Hardin Optical 10" Dob


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Brand and Model:Hardin Optical 10" Dob
Price ($USD):$395.00
Type:Newtonian
Attributes: un-checked Go-To un-checked PEC
Aperture:10"
f Ratio:f/5
Focal Length:1250mm
Finder:8x50
Electric Power:none
Mount:Dob
Tripod:none
Weight (lbs):59 lbs.
Dimensions (w/h/d):22"x55"x22"
Description:10-inch parabolic mirror
1250mm focal length
2-inch aluminum rack-and-pinion focuser (with an adapter for 1¼" eyepieces)
Rugged metal tube with enameled finish
Extra-large 8x50mm finderscope
2 fully-coated 1¼" Astrola® eyepieces:
25mm Plössl (for 50x magnification)
9mm Plössl (for 139x magnification)
Moon filter
Deluxe swivel base with tension springs and an aluminum eyepiece rack (assembly required)
Weight of components:
Swivel base = 23 lbs.
Telescope tube = 36 lbs.

Reg. $650.00
Clearance $395.00
Sold Out

Hardin Optical DSH 10 Page

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Hardin Optical 10" Dob
After seeing the good reviews on the internet, I ordered one of these. The mirror on mine was horrible! It had turned-down edge, and astigmatism so bad that I got a double image!!! Hardin did send me another scope, and it too had a poor mirror. The second one did not have astigmatism, but had a poorly figured mirror, only about 1/2 wave. It would go soft after about 60x, which made it pretty useless.

Hardin did refund my money, but made me pay for the shipping (4 times!) back and forth. These Taiwan telescopes are junk, and made cheaply - I would not have minded how cheap they are if they at least had good optics, but unfortunately they do not.

After my experiece with the Hardins, I ordered a 10" Orion dob, which is leaps and bounds better in terms of construction, and most importantly, optical quality.

-Dave Reynolds

Overall Rating: 2
Optics:1 Mount:4 Ease of Use:4 Value:2
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=419874

http://thesecretstofarmville.com - Farmville Cheats
>After my experiece with the Hardins, I ordered a 10" Orion dob, which is leaps and bounds better in terms of construction, and most importantly, optical quality.  

     I don't agree. I work in a telescope store, and have directly compared the Orion and Hardin 10-inch scopes. I've never seen a scope from either company that wasn't optically excellent (and I've seen hundreds), but I'll say more about that later. The differences are in the construction.
     First, the casting on the Orion scopes is inferior. If you run your finger along a metal edge, you will find burrs and seams, and some of them are fairly sharp. The Hardins have smooth edges.
     Second, the Orion altitude-bearing design is poor. To separate the tube from the base, you have to unscrew two knobs which have to be held the right way up to keep the bushings and sleeves from falling off. You end up with six loose pieces in your hands. The springs on the Hardins are permanently attached, so there's nothing to keep track of.
     Third, the secondary on the Orion scopes is stuck on to a narrow stalk with a blob of glue. That makes me nervous. I haven't heard of one falling off, but I prefer the clip that the Hardin scopes use.
     Finally, the focuser knobs are so close to the tube that you can't fit you fingers all the way around the knobs. If you turn them more than half of a turn, you have to either adjust you grip or squash your fingers. (This is more annoying than it may sound!) The Hardin scopes use nice Crayford focusers with no problems.
     To be fair, the Hardin scopes do have one problem. They have an azimuth bearing that turns too easily. We fix it by putting pieces of felt in the base to add a bit of friction, and that clears it up nicely.
     I will say something more about the Hardin optics because your experience wasn't typical. All of the Hardins I have tried have been great. I have seen the moons of Jupiter as perfect little disks, and detail inside the Great Red Spot at 500x with stacked barlows. I have seen Saturn's C ring and counted four stripes in the B ring. The close stars in the Double Double show more space in between them than the width of the stars themselves. All of this takes good seeing of course, but that's when good optics count!

     I own a Hardin 10-inch Dob.

---Dan at
Sean's Astronomy Shop
http://www.seansastronomyshop.com

Hardin Optical 10" Dob
The Tiwan optics appear to be very good. Used a Ronchi grating test, the lines were perfectly straight. Images are very good at low and high power. The mount is well made, solid. It has a two inch rack and pinion focuser that is smooth, good 8x50 finder. It has a good metal mirror cell that is easily adjusted. The tube is enamel metal and very attractive. I got it on sell new for $390; a real bargin. It assembled very easy. I use this instead of my truss 12.5 Dob most of the time since it is so easy to set up.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Mount:7 Ease of Use:9 Value:9
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=255132

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