Opinions on Hardin Optical dobs?

I've got a budget that allows for their 10" dob. I know they're Taiwanese
in manufacture. Are they ok for casual observing? Would I be better off
with a used Meade or Celestron?

I'm in a major metro area; been using binocs for viewing so far. Now my
kids want to see what I'm looking at too.

Kean

"Kean Stump" wrote in message
...
I've got a budget that allows for their 10" dob. I know they're
Taiwanese
in manufacture. Are they ok for casual observing? Would I be better off
with a used Meade or Celestron?
It would depend what sort of 'used' scope value you can find.
The Hardin Dobs, are excellent value for money. As you'd possibly expect
at the prices, they have some slight problems, which may need a little
'tweaking', but for the price, they are very good indeed. The spring
balancing system, is a common problem 'out of the box', which can usually
be fixed, either by adjustment, or adding a counterweight instead.
I think they are 'Guang Sheng' made, in which case several of the Meade an
Celestron models, have at times, come from the same manufacturer. Also
'beware', that both Meade, and Celestron, have at times made 'dogs' in the
past, so their names, are no guarantee of quality, without some research
into the model concerned...

I'm in a major metro area; been using binocs for viewing so far. Now my
kids want to see what I'm looking at too.
One question is how tall the 'kids' are?. The 10", has an eyepiece height,
that may need a box/steps, for younger children. Generally it is OK for
older children though.

Best Wishes

The 10", has an eyepiece height,
that may need a box/steps, for younger children. Generally it is OK for
older children though.

Box step, or Fox Trot?
I spy, a bandit, that Spot ~
No, Jack Russel, masqued, en wing!
I thee I sing, yes, expert player
Dropped, uncoiled, centerstage, into my Play,
Spot reader, she. Dogs
Me every day: Arf, growl...
To her, yes, too, please send an Owl,
Dear Mother. How's Stuff?!
Ruff! Cute muff, Mum ~
Sniff!
Yeah, you're silly stuff!
I love you!
How's my pup?

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"Kean Stump" wrote in message
...
I've got a budget that allows for their 10" dob. I know they're Taiwanese
in manufacture. Are they ok for casual observing? Would I be better off
with a used Meade or Celestron?

I'm in a major metro area; been using binocs for viewing so far. Now my
kids want to see what I'm looking at too.

I have an 8'' Hardin Dob. It is fantastic.

BV.

I have an 8'' Hardin Dob. It is fantastic.

BV.


Battery powered,
Or double-headed?


_______
Blog, or dog? Who knows. But if you see my lost pup, please ping me!
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HREF="http://journals.aol.com/virginiaz/DreamingofLeonardo"http://journal
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I've got a budget that allows for their 10" dob. I know they're Taiwanese
in manufacture. Are they ok for casual observing? Would I be better off
with a used Meade or Celestron?

I have the 10 inch which seems to be the full equal of my Meade LX90 (an 8in
SCT) optically. If you can spare the money the Meade GoTo telescopes are
very nice. Not bad for 500 dollars and I believe about 40 for shipping. The
2 in eyepiece is nice. I would add an alignment device or laser collimator
maybe from Orion. I was surprised how fast I lost collimation. I also added
a 0 power finder although the included finder is quite helpful. So in the
city you can get nice lunar and planetary views. The brighter deep sky
objects are also ok.
I had a devil of a time finding a comet in the city skies with it and the
resulting view was not especially better than binocs. In a dark sky this
would not have been the case. I could never find M51 in the city. I am
guessing this was lack of star hopping ability or LA sky brightness. The
Orion nebula was quite nice. As my viewing improved this summer I gradually
began to see a fantastic wealth of detail in Jupiter. So overall I am very
happy with the scope. I would be hard pressed to say it is much easier than
setting up than the Meade. Not having the batteries and wires etc makes it
better for letting the local kids and neighbors out walking a dog see the
moon. As far as I know the mirror is from Taiwan and machine ground. Sky and
Telescope had a review of this type of mirror and they are a bit "bumpy"
compared to hand ground mirrors. Unless you get a custom scope you will most
likely get a similiar mirror. The scope is well made with a metal tube and
solid focuser. The mount is stable and smooth. I suspect the Orion and
Celestron would be the same. Hardin corp I believe, was formed from a
former employee of the Cave Optical corp that made some fabled telecopes. I
spent some time looking for an "orange" celestron etc but all I saw was
junk. A C-8 that needs a wedge or some other machined part will be a
headache unless you are more mechanical than me. GL with any telecope you
get.

See: www.evefilms.com

Hope that helps
_______
Blog, or dog? Who knows. But if you see my lost pup, please ping me!
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