36 replies to this topic

[dougvolfan]

All I had is two "Kmart" refractors from my youth. We did not have much money and I was happy with anything. Now we move foward and I can afford better. I just bought a Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope. It will arrive Monday or Tuesday. Did I by a good beginner? Also does any body have any space photos from this scope? I am really geeked-up and can't wait. thank you and god bless all doug

[City Kid]

The XT8 was my first "real" scope also. I think it's an excellent scope for a beginner. I logged all of the Messiers with that scope.

[Astroguy]

Great Choice! I've been doing astronomy for many years and I just got an 8" DOB too. Well passed beginner in terms of what you can see! "J"

[dougvolfan]

I just joined the forum today so please excuse any misplaced or retard questions I might pose for a days

[Greg Keys]

There are no misplaced or retard questions.... At worst we may suggest that a question would get better or faster answers in a more specific forum, but we will always try here.

[ellenvega]

I've been looking at different telescopes for the past few months and now I'm pretty much decided on the Orion dobs, just not sure what size!

I'll be interested to hear your opinions when you get the scope.

[dougvolfan]

Some forums are back biting and rude/crude...no go on that.
It looks like I found a great resource and home. thanks all

[Hdjedi]

I have an Orion 10" and I had a 6" which just went to another good home. The 8 will be great. The forum will be interested in your "first lite". Be patient and make sure you let it cool down outside for an hour before you use and have an easy first nite plan. Mars, the Beehive and M42 are all easy target for your first nite out. Dress warm and enjoy the view, then tell us about it.

[dougvolfan]

photos will be forth coming along with review...promise

[Tim A.]

Also does any body have any space photos from this scope?

A dob is not very good astrophotography telescope. You can get some nice quick shots of the Moon, and to some extent Jupiter and Saturn. But you can't go much beyond that.

For everything else, that's a great telescope. Half a generation ago it would have been the star of the party! You're going to love it.

Your next task will be learning how to drive it. That is, learning what interesting things are out there, and how to find them. But that's for another thread!

Welcome the CN, and all the best!

[Joe Lalumia]

Nice telescope; you did GOOD!

Clear Skies

[coopman]

Good choice. You will be amazed at what an 8" scope will show you. Many people would be satisfied with a scope of that size for the rest of their days.

[OneEyedLeela]

How big is the package when it arrived? Is the box somewhat like refrigerator big? Did it come in two packages or just one?

[B Rodgers]

Congrats on the new scope Doug. You made an excellent choice. Welcome to Cloudy Nights. You'll find many helpful folks here. Don't be afraid to ask questions. The only dumb questions are the ones that never get asked. Looking forward to your first light. GBO!

[edadks]

Hi Doug and welcome to CN.

You just got yourself a really nice scope. I just got an XT8i and it's amazing. The views are tremendous, it isn't too big to move around, and it's not too hard to keep it "tuned" for great performance.

Clear skies,

Ed

[edadks]

How big is the package when it arrived? Is the box somewhat like refrigerator big? Did it come in two packages or just one?

It came in 2 boxes. The base was in a heavy flat box about 2 ft square and a few inches high. The tube came in a box about 4 ft x 1 ft x 1 ft, maybe a little bigger. Each box weighed about 25 lbs.

Ed

[SteveFour86]

Welcome to Cloudy Nights. You picked a great first scope, though I'm a tad partial to that paticular model. Enjoy and keep us posted on your time gathering light.

[joelimite]

Yep, the XT8 is a great first scope. Heck, it's a great lifetime scope. Point it at the Orion Nebula or Mars on your first night out and you'll be hooked for life!

[Jeremy Perez]

I picked up a used XT8 a couple years ago. It is a great scope. Will you be observing from an urban or suburban area? It's not geared for deep sky photography, but it can certainly be rigged for nice planetary and lunar images. I have a little fun photographing the International Space Station with it too from time to time

JUN 9, 2008
SEP 26, 2009

From a dark observing site, it will do wonders. I sketch most of my observations--in part to help myself observe objects closely, and in part to illustrate what is visible through the scope with patience (I keep a gallery, linked in the signature line if you are interested).

I hope you enjoy the scope!

[bbmagic]

Here's some photos I took through my XT8 by holding a digital camera up to the eyepiece (known as afocal coupling):

http://www.cloudynig...n_266x_-med.jpg

http://www.cloudynig...Cropped-med.jpg

http://www.cloudynig...lar_Cap-med.jpg

[eric_zeiner]

All I had is two "Kmart" refractors from my youth. We did not have much money and I was happy with anything. Now we move foward and I can afford better. I just bought a Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope. It will arrive Monday or Tuesday. Did I by a good beginner? Also does any body have any space photos from this scope? I am really geeked-up and can't wait. thank you and god bless all doug

About 3.5 years ago when I really got back into all of this I picked up a Zhumell 10" and it was a fine scope. Unfortunately and due to a job loss I had to sell it. But the one thing amazing I remember about that scope was that one lucky evening I was able to resolve surface (cloud) detail on Venus. So I would say that you did well

[PatHolland]

I like your cell phone astrophotography. I wish I had thought of that. Yesterday, I was viewing the sun with my LX200 and put the Orion Solar System Camera in to snap a few images of the sunspots. I've never officially imaged before and thought I would have it done easily (and quickly). It was a no go. I couldn't see my laptop screen in the daylight, so could not focus. I wish I thought of using my cell phone.

[TMK]

The XT8 is a great scope.

Been a year now that I've owned mine and the views still impress me.

[OneEyedLeela]

I'm also planning to buy an Orion XT8 and am also thinking of buying 2 accessories that would go with it: a telrad and a planetary EP (the package only has a 25mm which I guess would not be ideal for viewing planets).

Do you guys have suggestions on what eyepiece would perform well with this scope? Or would it be better to buy a 2x barlow lens now and just double the magnification of the 25mm EP provided (instead of buying a separate EP)?

[Shawn H]

Got me a xt10" & it's a keeper!