35 replies to this topic

[Tom T]

link

[Inkswitch]

Tom,
Thanks for the review. It must be nice to use all that equipment you always get. The link to the video is not working for me. Have a nice day.

[Tom T]

Hi Lawen,

This was a one night only deal, but it was a heck of a night.

The video isn't posted yet. It should be up tomorrow. (I hope.)

T

[Glen A W]

I can't help but think that the telescope looks like the biggest dew-maker I'ved ever seen. Nice scope, though!

[Tom T]

Agreed, and that's yet another reason for a shroud. In this neck of the woods, they aren't just for glare, they're for dew prevention as well. Frankly, I figured it would dew up pretty quickly but the night was extremely dry.

I'll make a note of that in the article, thanks!

[ausastronomer]

Hi Tom,

You are as guilty as every other US reviewer, in making an assumption that your review will only be read by people in CONUS.

You note in this review that the 15" UC will be available:-

IN LATE FALL

For the benefit of us underprivileged people who live in Australia and elsewhere, and celebrate the four seasons as Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring at ridiculous times of the year due to the misfortune of the earth in "wobbling" a lot in its orbit. Would you be good enough to tell me which month you might be talking about

It's funny but outside CONUS people invariably always refer to the month, rather than the season.

Cheers,

[Tom T]

Hi John,

As a matter of fact, he actually gave me a specific month but due to the difficulties inherent in bringing a new product to market, I thought it best to change it to the season.

However I will go back add "In late spring" for southern hemisphere folks.


T

[Jimbo100]

Hey Tom,

I love the big panoptic/ nagler in the primary!

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[Tom T]

[ZachK]

Male Free Will: The ability to choose between both options the wife allows.

And even then generally pick the wrong one:)

[Peter Argenziano]

Agreed, and that's yet another reason for a shroud. In this neck of the woods, they aren't just for glare, they're for dew prevention as well. Frankly, I figured it would dew up pretty quickly but the night was extremely dry.

I'll make a note of that in the article, thanks!

And don't forget FOD (foreign object damage) avoidance.

[Peter Argenziano]

/snip/
For the benefit of us underprivileged people who live in Australia and elsewhere, and celebrate the four seasons as Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring at ridiculous times of the year due to the misfortune of the earth in "wobbling" a lot in its orbit. Would you be good enough to tell me which month you might be talking about

When I posed this question to Dave last week, he told me that a 15-UC ordered then would ship in mid-November.

[Tom T]

Agreed, and that's yet another reason for a shroud. In this neck of the woods, they aren't just for glare, they're for dew prevention as well. Frankly, I figured it would dew up pretty quickly but the night was extremely dry.

I'll make a note of that in the article, thanks!

And don't forget FOD (foreign object damage) avoidance.

[gatorengineer]

Shocked to see a three vane straight spider... It would also appear that circles could not be added to this socpe.... Another surprise.

[Tom T]

If you mean DSC's - yes, they can be added. They use the same approach the 18" UC does.

[Daniel Mounsey]

Nice review Tom. I've been drooling over the 18" UC, but I've gotta slow down on the scopes for a change.

[Tom T]

I understand completely!

(However, I'm giving serious consideration to one of these in a year or two - funds permitting. Sure would be a nice star party / travel scope.)

[Daniel Mounsey]

I'm even amazed at how small the 18" looks and the 15" is dynamite. The Youtube video makes it look easy.

[Tom T]

I hope to get the video up on this shortly, but at this point I don't think it's going to happen till next week.

T

[rdrane]

link

Does the UC 15 and 18" Obseesion pass the "Barlow collimation test"? In other words, does the red doughnut reflection maintain stability (i.e. no shift or movement)when the scope is moved at various angles and positions?

[Tom T]

Good question. Didn't have a laser handy to check.

It did appear to maintain collimation in use, but at the focal lengths we were using we weren't being overly critical. (The seeing was too lousy to star test a 115, and the OMI mirrors are a known factor anyway.)

[RickR]

Tom, how is the Telrad usage on the scope? From the pics seems that it is a bit awkward to be craning your neck over all the time.

[Tom T]

Given the size of the scope (any scope in this size class) it's actually not bad at all. One of the things that Dave does is mount it on a pole so you can rotate it. This makes the ergonomics quite a bit better and does not affect the alignment.

[Tom T]

FWIW, for those asking about the video, I've encoded it but blip is apparently not up at the moment, so it won't be posted till early next week.

Thanks for your patience.

[Lee Jay]

How much difference would there be *visually* (ignore portability and mechanics for the moment) between a 15" UC and, say, a 16" truss dob from Meade or Astro-Tech?