New Orion xti 8

[mr saddo]

Hi, I have had many scopes...from evostars to celestron se go to, to revalation dobs, I bought this Orion dobsonion push to last week 16th December, I had a revalation 8 inch which I sold, again! Promising not to get another big thing...but..I've been after one of theses xti's for ages they were out of stock in uk, so I ordered from Orion in the Netherlands. It came within 3 days via fed X...I was dreading it been broke but was ok.. It took me 2hours to put the base and en coaders in very carefully...there's a lot of parts and washers, knobs, circuit boards, relative washers and stuff are spread about the many bags, so making sure you use the right parts is a must, there's a good Orion video on how to put the lot together. I choose this model scope because of the ease of finding things in the sky. Tbh Iam useless, I know most constellations but trying to find say galaxy and clusters, just too much wasted viewing time. so I though the push to would be good..I've had a celestron 5se go to..spent more time messing with handset ..and would never put object in e.p..anyway first night out..useless..Followed the instructions...but miles out..oh no, here we go again! I thought..more electronic crap...and a told you so off the wife! Had a read on here, the ota must be vertical and level...and when the handed set his powered on you must push the up arrow So it says point vertical! Apparently there's a warp factor alignment figure! 0.5 poor 0.2 good.i was getting 0.4 the stars were at edge of a 30mm e.p..just...I was dissapointed....to say the least. Had a go tonight, 21st December, made sure the ota was straight up when asked, used a 9 mm e.p to line up the alignment stars, got a warp factor of 0.2! I thought that will do, sent it to m45 pliedies ..and....it was there! Sent it to ngc 884 Perseus double it was there.. Sent to m36 and m37  it was in e.p, sent to andromeda Galaxy..oh no it was out..by 0.2 in alt and 0.2 in azimuth I found it just out side the e.p., it's quite hard to push 0.2 on azimuth...it was going plus or minus, I was quite pleased it was working..but sussepect pointing errors when moving from say east to west or taking too long to choose a object, there is a realignment function Fcn button but have not worked this out yet. Optics are good, needed colamating but want a million miles out, Crayford focuser..very stiff, needs adjusting grub screw in middle? Bit pricey for scope, that be the encoaders! Part. So I will see how I get on watch this space, yours Paul.

[dobbie]

It will be interesting to see how quick you master it ,I was after one of these scopes but never got round to getting one , I await a update  I may still be after one.

[Peter Drew]

Very nice. I've had one some time, the "push to" is very good if set up carefullyand the optics are excellent. 

[laudropb]

Sounds promising. Let us know how you get on please.

[mr saddo]

Hi, yes I will keep you all informed thanks for reading.

[mr saddo]

Hi, been out tonight 26th December quite cold and clear, aligned the scope on Capella and alderbran.,got the warp alignment down to 0.2, sent it to m36 in Auriga, it was there in e.p(30mm) sent to andromada, it was there in e.p. Tried little dumbell but, there were stars but no dumbell, sent it back to andromeda just to test the pointing acuracey it was in e.p..so sent it back to little dumbbell same stars, I was not expecting Hubble views..but at least some shape,  Ile put it down to light pollution in back yard, I did try pinwheel Galaxy ...there was some stars arcing out in arms but again not expecting Hubble views, I did try this twice, same view. I think the trick his not to slew all over the place, but try keep in the same  vicinity to reduce pointing errors, I sorted the stiff focuser out there a grub screw in middle of the Crayford, far too tight! On the whole I was quite pleased it was putting some objects in e.p...I did do a tour, finding some ngc clusters was good, I was quite sceptical of this scope I've had a few go to's but they were a right pain, never find anything, spend more time messing with handset, so for this to work I was pleased.

[mr saddo]

Out tonight,7pm,  13-1-2017 before the full bright moon comes up! Did a tour of sky..found some new things, mons cluster, and Christmas tree cluster! Warp factor was going out a bit, but put it on to Orion neb and realigned,  Fcn button and enter! Warp 0.0! Usually 0.2 With 30mm e.p! Saves realigning to two stars. Very cold tonight getting down to -4 they reckon! Had about a hour! Oh the handset don't like the cold..display slow letters missing..bit dim.

