Orion 80mm ED should i buy?

On Sat, 19 Jun 2004 03:48:35 GMT, "Mike" wrote:



No. Face it, your getting 80mm when it should be at least 90. I have no
idea what the fluky mentality
with 80mm aperture is. 80 was good 15 years ago and I just don't understand
the fixation.


I own a 10inch dob and personally couldnt fathom spending as much or
more money on such a small scope (once mountings are added).

"Phil Wheeler" wrote in message
...
Why not? It has gotten good reviews.

http://www.cloudynights.com/reviews4/orion80-2.htm

http://www.cloudynights.com/reviews5/orion80.htm

Of course, remember that the nights are short now anyway and a new scope
will bring on several weeks of cloudy weather :-)

Also -- you will need to provide mounting rings, diagonal, EPs, finder,
etc.

Phil

No. Face it, your getting 80mm when it should be at least 90. I have no
idea what the fluky mentality
with 80mm aperture is. 80 was good 15 years ago and I just don't understand
the fixation.

Why not? It has gotten good reviews.

http://www.cloudynights.com/reviews4/orion80-2.htm

http://www.cloudynights.com/reviews5/orion80.htm

Of course, remember that the nights are short now anyway and a new scope
will bring on several weeks of cloudy weather :-)

Also -- you will need to provide mounting rings, diagonal, EPs, finder, etc.

Phil

CHASLX200 wrote:

Just wondered if i should buy the Orion 80mm ED, i'm kinda bored and would like
a new scope to play around with. I have a CG-5 to mount it on, guess for $500
the price seems good, i know it's not a Tak or AP!

Chas P.

Just wondered if i should buy the Orion 80mm ED, i'm kinda bored and would
like a new scope to play around with. I have a CG-5 to mount it on, guess for
$500 the price seems good, i know it's not a Tak or AP!


Charles:

My thinking...

Yes, go ahead and buy it, it supposed to be a fine scope and I am sure you will
enjoy it. Its pretty hard to lose much money on one, new ones seem to go for
not much less than used ones.

I am tempted to buy one myself, just too cheap though....

jon

Jon Isaacs wrote:

Just wondered if i should buy the Orion 80mm ED, i'm kinda bored and would
like a new scope to play around with. I have a CG-5 to mount it on, guess for
$500 the price seems good, i know it's not a Tak or AP!



Charles:

My thinking...

Yes, go ahead and buy it, it supposed to be a fine scope and I am sure you will
enjoy it. Its pretty hard to lose much money on one, new ones seem to go for
not much less than used ones.

I am tempted to buy one myself, just too cheap though....


Me, too, Jon. But I am still enjoying the new (tho not APO) AT-1010 I
recently acquired. Big improvement over the 80WA/ST-80 I was using for
travel.

Phil

Me, too, Jon. But I am still enjoying the new (tho not APO) AT-1010 I
recently acquired. Big improvement over the 80WA/ST-80 I was using for
travel.

I have an 80WA and I have a Pronto as well. If I didn't have the Pronto, I
would probably spring for the ED80...

jon

Jon Isaacs wrote:
Me, too, Jon. But I am still enjoying the new (tho not APO) AT-1010 I
recently acquired. Big improvement over the 80WA/ST-80 I was using for
travel.


I have an 80WA and I have a Pronto as well. If I didn't have the Pronto, I
would probably spring for the ED80...


How do you mount the Pronto, Jon (I assume the 80WA came with a GEM as
mine did -- bought from Eagle a few years back and a great bargain)?

I have the AT-1010 on a Universal Astronomics MicroStar (similar to but
smaller than the UniStar) and Bogen tripod. Works really well for the
wide looks with a WA scope and I've had it up to around 125x for
planets; quick setup and easy to use. I'm told I can put my C5+ on that
mount too, but I've not yet tried it.

My first trip to use the AT-1010 under dark skies in Sequioa this week
was a failu Clear in the morning but clouded up around mid-day and
only one brief viewing opportunity the last evening we were there.

A plus of the MicroStar is that, with a shorter tripod, the whole system
fits in a carry-on case for air travel. I think Tony Flanders used a
similar system (longer refractor on a UniStar) for the trip to Chile he
wrote up in a recent S&T

Phil

How do you mount the Pronto, Jon (I assume the 80WA came with a GEM as
mine did -- bought from Eagle a few years back and a great bargain)?

