Telescope kits

wrote:
We make Dob bases for exactly the case you are in. You can get a

full

mount kit including mirror cell, spider, secondary, focuser, and

base,

or you can just get the base if you want to do the OTA yourself and

we

will size the mount parts to fit your tube. We also make upgrade

mounts

for existing OTA's. Check us out at:

http://www.e2scopes.com

The other Eric and I started this business for a remarkably similar
situation. He wanted to build his own scope and had ideas on how to

do

it, but no woodworking tools and no shop. I had the shop and all the


tools, but no astronomy experience. We figured others would be in

the

same boat.

Thanks,
Eric Albrecht
e2 Telescope Design



who makes the optics on the complete kits?


Most customers buy without optics and acquire or build their own. Not
all of the kits are the same. The 6-10" sizes us Pyrex Chinese optics
if you order them from us, and the 12.5" uses a mirror from Discovery.

Eric Albrecht
e2 Telescope Design
http://www.e2scopes.com

Eric Albrecht wrote:
wrote:
I have just finished grinding, polishing, and figuring an 8" mirror
of
approximately 54.5" focal length (an f/6.8). I don't have a lot of
experience with woodworking and would very much like to get this
into a
telescope.

Do you know of any manufacturers who might be willing to provide
pre-cut
parts for the base, rocker box, etc?

Thanks.

Clear Skies!

Tom Karpf




We make Dob bases for exactly the case you are in. You can get a
full
mount kit including mirror cell, spider, secondary, focuser, and
base,
or you can just get the base if you want to do the OTA yourself and
we
will size the mount parts to fit your tube. We also make upgrade
mounts
for existing OTA's. Check us out at:

http://www.e2scopes.com

The other Eric and I started this business for a remarkably similar
situation. He wanted to build his own scope and had ideas on how to
do
it, but no woodworking tools and no shop. I had the shop and all the

tools, but no astronomy experience. We figured others would be in
the
same boat.

Thanks,
Eric Albrecht
e2 Telescope Design

I normally don't complain about free enterprise, and it does look like
you're providing a needed service with these kits, but.... $425 for the
mount alone? for a 6" scope? Wow! I bought a complete Orion 6" F/8 dob
for $230, and that was at the local planetarium, where the price is a
bit higher but the proceeds go to the programs.

ECM

On 03/11/2005 02:14 AM +0900, wrote:

I normally don't complain about free enterprise, and it does look like
you're providing a needed service with these kits, but.... $425 for the
mount alone? for a 6" scope? Wow! I bought a complete Orion 6" F/8 dob

If you read the "About" page at their site, you'll see that they're
serving a market that wants top-quality mounts/kits. The fact that
they'll custom tailor a mount for a user says everything about why it
costs more.

trane
--
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Trane Francks Tokyo, Japan
// Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.

wrote:
[snip]
I normally don't complain about free enterprise, and it does look like
you're providing a needed service with these kits, but.... $425 for the
mount alone? for a 6" scope? Wow! I bought a complete Orion 6" F/8 dob
for $230, and that was at the local planetarium, where the price is a
bit higher but the proceeds go to the programs.

Holy crap! I can get a Hyundai for 1/10th the cost of a Ferrari. And
the Ferrari only has half as many seats!


Tim
--
I was not a helicopter.

wrote:


I normally don't complain about free enterprise, and it does look like
you're providing a needed service with these kits, but.... $425 for the
mount alone? for a 6" scope? Wow! I bought a complete Orion 6" F/8 dob
for $230, and that was at the local planetarium, where the price is a
bit higher but the proceeds go to the programs.


You get what you pay for. The OTA's of the mass produced Dobs are
indeed suprisingly good optically, but the mounts really stink. They
are heavy and clunky and made of particle board. People who buy these
OTA's and are happy with them but want a mount to be smooth, steady, and
last forever are our primary market. The rest are usually ATMs who have
made their own mirror and/or tube.

The differences should be obvious. The Finn-Form material alone is
about $300 per 4x8' sheet, and with good reason. All of our hardware is
made of stainless or brass, some of it custom CNC machined for us. The
roller bearings and cam levers are hard to come by. Add to that that we
make these by hand in the USA in small lots and not in China for $3/hour
and the price looks pretty good. We actually don't make much of
anything on them.

So far, none of our customers has complained about not getting their
money's worth. Quite the contrary, they've been enthused about the
unusually high quality.

Not everyone wants or is willing to spend the money on top notch stuff,
but I assure you that there are those who do! Try one out at a star
party sometime and see if you don't agree.

Thanks,
Eric Albrecht
e2 Telescope Design
http://www.e2scopes.com

wrote:


I normally don't complain about free enterprise, and it does look like
you're providing a needed service with these kits, but.... $425 for the
mount alone? for a 6" scope? Wow! I bought a complete Orion 6" F/8 dob
for $230, and that was at the local planetarium, where the price is a
bit higher but the proceeds go to the programs.


You get what you pay for. The OTA's of the mass produced Dobs are
indeed suprisingly good optically, but the mounts really stink. They
are heavy and clunky and made of particle board. People who buy these
OTA's and are happy with them but want a mount to be smooth, steady, and
last forever are our primary market. The rest are usually ATMs who have
made their own mirror and/or tube.

The differences should be obvious. The Finn-Form material alone is
about $300 per 4x8' sheet, and with good reason. All of our hardware is
made of stainless or brass, some of it custom CNC machined for us. The
roller bearings and cam levers are hard to come by. Add to that that we
make these by hand in the USA in small lots and not in China for $3/hour
and the price looks pretty good. We actually don't make much of
anything on them.

So far, none of our customers has complained about not getting their
money's worth. Quite the contrary, they've been enthused about the
unusually high quality.

Not everyone wants or is willing to spend the money on top notch stuff,
but I assure you that there are those who do! Try one out at a star
party sometime and see if you don't agree.

Thanks,
Eric Albrecht
e2 Telescope Design
http://www.e2scopes.com

Eric Albrecht wrote:
wrote:


I normally don't complain about free enterprise, and it does look
like
you're providing a needed service with these kits, but.... $425 for
the
mount alone? for a 6" scope? Wow! I bought a complete Orion 6" F/8
dob
for $230, and that was at the local planetarium, where the price is
a
bit higher but the proceeds go to the programs.


You get what you pay for. The OTA's of the mass produced Dobs are
indeed suprisingly good optically, but the mounts really stink. They

are heavy and clunky and made of particle board. People who buy
these
OTA's and are happy with them but want a mount to be smooth, steady,
and
last forever are our primary market. The rest are usually ATMs who
have
made their own mirror and/or tube.

The differences should be obvious. The Finn-Form material alone is
about $300 per 4x8' sheet, and with good reason. All of our hardware
is
made of stainless or brass, some of it custom CNC machined for us.
The
roller bearings and cam levers are hard to come by. Add to that that
we
make these by hand in the USA in small lots and not in China for
$3/hour
and the price looks pretty good. We actually don't make much of
anything on them.

So far, none of our customers has complained about not getting their
money's worth. Quite the contrary, they've been enthused about the
unusually high quality.

Not everyone wants or is willing to spend the money on top notch
stuff,
but I assure you that there are those who do! Try one out at a star
party sometime and see if you don't agree.

Thanks,
Eric Albrecht
e2 Telescope Design
http://www.e2scopes.com


If you are charging that much for a high quality tube why not include
high quality premium mirrors?