Orion ED 80mm OTA


 Info  Votes  Messages  More Stats  Up One Level
image
Brand and Model:Orion ED 80mm OTA
Price ($USD):$499.00
Type:Apochromatic Refractor
Attributes: un-checked Go-To un-checked PEC
Aperture:80mm (3.1 in)
f Ratio:7.5
Focal Length:600mm
Finder:none included
Electric Power:NA
Mount:none included
Tripod:none included
Weight (lbs):5.7
Dimensions (w/h/d):OTA: 24 inches
Description:

Vote Highlights Vote
Orion ED 80mm OTA
I ordered my Orion ED80 refractor a few weeks ago, on the day that it came out. What a great scope! I have mine mounted on a bogen tripod with a bogen 410 (model 3275) geared head. I have a Lumicon Lumibrite diagonal and Orion right-angle correct image finder. I've been watching Mars at x250 with very little off-color. Vega and Antares are color free. I have seen no purple fringe on any object, although I have yet to see the moon through it.
Having used other standard orion and synta focusers with their geared rack and pinion mechanism, the the crayford focuser is so wonderful. It is very smooth and precise. The scope if very light and well collimated. There is a built-in dew shield (removable). The lens cap, has the double cap where you can remove a smaller portion for stopping down the image (i.e., higher contrast). Although I've tried it on Mars, and it seems clearer without stopping it down.
I've been watching M4, M29, M8, M22, M5, M3, etc. Objects are very sharp and precise. I have a little 'coma' at the edge of field, but this may be my $49 expanse eyepieces.
The scope is a great bargain for $429. This is far better than your standard 80mm achro, this near-apo has very sharp, precise color stars. I split Epsilon Lyra 1 and 2 at 250x with a clean, dark separation, although they were very close together.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 7 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=293029


Orion ED 80mm OTA
Owned my ED80 since December 2004. Bought new for £330, which at the time seemed a tad expensive for an 80mm Chinese refractor. Especially as it looked identical to the Skywatcher Startravel range and they don't exactly have the best reputation for quality optics.
I can't deny that on first handling the ED80 I was a little disappointed. It looked and felt very much like the Skywatcher Startravel 102 I had just sold for a very small sum. Very low rent finish, with the same low grade paint finish. And the focuser didn't look a million dollars either.
But that really is where the bad stuff ends. From here on in things get a whole lot better, hugely better in fact.
Starting with the focuser. It may look a bit crappy but in operation it's smooth and image shift free. The focus wheels are nice to use and it's easy switching between 1.25" and 2" accessories. I know the focuser is less than perfect for the imagers (tends to slip with heavy cameras and doesn't rotate). The focuser performs as well today as the day i bought it!
The Optics really perfect. I've had this scope setup alongside a friends Tak Sky 90 and TV76. They were amazed a scope that cost a fraction of theirs really did perform within 2% of theirs optically. Only the fit'n'finish let it down when compared to the expensive brands.

After 2 and a bit years I've used the ED80 on just about every type of target. The planets are wonderful, the moon jaw dropping. Contrast is superb. The views of Jupiter last summer were some of the best I've had. Really didn't think an 80mm would show that much detail in the cloud bands. It also excels on double stars , wide open clusters, extended DSO's (such as M31, M42, M33, M45 etc) and the sun.

So what are the drawbacks? None really other than the fit and finish. I've since had mine resprayed white, just couldn't live with it looking like a regular cheapo Skywatcher acromat.

Bottom line.........A top notch scope!

