old so the SynScan software should have been upgraded from the version  that the reviewer was using back in 2011, so it's likely  some of the niggles he talks about have been corrected. It actually has a 9 x 50 RA finder scope and not the red dot which I know from experience with my Heritage 130p is only good for the brightest objects in my LP sky. From the photos it seems to be as new and from the comments of other bidders I gather he was selling it to raise cash to buy something bigger and better, which it appears he has already done as he is keeping the power tank also he had this scope up for sale before a couple of months ago for about €250-300 more than he is asking now. My only concern apart from it not being a 10" is the Orion brand being predominately American based is getting spare parts should the need arise as the P&P can sometimes doubles the cost. Is there a UK agent for Orion?

Anyway thanks again for your help 

[Astro Imp]

2 hours ago, Warped Drive said:

Thanks  for the replies, I found the reviews very informing. I like the separate tracking feature if you don't what to go full goto. The scope I am looking at is only a year and a half old so the SynScan software should have been upgraded from the version  that the reviewer was using back in 2011, so it's likely  some of the niggles he talks about have been corrected. It actually has a 9 x 50 RA finder scope and not the red dot which I know from experience with my Heritage 130p is only good for the brightest objects in my LP sky. From the photos it seems to be as new and from the comments of other bidders I gather he was selling it to raise cash to buy something bigger and better, which it appears he has already done as he is keeping the power tank also he had this scope up for sale before a couple of months ago for about €250-300 more than he is asking now. My only concern apart from it not being a 10" is the Orion brand being predominately American based is getting spare parts should the need arise as the P&P can sometimes doubles the cost. Is there a UK agent for Orion?

Anyway thanks again for your help 

Unfortunately Orion have a very poor reputation for supplying spare parts for pre-owned equipment. There have been several threads here that they are only prepared to supply spares if you can prove you are the original owner.

[Putaendo Patrick]

Worse news I'm afraid. In addition to what Alan says above, the Ireland representative for Orion used to be Scopes and Space in Dublin. I believe they went out of business last year.

[Peter Drew]

I also have the XT8  "push to" version which gives an excellent performance. I can't readily think what one might need as spares, most things can be fixed and mirrors can be re-coated.

[Warped Drive]

Right that is a little off putting, but on thinking about it " Peter Drew " is right most thing can be fixed or bodged. I suppose the worst case would be, if the SynScan hand set packed up. Are the Syn Scan hand sets used on the Skywatcher scopes the same, is the software proprietary to Orion or Skywatcher or is it Syn Scan's own. After that I imagine it can only be the stepper motors ( which don't fail too often unless they are under too much strain ) or more likely the drive ICs for the steppers.

[Pondus]

Just wanted to add that the price of this Scope is approx £900,- in Germany (Astroshop), just so you can compare

the offer you got With the price of a New XT8g in Europe.

 

Rune

[Putaendo Patrick]

Currently on offer in London for 796.50 pounds at the Orion UK site:

http://uk.telescope.com/Telescopes/Dobsonian-Telescopes/GoTo-Dobsonians/Orion-SkyQuest-XT8g-Computerized-GoTo-Dobsonian-Telescope/pc/1306/c/1316/sc/1356/p/109965.uts?refineByCategoryId=1356

[skfboiler]

That is true, if you are not the original owner, Orion will not sell any spare parts to you.  However, if you ever become an original owner of an Orion product, there technical support is good.  Their wbsight has online chat that is helpful.

[John]

There is at least one Orion (USA) dealer in the UK:

http://www.scsastro.co.uk/

Many of their scopes are made by Synta who also own and make Skywatcher and Celestron scopes of course.

[Warped Drive]

Wow that is unbelievable, what sort of business ethic is that? What's the difference to them if your the original owner or if it's second, third or fourth hand, they have made their money on their original sale to the dealer so if someone comes back looking for a replacement part they are going to make again which is what business is all about. I hope they are not a PLC company because I'd be ditching my shares ASAP . 

He is asking £410 when converted from Euro which is about 50% of the offer price and about 40% of the standard price so if it's in as good condition as the photos make out it sounds like a reasonable deal. I have one of those 12v power packs for emergency jump starting you car, it's fairly hefty about 25Ah, it's got  two 12v cigarette lighter type outlets so that should run it ok , only down side is it's lead acid not lithium ion so t can only be charged a limited number of times. For a mains to 12v dc adaptor does anyone know what amperage it needs to be.

[Dave Lloyd]

21 hours ago, skfboiler said:

That is true, if you are not the original owner, Orion will not sell any spare parts to you. 

That's why I'll never buy an Orion scope, new or otherwise.

[John]

38 minutes ago, Dave Lloyd said:

That's why I'll never buy an Orion scope, new or otherwise.

I believe Celestron and Meade have the same policy, at least in the USA.

