I feel the same way. Mr. Ting is incredibly helpful. I got into visual astronomy at the end of last year, and only recently bought my first scope (an Orion ST80 that a bought because of his review on it) about 2 months ago. In that time, he's been my go to for information and knowledge, I would consider him an expert when it comes to astronomy.
I've had the 15UC for about four years now, an amazing telescope. It fits nicely in the back compartment of my KIA Soul hatchback, I don't even have to fold down the backs of the rear seats. It was quite an investment, but this is my retirement toy. Couldn't be happier.
My SO was excited about getting this scope when I said it has your mark of approval. WAS excited till she heard the price. Now she wants to venture into making our own. Shes pricing out blanks and materials. I may have created a monster.....
Another beginner chiming in here: purchased an 8" dob last year thanks to you and I have been having a blast with it. Just wanted to thank you for your channel and your wealth of experience/knowledge that you freely share! I watch all your videos, even your telescope review ones (knowing that I will probably never be able to afford some of these, haha) as you present so well and I know I will always learn something. Cheers from Vancouver, BC!
Wow, I thought I spent a fortune building my own 15-inch F/4.5 truss tube. While not as compact as the ultra-compact models now offered by Obsession, it easily fits in my vehicle with plenty of space to spare. I built mine back in 2011, and I did spend $4,000 building it, including the welding machine I used to produce the steel parts. This 15-inch Obsession ultra-compact is a very nice execution of a truss-tube Dob, well worth the money.
I want to thank you for the review. I was interesting to see what you think of it. I got one two years ago and love. The wheelbarrow handles make it possible for a 70 year old woman to really enjoy it. The light shield that goes around the mirror is very useful.
Obsession.. how aptly named! Last August when I returned to stargazing after years, I told my wife all I need is a pair of binoculars and I am set for life… I will soon be building a cabinet as I am expecting my 3rd telescope (should arrive in a month from now).. 🥴
Your vids are exactly what I was hoping to find and better. I honestly can't believe this short thing is a 15". I think that's the coolest reflector ive seen in a while and it's a dob but did he ever build those half circle rolling Susan base? Those are sweet. It's a perfect scope. I know this vid is a few yrs old .. Im watching this July of 2024 👍🏼. U have a good channel. You're professional and knowledgeable yet relatable. I have been an amateur astronomer my entire life. Had my first scope I bought selling Xmas cards in 76. I was just curious about scopes today in the mid 90s I used to order free Meade Catalogs and look at em like playboy. Wow. Look at the size of those mirrorsv 😂 amateur astronomer is a lonely hobby. Not because u are alone out at night. It's just no one seems to know the first thing about anything in the sky. It's astounding to me .. but anyway people love looking through your scope when there are people.
As always a thoughtful review. Much appreciated. Would be helpful if you could compare the UC to the Classic you reviewed in terms of stability, smoothness of motions, blocking stray light and mirror protection from dust.
I have looked thru Obsession telescopes and they are incredible. The craftsmanship and design are the best I have seen. I looked thru the 12in and 25in Classic and was floored. I own the Sky Watcher 14in Synscan goto Dob and it is great. It is affordable and works well, kind of a Toyota Camry telescope. Now the Obsessions are a luxury Rolls Royce. If you ride or drive one, you never forget it. So if you can afford it, get the Obsession. But, if you want big apature on a budget, you will do fine with a reliable name brand Dob. In a decade or so when I retire and my expenses are lower, I will get the 18in Obsession. But for now, I plan on enjoying my 14in
Great review Ed. Apart from the Argo. Australia has another computer setup, from AstroDevices in Sydney. Their Nexus DSC & DSC Pro. are light years ahead.
Obsessed indeed! I've watched this video at least 4 times.....ordered 15" UC and will arrive in October. My 12" Meade ACF/GPS takes two to move and my SO would rather not help with another heavy lifting experience; she was accepting (luckily I pay all the bills). Telling her that Ed said it was OK ain't scoring in my house but saying I'm heading to the desert tonight and "you don't have to help" will go far!