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Ease of Use:10 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=546990


Orion ED 80mm OTA
This "1" is for the average.
Where a Takahashi is voted as a 4 by an idiot and as a 1 by a
psycho this chinese ED is a 1.5.
I looked thru one and see lots of colour and the fokuser is a joke. I also see (little) colour with my FS-60C but more in the
chinese.
Not recommended (only for beginners, who upgrade from a 80mm f/4 ahro)

Lamont

Overall Rating: 1
Optics:1 Mount:1 Ease of Use:1 Value:1
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=378857

>This "1" is for the average.
>Where a Takahashi is voted as a 4 by an idiot and as a 1 by a  
>psycho this chinese ED is a 1.5.
>I looked thru one and see lots of colour and the fokuser is a joke. I also see (little) colour with my FS-60C but more in the
>chinese.
>Not recommended (only for beginners, who upgrade from a 80mm f/4 ahro)
>
>Lamont
 Are you sure your talking about the same telescope???
Have you read the reviews on the Magazines (Sky and Telescope) for ex.??
All of them rated this scope as very good...stange...maybe they all have some kind of problem with their eyes.
>This "1" is for the average.
>Where a Takahashi is voted as a 4 by an idiot and as a 1 by a  
>psycho this chinese ED is a 1.5.
>I looked thru one and see lots of colour and the fokuser is a joke. I also see (little) colour with my FS-60C but more in the
>chinese.
>Not recommended (only for beginners, who upgrade from a 80mm f/4 ahro)
>
>Lamont


Lamont

You are in a minority of one
Lamont , just because someone trashes a tak whats that
got to do with this. tak. makes great scopes.
This little orion scope is the best apo/money wise i have
ever seen . dont drive angry!
Lamont,

You are a total dumbass and a complete idiot!!!
  
This scope has great optics and is an incredible value.  Every experienced astronomer that has looked through mine has been amazed and had nothing but wonderful things to say about it.  Actually almost everyone that has looked through my ED80 wants to go out and buy one!

Oh and by the way... Learn how to spell you dummy! Duh!

Anthony



>This "1" is for the average.
>Where a Takahashi is voted as a 4 by an idiot and as a 1 by a  
>psycho this chinese ED is a 1.5.
>I looked thru one and see lots of colour and the fokuser is a joke. I also see (little) colour with my FS-60C but more in the
>chinese.
>Not recommended (only for beginners, who upgrade from a 80mm f/4 ahro)
>
>Lamont
It takes an idiot and a psycho to recognize one.

>This "1" is for the average.
>Where a Takahashi is voted as a 4 by an idiot and as a 1 by a  
>psycho this chinese ED is a 1.5.
>I looked thru one and see lots of colour and the fokuser is a joke. I also see (little) colour with my FS-60C but more in the
>chinese.
>Not recommended (only for beginners, who upgrade from a 80mm f/4 ahro)
>
>Lamont

Orion ED 80mm OTA
An amazing value. I've had several telescopes over the years; achromats, reflectors, cats, so it was a surprise to experience several 'firsts' with the telescope...
One was seeing Jupiter's galilean moons for what they were; tiny differently colored disks, Europa's white, Io's orange, Ganymede's light brown, and Callisto's dark brown.
Two was seeing stars like so many diamonds over black velvet, the contrast and definition unseen before by me.
Three was seeing Saturn's cloud belts clearly defined and the Cassini division all the way round the rings.
Also performs incredibly well on bright deep sky objects.
Easily surpasses 200 power on planets without breakdown.

The only real fix-ups I did was with the focuser which needed a little work since it does not match perfectly with the tube. I fixed that with some black electical tape just inside the tube and added washers to the 3 screws to prevent further damage to the paint job.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Ease of Use:10 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=361340


Orion ED 80mm OTA
No color on Saturn, Rigel, the moon. Maybe a hint on Jupiter but that may have been chromaticism introduced by the ortho eyepieces.

Airy disk, diffraction ring, star test indicates optical qualities equal to or superior to a certified diffraction limited astro-rubinar.

