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High Quality 10inch Dobsonian Telescope - Super Low Price $549 - Andrews Communications Systems

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High Quality 10inch Dobsonian Telescope - Super Low Price $549 - Andrews Communications Systems
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Lfbudd on 29/10/2013 - 21:18 andrewscom.com.au (544 clicks)

With the advent of clear sky's and warmer evenings I have been researching for a affordable telescope with
a high level of magnification and light gathering performance for less than $600.

The most simple-to-use telescope that will permit outstanding stellar views at a bargain price is the Guan Sheng GS-880 10" ASDX 250mm x 1250mm Dobsonian telescope from Andrews Communications Systems for $549.
http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm

Comparative online Australian prices for a 10" Dobsonian telescope are listed.

Bintel BT252-B 10" Dobsonian $629
http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/Dobsonian/Bintel-BT252-B…

Australian Geographic Shop Skywatcher 10" Dobsonian Telescope $899 (delivered)
http://shop.australiangeographic.com.au/-Skywatcher-10-Dobso…

Astro Shop SkyWatcher 10-inch (254mm) with Dobsonian mount $810
http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-04…

Ozscopes.com SkyWatcher 10" Dobsonian Telescope SW880 $979.95
http://www.ozscopes.com.au/skywatcher-dobsonian-telescope-10…

A Dobsonian telescope is the essence of simplicity and a perfect choice for the astronomer who shuns hi-tech gadgetry and electronics. The "Dob" is the telescope for the deep-sky purist who wants to see the faintest objects at millions of light years beyond our solar system. The secret of the Dobsonian telescope is in its size - it is the largest telescope for the money you can buy. This ten inch Dobsonian telescope will cost less than a fancy computerized telescope half its size and will easily take you to places in the universe no smaller telescope can go. Even a advanced amateur will not outgrow a ten inch Dobsonian in his or her lifetime.

Disadvantages: Dobsonian telescopes above ten inches in size are a problem to transport - a disassembled ten inch Dobsonian telescope will still squeeze into a hatchback with all seats folded down and no passengers, but a twelve inch Dobsonian will not. Because a Dobsonian mount is all manual, it requires constant readjusting (though easily done with practice) to keep an object in the telescope eyepiece. For the same reason, it is limited for use as an astrophotography telescope.

Sports & Outdoors Guan Sheng GS-880 10

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closed Comments

  • haz on 29/10/2013 - 21:25

    sounds like 10 inch is the optimum size to have, as you can still fit it in a car

    • pmupsinep on 29/10/2013 - 21:31
      +3

      Agreed, can't go wrong with 10 inches.

      • HeXa on 29/10/2013 - 22:15

        that's what she said

    • IVI on 30/10/2013 - 01:28

      so, what is the cost of S+H, to my door? it's not getting shipped as an eParcel… ;-)

    • IVI on 30/10/2013 - 01:33

      to the OP: It's really good to see deals like this, for a change. thanks for posting it!

  • unifex on 29/10/2013 - 21:28

    Dobsonians don't move well i think.

  • jv on 29/10/2013 - 21:38
    +1

    Any good deals on Radio Telescopes?

    • IVI on 30/10/2013 - 01:23

      some UK radio hams use a British gov't radio astronomy facility on weekends cost free. look for them on EchoLink's Ireland conference. visit their website on QTH.com or similar, full of photo's of facility & their work. one or both work at the site during the week. a radio club also uses the site for meetings, etc. can't beat free, she. your gov't supports citizen science!

      • IVI on 30/10/2013 - 01:29

        not "she" above, but "when"

  • jong on 29/10/2013 - 21:40
    +5

    Can I add:
    http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

    …which is a site for spotting the International Space Station (you know, the one in the movie "Gravity").

    You give it your location, and it emails you the morning before the ISS goes over your location, and only if the weather's clear for viewing. You can see the ISS with just the naked eye (as a bright dot) hurtling overhead for a few minutes before it disappears into shadow/over the horizon. If you've got a fancy telescope, you can actually make out the solar panels etc.

    Not really a bargain, but it's kind of cool if you have (are?) a child.

    • Ttam on 29/10/2013 - 21:49
      +2

      Or use ISS detector, which gives you alerts to your phone 5 minutes before a sighting. See http://issdetector.com/

      It also gives you alerts for Iridium satellite flares, which are pretty interesting the first time you see them… Paid addons for other objects (comets, Hubble space telescope, etc.), but I haven't tried any of them.

    • IVI on 30/10/2013 - 01:25

      look for tracking software used by radio hams, who speak to the ISS by radio. they show actual position (as does HeavensAbove.com) in real time, no waiting for emails!

  • Cluster on 29/10/2013 - 21:44
    +3

    I've dabbled in astromony and have a telescope from Andrew's (Guan Sheng). Delivery from the shop was fast and the prices are very good. Get the largest telescope you can. The bigger the better. However, note that the Dobsonians sold here are Newtonian telescopes. Be sure you read through instructions on the internet on how to collimate them. It can be fiddly to get right. Also note a Dobsonian isn't 'limited' for astrophotographic use: it's virtually useless at anything but very low maginification.

