Orion 8974 SkyQuest XT8 Plus Dobsonian Reflector Telescope Kit

This is my first quality telescope, so I don't have much to compare it to. I'll break this review down into two areas: why I chose this one over others, and expectations vs. reality.Why I chose this scope over others (especially over the XT8 Classic):- this one has a better focuser (the 11:1 Crayford focuser, which is a "knob coming out of the knob" to help you smoothly and slowly lock in on a sharp focus, rather than my tendency to blow past focus using the regular focuser).- I like the secondary mirror adjustment screws better: the mirrors can be adjusted without any tools. You WILL have to adjust one or both mirrors occasionally with any reflector like this one. It was really easy to collimate with a laser collimator this way (more on collimation later).- the base has some cut-outs to reduce weight (the whole thing assembled weighs about 45 lbs, but they say to take the tube off and transport separately. I don't since I park it by the back door and just carry it about 30 feet to the yard).- comes with a decent set of eyepieces.Expectation vs. realityI wasn't sure what to expect. I hoped to see Jupiter and Saturn decently (e.g., see two cloud bands on Jupiter and the Cassini division in Saturn's rings), as well as to see some nebulae and galaxies. Right now where I'm at, the Andromeda Galaxy doesn't come up until after 2am so I haven't stayed up for it, but I can't wait until August when it's up early enough for me.Setup:- As others have commented, the instructions are not that great. The diagram or photo I was supposed to be consulting at times didn't match what I was seeing, but they are sufficient to get the job done. I recommend using a drill/driver with an adjustable torque setting for some of the screws (especially the feet on the bottom of the base) because the included screwdriver requires Herculean strength to get the screws in all the way and it hurts my hand.- Using the collimation eyepiece did get me going well enough: the Moon and Sun looked great, Jupiter was a good size with the 10mm + 2x Barlow combo, and two cloud bands were easy to see. I could not see the Cassini division in Saturn's rings. I soon bought a laser collimator (not the Orion brand but a similar looking one), and I cannot recommend it enough. Get a laser collimator and watch Orion's YouTube video for how to collimate this scope. After using the laser collimator I can see the Cassini division and possibly cloud bands on Saturn, as well as make out the Great Red Spot on Jupiter and even the shadow of Io crossing Jupiter. MUCH better.- I was able to find the Ring Nebula, M81 and 82 (two galaxies near the Big Dipper), several star clusters, etc. Don't expect Hubble Telescope images. The Ring Nebula, through the 28mm eyepiece is easy to see, but small and gray. With the 10mm eyepiece it is still visible, but you have to view it indirectly to make out details because it is pretty faint. M81 and 82 look best through the 28mm eyepiece, but are still dim fuzzy patches with a slightly brighter center. It's still amazing to see galaxies, but again, don't expect huge, bright, well-defined images without a digital camera and multiple image processing.- They recommend "sighting in" the red dot finder during the daytime on a terrestrial object at least 1/4 mile away. I say just find a bright star or planet like Venus in the early evening and use that. If you can get it centered in the 10mm eyepiece, you'll be golden.- The only thing I wish I could fix is the slight creep of the scope when adjusting. When you get it centered on Jupiter, let's say, then let go, it will creep down, causing Jupiter to quickly move out of view. So to get it to land on Jupiter, I have to aim slightly above it and then it will settle on it. Not a big deal, and tightening the adjustment knob helped. It could be a normal part of Dobsonian bases.Recommendations:- Watch youtube videos made by Orion for collimating the scope. Ignore the manual.- Buy a 13% lunar filter for the 1.25" eyepieces. The moon is very bright without it.- Buy a laser collimator along with this scope. I had no idea my mirrors were so far off.- For the long term, consider investing in some other high quality eyepieces: on my list is a 6mm Expanse or Edge-On Planetary piece. They are expensive, but I'm sure they will perform better than a $30 one, and with this scope a 6mm eyepiece will give you 200x magnification. I might also look into the 20mm Expanse piece.This scope is beautiful and is all that I had realistically hoped for. The upgrades are worth the price increase over the Classic IMO. Enjoy!UPDATE 3/2/16: I have since added the Orion 6mm Expanse eyepiece, and it is way better (and brighter!) than the 10mm Plossl that comes with the scope. I have seen the Andromeda galaxy several times, as well as the Orion Nebula, and both are fantastic through the 28mm eyepiece that comes with the scope. That eyepiece is my overall favorite, esp. for viewing nebulae and galaxies. You want the wider field of view, and with the huge lens elements, the images are bright and sharp. Then I'll switch to the 6mm, and it is great, esp. for planets.One other piece of advice: allow your scope to acclimate to the night air for a couple of hours before viewing. I've had a couple of viewing sessions ruined by condensation on the primary mirror because I forgot to put the telescope outside for a couple of hours (with the cover on the opening - it's not air tight) beforehand.

