Orion Optics VX 8 F4.5 Newtonian

[Guest]

Hi.Is there by any remote chance anyone in the Hertfordshire area or within reasonable travelling distance own an Orion Optics UK VX8 F4.5 Newtonian telescope? Would it be possible for me to be invited to look through it please (at a convenient time of course).

The reason that I ask is that I once owned The F6 version.I have been told that the F4.5  1/10th wave would still give great planetary views. It would be nice to look through one and see for myself.I realise that there is no all purpose telescope.But an F4.5 would be more convenient to handle dimension wise any way.If it gave very good planetary views,It may well be the way for me to go at some point in time.

Thanks

Martin.

[Peter Drew]

Good plan butI fear that with the planets being so poorly placed at the moment, any decent telescope is going to struggle to give images to match those that you recall with your previous experience thereby giving a wrong impression. 

[Skyline]

Why don't you buy yourself the biggest dob you can handle for planetary views and stop re-inventing the wheel

[Mark at Beaufort]

Martin I have the Orion VX8 f4.5 although its the 1/6th wave. I did a review of this scope in late 2015 for the Sky at Night Mag. Its a great scope although I have changed the Primary and Secondary collimation screws.

I have had good views of the Sun, Moon, most Planets, Double Stars and DSOs and its my main grab and go and outreach public scope.

If you want a scope mainly for Planets I would think a SCT or Mak Cass would be better. However, The VX8 is light and easily fits onto my SkyTee 2 mount and I think its a great scope. There was one recently advertised on eBay and was going for silly money.

 

[Timebandit]

1 hour ago, Skyline said:

Why don't you buy yourself the biggest dob you can handle for planetary views and stop re-inventing the wheel

 

Maybe Martin has not got 7k plus to spend on a dob around the 20". And its not exactly a grab and go . Therefore his question is a sensible one?

I have a VX 14 with 1/10 mirror and the optics are great, obviously going down the reflector route with high quality mirrors is a sensible one for planetary if you want that extra aperture, but on a budget. As a decent 8" refractor would cost a fortune. That said the refractors do seem to cut through atmosphere condition that bit better than a reflector IMO. For a bang for buck planetary scope then the VX8 with 1/10 pv would certainly be a sensible purchase IMO

I hope the above helps☺

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Skyline said:

Why don't you buy yourself the biggest dob you can handle for planetary views and stop re-inventing the wheel

The last big Dob that I had was a 12 inch F6.It had a hexangonal wood tube and was like a wardrobe to move around. I may aswell buy a 30 inch Dob and live in it .

[Guest]

I have just bought a Skywatcher 100mm ED F9 Refractor to use for planets and quick views.Star tests of this telescope shows it to be spot on. It did give a very good view of Jupiter the other evening.I have a C8 which does well for deep sky.But the cool down time for this scope is long .Also it being an eight inch ,does not deal with atmospheric's well.I am beginning to think that I have a half decent combination.But the seeing conditions have deteriorated in the last 18 months here in South Hertfordshire /North London. Perhaps this is the reason for  my dissappointment.

But thankyou all for the input.

[John]

As posted by Peter Drew, the planets are not well placed now and for a few years yet. I'm having to work harder to get good views of them than I did in past years and that is despite my scopes and eyepieces being better now than I've ever owned. I sometimes wonder if, equipment wise, I've "peaked" a little late !

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, John said:

As posted by Peter Drew, the planets are not well placed now and for a few years yet. I'm having to work harder to get good views of them than I did in past years and that is despite my scopes and eyepieces being better now than I've ever owned. I sometimes wonder if, equipment wise, I've "peaked" a little late !

Interesting point and experience John,thanks.

[JG777]

46 minutes ago, Grumpy Martian said:

I have just bought a Skywatcher 100mm ED F9 Refractor to use for planets and quick views.Star tests of this telescope shows it to be spot on. It did give a very good view of Jupiter the other evening.

Hi Martin I am very pleased to read that above!!

I did also text you to mention that my VX6 F5 1/10 did a very decent job on Jupiter a few nights ago, actually far better than I expected, I imagine an 8 would also be a very good choice. But yes as Pete mentioned not to great for planets for a while.

[Skyline]

3 hours ago, Timebandit said:

 

Maybe Martin has not got 7k plus to spend on a dob around the 20". And its not exactly a grab and go . Therefore his question is a sensible one?

I have a VX 14 with 1/10 mirror and the optics are great, obviously going down the reflector route with high quality mirrors is a sensible one for planetary if you want that extra aperture, but on a budget. As a decent 8" refractor would cost a fortune. That said the refractors do seem to cut through atmosphere condition that bit better than a reflector IMO. For a bang for buck planetary scope then the VX8 with 1/10 pv would certainly be a sensible purchase IMO

I hope the above helps☺

I can see where this is going. This is where I will duck out. Just remember Martin to buy the collimation tools.