 

[Warped Drive]

Ok the little red guy with the tail on my left shoulder and the other little guy in the white smock with the halo on my right shoulder have been going at it for quite some time now. I very been weighing up the pros and cons and I am thinking my original plan which took a while to thrash out in my head was when I upgraded from the 130p I was going to get a 10" dob most likely a Skywatcer 250p Flextube as this was the biggest scope my situation would allow without getting involved in building a garden shed or some weather proof enclosure to keep it in. As my back garden is my prime observing site  and light pollution is is a big factor  so the biggest aperture would be the main consideration also my view of the sky is quite limited probably only 30-35% depending on the time of year so a goto scope is probably a bit wasted . Then there is the fact that it is an 8"  when I really want a 10" so this time next year am I going to have to go through this process again. Then there is all these negatives dealing with Orion should the need arise, that leaves the only pros fit this scope being the tracking option and the price.

Aaaaaggghhhhh! wracked with indecision!

[Peter Drew]

And all the time M31 is getting nearer.

[Warped Drive]

Just one or maybe two more things before I give this a wide berth, does Orion's policy also include software / firmware updates for the Synscan controller, as in do you have to prove you are the original owner before you can download it and the other thing is, if for some reason the guy selling the scope does not have the PC serial link cable will the Skywatcher one work as they are available on ebay and I see FLO has them as well or have Orion changed the pinning to suit themselves.

Thanks in advanse

[Pondus]

3 hours ago, Warped Drive said:

Just one or maybe two more things before I give this a wide berth, does Orion's policy also include software / firmware updates for the Synscan controller, as in do you have to prove you are the original owner before you can download it and the other thing is, if for some reason the guy selling the scope does not have the PC serial link cable will the Skywatcher one work as they are available on ebay and I see FLO has them as well or have Orion changed the pinning to suit themselves.

Thanks in advanse

The updates/downloads  are available for all.

[skfboiler]

Yes, the downloads are for anyone.  Keep in mine there are 2 things to download.  One is the downloader program and the other is the firmware itself.

[Warped Drive]

Well at least that's one plus. I see it also has a two speed Crayford style focuser,  that sounds like luxury compared to the focuser on my Heritage 130p. It doesn't appear to be going anywhere in a hurry, last offer was nearly two weeks ago so I think I still have a bit of time to struggle with the 8" vs 10" dilemma.

[Warped Drive]

Well finally pulled the trigger and went for it, really nice guy, he delivered to my house and even built it for me and demo'ed how to use the goto function. I am really pleased with it and yes now I realise what they mean when they say that you have to see a scope in person to see how big they can be, make the Heritage 130p look like a toy. It was even packed in the original boxes with all the bit in their ziplok bags. All I need is some batteries for the finder scope reticule and a PC link cable which he said never came with it, sound like a case of the dealer opening the box and taking out some of the goodies to resell later. Now what's the betting that it stays cloudy for a month, aaaghh!!!!

[Astro Imp]

Good luck with your new toy, let us all know how you get on with it.

[Pondus]

Looking good .

Congrats With Your New telescope and good Luck With it.

Certainly an extra bonus With such a helpful seller.

Rune.

Ps :  It will be interesting to hear what you think about it especially the goto, and how well it tracks Objects.

Kind of miss the tracking on my Orion, especially on planetary observations at high Powers .

[Warped Drive]

Ok finally got to play with it yesterday as I had to go away with work on Friday and Saturday. First thing I decided was to up date the handset firmware, but as I had no PC Link cable and didn't want to wait for a week to get one from ebay or the like, I made one. I went home plugged it into th PC, luckily it has a motherboard with a RS232 serial socket on it, so no USB to serial adaptor needed. I plugged the RJ12 into the handset,held the "0 & 8" buttons and powered it up into update mode, I had already downloaded the updater app and the update file and low and behold it worked. I then pushed my luck a bit further and tried connecting it to Stellarium and that worked too, well after I selected the right profile for it, I tried the Skywatcher Synscan AZ one first which it did not like at all, so I went back ito configure and tried Skywatcher Synscan V3 and it worked a treat. I looked out the window " are those stars I see in the sky" woo whoo!! grabbed the scope out on to the patio, spent a minute or two trying to level it as best I could, powered up just about to to align the first star when over the roofs of the houses near by they came, yes the dreaded clouds. So after a tirade of astronomical oaths I decided to at least get a glimpse of the moon so I manually slewed to it and that's when I really noticed that something might be wrong, it is incredibly stiff to move in both alt and azimuth planes and for a scope that is advertised as been able to used in manual mode with auto tracking I thought that can't be right. I checked the manual and there is no mention of any  way of controlling the tension on the movement also in the promo video for the xtg range on You Tube the guy is pushing the 10" version around with one hand with ease. Does anyone know if this is right or is there something I should be doing to make it move more freely, I am afraid I may damage it. |It seems to move alright under motor drive though.