Hardin 8" Deep Space Hunter-- 1st impressions

Since I know a lot of folks are curious about this scope, I'm going to give some initial impressions before I've even had a chance to really see what it can do. I got the scope in on Monday, spent about 35 minutes putting it together, and have been waiting for a clear night to try it. Tonight wasn't clear, but I did get to use it for about 20 minutes before the clouds rolled in. More on that in part 2.

The base is very cheap, very dry, fairly heavy particle board. That much is to be expected. However, it looks suitable for it's task, and probably durable enough for a few years, though I expect repeated dewings will eventually cause the particle board to swell and chip. Replacing it with plywood would be very easy. Apparently this one shipped with the "new" round bottom baseplate instead of the older, tippier triangular one.

The teflon "bearing" surfaces are the smallest amount of teflon that will do the job, and they are single stapled in 3 places on each side of the rocker box. It's crude, but surprisingly effective. The scope turns easily on both axii.

The focuser is a pretty decent seeming rack and pinon with cast metal housing. It's got less slop in it than I've seen on some Crayfords. The 2" to 1.25" adapter fits well with little play, and 1.25" e.ps fit snuggly into it.

The 4 spider vanes are about the thickness of hacksaw blades, and are surprisingly sturdy. These seem much preferable to some of the wider, difraction spike causing vanes that I've seen on competing DOBs.

The silver painted thin steel tube is so short (45") that it's very easy to carry. On it's rocker box base the total height is just 50". At zenith, the eyepiece is centered just 44.5" from the ground. So viewing from a chair isn't just possible, it's *mandatory* if you don't wish to blow out your knees trying to kneel. Oddly, the interior of the tube is finished in a grayish paint that really isn't flat enough or black enough for my tastes. Eventually, I may flock it or texture and repaint the inside.

The whole assembly takes up less than 2 sq. ft. in a corner.
part 2 to follow
Mike Swaim

The OTA tension springs have little tabs to facilitate easy removal and reinstallation. However, they don't appear to be adjustable. This causes some problem with heavier eyepieces, as they can tend to make the scope seek zenith whenever it's pointed to within 20* of straight up. Other than that, it tends to stay where it's pointed, and is very easy to pivot and swivel to position.

The 8x50 finder is about as cheap a 50mm finder as I've seen. It's aimed by adjusting 2 screws against a 3rd stationary post. It's held in the front of the bracket by a thin O-ring. Focus is accomplished by unscrewing the plastic objective retention ring. The crosshairs appear to be painted on. It's a far cry from the fantastic, well baffled 12x50 finder that comes standard with an Intes Micro M603. But, it does an adequate job, nonetheless, and is a vast improvement over the inadequate 6x30 finders that come standard with so many inexpensive scopes.

I've read that these scopes often came pretty well collimated. Frankly, I didn't believe that. But, this one really did come very close to collimated despite being shipped from Taiwan to Oregon, and then from Oregon to NC. I haven't yet laser checked it, but after very minor secondary adjustment, and a very hasty star test, it seems fairly close. That surprised me a great deal.

It doesn't appear to have the same great contrast as the Intes Micro M603 or MN56. But initially, it's still impressive, and I'm hopeful that after some tweaking it'll be a very competent performer.

All in all, this is a heck of a lot of scope for $300. I don't see anything with it initially that would keep me from recommending it.

Mike Swaim

>>>Apparently this one shipped with the "new" round bottom baseplate instead of the older, tippier triangular one.

Nice write up. Hope you like the scope.

Just one point here: The round bottom is not any more stable than the triangular one, it is just heavier and may keep the dirt of the azimuth bearings a bit better.

The scope sits on three small legs/pads with the bearings mounted directly above them. So it doesn't matter whether the base is round or triangular, the "tippyness" is determined only by the placement of those pads.

Personally I like the Triangular base on my 10inch, it makes it lighter and it also allows me to easily clean the upper surface where the bearings ride.

jon

Something else worth mentioning about this scope is that the primary mirror does NOT come with a center spot for collimation. This would certainly be a very cheap, very easy thing for Guan Sheng to do at the factory. The 2 pages of the simple printed sheet "owner's manual" that deal with collimation, have one simply eye-balling collimation. Given how well these scopes apparently hold collimation from the factory, that's evidently considered sufficient for many owners. However, given how much I've read about how critical collimation is with faster scopes, I wonder if Hardin and Guan Sheng shouldn't spend a little more time going over proper collimation. Personally, I think a center spotted mirror and a simple collimating device would be welcome additions to the overall package. I'd far rather have the mirror center spotted than have the silly little metal eyepiece tray. (In fact, I didn't even attach it on this scope, since I consider such trays to be nothing but guarantees that the eyepieces will get dusty and dewed up.)

Mike Swaim