I have the 12" Meade ACF and I haven't been thrilled with it. The optics are fine, but I can't get the scope to track properly ever! To top it all off, it's very heavy and rather unwieldy for one person. I'll wait and save, but I would go for the UC 18 and find a permanent site for it. I'm tired of hauling truly heavy scopes to h*ll and back. lol. Enjoy your 15" UC-everything I've read and heard is that it's a nice scope with very good optics.
Anyone who is considering an Obsession UC should also take a look at Hubble Optics. The early iterations @2012 had some issues but the newest versions like my HO14UL are very good with the kinks having been worked out. I also have a Obsession 20 Classic which is a fine instrument but find myself at the HO14UL eyepiece more often than not.
Thanks for the quality content! If possible, check out the telescopes of the “Habble optic UL” series, as there is quite little information about them.
@@edting The price difference between the 18UC and the 15UC was minimal; and the 18UC actually nearly has the same footprint as my former 15Classic. The key thing is that the wait time was minimal as of this writing.
Amazing instrument. Thank you for your review, Ed. I'm guessing shipping and duties to Europe would be outrageous. But it surely is an outstanding telescope! Greetings from Germany!
Unless you are going to build an observatory, portability and convenience should win over the aperture. Higher apertures become a challenge to handle; they also experience greater shake from wind. While I have been doing some mid-level astrophotography with the 16" Dob., but generally speaking, the larger aperture Dobs are meant for visual observation through the eyepiece. So, they are suited for places that are relatively free from light pollution - like Bortle 4 or less. Under heavily polluted skies, it becomes near impossible to bring the object of interest into the field of view without electronic assistance.
Well, I certainly enjoyed seeing this on the 4th of July! Nice choice of subject, too! A real winner of a vid, Ed. Really enjoying this series from you and looking forward to the next one! Happy 4th and keep 'em comin'!!!
I like the way Obsession has reduced the length of the OTA (measured at the OD of the OTA) for this Dobsonian. I wonder if my 16" RC could be shortened somewhat by applying a similar approach on the secondary support frame? I have a large OTA in a small 8' dome.
I always enjoy your knowledgeable discussion. I suggest you film using a contrasting background. Much of the scope is obscured with the dark background. I really want to see all that scope!
Excellent content once again! I'm not sure if you've done it already but, your comment about pricing out an entire system would be a very interesting video. I was shocked when I started adding up the prices for the scope, peripherals, shipping and tax. (You have it good in NH!) Happy Independence Day and Clear Skies!
Ed's video's are very well done and informative. Classic Obsession telescopes are beautiful pieces of furniture, but their performance at the eyepeice was not up to my standard. I owned a classic 15" 20 years ago, and in my opinion, design issues made it unusable for anything other than low power DSO usage. There were 2 problems: a) The very thick mirrors rarely reach thermal equalibrium, and the images at the eyepiece suffer terribly from this problem. b) The scope wouldn't hold precise collimation when changing declination while observing. YMMV...
Hey ed, im new to Astrophotography and observing altogether. Im using a Canon EOS Rebel T3i with one kit lens and a Rokinon Ultra wide angle lens for milkyway shots. Im hoping to learn alot these next two months with just trial and error. Great Review by the way!
Great video as always Ed. The only thing that puts me off Dobsonians is that living in a built up area and the 'scope being so low to the ground, a part of the sky is blocked even by low objects on your horizon, such as hedges and walls, houses etc. In my own situation a huge part of the sky would be blocked by my hedges. Looks like a great scope though.
Current September 2022 price of this telescope is $7,500. That's a lot of money. But this is convenient enough, and with enough aperture, you might never need or want another telescope for viewing. As a once in a lifetime investment, it might be worth it.
I told my significant other that I can buy this and you said it was ok.....10 min later she said to go sleep outside with the stars. Ed you got me in trouble.
