Sumerian Alkaid 12" vs Taurus T300 12" - Advice Needed

[michelbechara]

Hello,

I am seeking any kind of thoughts / Advices from any Sumerian owner or Taurus because I am a bit lost on which telescope I should pull the plug on.

Context:

It has been nearly 7 months that I order my Sumerian Alkaid 12" via Telescope Express and the delivery now has been postponed till the end of June earliest.  I am also a bit worried that the current batch is no longer being constructed by Michael and everything is being managed/outsourced by TS. So I am a bit worried about the output quality compared to the earlier models that were constructed by Michael specifically. This, on top of the TS being not very helpful, is making me doubt if there would be any dip in quality to the earlier models and if ever the production could ever be met in the next 6 month.

The alternative I am considering is the following scope: Taurus T300 12" - Manufactured in Poland

https://www.taurustelescopes.com/en/taurus-t300/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGIbld1H76w&t=174s

The telescope at first sight seems more premium and high end compared to Sumerian, and at least their customer service is actually reachable and give you the technical details you are looking for. 

The problem that I have is that it is very important that the scope could be transported via Air travel, which is obviously the strongest trait of the Sumerian, compared to the Taurus which would need to be fitted in different pieces. 

The solution they told me is that I could transport dimensions of the lower cell with the primary mirror – 42 x 38,6 x 18cm on the carry on luggage, the rest can be transported in luggage. 

So I am facing a crossroad here and I am not sure which would be the best to my needs, obviously the Sumerian being the most practical for Air traveling but with some Production question marks or the Taurus which looks like a high production but less practical for travelling...

Any thoughts to help me choose/make up my mind would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!!

Mich

Edited January 5, 2022 by michelbechara

[Jan-S]

On 05/01/2022 at 15:20, michelbechara said:

I am also a bit worried that the current batch is no longer being constructed by Michael and everything is being managed/outsourced by TS.

Hello,

 

That sounds worrying indeed. Are you saying Michael stopped building Sumerians? Or is it just a fear?

 

I am very interested in this thread, because I am trying to order an Alkaid as well. I'd have the optics made for the scope, and I am located near Sumerian, so for now I am not thinking to go through TS. But I could try.

 

Any updates on your order? Thanks a lot in advance.

 

Cheers,

 

Jan

[michelbechara]

@Jan-S I cancelled my order as TS also pushed the expected delivery date until the end of July....as far as I understood, I do not think that these telescopes are being built by Michael himself, maybe they are being outsourced by TS and they produce them under his guidance...not sure what kind of agreement they have. 

I ended up ordering the telescopes made by the dobsonian factory and you could actually communicate with the producer and he was very responsive and could respond to all the questions

Hope this would help!