Taurus truss dobs

[bomberbaz]

Hello all.

I have been pondering getting a larger dob for a while. Although the current situation means any plans are on hold, however it hasn't stopped me looking around at options from time to time. Damned itch.

I was considering the Orion pushto 14", I like the pushto idea but what puts me off to some extent was the 60kg total weight. Price wise when available around £2000

Anyway, I came accross this at teleskop express: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p11432_Taurus-T350-14--f-4-8-Classic-Dobsonian-Teleskop.html This is the one I am interested in finding more about.

Taurus 14" Truss dob, F4.8 giving a focal length of 1700mm and this means my existing glass collection can be retained, something I really do not want to change. Most impressive of all is the 23KG total weight, very impressive but also a slight concern Re: possible loss of integral strength. Again price wise around £2000 but no push to. The lack of pushto no longer concerns me, help locating used to be a serious consideration. Times change.

Anyway, other than the obvious differences which are massive weight disparity and no pushto on the Taurus, what else does anyone know about the Taurus.

I am thinking along the lines of it's structural integrity, quality of the optics & focuser and overall build. I guess that kinda means everything 🤣

TIA folks

Steve

[John]

I guess you will have seen the Taurus website Steve ?:

https://www.taurustelescopes.com/en/home/

There is a review of the 16 inch T400 in English linked to from there.

I don't know anything about them personally but I have to say that they look rather nice and 23kg for a 14 inch is very light.

 

[bomberbaz]

11 minutes ago, John said:

I guess you will have seen the Taurus website Steve ?:

https://www.taurustelescopes.com/en/home/

There is a review of the 16 inch T400 in English linked to from there.

I don't know anything about them personally but I have to say that they look rather nice and 23kg for a 14 inch is very light.

 

Hadn't even thought to look to be honest John, silly me really.

Looking at the specs and especially the mirrors, they look very impressive indeed. It appears from the TS website they are advertising the supremax mirrors. I would have that confirmed though.

Thanks for the link John, much appreciated.

Steve

[Sunshine]

Those are some beautiful scope, i am impressed.

[estwing]

What about having one made?

[Ships and Stars]

They certainly look nicely crafted but don't know anything about them. If you go for one, I'd see if you can get the 1/8pv 96% reflectivity supremax 'professional' mirror option listed on their website, a 413EUR option, that would set it apart from the mass-produced 14" dobs, otherwise it just seems a slightly expensive dob for that aperture. In the mass-produced world, the SW non-GOTO flextube is £675 cheaper and the 350p GOTO is £105 cheaper, though the light weight of the Taurus might make all the difference in being able to use it more and the high-end optics option is quite appealing. The build quality looks a step up form your average mass-produced scope. I'd definitely check reviews, but I'm intrigued myself. Let us know what you find out?

PS I see they make a 24" T600! Hmmmm...

Edited April 29, 2020 by Ships and Stars

[Peter Drew]

Interesting telescopes with some good features specially weight and transportability.  Slight eyebrow raise at the three vane spider, this will produce six diffraction spikes and the secondary size looks a bit skimpy, on an instrument aperture usually purchased for DSO's I would have thought that maximum field full illumination would be an important consideration.     😃

[AngryDonkey]

Hi Steve,

I have the 12 inch f5 dob and absolutely love it. This thing is so small that I can easily take it on camping trips with a family of 4 and the dog. It's up and running in 10min tops and provides amazing views. Build quality is good but of course the portable design makes it lighter and I guess less stable as a result. I never found this a problem though unless it was windy where it needs a while to settle.

I bought mine from Telescope Express but it would have been better to order it directly. If you go direct you can specify exactly what you want and it's not any more expensive. I ordered the push to system from Taurus directly as an add on but it would have been much easier if it already had been factory fitted. They were really good an made me a special bracket so it was easier to mount.

So all in all I'm really happy!

Edited April 29, 2020 by AngryDonkey

[AngryDonkey]

2 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

Interesting telescopes with some good features specially weight and transportability.  Slight eyebrow raise at the three vane spider, this will produce six diffraction spikes and the secondary size looks a bit skimpy, on an instrument aperture usually purchased for DSO's I would have thought that maximum field full illumination would be an important consideration.     😃

There is a two vane holder as an option when you order direct.