@marc popick I own mostly ES but I own two Ethos as well because they had two higher mags at the time that ES didn’t offer. ES is as good as TeleVue and don’t let anyone tell you any different. Save $ and buy ES you won’t be disappointed. You paying for Al’s name in the end nothing more. Anyone who says they could tell the difference is flat out lying I’ve looked through ‘em all. 100 degree gives you larger field of view which can produce clearer details of planets which you like but a big advantage is the planet stays in the FOV longer if you’re slewing by hand. Where 100 degrees shine is nebulas and galaxies where you want to turn the mag up a bit but keep the whole object in the FOV. If you have a nice scope that has a 2 inch focuser get 100 degrees. Don’t think it’s necessary on a 30mm tho 82 degree is plenty.
@@maximkalinchenko3125 - I don't know. Would it? The derotator would correct the rotation, but not the arc tracking, like an equatorial mount would. If field derotators were the solution, there would be no need for equatorial mounts. Right?
@@meadmaker4525 two motors (for altitude and azimuth) keep the scope pointing at the target and derotator (the third motor) compensates the field rotation. What else is needed? EQ just makes it a bit easier - you need just one motor at constant speed vs three motors with altaz. EQ - complicated mechanics, simple electronic, altaz - vice versa. Considering electronics nowadays is cheaper and more precise than mechanics, I’d go with derotator.
@@maximkalinchenko3125 - I understand how the alt/az mount works, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone track targets with them successfully for astrophotography, mostly just go-to for visual astronomy. I'll have to look into that more to see how people are using alt/az with derotators to achieve the same result as with an equatorial mount. Interesting.
Hi Ed, I love your reviews and I have been watching a lot of them. In this one it seems to me that one area could have been mentioned: weight! I am pretty sure that this new line of Dobs by Obsession is far lighter than the classic series. That's a huge advantage, no?
Told her... She said the exact same thing yours does... "No more telescopes!" Which really hurts, because now I have to buy one and I can't afford it... (she hasn't figured out the reverse psychology thing yet...)
“Dont put the bearing on the ground, use a towel” - in the video on the obsession web site, he puts the bearing down on the grass. He is rather quick and rough assembling it too. 🤷🏻♂️
Hey please answer this, I want a telescope to understand the sky first and then start astrophotography so many people in my circle, group and youtube videos recommended me an 8 inch Dobsonian but I am confused to choose between an 8 and 10 and I really care about weight and portability because in my city which comes in 8 or 7 light pollution and there are no nearby dark skies, at least in 500 km so could you recommend with your experience which to buy and any pollution filter probably and some equipment with it too but for basic understanding, like lens cap, etc and would it be a big task to collimation of it. And what about the deep sky? Also, I have heard you could see much more than you can capture in detail? true? Also, can you do a comparison of all 8 and 10-inch telescope-like which glass it uses in the telescope, the mount is how, any filters I need with and etc
I may start a firestorm here but what is the best brand of premium Dobs? I have looked at Dobstuff, Tweeter, Obsession and a few others. Someone suggested separating component manufacturers (ie Zambuto) and companies that mostly do telescope assembly and structure (eg Obsession). Thoughts? CN Kas20amc02
All premium telescopes are very good. Some just have differences that depends on personal preferences. Obsession is great except they only use 2 inch thick mirrors. This is much thicker than most others. Thick mirror is fat and heavier and takes longer to cool if you live where temperatures drop fast in night. Also Obsession is not custom made for you. All there scopes are pre made which isn’t really a bad thing for most people. Dobstuff will make whatever you want but not as fancy as others. Still Dobstuff is handsome scope and very rigid. All premium scope makers is rigid and hold collimation good. Teeters is going out of business like a lot of other scope makers but there beautiful. Maybe to beautiful lol and you do not want to risk scratching them. New Moon is still in business and maybe the best wood scope makers left in the US. Also make lighter scopes so you can carry easy. They will make whatever you want and any mirror maker such as Zambuto. Zambuto is the best and the 18 month wait time proves that people want this mirror. If you like big and fast scopes in aluminum body then Starstructure and Spica Eyes is expensive but nobody beats them. They do not make smaller than 20 inch scopes though. SDM wood telescopes is in Australia but I hear that they cannot be beat. Beautiful like Teeters and very solid made. Only problem is 3 year wait time lol. But maybe the best scope maker of all is JP Astrocraft. John Pratte is almost retired but he machine everything. Makes his own mirror cell that is the best. He invent mirror cell that commands wiffle tree edge supporters. Also Pratte wood work is tops on level of New Moon. Pratte only makes scopes with Zambuto mirrors and Lockwood mirrors. For mirrors then Lockwood is at least as good as Zambuto. Maybe even better and Lockwood specialty is big and fast which is more difficult to do. Zambuto don’t go faster than f4. Lockwood goes down to f2.8 which means shorter scope. A few times I use Lockwood 20 inch f3.3. Ridiculous. Plus sitting down using a 20” scope is a treat. Nobody else makes sub f4 mirrors like him excepting the Gordon Wait who use to make mirrors for Teeters. Only to remember you need to use paracorr 2 with fast mirrors to fix coma. It is important to use this. And also use the Delos eyepieces. I only use Delos and Explore Scientific. You remember to use well correct eyepieces. There. Make up your mind now and remember to clear skies.
