Well, it arrived today! My new Orion XT 8 dobsonian arrived by FedEx and the first observation was that this little scope comes well packaged. After owning several scopes I finally ended up purchasing a Meade 12 LX200GPS a year ago (thinking this was going to be my ultimate scope), which is a very nice scope but very heavy (125 lbs.). I also have a Stellarvue AT1010 (80mm refractor), which is a wonderful little gem but only 80mm. So, I was looking for a “kick around scope”. Something that could be setup fast and has enough aperture to reach those deep fuzzes. Especially when I have only 45 minutes or so during the week to view. I had settled on the Orion XT 6 after reading lots of positive reviews. I went to Orion’s website to purchase the XT 6 when I noticed that they had a sale on both the 6 and 8-inch scopes. I saved a $100 on the 8 inch and it was only 5 lbs more that the 6 inch. And what the hay it was 2 more inches!
I greedily took the boxes from the FedEx man and ran inside to assembly my new pride and joy. As I stated before, the scope and dobsonian mount came well packaged. Not a scratch on anything. It took me 30 minutes or so to assemble the mount, attach the finder and check collimation (which was slightly out, not bad considering that it traveled all the way from California to North Carolina). As I played with the scope, moving it back and forth in Altitude and Azimuth I couldn’t help but think, man this is one nice scope. I can’t believe it only cost $349.00. It has a steel tube, a really nice focuser and it moves really smooth. By just looking at this scope I would have expected to have paid a lot more.
I was getting ready for first light and guess what rolled in. You guess it, clouds and now it's raining! Now I’ll have to wait, I’m confined to the house playing with the scope and longing for clear weather. Man I hate these new scope blues.
Hope someone has clear skies,
David Pope
I greedily took the boxes from the FedEx man and ran inside to assembly my new pride and joy. As I stated before, the scope and dobsonian mount came well packaged. Not a scratch on anything. It took me 30 minutes or so to assemble the mount, attach the finder and check collimation (which was slightly out, not bad considering that it traveled all the way from California to North Carolina). As I played with the scope, moving it back and forth in Altitude and Azimuth I couldn’t help but think, man this is one nice scope. I can’t believe it only cost $349.00. It has a steel tube, a really nice focuser and it moves really smooth. By just looking at this scope I would have expected to have paid a lot more.
I was getting ready for first light and guess what rolled in. You guess it, clouds and now it's raining! Now I’ll have to wait, I’m confined to the house playing with the scope and longing for clear weather. Man I hate these new scope blues.
Hope someone has clear skies,
David Pope