[scarp15]

I have the F6 1/10 version, I would expect that the F4.5 will also provide fine planetary views on nights when the seeing is steady. For when planetary observing is not at its best, it will deliver as a lunar and deep sky telescope. Take it to a dark site when Cygnus is up and it will perform very well such as encapsulating the North America Nebula.    

[rl]

I have just bought the CT8 version with a 1/12 wave mirror as a special (ordered at astrofest). I have yet to have a night good enough to allow any sort of objective assessment om Jupiter. However, looking at high altitude stars, the scope shows as good a set of diffraction patterns as I have ever seen in a Newtonian.....after I had loosened the mirror clips just a tad. It originally had toblerone -shaped Airy discs. The problem was obvious..the mirror is held in very well..perhaps too well..it is fixed in with top clips, radial adjusting screws, and lots of silicone goo just to make sure nothing comes loose. And a tape band binding the circumference of the mirror to the 3 mirror clips....  

Collimation is of course critical, and it collimates easily. The 3 locking screws for the main mirror protrude so if you stand it on end there is a risk of disturbing the collimation, but that's obviously not an issue if it's kept on a mount. 

The only real optical fault is a caustic curve on very bright optics but, to be fair, I haven't found out whether it's down to the scope, the coma corrector or the eyepiece I was using at the time I noticed it. The scope innards look well and truly black with no exposed shiny bolts. 

The (far eastern origin) focuser is excellent. Normally I don't like Crayfords but this one really will hold a camera and a coma corrector without slipping. An d I haven't needed to adjust it so far. 

You can argue there is not much point in going for a very high spec mirror with a 30% obstruction; the Strehl for the whole instrument can't be much above 80% even if the mirror is 99.4% (this on is) but at least you will know the problems are going to be somewhere else and you are getting the best possible overall result.  

I bought it as a jack-of-all-trades instrument (accepting the master of none tag) to keep for 20 years and from what I have seen so far it will certainly live up to expectations. Not too small to be deep-sky useless and not too big to manhandle, and enough resolution for the sky to be the limiting factor 4 nights out of 5.  Highly recommended, but be prepared to faff about with it to get it as you want. The short tube assembly is definetely an advantage. Vixen and Takahashi still make better made scopes but OO have come on leaps and bounds in the last 10 years. It's always open to question whether it's worth the premium over the equivalent SW but in my case I reckon it is. I'm pretty certain I'm getting the absolute best an 8" short Newt can reasonably be expected to do, and in a light but rigid package. 

I bought an AZ-EQ6-GT mount at the same time specifically for this scope and it seems like the perfect match for AP. The scope plus camera plus OAG, coma corrector etc comes to about half the mount's payload spec. It's all extremely stable even in a breeze. 

It's well suited to the ES 4 element coma corrector. 

RL

[scarp15]

Just to add, at F4.5 a paracorr might become applicable. I like the planetary views, which are crisp and clean with my VX14, F.4.6 that becomes F5.3 with a paracorr.

[ollypenrice]

I'd do a net search on the subject of customer service.

 

[Guest]

I have infact ordered an Orion Optics VX8 in May and am eagerly awaiting it's delivery. It will be 1/10th wave figured optics. While I appreciate that there is no true all round telescope. I am anticipating being able to get reasonably good views on many night sky objects, given that seeing conditions are reasonable.

I did order an ADM dovetail bar to be sent to Orion. They will fit this to the cradle rings. It will also have a carrying handle fitted.

I have an Altair Sabre mount and will enjoy using this combination. In my opinion the VX8 looks too short to be used on a traditional Dobsonian mount.

I will post reports after it's arrival and a few nights use.

Martin

[nightfisher]

3 hours ago, Grumpy Martian said:

I have infact ordered an Orion Optics VX8 in May and am eagerly awaiting it's delivery. It will be 1/10th wave figured optics. While I appreciate that there is no true all round telescope. I am anticipating being able to get reasonably good views on many night sky objects, given that seeing conditions are reasonable.

I did order an ADM dovetail bar to be sent to Orion. They will fit this to the cradle rings. It will also have a carrying handle fitted.

I have an Altair Sabre mount and will enjoy using this combination. In my opinion the VX8 looks too short to be used on a traditional Dobsonian mount.

I will post reports after it's arrival and a few nights use.

Martin

Nice....at least we will be back to lovely long dark nights when it arrives with you

[Mark at Beaufort]

6 hours ago, Grumpy Martian said:

I have infact ordered an Orion Optics VX8 in May and am eagerly awaiting it's delivery. It will be 1/10th wave figured optics.

Martin

Martin did you order the f/4.5 or f/6 scope?

[Guest]

45 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Martin did you order the f/4.5 or f/6 scope?

I ordered the F 4.5. It,s a tad lighter and shorter tube.

[nightfisher]

When do they promise it to arrive........

[Guest]

Earlier this week I was called to say that it would be ready at the end of this week.

There may be a message on the home telephone. No promises were made. Hope that it is ready soon.