Orion Optics UK VX12 - Opinions?

[Flame Nebula]

Hi again

I would like to know if anyone can provide information on two aspects :

A. Experience with using the OO VX12 on an equatorial mount. 

B. Quality of the scope wrt any issues, and customer service. 

For Part A, this is general experience. The mount I'd use would be az-eq6. I've deliberately asked about the shorter version, to keep weight down and being able to hopefully sit at the eyepiece. I don't want to stand whilst observing. I understand it's a F4, but from what I've read the quality is very high, and a paracorr can be used to avoid coma. I assume the centre would be sharp. Has anyone used it to image Jupiter and/or Saturn? I read a report on this forum saying that jupiter and saturn were spectacular and sharp, but it's 9 years old, so I thought more recent experiences would be good. 

Anything else you feel would be helpful. 

For Part B, 

I know from historical posts on this forum, that this may be an issue. Has anyone had problems with the item as delivered? Customer service? Anyone had recent experience? 

[John]

My 12 inch F/5.3 dobsonian used an Orion Optics SPX optical tube - these went on to become the VX12's.

Mine was bought 2nd hand though so I have not had the pleasure of going through OO's customer service experience.

Mine was on a custom made dob mount and I would not personally have used it on an EQ mount because it would have moved from being a relatively easy to set up and handle 12 inch scope to a bit of a monster !

I prefer to stand while observing and my scope was tailored with that in mind. I reckon the F/4 version would be much better suited to the seated observer.

Plus I don't image (apart from the odd moon snapshot with an old mobile phone), I'm just a visual observer.

Quality wise I would say 9/10 optics in a 6/10 tube. But it only cost me £250 so I'm not complaining 😁 The VX series have probably raised the fit and finish standards, to be fair. The focuser in the pic below is the Moonlite which I replaced the stock single speed GSO one with.

All in all, not a lot of use to you but the scope was really good and I had loads of enjoyment from it during the decade or so that I owned it 😀

Gratuitous pic for old times sake:

 

 

Edited March 18 by John

[Flame Nebula]

3 minutes ago, John said:

My 12 inch F/5.3 dobsonian used an Orion Optics SPX optical tube - these went on to become the VX12's.

Mine was bought 2nd hand though so I have not had the pleasure of going through OO's customer service experience.

Mine was on a custom made dob mount and I would not personally have used it on an EQ mount because it would have moved from being a relatively easy to set up and handle 12 inch scope to a bit of a monster !

I prefer to stand while observing and my scope was tailored with that in mind. I reckon the F/4 version would be much better suited to the seated observer.

Plus I don't image (apart from the odd moon snapshot with an old mobile phone), I'm just a visual observer.

Quality wise I would say 9/10 optics in a 6/10 tube. But it only cost me £250 so I'm not complaining 😁 The VX series have probably raised the fit and finish standards, to be fair.

All in all, not a lot of use to you but the scope was really good and I had loads of enjoyment from it during the decade or so that I owned it 😀

Gratuitous pic for old times sake:

 

 

Thanks John, 

Sometimes (as in right now), I get flareups of really bad lower back pain. Happens every few years. I'm getting towards my retirement years, so need to think about weight, and position. In any event, when I do have these flareups, I would struggle with a Tasco scope on a crappy tripod! But, during periods of fitness, I can handle reasonable weight. But, I don't want to push my luck. Sitting is probably wiser for me when viewing. Each to his own, of course. 😊 I'm also inclined to keep the mount on the tripod, and come up with something clever for transporting it from garage to back of house. Sack truck, or anything to avoid lifting. Similarly with scope. The only lifting should be onto the mount. I wonder if OO would be so kind to drill some holes in the scope and add a carrying handle? 😂

[Captain Scarlet]

I have an az-eq6, and I regularly mount my 12” newt on it. Although these days it’s always in alt-az mode, I did initially balance it all up in eq mode, see the attached picture. The scope shown, a steel-tube 300p, was 28kg with attachments, significantly heavier I think than the OO12. The mount was quite happy with it, though as @John suggests, it does take a while to cart it out and set it up (and pack away afterwards!).

cheers, Magnus

 

Edited March 18 by Captain Scarlet

[Cosmic Geoff]

1 hour ago, Flame Nebula said:

I've deliberately asked about the shorter version, to keep weight down and being able to hopefully sit at the eyepiece. I don't want to stand whilst observing.

