Dango's Stats
- Review Count13
- Helpfulness Votes14
- First ReviewApril 16, 2011
- Last ReviewSeptember 21, 2011
- Featured Reviews0
- Average Rating4.7
Reviews Comments
- Review Comment Count0
- Helpfulness Votes0
- First Review CommentNone
- Last Review CommentNone
- Featured Review Comments0
This handy Orion Optics Cleaning Kit holds everything you need to keep your optics in top-rate condition. It includes optics cleaning fluid, 5 cotton swabs, lens tissues, optics cleaning cloth, and blower bulb.
Rating
A blower bulb is important
PostedSeptember 21, 2011
While the five Q-tips and lens tissues really aren't anything to write home about, I consider this kit worth buying for the bulb blower. It allows a quick gross cleaning of an optical surface without introducing new particles like saliva or "canned air gunk". This is important since you don't want to end up smearing anything around once you move on to cleaning with a swab.
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Help save your back and neck during viewing sessions with Orion's weekend Observers Chair. It has a padded adjustable-height vinyl seat, sturdy supports, and legs that fold up for easy storage.
Rating
Probably a bit overpriced
PostedSeptember 21, 2011
Quality
4
/
5
Value
3
/
5
This is a perfectly functional and comfortable observing chair, but there are some minor annoyances that make me feel that the asking price is a bit much. The chair's height can be adjusted by locking a few rubber compression points onto the central steel tube. I'm not a big guy by any means at about 130 lbs, but I find myself pushing the chair down through the tightened rubber rings with my weight fairly often. That said, the construction is very heavy duty and the chair is comfortable for a long night of observing. Now that I've paid for it, this is the chair I use.
Yes, I recommend this product!
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The Orion Precision Centering Adapter is a 2" to 1.25" eyepiece adapter and more. This adapter precisely centers a collimating device, camera nosepiece, or eyepiece unlike a standard adapter which pushes it off center.
Rating
One of the best upgrades I've made
PostedSeptember 21, 2011
Considering the price, this is the best upgrade you can make to a standard dobsonian scope aside from adding a reflex finder. You'll be removing a point of error in your collimation, keeping set screw marks off of your eyepiece barrels, and keeping your eyepieces very secure and unlikely to pop out onto the ground. Plus, it's threaded for 2" filters, so you will be able to use those with your 1.25" eyepieces.
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The 1.25" dielectric mirror star diagonal angles the eyepiece to a comfortable position, while the dielectric coatings give you brighter images compared with a standard star diagonal. The harder surface from the coatings also makes cleaning easier.
Rating
A worthy upgrade
PostedSeptember 21, 2011
I upgraded my stock 92% reflectivity diagonal with this item, and immediately saw the difference both in brightness and discernable detail in lunar and planetary views. This is mechanically very nice as well, and I very much appreciate the filter threading on the back of the diagonal itself -- I would be worried about scratching the mirror if I had to attach filters to the eyepiece itself.
Another reviewer mentioned the tapered attachment point as a negative, but I believe it is simply there to make it more difficult for the diagonal to drop out of the focuser. If you can use a helical attachment, this is not an issue at all.
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Orion Ultrascopic 1.25" 2x FMC 3-Element Barlow Lens
The 1.25" 2x Orion Ultrascopic 3-Element Barlow Lens features a fully multi-coated lens design that gives you bright, sharp, color corrected images. This barlow eyepiece is especially good for high power lunar and planetary observing.
Rating
Top quality
PostedSeptember 21, 2011
I was a little leery about this barlow when I compared the price to comparable items from other vendors, but I heard enough good things to take the plunge. I've used this side-by-side with some of those higher priced barlows, and could detect no difference in the views provided. If you have enough focuser travel to use a full length barlow, this is the one to get.
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The Orion LaserMate Deluxe Telescope Collimator makes aligning your Newtonian's Optics a simple one-step procedure. It is smaller, lighter and less expensive than the previous version.
Rating
Quick and easy
PostedSeptember 21, 2011
I use this collimator coupled with a barlow lens every time I set up my XT8 to check the optical alignment of the secondary and primary mirror. It takes about 60 seconds to perform the check and to make any necessary adjustments to the primary. In principle, you may still want to make fine adjustments through star collimation, but I have never needed to do so after using this product.
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Orion offers a rugged, fully padded, case to fit just about every telescope we stock. It provides an easy way to transport and store your telescope. Heavy-duty and water-resistant material, and fits the SkyQuest XT8, XT8 intelliscope & XT8G.
Rating
Indispensable
PostedSeptember 21, 2011
This case makes storage and transportation of my XT8 a snap. The tube goes into the case and onto my shoulder, and the base of the scope can be lifted easily by itself. The case is extremely rugged and provides plenty of padding. If you want to carry your scope farther than your porch, you will want this case.
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The SkyQuest XT8 Classic has features for both beginners and experienced stargazers. Its large aperture will help you see more. Its stable base glides easily and gives you total control to point at any celestial object. All for an affordable price.
Rating
Best beginner scope I can think of
PostedSeptember 21, 2011
This is the scope that I learned on, and the one that nurtured my obsession with this wonderful hobby. It's very simple to use and understand, and can really give a great idea of what there is to see in the universe. The simple construction works very well as-is, but tinkerers and do-it-yourself hobbyists will keep themselves occupied for a good long time too.
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The 2" Orion Oxygen-III nebula Telescope Filter essentially boosts the contrast you see in nebulas bringing out detail you couldn't see before.
Rating
Does the trick!
PostedSeptember 21, 2011
While not the most "aggressive" OIII filter I've looked though [most dim stars are still visible], this is certainly the best value I can find. It brings the veil nebula and other diffuse nebula straight from invisible to visible in my XT8 dob. I don't have easy access to a very dark sky, so effective filtering is a great help.
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Are you having trouble seeing the crosshairs in your finder at night? By using an adjustable-intensity red LED, the Orion 9x50 Illuminated Finder Scope with Bracket makes it easy. Features multi-coated achromatic optics and adjustable focus
Rating
Clear, sharp, heavy
PostedApril 16, 2011
Optical Quality
5
/
5
Ease of Use
4
/
5
Value
5
/
5
This is a great finder, with optical quality good enough for wide-field observing by itself. You will very likely need to add counterweight to compensate for this monster. My only nitpick is that the LED illumination could start out a bit dimmer, as it can drown out even fairly bright stars near the crosshairs. The action on the dimmer is great, though, so I just flick it on and off until I get the positioning right.
Yes, I recommend this product!
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Dango's Review Comments
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