Yup Khan beat them too it.

khanscope has what looks like the big brother to the award winning Guan Sheng (formerly known as Orion XT8) 8" dob....the 12 solid tube version of it. The bearings look a little small for that scope (look like the 8" alt bearings), but it's nice to see them expanding their line...literally. but c'mon twelve schmelve...where's the 14 or 16? I guess those aren't quite viable as solid tubes, and I haven't ever seen trusses coming from asia, so maybe 12 is the stopping point?

Tom.

http://khanscope.com/12_inch_f5_sky_mentor_dob.htm

It's good to see some competition in the over 10" DOBs. But $856 for a Khan (aka G.Sheng) 12" vs. $999 for a Discovery 13" doesn't seem like the GS 12" is really priced low enough. Some time ago, I had a conversation with a scope importer who suggested that an f5 12" Chinese steel tube DOB ought to be saleable in the US for around $600. Personally, rather than just a race to the bottom, I'm a lot more interested in seeing whether somebody like Discovery will come up with either a split tube or truss tube 13-14". To me, sizes over about 10" really, really need some mechanism to split up the weight and size of the tube. Also, having just taken delivery on the 8" G.S. (aka Deep Space Hunter), I don't believe I'd care for a scope much larger than this on these bearings and on this type particle board mount. As the scopes get bigger, much more attention needs to be paid to the rocker box/mount. Personally, I think the 8" is just about at the limit of what one person could easily move around as a complete scope, without even removing the tube, and over 10", I think the tube itself would need disassembly capability for most people. Just some things to think about.

Mike Swaim