I think you should have a good look at what a 12" scope looks like when mounted on your preferred mount.  I had a 8" f5 Newtonian on an EQ-5 and was not pleased to find that with the tripod legs fully extended the eyepiece was about 7 feet off the ground with the scope aimed near the zenith.

[Mr Spock]

After my previous experience with OO I said I would never deal with them again. However, things might have changed since then.

I could have afforded any 12" Dob I wanted, but I chose the StellaLyra and it's a winner. Optics are amazing, at least on the one I have.

Here it is next to the shed where it's stored. I can't move it much farther due to a bad back.

 

[Flame Nebula]

21 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

I think you should have a good look at what a 12" scope looks like when mounted on your preferred mount.  I had a 8" f5 Newtonian on an EQ-5 and was not pleased to find that with the tripod legs fully extended the eyepiece was about 7 feet off the ground with the scope aimed near the zenith.

Mmm. This is something I'm trying to avoid. Anyone with photos standing next to their VX12, greatly appreciated. 👍

[Flame Nebula]

20 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

After my previous experience with OO I said I would never deal with them again. However, things might have changed since then.

I could have afforded any 12" Dob I wanted, but I chose the StellaLyra and it's a winner. Optics are amazing, at least on the one I have.

Here it is next to the shed where it's stored. I can't move it much farther due to a bad back.

 

Hi Mr Spock, 

Is it F5? Do you know  the pv wave fraction (or whatever it's called🤔)? Good for planets? 

[Mr Spock]

7 minutes ago, Flame Nebula said:

Is it F5? Do you know  the pv wave fraction (or whatever it's called🤔)? Good for planets? 

It is f5. No idea what the p/v is, but it's pretty good. Moon is very sharp at x461 (3.3mm TOE).
Jupiter doesn't stand high magnification, but here's my drawing through the 12":

I've since found out the 7mm Nirvana actually measures 8mm... so this is x190.

[John]

41 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

I think you should have a good look at what a 12" scope looks like when mounted on your preferred mount.  I had a 8" f5 Newtonian on an EQ-5 and was not pleased to find that with the tripod legs fully extended the eyepiece was about 7 feet off the ground with the scope aimed near the zenith.

Thats just what I meant about turning the scope into a bit of a "monster" 😲

A well designed dobsonian mount can be compact, lightweight, observer friendly and vibration free even with a big OTA mounted on it.

Edited March 18 by John

[Flame Nebula]

1 minute ago, John said:

Thats just what I meant about turning the scope into a bit of a "monster" 😲

A well designed dobsonian mount can be compact, lightweight, observer friendly and vibration free even with a big OTA mounted on it.

Thanks John. 

Unfortunately, I need goto and tracking. I guess this would push me down the Sky-Watcher route, with heavier tube. 

[Ags]

Or.... StarSense and EQ platform. I'm thinking hard about this option.

Edited March 18 by Ags

[Piero]

Why don't you want to use the 12" with a Dobson mount?

To me that's the way to go, unless you want to do imaging on specific targets. Even so, you are likely better off with a smaller aperture.

At f4, you will need an adjustable chair and a coma corrector. At f5.3 you might want to add the former, but not necessarily the latter.

12" is a good all-around aperture for visual astronomy. Personally I wouldn't go with OO due to their customer service.

Any chance you can build your own dobson? Building my 16" has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life and I started from knowing nothing (not even used a drill..). If you decide to build one, I strongly recommend to get a copy of the dobsonian telescope by kriege. It gives some great insights but most importantly it teaches that everyone can build a telescope with some dedication.

Just a thought of course.

Edited March 18 by Piero

[iantaylor2uk]

I once had a 12" f/4 Orion Optics reflector which I bought second hand from someone in Macclesfield back in 2009. This was an earlier model than the VX range. It was quite a beast, and I used a Losmandy G11 mount for it and even did some imaging with it. Even though OO scopes are lighter than most other makes it was still quite an effort getting it on and off the mount. Photo of set up below, although I no longer have the scope now. Had some good visual images of the moon and planets and some of the brighter DSOs. 

[Flame Nebula]

20 minutes ago, Piero said:

Why don't you want to use the 12" with a Dobson mount?

To me that's the way to go, unless you want to do imaging on specific targets. Even so, you are likely better off with a smaller aperture.

