Revelation dobsonian competent or budget?

[spaceboy]

What's peoples thoughts on the Revelation dobsonians? From what reviews I have found on the net the positives are price, comes as standard with a DS focuser, seems to have a fairly good balancing / friction system in place, cooling fan and most come in solid tube. The negatives seem to be you need to upgrade the primary collimation springs almost immediately, only 1/4 wave optics and less durable coatings compared to SW or Celestron alternatives, the bases are heavy and really don't get on well with dew, damp fields or being outside in general.

There really doesn't seem to be much else out there that offers such value for money so is this just a budget scope to offer a taster in larger apertures but lacks the long term durability to be a genuinely competent scope?

[John]

I owned one of the early 8" ones and that was decent. I thought the optics in the 8" Skywatcher that I later had were a little better perhaps but not a lot in it.

I think the current generation of Revelation dobs are pretty good. The coatings on the mirrors (an issue with early ones) seem to be much better and the general fit and finish is at least as good as the Skywatcher, perhaps a little better in terms of the focuser.

The collimation springs issue affects the 12" ones I believe. It should have been resolved years ago of course but GSO would not be the 1st mass producer not to address something that could do with improvement

[Bart]

I cannot speak directly about Revalation, but I have a 4 yr old GSO 10" Dob which I believe is essentially a Revalation. No problems so far and the focuser and alt/az motion are excellent. Not had any problems that anyone else hasn't had with dew. It's very easy to use. Great scope. Maybe the optics aren't expensive, but you pays your money and all that. I don't know how different they are to a skywatcher really. Very happy with it. I believe the 16" truss system wasn't great so I went for a lightbridge.  The 10" and 12", as far as I know, are fine  

Its up to you as far as the optics are concerned. You might need to go up a step for better optics. 

[Dave In Vermont]

GSO appears to have greatly improved the quality of their products as of late. So I wouldn't be too concerned with the optical quality, but I'd be looking at the needed periferals, such as the focuser, finder, mounting, and so forth.

I'm assuming you're in the UK? If you were over here I'd direct you to take a look at the Zhumell - offerings. But I don't believe you can get these 'across-the-pond.' The optics are about the same, but the peripherals - such as the RACI finder - are excellent.

Enjoy!

Dave

[spaceboy]

Thanks for the replies guys.

9 hours ago, Bart said:

Not had any problems that anyone else hasn't had with dew. 

Hi Bart I was referring to the base in general regards dew,  damp, etc. They appear to have the same chipboard construction as SkyWatcher but for some reason they aren't as resilient and soon start shedding the melamine coating and puffing up like a sponge from absorbing moisture. This may have been addressed as I see they have now gone from black bases which were noted to be particularly prone to it, to white ones (possibility better quality construction) like SW. 

[Bart]

Right, ok, never heard of that problem. Gulp! My GSO base is black.....

[David Smith]

I have a 10" Revelation which is now 10 years old. The scope has seen considerable use in all conditions and is stored out in a plastic garden store with no heating or dew removal. The scope is still in excellent condition and despite similar concerns when I bought it, the base is as good as new. Only really sign of its 10 year tenure is some minor corrosion on some of the screw heads and on the collimation springs.

[John]

Bresser have just introduced a 10" version of their dobsonian which looks quite interesting:

http://www.telescopehouse.com/telescopes/telescopes-by-type/dobsonian-telescopes/bresser-messier-10-dobsonian-telescope.html

How the optics compare with Skywatcher / GSO I don't know though

 

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

I bought my 12" Revelation at Astrofest this year and I cannot praise it enough. Yes I have done some modifications but I did most of these on my previous 10" Skywatcher Flextube.

I can say that the primary springs do need to be replaced but the balancing mechanism and focuser are very good. With regard to the mirror the views I am getting are better than expected. Last week I split Zeta Hercules, the view of the Veil Nebula was the best I have ever had and I saw the Propeller in M13 etc etc - so I am very pleased.

Here is a link to my modifications -

Since these initial modifications I have added another handle to the OTA - this is because I need to carry the OTA about 30 metres down the garden and at my age it helps. I have also put two handles on the base again to help me to carry the base.

[sockgoblin]

On 14/08/2016 at 09:33, Mark at Beaufort said:

I bought my 12" Revelation at Astrofest this year and I cannot praise it enough. Yes I have done some modifications but I did most of these on my previous 10" Skywatcher Flextube.

I can say that the primary springs do need to be replaced but the balancing mechanism and focuser are very good. With regard to the mirror the views I am getting are better than expected. Last week I split Zeta Hercules, the view of the Veil Nebula was the best I have ever had and I saw the Propeller in M13 etc etc - so I am very pleased.

Here is a link to my modifications -

Since these initial modifications I have added another handle to the OTA - this is because I need to carry the OTA about 30 metres down the garden and at my age it helps. I have also put two handles on the base again to help me to carry the base.

I note that you have some issues with the lazy susan bearings, have you managed to overcome the spinning issue? Also does the bearing cause a vibration at high magnification. Ive tried adding a lazy susan to my current scope and found that the scope would rollback slightly when trying to zero in on a target?

[Mark at Beaufort]

@sockgoblin - No it did not cause any vibrations but it did rollback slightly. If I am viewing a small object like a PN then I use a large spring clip attached to the base to stop any movement. I am sure there could be a better solution but I have not found one.