I'm curious if or how well this scope maintains collimation. Even truss dobs in general. It just looks like it would be a nightmare sooner or later, but maybe I'm overlooking something.
Yeah I thought so too, but I'm often surprised how well these truss Dobs with the open mirror cells hold collimation. One theory is the sheer mass of the mirror tends to settle in the same spot.
I never had issues with colimation changing as I sweep the sky as the night wears on. I built a 15-inch F/4.5 Classical Obsession pattern Dob for about 3,300 bucks back in 2011.
Hello Ed. I was curious if you have had the chance to look through an 18" or 22" UC Obsession? I recently acquired the 22" and have found there are only a precious few reviews of the scope. Thank you and Clear Skies!
@@astroimagers Well, I did not have the nerve to do that - two scopes in my first astronomy year is enough I think!. I also realized that it's a much larger campaign: persuading her to buy a shack of some sort at a dark sky site, THEN start the campaign for the 15" Dob ;D
Looks awesome but of course I'd want it with a Zambuto Mirror and I don't think Dave would do that. I'd emailed him in 2018 and he wasn't interested in supplying his scopes with Zambuto.
@@edting Sorry I didn't get a notification you'd replied :( Your videos are really great and I love to see the telescopes. I live in Scotland and there are not many chances to view here, much better in somewhere like Arizona. I used to have a Astro-Physics 130EDT Starfire bought in 1991 when I was 21. One of the first Starfire's. I only had to wait 9 months for it. I'd ordered the 127 mm corrected for visual, unlike the other version for astrophotography. That's how long ago it was. Sadly I had to sell its nearly 4 years ago to pay for moving house and to pay rent. The optics report does look good but I'm not too familiar with understanding them. I did see it looks like 1/12th wave which is very good as a good mirror would be 1/10th, so that one is better. Cheers!!
Obsession has great mirrors. OMI use to make them but i think different supplier now. The Zambuto is a 2 man shop so they guarantee 50x per inch on there mirrors. You can’t beat that. Another plus is that all Zambuto mirrors are thin. Thin mirrors cool faster and weigh much less. The only problem with Zambuto is the 1 year wait. Everyone wants one lol
Just to have a different take on it, if you're taller than 5'9, I'd recommend the 12" as it stands up better viewing height. Also, if you're under light pollution, your starblast is totally fine.
@@Omapk you're taller (and healthy?) so a 12" would be good. Side note: dobsonian owners are usually super nice and want to share views as long (as you don't touch the expensive lenses). Star parties at a darker location and checking out large scopes...good times...sigh, this pandemic. Aperture fever is contagious.
