Hi
I've been looking for my future telescope for quite some time and have looped back to the 14" GSO carbon truss RC after a long conversation with a very experienced astronomer.
My main concerns with the GSO RC telescopes were collimation and cleaning of the exposed mirrors. I've been told that the latest versions aren't that difficult to collimate and don't need it very often, especially if used in an observatory. It was also suggested that cleaning the mirrors can be done as rarely as once a year and is not a major problem.
I've also read a few horror stories where the GSO truss has been causing serious errors in getting good collimation, with a lot of people proclaiming it's a quality issue. This was also disputed by the astronomer I spoke to.
This is not just my "next" telescope for me, it's "the" telescope. This is what I'll be using for a long, long time.
The primary use will probably be, at least in the beginning, imaging galaxies, planetary nebulae, quasars and other small objects at native focal length, but I'm likely to get a reducer and do wide field object as well in the future.
I have an observatory (astro-shed really!), am in the process of building a pier and will have it on an EQ8-Rh.
It would be great to hear your view about what I've discussed and anything else that would be good to know before deciding.
Thank you!
Cheers,
Dan
I've been looking for my future telescope for quite some time and have looped back to the 14" GSO carbon truss RC after a long conversation with a very experienced astronomer.
My main concerns with the GSO RC telescopes were collimation and cleaning of the exposed mirrors. I've been told that the latest versions aren't that difficult to collimate and don't need it very often, especially if used in an observatory. It was also suggested that cleaning the mirrors can be done as rarely as once a year and is not a major problem.
I've also read a few horror stories where the GSO truss has been causing serious errors in getting good collimation, with a lot of people proclaiming it's a quality issue. This was also disputed by the astronomer I spoke to.
This is not just my "next" telescope for me, it's "the" telescope. This is what I'll be using for a long, long time.
The primary use will probably be, at least in the beginning, imaging galaxies, planetary nebulae, quasars and other small objects at native focal length, but I'm likely to get a reducer and do wide field object as well in the future.
I have an observatory (astro-shed really!), am in the process of building a pier and will have it on an EQ8-Rh.
It would be great to hear your view about what I've discussed and anything else that would be good to know before deciding.
Thank you!
Cheers,
Dan
