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Re: Wanted: Alternative to Obsession's 20" "Classic" Dobsonian: 22" UC or Alternative Manufacturer?


 

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Webster has been out of business for a while.? Take a look at New Moon telescopes in Virginia, Teeter scopes, and Star Structure

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I WOULD NOT repeat WOULD NOT buy any Obsession UC product.? I own one of the ?18 UC models fabricated in 2017, the optics are great, as long as you don¡¯t move the scope back and forth across the sky more than once or twice in a night.? IT CANNOT HOLD COLLIMATION for crap.? I have had it looked at buy many folks.? Krieg admitted that it is a poor design for ServoCat due to the stress that the ServoCat places on the bearings.? I ended up buying a used CLASSIC obsession 20¡± from Astromart.

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I spoke with Dave K. at length concerning my UC18, and he was at a total loss and just apologized.? His only reasoning for continuing the UC scope is that they are ¡°easier¡± to fabricate and take less time and effort, plus they are the ¡°techie¡± kind of thing.? Since Dave is a Dentist by trade and started the Obsession line as a side, I think he is trying to minimize a bit.? I will never buy another Obsession product unless he starts producing the Classic design again.

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When I can scrape the $$$ together I will have New Moon telescopes build me an 18¡± scope with no optics, focuser etc and then migrate the guts of the 18UC to the new hull.? But I am enjoying my new-to-me 20¡± Classic, had it four months now and have only collimated ONCE when I first put it together.? I roll it out of the garage and about 50¡¯ down my somewhat bumpy driveway three or four times a week to view. ?Even though I must use my ladder to set the 20¡± up, it takes less time to set up than the 18UC, about fifteen minutes or so.

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Sorry there is not better news about the UC line of scopes.? But the ultimate in portability (fit in an airline packing crate) comes at a cost of stability.? Sure, there are people who will rave about how much they ¡°love¡± their UC, but how many people will admit they made a $10K mistake?? I now know four others who bought 18UC and 22 UC scopes and dumped them on Astromart within six months due their inability to maintain collimation.

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v/r

Chuck Jagow

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From: <[email protected]> on behalf of Christine Zeltner <czeltner356@...>
Reply-To: <[email protected]>
Date: Friday, October 15, 2021 at 2:44 PM
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [ObsessionUsers] Wanted: Alternative to Obsession's 20" "Classic" Dobsonian: 22" UC or Alternative Manufacturer?

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There is Webster Telescopes, New Moon and a couple more I cannot remember.

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I have the 15 UC and love it but it really needs a level surface.

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Chris

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On Fri, Oct 15, 2021 at 3:01 PM <mtomalonis@...> wrote:

I screwed up.? I procrastinated for years.? Now that I am finally ready to purchase a new 20¡± ¡°Classic¡± Obsession telescope, I have learned that this telescope no longer is made.? I confirmed that directly with Dave Kriege of Obsession Telescopes in August.? He recommended its 22¡± ¡°Ultra-Compact¡± ¡®scope.? But states that the ¡°classic¡± design is more stable than the ¡°ultra-compact¡± design.

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Two questions:

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#1:? Any owners of Obsession¡¯s 22¡± ¡°ultra compact¡± telescope on this forum?? If so, any regrets or recommendations?? And if you have the complete ¡°go-to¡± and digital setting circles set-up, are you happy with it?

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#2:? Can any of you recommend an alternative manufacturer of a large aperture (>18¡±) Dobsonian telescope constructed similarly to how Obsession¡¯s ¡°classic¡± telescopes are/were made?? I can tolerate the bulk of such a design to gain better stability.

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Any suggestions or recommendations will be greatly appreciated.? Thanks in advance.

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Mark in California

(Without a telescope since spring 2020.? It¡¯s killing me.)

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