From a suburban, 5.0magnitude ZULM, sky; have seen stars to magnitude 12.7 at 150X, five moons of Saturn, M81 and M82, a hint of e in the trapezium, a hint of the crepe inside the ansae, easily split Polaris, Rigel, eta Orionis, and epsilon Lyrae. 32 Orionis did not split but definitely an extended shaped double. Very dark fields at low and high powers. Even under the worst of skies, at 85X, very crisp images are given. With a 20 degree temperature differential, one can obtain clear views of the cassini division immediately after bringing the scope out of the warm house to the outside cold, under stable skies. Images from 20X to 150X are crisp. Even at 240X images are not mushy and can even be said to be crisp on such bright objects as the moon and Saturn. At 20X detail in sunspots, rice grain and faculae are visible. At 50X and occasionally 85X, the detail on sunspots is very nice. I have found the views to be more aesthetically pleasing than those through a C-90 (at twice the price), a Meade 1060 (at 1/3rd the price), a 102mm triplet achromat (at the same price) and an astro-rubinar (at the same price); and only a notch below the notable MK-67 (at 1/2 the price).

The crayford type focuser makes very fine smooth focusing easy. With a standard 32mm plossl one gets an FOV of 2.7 degrees. With a 32mm 2" format erfle (c. 65 degrees AFOV), on obtains above 3.4 degrees. Though adequately collimated, one can accomplish a complete collimation by enlarging the screw holes on the tube which hold the focusing assembly and readjusting the position of the screws. The plate on the bottom of the tube which contains the 1/4-20 fitting is not well placed for balancing.

This particular scope was retailed by Company Seven and sourced from Orion.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=330404


Orion ED 80mm OTA
This scope rocks!! I can't detect any chromatic aberration at all around Mars. Saturn looks wonderful. There is the tiniest trace of false color around Vega (and other very bright stars, I'm sure), but it's not distracting at all; you really have to look to see it. I haven't used this telescope extensively on deep sky objects yet; the moon's been in the sky ever since I received the scope. But DSOs look very promising in the Moon-polluted sky!

The Crayford focuser is extremely smooth and a pleasure to use. It makes fine focusing very easy.

I have my ED80 mounted on an Orion SkyView Pro EQ mount, which provides a rock steady mount for this little scope. Vibrations dampen in a second or less!

This fantastic little scope is an incredible value! I'd highly recommend it to anybody looking for a small refractor.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Mount:10 Ease of Use:10 Value:10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=317972


Orion ED 80mm OTA
I at last received my ED80 from Telescope House here in the UK. The OTA seems to be built very adequately, the focuser is nice and smooth. You also have the added advantage of portability. So far the scope has provided very sharp colour free images and shows virtually no fringing or aberations. I used to own a Televue 85 and can say that the optical quality for the money comes very close. I can highly recommend this telescope for Wide field, Planets and best of all it is a nice grab and go scope! A true bargain of the astronomy world!

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Ease of Use:9 Value:10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=315727


Orion ED 80mm OTA
Beat the pants off my WO Megrez II triplet refractor in both sharpness and chromatic aberration. Not as good of finish as the WO, but it works well. Focuser is much better than typical rack and pinion units.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Ease of Use:9 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=472790


Orion ED 80mm OTA
Superb telescope...takes 200 power easily. Saturn SEB and brownish south polar region discernable, Cassini Division obvious, 4 moons visually detectable (Titan, Iapetus, Dione, and Rhea). Jupiter 5 belts including GRS, can detect the moons as tiny disks with their appropriate colour (Io is yellowish for example).

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=431592


Orion ED 80mm OTA
This scope is not comparable to others in its class because it is such a deal.It holds its own against much more expensive scopes.

It is grab and go but also can be used by itself for visual and astro photography. I have even used it to photograph birds.

If you were serious about it you would probably upgrade the focuser/visual back, check the collimation.Mine seems fine but it is a Chinese made scope at a bargain price and there are aspects of slightly cheaper fit and finish as a result. But you don't object to that knowing the miniscule price you paid.

Bang for buck it is top of the list.

Greg.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Ease of Use:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=421254

[Click Here to Login]
Don't have a login? Register!