Experience with these kits?

I am considering the construction of my own 10" Newtonian/Dobsonian telescope. Do any of you have any experience with or knowledge of the following kits? If yes, would you send your opinions? Recommendations on other kits would also be appreciated.

e-Scopes

http://www.e-scopes.cc/intro.html?source=overture

pete3000

http://members.cox.net/pete3000/telescope_10f5_paypal.html

Hi Mark. I was also considering building my own. Let me know what you find out/decide. I had seen the kit on ebay that you found also but was hesitant. I am sure if you delve into the forums a little deeper with some build your own dob searches you will probably find some answers. Good luck, John

I don't have any experience with these but Pete's kit doesn't look too bad. You will still need to add the cost of the sonotube and wood but it looks like everything else is there.

Of course for that price you could buy a completely assembled Harden 10" dob. So the question is, do you just want to OWN a 10" scope, or do you want to BUILD a 10" scope.

Just received the fedex package. The mirror looks fine and I'm still trying to decipher some writing on the side. Looks like a 9.2? in red pencil or something. The mirror is 1" thick. The secondary is big! measured 2.75" (will need a smaller one) The focuser is quite impressive. First 2" I've had. I'm trying tofigure out what focuser height to plug into NEWT. From the bottom to the very top of the 2-1.25 adapter is 3.25" Does that sound right? The right angle finder looks to be 30mm, not correct image.

I've completed the scope using the optic set. The base and tube still needs some finishing work, painting, eyepiece holder etc. I used the homemade spider design and the oversized secondary. Of course it's been cloudy here in the desert now!! I did get a few objects viewed. Jupiter was much brighter than in the 6" f8 but very little detail/contrast? M4 looked very nice though. I could see many more stars resolved, especailly taking my time and using averted vision etc, it seemed like there were tendrils/filaments of structure I never really observed in the 6". Since then I've ordered a new spider from Destiny and 2.48" secondary from Orion, they should be here today. The azimuth motion seems fine using magic sliders and an old Guy Lombardo 33rpm lp, but the alt bearing works a little too well with the 4" PVC caps and magic sliders. I may have to try larger diameter trunions? I did create my own "correct-tension" setup using bungee cords pulling down on the PVC caps and attached the base of the rocker box. The whole tube almost slid out of the tube box using a couple rubber door jams as wedges. Needing to secure the tube better is a top priority now so I added some shims and foam and hinges to the top of the tube box so I can still move the tube around for balancing an focuser placement. Looking forward to this weekend when I can give it a real workout. The finder that came with the kit is a joke so far. Even Jupiter looks like a colored out of focus tiny dot. Not sure if I'll be able to use that for any star hopping. The barlow that came with it won't insert all the way into the focus tube. The focuser works good and the other Series 500 ep's that are included seem ok too.