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Upgraded to an OOUK

FenlandPaul

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FenlandPaul

FenlandPaul

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After selling on some under-used kit and taking a punt on what I’d get for my Revelation 12, I was able to take advantage of an offer on eBay for a rather nice looking OOUK VX12L with upgraded 1/10 wave optics.

The very knowledgable gentleman from whom I bought it was even able to drop it off with me on his way elsewhere. Received it on Thursday!!2BB1CC06-41B1-4976-9A4B-B55CB5B02CD3.thumb.jpeg.ccea5b9071ae8ab7a40d18c3cbedd5a7.jpeg

Had a good look at it this afternoon and early signs are promising. The mirror looks like a peach (spent a bit of time collimating it) and the OOUK dob mount is so simple and light. A few observations:

Tightening the tube rings leaves you with no feeling in your fingers!!

I like the extra tube ring for balance optimisation. My old Beacon Hill Newtonian had one and they really help.

Definitely need to get some thumbscrews for the secondary; the screws in there are a bit gnarled and I don’t fancy dropping a screwdriver down onto that lovely mirror!

Slightly nervous about back focus in the Focuser. There’s an inbuilt drawtube, so I guess I'll have to see. I couldn’t focus my 9mm Nagler on some distant trees, although the 31mm could just about get there.

The mount feels very nicely weighted and very smooth. Will be interested to see how it performs in different temperatures and in the frost.

The inside of the tube seems nicely Matt black. I’d assumed I would be flocking it but I think I’ll wait and see if that’s necessary.

Might invest in some carry handles; these made the world of difference on my Revelation, although the OOUK is definitely a lot lighter.

Cant yet decide whether to fit my telrad (which has worked really well alongside my Antares VS60) or a simple red dot.

Does anyone know where the clear nights have gone??

Looking forward to getting it out at some point soon. I’m hoping the better optics and slightly higher f:ratio will give me an edge on doubles and planets, which have been good but not exceptional in the Revelation. Excited!!

 

 

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John

John

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Nice scope - rather like my own :icon_biggrin:

OO scopes usually place the focal plane further outside the tube wall than other manufacturers so often a 50mm extension tube is needed for many eyepieces to reach focus.

I've changed the tension knobs on my tube rings for the reason that you state and I use a Rigel Quickfinder alongside the RACI 9x50 optical finder. Otherwise my OTA is more or less "stock". It does have curved spider support vanes but I'm not sure what difference those really make.

If will be interesting to see what differences you notice between your OO12 and the Revelation 12. My previous 12" was a Meade Lightbridge which has the same optics / mirror cells as the Revelation. The main difference immediately noticable was that the OO12 is a lot lighter !

Hope you get some great views with your OO12 dob :icon_biggrin:

 

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Paul73

Paul73

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Could be that your the bolts holding the mirror cell are in the wrong holes. The majority of OOUK cells have two sets of threaded holes. This allows you to move the focus point.

Cracking scope. You’ll have fun with that.

Paul

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FenlandPaul

FenlandPaul

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11 minutes ago, Paul73 said:

Could be that your the bolts holding the mirror cell are in the wrong holes. The majority of OOUK cells have two sets of threaded holes. This allows you to move the focus point.

Cracking scope. You’ll have fun with that.

Paul

Good to know - I’ll take a look at that - thanks Paul.

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FenlandPaul

FenlandPaul

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3 minutes ago, emadmoussa said:

Very nice scope. Was it the one offered for £950 on EBay a few weeks ago? 

Yes it was. I was very wary buying on eBay at first but some exchanges with the seller, and a phone call, were very helpful.

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FenlandPaul

FenlandPaul

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5 minutes ago, PaulB said:

Looks good.

Is the DOB mount sticky? Mine was and I was very disappointed with it.

I’ll let you know more once I’ve used it in anger. It needs a firmer shove than my Revelation, which could sometimes be sticky. But it feels smooth despite the firm action. I have the friction brake so I think it should be quite controllable. We’ll see!

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jetstream

jetstream

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On 12/01/2019 at 15:20, FenlandPaul said:

I’ll let you know more once I’ve used it in anger. It needs a firmer shove than my Revelation, which could sometimes be sticky. But it feels smooth despite the firm action. I have the friction brake so I think it should be quite controllable. We’ll see!

Congrats for a fine telescope purchase!

My VX 10 1/8PV gives great views of everything-Saturn looks like a chiseled piece of glass at over 300x. The mount can be adjusted for tension on the bottom and will move freely. Your 12" will be even better.

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jam1e1

jam1e1

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On 14/01/2019 at 23:43, Tubby Bear said:

Nice purchase Paul.

I have the F4 version, and i'm really happy with it.

I enjoy the various mods one can do with these things ; i've just added encoders to mine

to work with my Nexus DSC.

Enjoy the views and clear skys !

46616171372_c2c5c49851_b.jpg

nice upgrade, what focuser is that and any issues fitting it? also got the OO12 F4 thinking of changing focuser

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Space Hopper

Space Hopper

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On 21/01/2019 at 21:34, jam1e1 said:

nice upgrade, what focuser is that and any issues fitting it? also got the OO12 F4 thinking of changing focuser

Hi there, thanks.

 

When i ordered the scope i asked John at OO to fit this focuser for me as part of the order.

Its a Moonlite of course ; is it the CR2 ? The one with the fine focus.

It has a non standard 60mm drawtube to allow me a greater range of focusing, as a use a dedicated Newtonian Binoviewer with this scope.

The focuser also comes with 2 risers :  1/2" and 1" which can be combined if necessary to give even more options.

Fitting was easy, once you get the base plate on and screwed in. Fitting the base plate i found rather difficult. One or two swear words etc.

Have a look on FLO : they stock these focusers and all relevant fitting kits for every type of tube.

 

The Moonlite has performed excellently. No issues with it at all.

And before someone chimes in and says the stock OO focusers are all fine......well maybe the newer ones are ok, but the ones before

with the extendable bit for extra front focus are not up to the job. Thats my polite way of saying they are crap.

It looked like a banana when i put my old 31mm Nagler on it.

 

And heres why i need a more 'robust' focuser.

45841831355_b803a69766_b.jpg

 

 

 

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