First and foremost, I purchased this light bucket about a month ago with limited research and I still absolutely adore this beautiful light bucket. BUT if I had a chance to go at it again, I would probably go with a GSO dobsonian due to its better compliment of accessories and better build quality. That being said, you certainly won't go wrong with this model from Orion as it is a very good value and would highly recommend it if you are a beginner or a GSO scope is not available. Most importantly, you get Orion's legendary support and customer service (provided you aren't purchasing anything second hand). The extra accessories from the XT8 Plus over a standard XT8 are definitely worth the extra $135.Bonuses you get over the standard XT8 that I love and find particular value are:+ IMPROVED TENSION KNOB vs. simple spring on the XT8 classic. When you have heavy accessories on the front end of the tube, BALANCE will be an issue and you'll thank yourself later for this.+ DUAL SPEED FOCUSER. When making fine adjustments for eeking out that perfect focus of a planetary object, this makes it a LOT easier.+ BASE CUTOUTS makes the dobsonian base lighter and easier to carry. I find myself constantly lifting the telescope by the side cutouts rather than the handle as it allows me to keep the tube pointing up and steady.+ SECONDARY COLLIMATION KNOBS: Very useful if you're trying to adjust the secondary for some reason. I would hate to imagine how difficult this would've been had I actually had to use a standard screw driver and looking at the focuser simultaneously.+ PERFECT SIZE: The 203mm (8") diameter F5.9 tube was the PERFECT length for my tiny Chevy Spark. I was able to put the tube in the passenger floor with approximately < 1/4" to spare. Of course if I had a bigger vehicle, I would get something even bigger...(more on this later)+ 2" EYEPIECE: Looking through this is just so much better and easier than the small 10mm plossl. The low magnification allows you really scan the night sky and go WOW with all the stars your eyes cannot normally see. The 56 degree AFOV Kellner (3-element) design, provides a really nice of the night sky and gives you about a 1.31 degree actual FOV of the night sky. While the GSO provided 30mm Erfle (5 element) lens has a larger 1.7 degree FOV , it is not as flat and as this. I also have a 82 AFOV 19mm Celestron Luminos that provides the same FOV at cost of edge sharpness meaning the DeepView's flat field still means it gets some use.Lastly,+ BLUE COLOR just looks awesome and really makes the scope stand out.Now for some of the main COMPLAINTS.- While installation generally went smooth, I could definitely have had more warnings about the FELT on side of the scope as I actually nicked and broke a piece while installing it the tube the first time. The instructions were in the manual but nowhere on the tube.- Low quality EZ Finder II. It looks and feels poorly made and I almost never use it. Its poor design and build quality caused it to randomly flicker on and off due to a poor battery contact when I first installed it. It took some effort to repair it but its quality definitely pales to the other parts of the scope. I purchased an Orion Illuminated Right Angle Correct Image Finder (RACI) to replace the 1x EZ Finder II that comes with it as it has been far more useful in locating DSO objects in a light polluted sky.- BIGGER EYEPIECE RACK: the provided rack holds 1x 2", and 3x 1.25" items which is just enough to hold all the provided accessories...and nothing more. However when your switching accessories or have any extras, you typically need to hold the existing adapter and take it out the existing piece before you can put the replacement piece making it a 2 hand operation. With a larger eyepiece rack you can change this into a one hand operation.- ALTITUDE BALANCE / TENSION KNOB:The provided PTFE friction bearings are more than adequate for the scopes azimuth movement, the altitude system still could use further refinement. When you have a heavy eyepiece and RACI finder, I find that I would have to tighten the tension knob a bit too tight making fine adjustments difficult at high magnifications. The ability to change the center of gravity in competing GSO dobsonians and a better clutch system would resolve this issue somewhat.- COLLIMATION ISSUES: A well known aspect about newtonian reflectors is the constant need to collimate your mirrors. This being my first reflector I had no idea how annoying this aspect could be. Moving it from inside my house to the sidewalk I found that I would need to collimate it already. Other times, putting it in my car and driving up a mountain found its collimation to be nearly unchanged. The provide cap is quite useful, but a laser collimator would be even better.Another strange aspect that I'm not sure if its related to my scope but I noticed the collimation changes when I have the tube horizontal versus vertical. This is something I need to research more and/or contact Orion support about.- While the rest of the scope felt like excellent build quality, I felt the CrayFord focuser build quality was inferior the the CNC aluminum in GSO scopes. While It still did its job great, but the matte metal and somewhat looser tube did not make it feel as nice.Last complaint is....GET MORE APERTURE BECAUSE I NOW HAVE APERTURE FEVER XD. While 8" is the best mix between portability and usability, it is the minimum needed to see DSO objects with great clarity. If I had a choice again, I'd definitely consider an 10" as my portable scope or maybe even a 12"!