I have it mounted on a Bogen 3040 tripod with a 3047 three-axis head, I flip
the top axis over on its side and this becomes a single sided balanced fork
mount, I call it the "side saddle mount." Works quite nicely, I also use it
with my C-5 with good results. With the Pronto I go over 200X, though I have
some practice making it work. If you want to see a photo of this, do search
the astromart forums for "side saddle."

The other trick is to take the EQ-1 head and set the polar axis to 90 degrees,
this turns the mount into balanced alt-az mount with fine adjustment
capabilities. Works quite nicely, I never bother to use the EQ-1 mount in the
EQ mode any more.

But the big problem with the EQ-1 mount is not the mount but rather the tripod.
You can simply unscrew the mount from the tripod, it uses the same 3/8-16
thread that Bogen Tripod does, and mount the EQ-1 head directly to the Bogen
tripod. This stiffens things up quite nicely, to the point where I have
mounted by BO 102 mm F6 refactor on it with good luck. Currently I am using
the EQ-1 head with a Bogen 3051 tripod.

In keeping with my character (cheap as nails) I found my Celestron ST-80 EQ in
the local paper for $70 complete with a Celestron Shorty Barlow. It was clean,
barely out of the box... I find those bogen tripods at garage sales for $35 or
so.

I think you might be surprised how nicely your AT-1010 would work mounted to
the EQ-1 head set to 90 degrees and mounted to your Bogen.

jon

How do you mount the Pronto, Jon (I assume the 80WA came with a GEM as
mine did -- bought from Eagle a few years back and a great bargain)?

I have it mounted on a Bogen 3040 tripod with a 3047 three-axis head, I flip
the top axis over on its side and this becomes a single sided balanced fork
mount, I call it the "side saddle mount." Works quite nicely, I also use it
with my C-5 with good results. With the Pronto I go over 200X, though I have
some practice making it work. If you want to see a photo of this, do search
the astromart forums for "side saddle."

The other trick is to take the EQ-1 head and set the polar axis to 90 degrees,
this turns the mount into balanced alt-az mount with fine adjustment
capabilities. Works quite nicely, I never bother to use the EQ-1 mount in the
EQ mode any more.

But the big problem with the EQ-1 mount is not the mount but rather the tripod.
You can simply unscrew the mount from the tripod, it uses the same 3/8-16
thread that Bogen Tripod does, and mount the EQ-1 head directly to the Bogen
tripod. This stiffens things up quite nicely, to the point where I have
mounted by BO 102 mm F6 refactor on it with good luck. Currently I am using
the EQ-1 head with a Bogen 3051 tripod.

In keeping with my character (cheap as nails) I found my Celestron ST-80 EQ in
the local paper for $70 complete with a Celestron Shorty Barlow. It was clean,
barely out of the box... I find those bogen tripods at garage sales for $35 or
so.

I think you might be surprised how nicely your AT-1010 would work mounted to
the EQ-1 head set to 90 degrees and mounted to your Bogen.

jon

Jon Isaacs wrote:
Me, too, Jon. But I am still enjoying the new (tho not APO) AT-1010 I
recently acquired. Big improvement over the 80WA/ST-80 I was using for
travel.


I have an 80WA and I have a Pronto as well. If I didn't have the Pronto, I
would probably spring for the ED80...


How do you mount the Pronto, Jon (I assume the 80WA came with a GEM as
mine did -- bought from Eagle a few years back and a great bargain)?

I have the AT-1010 on a Universal Astronomics MicroStar (similar to but
smaller than the UniStar) and Bogen tripod. Works really well for the
wide looks with a WA scope and I've had it up to around 125x for
planets; quick setup and easy to use. I'm told I can put my C5+ on that
mount too, but I've not yet tried it.

My first trip to use the AT-1010 under dark skies in Sequioa this week
was a failu Clear in the morning but clouded up around mid-day and
only one brief viewing opportunity the last evening we were there.

A plus of the MicroStar is that, with a shorter tripod, the whole system
fits in a carry-on case for air travel. I think Tony Flanders used a
similar system (longer refractor on a UniStar) for the trip to Chile he
wrote up in a recent S&T

Phil