[bomberbaz]

19 minutes ago, Ships and Stars said:

They certainly look nicely crafted but don't know anything about them. If you go for one, I'd see if you can get the 1/8pv 96% reflectivity supremax 'professional' mirror option listed on their website, a 413EUR option, that would set it apart from the mass-produced 14" dobs, otherwise it just seems a slightly expensive dob for that aperture. In the mass-produced world, the SW non-GOTO flextube is £675 cheaper and the 350p GOTO is £105 cheaper, though the light weight of the Taurus might make all the difference in being able to use it more and the high-end optics option is quite appealing. The build quality looks a step up form your average mass-produced scope. I'd definitely check reviews, but I'm intrigued myself. Let us know what you find out?

PS I see they make a 24" T600! Hmmmm...

A review here S&S. https://www.taurustelescopes.com/test_EN.pdf

TBH it might be a sponsored type review but never the less it is a very positive one. 

The pricing seems a little unclear. According to the specifications on the TS website where I initially found it, the one they are selling comes with reflectivity of 96% (IE professional specification) at a cost of $2250 where as on the manufacturer website same spec costs $2911. This would need clarifying.

Steve

 

[bomberbaz]

3 minutes ago, AngryDonkey said:

Hi Steve,

I have the 12 inch f5 son and absolutely love it. This thing is so small that I can easily take it in camping trips with a family of 4 and the dog. It's up and running in 10min tops and provides amazing views. Build quality is good but of course the portable design makes it lighter and I guess less stable as a result. I never found this a problem though unless it was windy where it needs a while to settle.

I bought mine from Telescope Express but it would have been better to order it directly. If you go direct you can specify exactly what you want and it's not any more expensive. I ordered the push to system from Taurus directly as an add on but it would have been much easier if it already had been factory fitted. They were really good an made me a special bracket so it was easier to mount.

So all in all I'm really happy!

Thanks Mike, good to hear they deal with you direct. How good were they to deal with direct. Were there any language barrier issues or misunderstandings

[AngryDonkey]

1 hour ago, bomberbaz said:

Thanks Mike, good to hear they deal with you direct. How good were they to deal with direct. Were there any language barrier issues or misunderstandings

Communication was really good, the person I dealt with had good english and as I said they went above and beyond to help me fit the push to to my scope without having to resort to crude DIY.

[Mr Flibble]

On 28/04/2020 at 22:45, bomberbaz said:

Hello all.

I have been pondering getting a larger dob for a while. Although the current situation means any plans are on hold, however it hasn't stopped me looking around at options from time to time. Damned itch.

I was considering the Orion pushto 14", I like the pushto idea but what puts me off to some extent was the 60kg total weight. Price wise when available around £2000

Anyway, I came accross this at teleskop express: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p11432_Taurus-T350-14--f-4-8-Classic-Dobsonian-Teleskop.html This is the one I am interested in finding more about.

Taurus 14" Truss dob, F4.8 giving a focal length of 1700mm and this means my existing glass collection can be retained, something I really do not want to change. Most impressive of all is the 23KG total weight, very impressive but also a slight concern Re: possible loss of integral strength. Again price wise around £2000 but no push to. The lack of pushto no longer concerns me, help locating used to be a serious consideration. Times change.

Anyway, other than the obvious differences which are massive weight disparity and no pushto on the Taurus, what else does anyone know about the Taurus.

I am thinking along the lines of it's structural integrity, quality of the optics & focuser and overall build. I guess that kinda means everything 🤣

TIA folks

Steve

I like the look of these Taurus dobs. Have you had any more thoughts on them Steve?

 

[bomberbaz]

Just now, Mr Flibble said:

I like the look of these Taurus dobs. Have you had any more thoughts on them Steve?

 

Give it a few weeks and I shall be able to provide you an out of the box report Dai 😀

[Mr Flibble]

I'll look forward to it 👍

What size did you order? You mentioned the 14"?

[bomberbaz]

On 07/07/2020 at 21:53, Mr Flibble said:

I'll look forward to it 👍

What size did you order? You mentioned the 14"?

The 14 Dai, with upgraded supremax optics, primary cooling, secondary heating, adding my own moonlight focuser which I sent and they have added & collimated, balance weights and storage covers.

I didn't bother with the pushto system though. Didn't want it this time, after years of running with goto or pushto, I have decided to start learning my way around a bit more.

Edited July 9, 2020 by bomberbaz

[niallk]

Congrats - they look very nice, and impressively lightweight

Looking fwd to hearing about 1st light!!

[Mr Flibble]

On 08/07/2020 at 08:52, bomberbaz said:

The 14 Dai, with upgraded supremax optics, primary cooling, secondary heating, adding my own moonlight focuser which I sent and they have added & collimated, balance weights and storage covers.

I didn't bother with the pushto system though. Didn't want it this time, after years of running with goto or pushto, I have decided to start learning my way around a bit more.

Has the new dob arrived yet?