This is my second 8" scope. I bought it hoping to be able to more clearly see DSO like nebulae and some galaxies. The scope came quickly and was in good shape. After reading a lot about collimation, I decided my other scope, an older Celestron G8, was in need of this process (which was previously unknown to me - a poor customer service aspect of Scope City in San Francisco), so I spent time collimating the Dobsonian right out of the box, though it was not far off the mark. I am using this scope at 1800 ft. elevation in Italy where there is not nearly the light pollution I have in the San Francisco area, so expected much better results. So far, after about 5 good nights of viewing, I am seeing more, like I can see pretty clearly the bands on Jupiter (not the red spot though) and Saturn is pretty good such that I can make out the rings, but none of the views are as clear or "close" as I expected, and using the higher power eyepiece the images are rather fuzzy - not what I had hoped. I've been reading about the eye piece quality and wonder if investing in other, better eye pieces might make a difference. I'm about to try a Baader Hyperion 8-24 zoom Mark III, hoping the quality is better than I've been experiencing. I think this is a good scope, especially for the relatively inexpensive cost, but maybe my expectations are too high. I have yet to really see any nebulae or galaxies, although I've been using the Starry Night software to help me locate them. I will update my comments after trying a different type of lens.

Collimation was a breeze, easy to put together, and great value for the large aperture. This scope will last you a lifetime. Just invest in some good eyepieces as the only decent one this comes with is the 28mm. The small plossl piece isn't that great so shop for some multi-element eyepieces that give you greater eye relief and more comfortable viewing.

i bought this as a present for the whole family & from the perspective of complete novices this is an amazing telescope, we have been in awe of the things we can see - so many more stars than we realised were there and we live in an area where we get great skies just with the naked eye!the scope looks stylish just sitting in the corner of the room ready for the next evenings viewing - we're all very pleased - brilliant - we would recommend to all

Maybe I was expecting too much, I'm a bit disappointed. Even with this size telescope don't be expecting to see clear views of andromeda or the crab nebula. It's tough to find objects and even when you do they are still very small. Objects also move quick across the lens, it can be difficult to keep track manually.

Absolutely awesome telescope best purchase ever. Wanted an 8 inch for ages but never like the idea of a dobs however it's got to be astronomy at it's easiest no fiddling around and no computing just point and view. Even the finder included is very accurate once set. Can't recommend this scope enough.