    • Polygamus on 29/10/2013 - 23:06
      +4

      A couple of seconds exposure will work.. and having a 10 or 12 inch lightbucket DOES allow that at a dark site. Take many images and use one of the 'stacking' programs that are out there. You can build a quite nice image doing that. Of course, eyepiece projection is probably out so little magnification is available.. prime focus @ F5 (on this unit anyway) is about as good as you will get. Still pretty though ;O)

      Big ar*3 dob's are the cheap and cheerful way to get lots of light into your eye for not much bux. If'n you find yourself hooked and you want to go further.. an EQ6 computerised/motorized mount is the next step. Add a little DIY tinkering with the tube and you get a capable amateur scope.

      In the deal listing it states.. "for a affordable telescope with a high level of magnification and light gathering performance for less than $600.". Well, partially true. Affordable is relative, light gathering performance is excellent but magnification is most certainly NOT high. This is NOT a planetary scope, though it does have a high enough quality mirror that can be pushed out to it's theoretical limits with the right combination of (at least mid-quality) barlow and eyepiece. I've glimpsed the Mars polar caps with a scope just like this one and some UO Ortho's.

      BTW, many of the 'comparative' scopes listed above are from the same factory.. just re-branded.

      Andrews Comms' service can seriously suck, they buy in bulk and sell cheap.. don't expect 'the personal touch'.

      Cluster is right, get the biggest thing you can afford. 12" scopes are now at a price level that the 10's were at several years ago. Do the surface area math and you will see just how much better a 12" mirror is by comparison.

  • tonyjzx on 29/10/2013 - 22:12
    +2

    can i use this to see uranus?

    • sourdawg on 29/10/2013 - 22:25
      +2

      You can, but a 10 inch can be a bit of a pain in the butt.

      • jv on 29/10/2013 - 22:37
        +3

        I think you're using it wrong…

    • jv on 29/10/2013 - 22:38
      +3

      can i use this to see uranus?

      Are you Sirius ???

  • sane on 29/10/2013 - 23:36
    +4

    Hmm, sounds like a bit of sockpuppeting going on around here (as well as the usual schoolboy jokes).

    The whole 'right size' thing is a joke, if you really want to move a telescope, and you want to move it on the back seat of your car, then collapsible tubes are available that mean you can have any mirror dimension you can afford. Bank balance it more of a determinate to mirror size.

    No idea of the real world optical quality of Guan Sheng mirrors, but you should understand that a dob is a light bucket - they are simple, are alt-azi so you can't easily follow the sky, so high magnification is out, which means so are the planets.

    Basically, they are the peroxide blonde/fake t*ts of the telescope world - superficially impressive in their statistics; but limited and hard to deal with.

    • Gnostikos on 30/10/2013 - 00:19
      +1

      Basically, they are the peroxide blonde/fake t*ts of the telescope world - superficially impressive in their statistics; but limited and hard to deal with.

      Ahh, analogies like these make things so easy to grasp.

      • strangeloops66 on 30/10/2013 - 01:05
        +3

        I know what I'd like to grasp!

    • mskeggs on 30/10/2013 - 09:33

      Yes, but a big dob is useful for deep sky stuff, galaxies, nebulae etc.
      And not useless for planets. 10in will resolve Saturn and Jupiter beautifully.
      The magnification limit sane is talking about is that at high magnification, the object under view will be seen to move quite swiftly across your field of view. A scope with an equatorial mount can be set up to track those objects making it useful for seeing smaller details over time and astrophotography.

    • mighty on 30/10/2013 - 15:10

      I logged in specifically to +1 this post.

  • Iqs on 29/10/2013 - 23:57

    Can I use this to search for a new planet?

  • cornbeef on 30/10/2013 - 00:01

    interesting post and comments.

  • Gecko on 30/10/2013 - 01:29
    +1

    10" is probably too big for most people. An 8" is just about right - you don't strain yourself lifting it at all, and can easily sling it under one arm - a 10" and above is for those who really want that 'extra bit'.

    I don't see a lot of difference between my 12" and my 8" unless I'm out at a very high quality dark site and I'm looking at some of the fainter nebula.

  • IVI on 30/10/2013 - 01:45

    for those with DIY desires, there were 2 slim books published… 1st showed how to build your own t'scope… incl grinding your own mirrors… for days…

    the 2nd shown how to connect a camera to capture images of what you were looking at.

    so, what would it take to connect a compact Panasonic digi.cam's to this t'scope?

    now that lots of digi.cam's are avail that can be remotely controlled via WiFi, even if you're a foot away, this'd get me into backyard astronomy for sure.

  • [Deactivated] on 30/10/2013 - 04:22

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