GSO Guan Sheng Optical

[EA2007]

Hey kids,

I came across the Taiwanese company GSO (Guan Sheng Optical -think thats how they are spelt) yesterday and have read a few comments on thier optical quality being better than the more mass produced Chinese optics of other rival brands.

However the main thing is, I have never heard of this company before and also that they do not seem to ship to the UK. I had to visit an Aussie site to get any info. Their own website gs-telescope.com appears okay from the front page but has major flaws in the rest of the layout, namely product information.

Was wondering if anyone had come across this company before and has any views on them ? From what I gather their products are lower in price than other rival manufacturers (which is good) and slightly higher in quality (which is better).

[Trevor]

Might be an idea to speak to Bern at http://www.modernastronomy.com/

[themos]

I wonder if the 16" GSO Dob is available through the website above.

[Eddie]

I can confirm that the GSO stuff is awesome. Bern is your Man to talk to about them. I got a 8" f4 that I use with my art11002, so they're real performers. Visually it does not disappoint either!

HTH,

Eddie

[beamish]

And I'm v. happy with my GSO 3x ED barlow !

[philsail1]

Yes,

I've got a couple of "GSO" 25mm plossls, and they are very good.

Regards,

philsail1

[Naz]

I believe that the Revelation series was made by GSO, I have the 200mm dob and am more than pleased, also if you check out the Aussi forum, Ice in Space, the use of GSO equipment seems to out number any other, i.e. they fill the gap that Skywatcher fills here. They receive favourable comments from the users. Where they have made equipment for rebranding, they might have been "persuaded" to produce lower spec gear, but that isn't uncommon in any industry.

Just remember, you get what you pay for, and sometimes you can turn up a cracking piece of kit for no money.

Archie

[Whippy]

I think GSO are the Taiwanese equivalent of Synta in that they are a large manufacturer of good quality but reasonably priced optical equipment and accessories but they deal with resellers such as Revelation so you can't actually buy them direct. AFAIK, GSO are now producing 'affordable' RC scopes. They're already available in the States and fingers crossed available here at some point soon too .

Comparing prices between countries is a dangerous thing, best not to look IMO!

Tony..

[John]

The dobsonian scopes sold by Telescope Services in Germany (on their web site and on e.bay) are made by GSO. Despite being in Germany TS are great people to deal with.

John

[Eddie]

The dobsonian scopes sold by Telescope Services in Germany (on their web site and on e.bay) are made by GSO. Despite being in Germany TS are great people to deal with.

John

Bern at Modern Astronomy is the UK dealer for TS, for those of you who don't want to deal direct

Eddie

[John]

The dobsonian scopes sold by Telescope Services in Germany (on their web site and on e.bay) are made by GSO. Despite being in Germany TS are great people to deal with.

John

Bern at Modern Astronomy is the UK dealer for TS, for those of you who don't want to deal direct

Eddie

Thanks Eddie - I'd forgotten that Bern was stocking TS stuff now :-)

John

[Brinders]

I've got the GSO SCT Crayford focuser and find that it is excellent. When researching before making my purchase from Smart Astronomy in Staten Island NY (they sell on Ebay), I had read good things about GSO. Seems thay make stuff for other manufaturers too. Not sure, but I seem to recall Williams Optics focusers may be made by GSO - but I stand to be corrected. Either way, it works wonderfully well and smoothly. Use it on my C9.25 with my William Optics dielectric star diagonal

[GazOC]

Brinders, I've got the same focuser from Smart Astronomy on my 10" SCT/ 7" Mak. Its great for the money and the guy who runs Smart Astronomy (I forget his name) is a top bloke.

[cygnusx1]

Don't they make 2" diagonals too? Rebranded WO's i think.

[Brinders]

Hi Gaz, yes the ebay store is run by a married couple called Donna and Sam(?) Quarto (can't quite remembers his first name, but I think it's Sam). And yes, they are a great advertisement for Ebay at its best. Check out their prices on Vixen eyepieces as well as GSO stuff. The only complaint I have is that service can be a little slow. I'm used to getting stuff from the far east (electrical, CDs etc) and arriving in two to three days. My focuser took three weeks via the US parcels service and that was express delivery! However, it wasn't the Quarto's fault - the shipping documentation showed that they had shipped the focuser three days after my order, the blame lay squarely with USPS. I'd still order from them though - you just have to be patient.

Got a new Sigma 28-300 zoom from another source the other day that came via Dubai: ordered Wednesday arrived Friday, just 2 days from the Middle East - I've ordered items in the UK that have taken that time in weeks! In fact I'm still waiting for some software I ordered from within the UK three weeks ago.

Going back to GSO - yes, thay do make diagonals too and lots of other stuff. As I say I think they manufacture for William Optics as well as others. See their web site for the full range:

http://www.gs-telescope.com/

[StarMan1701]

I ordered an 8x50 RACI finder from Smart Astronomy a couple of years ago.

I paid for the item on the evening of 2nd January, and it turned up at my door on the 6th!

It doesn't get much better than that.

Lee.