My New Toy - Reise 250D

[bornfree]

Well, while toying with the 6" skywatcher newt for nearly a year, i decided to get something bigger, but still portable. no need to worry about lugging a mount around as well. so it ended up as getting a dob. Seeing Gary's Dob, i wanted something more compact and portable. I was, and still am, interested in portaball, because of its design, however, shipping from US is abit too much and local owners doesnt seems to want to let it go... A Zingaro would have been a good choice, and i have the inox which can hold the 8" comfortably, as proven using Mystiq's Zingaro. However, there is way too many Zingaros in an area, i feel. if i get another Zing, that would be the 4th i know that existed in this tiny island. Alvin then showed me another possibility. The Reise. looking at the whole package, and its simplicity to pack everything into a box, i decided to go ahead for the purchase.

Just as any new scope's arrival, it brought in the rain. It rained heavily the day before it landed in Singapore and even heavier when it landed. I remembered i received it on a Friday, and unboxed it that night. and a thing i realised, instead of getting alot of peanut foam pellets, i got a package stuffed with newspaper. alot of newspaper.. if i could read japanese, i would know the headlines of the happenings..

It is made of wood, with aluminum side plates. painted black, i was expecting an aluminum box but turn out it was mainly wood.
Aperture: 250mm / ~10"
Focal Len: 1250mm
Focuser: Helical
Finder:Rigel quickfinder

The instructions were fully in japanese and i could only try to follow the pictures and guess where things are suppose to go. everything was in parts and screws and i put it together, took it apart when things dont match. and after 45 mins of tinkering i finally got the scope assembled. Half way thru, i wanted to give up and went to youtube to see if there was any guide, although there is, but i couldnt find it. i even went to email Kasai for help to see if they had an English version. he came back to me the next day saying there isnt. and sent me the youtube guide. after the assembling, i collimated the scope. since it is a helical, after using the sight tube to align, i rotated the helical and found that the it is not perfectly centered. quite close though, since i am not aiming for perfect collimation, i left it be and collimated the primary mirror. and i found that it is a very good exercise as i was doing squats. stood to check the collimation and squatted to collimate the primary mirror.

it was about 1 am plus close to 2 and Antares has risen quite high and the tail is very visible. i popped in the 42mm kneller and looked near the tail of Scorpius and lo and behold, the M7, it was such a sight. framed just nicely in the view. its views are sharp and stars are pinpoint.

The movement of the scope is buttery smooth.

that was the only thing i saw that day and decided to disassemble the scope before sleeping. first time disassembling it was easy as it was just unscrewing everything. when it came into packing it into the box, it was a headache. i had to take everything out then put it back a couple of times not knowing what was jutting out from where to prevent the top cover from closing properly. finally i managed to close it not really knowing why.

over the course of the 2 weeks, i packed and unpacked the Reise 3 times and finally found the trick to packing it. so that the lid could be closed.

What i like:
Weighing at 13kg, a light considering it is a 10" dob. Main weight is the mirror.
packs into a single box.
curved vane for the secondary mirror.
segmented truss rods
ingenious method of using the light cover to be mirror cover duing assembly.
nice way of securing the secondary.
buttery smooth control


What i dont like:
too many screws and nuts - easy to lose when dropped. esp in the dark.
need abit of light to assemble the scope. if no red lights, will disrupt the dark adapted eyes.
no shroud. not necessary if obbing in dark areas.
hard to pack n run in case of sudden showers.
uses spring tension to hold scope in place. cant go too low. spring will lift the scope up. esp when changing ep.
need to check collimation after assembling.

here are some of my unboxing pictures.. Unboxing Reise250D

[Gary]

Beautiful scope and photos! Thanks for sharing.

You will be amazed what a 10" dob (and bigger) is capable of seeing even in light-polluted Singapore skies. Be prepared to unlearn what objects should look like in a typical telescope. Welcome to the dob club!

[bornfree]

thanks! after seeing omega centauri with the stars becoming more visible... yes.. i am unlearning...

[Gary]

Try M22 on a clear night/morning when it is high up in the sky. You won't believe your eyes!

[Airconvent]

Very innovative way of packing! Even the hinge is used..I guess what better way to save weight by using even the case as part of the scope!
Maybe you can join Gary at Toa Payoh Library tonight. I am a little under the weather this mornng. If I feel better, will drop by.

[andyho]

Hi Bornfree, what made you pick the 250 over the 300?

And how much was the shipping quoted by Kasai trading?

Andy

[bornfree]

Hi Andy

well, it is the weight. 18KG is abit too heavy for me to lug around, if i am as buff as remus, i think i will go for the 18kg. sadly i am not.

as for the shipping, i believe is it about sgd 100+, i cant really recall. i am more of the pay n forget kind of guy.. :X

should you get one, do spend some time to assemble and disassemble the scope first with light, then without light at the comfort of your home. get used to the parts and where it should go. maybe even using some kind of marker or liquid paper to mark out where parts will go. as mentioned about problems faced when packing everything back into the box.