Ed - Great channel. I have been looking getting a 15" classic obsession. What would your recommendation be for the servoCAT? Is it necessary for tracking compared to what you would get out of this class of scope by hand? I do plan on getting the Argo NAV
It looks a bit deceiving to me... the black finish suggests anodised Aluminium, but the Upper Truss Assembly ring is laminate / wood ?, and so is the Rocker box by the looks of it? The "Ultra Light" construction comes from the use of simply "less plywood" it seems!? Explore Scientific's 16" F4.5 UL is using metal I think, and Hubble Optics UL16 uses all metal. Of course if you can store this in the dry, great, but UK where I am is permanently damp and I had a 20" wooden scope that basically disintegrated due to rot and rain (shed leaked, left out under a cover, all my fault, but never will I buy any wooden telescope again). Also the 2" thick mirror is surely going to take several hours to cool, if it's a solid mirror (our club has Meade 16" F4.5 LightBridge and it takes 2 1/2 hours to cool with the fan running, and I think the mirror is about 40mm thick in that one?). The Upper Truss Assembly has only 6 struts and is thus less rigid than an 8 truss system. The flat UTA ring will flex, compared to the UTA of HO UL16 which is metal angle section.The mirror spec on the Obsession looks to be incredible, so pleasing to see (if you can get the thing cooled), and the scope looks utterly beautiful. But it's long cool down, heavy 45 Pounds minimum weight for the mirror box with mirror installed, high price, and laminate parts, and it being an inch smaller than HO UL16, put me off, so instead I ordered HO UL16 F4.5. Just my personal biases I suppose, since others love these scopes.
Depends on where you use the telescope. Those who observe on compacted surfaces that have exposed soil will likely experience more contamination of the primary. A blast of dry compressed air after observing will help. An occasional rinse with distilled water may be warranted. Full cleaning shouldn't be necessary very often. It's likely to get more dust during storage if improperly covered.
@@mycarolinaskies I can see where you observe making a difference. I would rinse with distilled water but never use compressed air. It can fog you mirror with propellant's.
How would you transport this telescope if you were to take it on an airplane? Just wondering as I am deciding between Hubble Optics 12" Ultraportable (designed to fit in their provided backpack) or their 16" UL Truss Dob.
Ok, dad joke time. I own six telescopes, most infest the master bedroom. My wife is fine with it. Anyhow, when I was moving a Newtonian in the bedroom, my daughter looked at me trying not to hit the other scopes and said, "Dad, its an obsession." I said, "No sweetie, its a Sky Watcher!" Unfortunately, I do not own an Obsession, but hope to one day!
Ed, im looking at the Celestron 12in dob and tbis 15 in obsession. 1500$ va 7500$ is it significantly better to justify the price or is the celstron the way to go...other than portability.
Do not buy any 12" solid tubed Dob. Those things don't work well. I address these things in other Dob videos, please check them out. There is a reason the Obsession costs what it does. It works well.
I bought the Sky Watcher 14in Goto in Sept. I am pretty happy with it. Optics and tracking are good. Have had spectacular views of deep sky objects. It fits in the trunk of my Toyota Sienna without folding any seats or losing passenger space. Heaviest piece is 50 lbs. I have looked thru Obsessions, and the are excellent instruments. I would call my Sky Watcher a Toyota Camry. Well made, reliable, and does a great job. The Obsessions are a luxury Rolls Royce. Both will get you to your destination. Camry will be good, but the Rolls will be unforgettable.
Mr Ting. There is an advert for a monocular where you seem to be endorsing it. You appear in the advert right at the start. Is there one you actually recommend?
Essentially it's a flattner in a format to fit eyepieces for fast optical systems (f3-f5) to correct for the curve of the mirror which makes the edge of the field curve away from the center. Visit the TELEVUE website for a complete description.
$600 for shipping? If I was in he same country I'd go and get it myself for that kind of money. Also, what's a "paracore"? It looks like a Barlow, but I'm clueless otherwise.
@@johansten7976 I just found this, and your guess sounds about right: "Paracorr is a universal corrector that tightens and intensifies star images on all f-ratios down to f/3!"
Well,I Told Him You Said So..He Told Me Go Ahead And Order That H Solar Filter From Edmund Scientific For $1195 For Evogiude50 Ed…Thank You Ed😂❤️🙏🏻✨🌏🔭Happy 4th Of July,Safety and Gods Blessings From Pennsylvania❤️🙏🏻✨🌏🔭