[Phil Fargaze]

I`ve had my xt10i for over ten years now and its still going strong. Glad to hear you are enjoying your scope. Pointing accuracy always been good. Generally I might average a warp factor of 0.4 to 0.2 which is good enough. Once the point vertical has been checked and adjusted on level ground, the scope can be aligned without having to check the base is level, just point vertical then find two stars to align on. Sometimes though, if it is on soft ground there might be a bit movement of the base which will reduce the accuracy. I made up some ground cups with spikes on so that the three feet under the base can fit into them. As you noticed, the realignment function is handy if it does drift, that way I can keep going all night whatever direction I might be pointing at. The only thing to give up is my back! Yes the cold does affect the hand controller a bit, just make sure the battery is good. Many a time I have centred on an object and I can`t see it. Sometimes it is centred but it is just too faint to see, especially round my area with it`s light pollution. In the spring and autumn I take the scope off to a dark sky site which is when I can really get to see objects I would have no hope with at home. Just need to hope for clear skies!  If it gets a bit stiff to move you could try a little bit of candle wax on the friction pads which might help. 

[mr saddo]

Hi, had a bit of a nightmare tonight being 20th Jan..weather cold bit Dewie. Aligned on Capella  and beataljuice, warp 2.4...any way found a few ngc,s then it went way out, sent it to Orion bit too far to  the right! Did realign to Orion, got going again but still no targets in e.p. Realigned on alderbran and beataljuice...can't get the warp down to 0.2, but 2.1.also the ra was jumping numbers, got with in  4.5...then jumped to 145 ..pushed it back a bit then 4.5.. I think the dew/cold was affecting the encolders. Oh the hand unit  went dim, changed the battery, could hardly see the display, again I  think  the cold, the pp3 was nearly dead. Ile have a look at the base Saturday, I have the base sat in a dolly with wheels on to move about, it might not be level when rotating the base,.

[Scooot]

9 minutes ago, mr saddo said:

Hi, had a bit of a nightmare tonight being 20th Jan..weather cold bit Dewie. Aligned on Capella  and beataljuice, warp 2.4...any way found a few ngc,s then it went way out, sent it to Orion bit too far to  the right! Did realign to Orion, got going again but still no targets in e.p. Realigned on alderbran and beataljuice...can't get the warp down to 0.2, but 2.1.also the ra was jumping numbers, got with in  4.5...then jumped to 145 ..pushed it back a bit then 4.5.. I think the dew/cold was affecting the encolders. Oh the hand unit  went dim, changed the battery, could hardly see the display, again I  think  the cold, the pp3 was nearly dead. Ile have a look at the base Saturday, I have the base sat in a dolly with wheels on to move about, it might not be level when rotating the base,.

I'd check the encoders aren't slipping. I don't think the dew would affect their performance, it never has done with my nexus, even in heavy dew.

[Peter Drew]

I've recently stripped off the encoder system from my XT8 and grafted them on to a 20". I can't see why it should make any difference to their operation, they seem to scroll ok when the telescope is moved but I've not had chance to try it out on the night sky.  

[Phil Fargaze]

On 20 January 2017 at 20:54, Scooot said:

I'd check the encoders aren't slipping. I don't think the dew would affect their performance, it never has done with my nexus, even in heavy dew.

I agree, I've had my XT10 sat in many a damp field with the scope soaking but the encoders still worked ok. Best check the assembly instructions. On my handset the brightness can be controlled by a short press on the power button. Maybe something to try out about the dim screen. 

[mr saddo]

Hi, had a bit of a nightmare tonight being 20th Jan..weather cold bit Dewie. Aligned on Capella  and beataljuice, warp 2.4...any way found a few ngc,s then it went way out, sent it to Orion bit too far to  the right! Did realign to Orion, got going again but still no targets in e.p. Realigned on alderbran and beataljuice...can't get the warp down to 0.2, but 2.1.also the ra was jumping numbers, got with in  4.5...then jumped to 145 ..pushed it back a bit then 4.5.. I think the dew/cold was affecting the encolders. Oh the hand unit  went dim, changed the battery, could hardly see the display, again I  think  the cold, the pp3 was nearly dead. Ile have a look at the base Saturday, I have the base sat in a dolly with wheels on to move about, it might not be level when rotating the base,.

[mr saddo]

Hi, I accessed the fnc button and enter, the position of the scope coordinates came up when the scope his horizontal...the encoaders are talking...but noticed when scope goes vertical the readout should be 90. It's 89.6...I have had a level on top and its level according to the bubble. It was working ok last night, put m36 in ep on a 30mm, and Castor star (ps dint know this was a double! In the 9mm  e.p)