At f4, you will need an adjustable chair and a coma corrector. At f5.3 you might want to add the former, but not necessarily the latter.

12" is a good all-around aperture for visual astronomy. Personally I wouldn't go with OO due to their customer service.

Any chance you can build your own dobson? Building my 16" has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life and I started from knowing nothing (not even used a drill..). If you decide to build one, I strongly recommend to get a copy of the dobsonian telescope by kriege. It gives some great insights but most importantly it teaches that everyone can build a telescope with some dedication.

Just a thought of course.

Thanks Piero, 

I'm thinking of planetary AP as well as visual. Now, I know it's possible to use lucky imaging in alt az mode on planets, but I've not found any images I really like that used dobs. The best I've seen was saturn using skywatcher 12" F5 on a Neq6 mount. Certainly that scope is more than capable of good images. I'd hope the VX12 could match it. 

[Flame Nebula]

6 minutes ago, iantaylor2uk said:

I once had a 12" f/4 Orion Optics reflector which I bought second hand from someone in Macclesfield back in 2009. This was an earlier model than the VX range. It was quite a beast, and I used a Losmandy G11 mount for it and even did some imaging with it. Even though OO scopes are lighter than most other makes it was still quite an effort getting it on and off the mount. Photo of set up below, although I no longer have the scope now. Had some good visual images of the moon and planets and some of the brighter DSOs. 

Hi Ian, 

Actually that scope looks like you could sit down and use it, although not sure about objects at zenith. 🤔

[Flame Nebula]

I wonder if an Orion Optics VX10 might be a good compromise. Even lighter, at 11kg, and cheaper. Plus at F4.8, it may be better for planetary AP, not require an expensive paracorr. Same length as the VX12. Will 2" make a major difference, in uk skies? 

[rl]

I have a CT12 at f/4...I have tried it on my azeq6. It required extra weights plus an extensiom bar. I regard it as a step too far for the mount, and the eyepiece was virtually unreachable at some angles. The centre of gravity lies towards the mirror end of the ota which puts the eyepiece quite high. Not a good combo lmho....

RL

[Starflyer]

I've owned four OO scopes over the years, an SX10, 2x VX10s and currently a CT10, all with 1/10 wave optics, and I've loved them all.  I've read the horror stories and personally know someone who bought a VX10 that had a bolt loose in the tube on delivery that had badly marked the primary.

Their engineering manufacturing can be sloppy, their optics are hard to beat.

[Flame Nebula]

Just now, Starflyer said:

I've owned four OO scopes over the years, an SX10, 2x VX10s and currently a CT10, all with 1/10 wave optics, and I've loved them all.  I've read the horror stories and personally know someone who bought a VX10 that had a bolt loose in the tube on delivery that had badly marked the primary.

Their engineering manufacturing can be sloppy, their optics are hard to beat.

A bolt loose in the tube. The stuff of nightmares. These sort of stories make me think twice. 

[Starflyer]

57 minutes ago, Flame Nebula said:

A bolt loose in the tube. The stuff of nightmares. These sort of stories make me think twice. 

They collected it and replaced it quickly, my point is that it's sloppy and should never have happened.

I love mine and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them, the optics are superb.

[Stu]

I do tend to think OO scopes are best bought used. Normally any issues have been sorted out by their owners then and depreciation on OO scopes is normally pretty steep so you save quite a lot.

I bought a new OMC200 (8” Mak) from then and had problems collimating it. I took it back to them but was pretty much fobbed off with a tweak of the secondary. I only worked out what the problem was just before I sold it, and that was that a grub screw had dropped out so the primary was loose and tilted as a result. Once fixed it could then be collimated properly but I had to find that out myself.

[Flame Nebula]

14 minutes ago, Starflyer said:

They collected it and replaced it quickly, my point is that it's sloppy and should never have happened.

I love mine and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them, the optics are superb.

Did you ever image with the VX10? 

[Elp]

2 hours ago, Flame Nebula said:

I'm thinking of planetary AP as well as visual. Now, I know it's possible to use lucky imaging in alt az mode on planets, but I've not found any images I really like that used dobs

You need to speak to @Kon

[Flame Nebula]

22 minutes ago, Elp said:

You need to speak to @Kon

Thanks Elp, 

I've messaged him 👍

Mark