Advice on 8" Sky Mentor dobsonion

On Wed, 01 Oct 2003 00:27:53 +1000, Geoff wrote:

The one I read about had a database of only 200 objects !
There was much discussion about this on the yahoo group "xt
telescopes".


Oops , i meant Skyquest telescopes group

"Geoff" wrote in message
...
On 30 Sep 2003 13:46:15 GMT, (Jon Isaacs) wrote:

Dont be sucked by the Orion Intelliscope with optional dsc computer.
The computer is a seriously crippled one with a tiny number of objects
in its database. Use the savings to buy a good star atlas.

There is a data base of 14,000 objects. Hardly tiny. Here is the list
of the
included objects:

""The IntelliScope database includes over 14,000 celestial objects: 837
stars
(including double and variable stars), 7,840 NGC objects, 5,386 IC
objects, 101
Messier objects, 8 major planets, 99 user-entered objects, and 12 monthly
tours!

The one I read about had a database of only 200 objects !
There was much discussion about this on the yahoo group "xt
telescopes".

That's the Deep Space Hunter Electronic finder from Hardin optics a $ 299
add-on for their dobs.Messiers+ 114 other objects.What a ripoff!

In article ,
Geoff wrote:

On 30 Sep 2003 13:46:15 GMT, (Jon Isaacs) wrote:

Dont be sucked by the Orion Intelliscope with optional dsc computer.
The computer is a seriously crippled one with a tiny number of objects
in its database. Use the savings to buy a good star atlas.

There is a data base of 14,000 objects. Hardly tiny. Here is the list of
the
included objects:

""The IntelliScope database includes over 14,000 celestial objects: 837
stars
(including double and variable stars), 7,840 NGC objects, 5,386 IC objects,
101
Messier objects, 8 major planets, 99 user-entered objects, and 12 monthly
tours!

The one I read about had a database of only 200 objects !
There was much discussion about this on the yahoo group "xt
telescopes".

An earlier product?

On 09/30/03 22:46 +0900, Jon Isaacs wrote:

There is a data base of 14,000 objects. Hardly tiny. Here is the list of the
included objects:

""The IntelliScope database includes over 14,000 celestial objects: 837 stars
(including double and variable stars), 7,840 NGC objects, 5,386 IC objects, 101
Messier objects, 8 major planets, 99 user-entered objects, and 12 monthly
tours!

It occurs to me that if this thing really works as advertised,
Orion will have got about the least expensive DSCs going. I'm
guessing that at $150, they'll sell an awful lot of these. I'm
starting to wish that Orion had a distributor here. A big 10"
with one of these could be whole heaps of fun.

trane
--
//------------------------------------------------------------
// Trane Francks Tokyo, Japan
// Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
// http://mp3.com/trane_francks/

not even if you grind your own mirror can you beat the cost of one of these
chinese dobs.. and sadly (to the ATM tradition) to say the above average
ATM will not improve the mirror quality either (this did not use to be case
just a few years ago).

Mirror grinding kits and aluminizing cost money.

On 30 Sep 2003 13:46:15 GMT, (Jon Isaacs) wrote:

Regarding building your own. If your goal is to look at the stars and enjoy
the night sky, building a scope will be a detour and take some real time. And
given the low cost of the 8 and 10 inch Asian DOBs, it is not clear to me that
one really saves much, if any money. Probably if one grinds ones own mirrors,
there is a savings.

Herm
Astropics http://home.att.net/~hermperez

Hi Alex. I'm in your position too. I live in Ottawa and am looking to
buy my first real scope. I'm also considering a Sky Mentor 8" f/6 or
6" f/8 dobsonian.

With an 8" reflector, you must consider cool-down time. It could be an
hour or more (unless you keep it in an unheated garage). With any
reflector, you must collimate (align the optics) occasionally. Kind
of like tuning a guitar occasionally. Once learned, this isn't
difficult, but note that the 'faster' (or stubbier) the scope is (the
smaller the f-number), the more sensitive it is to collimation. So an
f/6 will require more precise collimation than an f/8.

That Sky Mentor dob is a re-labelled Sky-Watcher. So reviews for the
Sky-Watcher 8" f/6 should apply to it too. I don't know how good they
are optically, but one thing that bugs me about that Sky Mentor 8" dob
is that the optical tube has a seam that runs the whole length of the
tube. Maybe it is structurally sound...I don't know, but that seam
doesn't inspire confidence in me about its long-term durability.
Here's a review of the 8" Sky Mentor dob:

http://www.skynewsmagazine.com/pages/reviews/8dob.html

Note that the Sky Mentor dob now has a slightly different altitude
support...it has two handles now which I think can be tightened or
loosesned to adjust the fiction.

With an 8" reflector, you must consider cool-down time. It could be an
hour or more (unless you keep it in an unheated garage).

You need to consider cool down also with a 6 inch. But the scope is still
useable and can provide enjoyment even if it is not cooled down.

So an
f/6 will require more precise collimation than an f/8.

F6 is not much trouble IME. A sweet spot,.

Watcher 8" f/6 should apply to it too. I don't know how good they
are optically, but one thing that bugs me about that Sky Mentor 8" dob
is that the optical tube has a seam that runs the whole length of the
tube. Maybe it is structurally sound..

It is. No need to worry about that seam, these tubes are pretty nice.

Jon

My apologies...I was thinking about Efston Science's white NewStar
dobs...these are the ones that are 're-labelled' Sky-Watchers. I'm not
sure if Sky Mentors are also the same (optically). Aren't Sky Mentor
the house brand of scopes of Khan Scope Center? I've read some
unfavorable comments about Kahn's customer service, and only good
things about Efston. At Efston, you can also return items no problem.
Efston also has their 8" f/6 NewStar dobs on sale, though even on
sale, it's price is about average.

On 1 Oct 2003 03:36:32 -0700, (Patrick) wrote:

I'm not
sure if Sky Mentors are also the same (optically). Aren't Sky Mentor
the house brand of scopes of Khan Scope Center? I've read some
unfavorable comments about Kahn's customer service, and only good
things about Efston. At Efston, you can also return items no problem.
Efston also has their 8" f/6 NewStar dobs on sale, though even on
sale, it's price is about average.


Sky Mentor = Guan Sheng made

SkyWatcher= Synta made

Geoff wrote in message news:

Sky Mentor = Guan Sheng made

SkyWatcher= Synta made

Thank you. Which one is better optically?