Buying a new 80mm APO should I opt for a bench test?

[Orion1]

As the title says, I'm in the process of buying a new 80mm APO should I opt for a star and ronchi test of the telescope?

The scope is going to be used for mainly imaging.

[LightBucket]

Absolutely yes, will be money well spent so no horrors done the line

[ollypenrice]

Legally you don't need to. Taking a more flexible approach, which I'm inclined to do, the consumer finds him or herself in a marketplace in which competing manufacturers are trying to produce premium optics at sub premium prices. They don't seem to be able to do so reliably, so some vendors offer an additional QC control. How you react to this is a personal decision. You are perfectly at liberty to say, 'Send me the standard article and if it isn't right I'll send it back.' Or you can say, 'Fair's fair, it was never possible, in the past, to obtain such good optics at so reasonable a price so I don't mind paying a bit more for an additional test.' If this test were to take place before some heavy handling by carriers, though, I'm not sure what it would be worth.

So I'd maybe pay the extra on a cut-throat priced apo but if I were buying at premium prices (TEC, Takahashi etc) I most certainly wouldn't. I'd feel I'd paid for that already.

Olly

[m.tweedy]

I would. I bought a scope a number of years ago now. WO Megrez 90 and after storing it for QUITE a while i now find it has pinched optics. So yes.

[Orion1]

Thanks for your input

Is it necessary to opt for both star and ronchi? I'm not familiar with any of them and really don't know what they mean other than giving me peace of mind knowing the scope is as good as it gets for the price.

[m.tweedy]

I would have been happy with a star test 

[Orion1]

Thanks! I think I’ll at least opt for the star test

[Orion1]

1 hour ago, m.tweedy said:

I would have been happy with a star test 

The star test ensure round stars?

[m.tweedy]

yes.

here is the link to FLO test that i wish was around when i got my Meg90

 

[newbie alert]

With the bench tests what's involved as the lens cells should be at the correct spacing in a triplet back at the factory.. in my 80ed the whole unit comes out as 1 piece...presume the triplets,quads etc are the same..collimation isn't an issue with a frac as far as I know..but if I was in your shoes,piece of mind goes a long way..

[m.tweedy]

The reason the bench tests were introduced was to resolve those very items that in theory should not but do occur mainly due to quality control failures.

collimation can be an issue as well as lens cells that should but are not correctly set at the factory.

i think the article explains it well.

i feel that the amount involved in the bench test (by an expert) compared to the total cost of the astronomy equipment is (in my opinion) a worthwhile investment.

if it was going to be tested on an £80 scope now that’s a different matter.

[Orion1]

18 hours ago, m.tweedy said:

The reason the bench tests were introduced was to resolve those very items that in theory should not but do occur mainly due to quality control failures.

collimation can be an issue as well as lens cells that should but are not correctly set at the factory.

i think the article explains it well.

i feel that the amount involved in the bench test (by an expert) compared to the total cost of the astronomy equipment is (in my opinion) a worthwhile investment.

if it was going to be tested on an £80 scope now that’s a different matter.

I agree!

[ronin]

Will they guarantee that the scope you get passes a given standard?

As in if they send "your" scope for test and find it is poor does someone make adjustments such that it is improved or do you just get told "Here's your scope it isn't that good, and here's the results to prove it."

May seem a bit of a daft question but the initial post says nothing about "tested and adjusted as deemed necessary". Mention as Skywatcher say similar when they state "Can attach a DSLR". You can attach one but that doesn't guarantee the DSLR being at the focal plane, so no image. Everyone "presumes" the DSLR will be able to collect an image but often they cannot.