Orion - SkyQuest XT8 IntelliScope

[Septimus]

Hi,

i'm considering purchasing this 8" orion dobsonian together with the Computerized Object Locator from Optcorp. My plan is to ship it over to singapore via vpost.

Orion Skyquest

Questions that come to my mind are:
1. How do I store this scope?
2. Is Vpost reliable?

Any other comments or advice will be greatly appreciated.

[VinSnr]

Hi,

i'm considering purchasing this 8" orion dobsonian together with the Computerized Object Locator from Optcorp. My plan is to ship it over to singapore via vpost.

Orion Skyquest

Questions that come to my mind are:
1. How do I store this scope?
2. Is Vpost reliable?

Any other comments or advice will be greatly appreciated.

1) Just put a cap at the front opening and stand it vertical.

2) I think if you use Vpost, it will be very expensive. I am sure the box for this scope will be quite gigantic. The volumetric weight will be astronomically high. I wun be surprise if the shipping itself is more than 50% of the price of the scope alone.

Furthermore, it comes in a few boxes. Vpost often have problem matching an order with different boxes.

Because of the size of the box, and since you are willing to pay that kind of amount for shipping, you might as well use Fedex or UPS. Far more reliable.

BTW, you drive?

[Septimus]

Hi Vin,

Thanks for your advice. The reason why i'm using vpost is because optcorp cannot ship outside of US due to guidelines set by Orion. Therefore i have to deliver to vpost who will in turn ship it to singapore. Does Fedex or UPS offer a service similar to vpost? Thank you.

Yup. i drive.

Alex

[river]

Or get the XT8 from here. Then order the controller from web.

[VinSnr]

Or get the XT8 from here. Then order the controller from web.

Think cannot. His is the XT8...not the XT8i. The XT8 doesn't have the DSC port.

[Canopus Lim]

Hi,
I recently sold my XT8 to nice Singastro member. The shipping of this scope will cost a lot, I managed to ship the XT8 because I was in USA then. Also the XT8 will not work with DSC like the XT8i.

Storing is easy as what VinSnr has said. Very little maintanence is needed as it can be capped and no dust can get in.

[ariefm71]

Get the OTA from here: http://www.singastro.org/viewtopic.php? ... t=raycraft

Get the dob mount (or kit) from here: http://home.wmis.net/~rv6/DynaDobMount.html

[acc]

If cost and shipping is a factor, why not drop the DSC and get the Celestron Dob from astrobargains? A very cost-effective and excellent first scope.

cheers
cc

[Septimus]

Hi,

thanks for all your advice. The reason i chose to get that dob is because of the DSC function. As for the cost of shipment, it costs about 60SGD for optcorp to ship to the vpost address in USA and another $200 to $250 for vpost to ship over to my place. Is the cost for shipping reasonable? Never shipped something so heavy before.

thanks
alex

[acc]

That sounds reasonable considering the size of the shipment.