I'm new to Astronomy - can you recommend a telescope to get me started?
Yes, for both beginners and seasoned amateurs, telescopes from our Europa Range are an excellent choice. The GP-2 high quality mount from Vixen coupled with Orion Optics’ established high quality telescope tube, ensure the combination give both a simple to use system and, a guarantee of superb image quality.
Do you make the complete telescopes yourselves?
Yes, by that I mean the actual telescope, not the mounting. The mountings we buy from one of the world’s leaders in high quality engineered telescope mountings, Vixen in Japan. On our Dobsonian range, both the telescopes and mounts are made in our manufacturing facility. We always, without exception, manufacture all the optics fitted to our telescopes.
I notice that there are four main telescope ranges, what is the difference between them?
It’s a mixture of three things. The optical accuracy and coatings of the optics, the engineering of the telescope tube and finally, the degree of sophistication and carrying power of the mount. Each range is described within this web site so as to give you a detailed insight into what you would be presented with from a telescope in that range.
Do you make the optics and mirrors for telescopes at your factory?
Yes. We do not allow any other manufacturer to supply us optics for our telescopes. On the contrary, every year we sell in excess of 2,000 optics to other companies making specialized, high quality telescopes similar to ourselves.
What is a Ronchi test?
A Ronchi test is a method open to anyone to test their own telescope to quite a high degree of accuracy. I will quantify that. Provided the test is carried out properly and with a reliable set of Ronchi bands, the test is capable of showing all major problems and many of the less obvious faults with optics. The basic equipment consists of a group of opaque vertical lines, 13 lines per millimeter, separated with clear lines of the same width. The bands are held in a holder and used at the position you would place your eyepiece in a telescope and viewing a relative bright star. Our web site shows some of the more common faults seen on lower quality telescopes. CLICK HERE
You sell a range of Vixen telescopes on your website - why?
There are a great many manufacturers of telescopes in the world, particularly refractors. Orion Optics do not make refractors but, we decided to source a manufacturer of refractors whos reputation for quality and reliability was second to none. Vixen have been established for almost 60 years and have built up a reputation of excellence. Several other models in their range are also attractive options and we include them in our catalogue.
Can you explain what is the 1/4, 1/6, and 1/8PV wavefront I see mentioned in telescope specifications?
Yes, but it involves a little technical jargon, hopefully, explained in a simplistic way. When any telescope is pointed to a celestial object, it focuses the light to a point where an image is formed. This applies to any telescope regardless of design. The quality of this image is by far the most important feature of any telescope. Without a high quality image, all else is wasted. The quality of the image is usually described numerically by how little error is in it which has been created by the telescope’s optics. The smaller the fraction, the smaller the error and, the better the quality of the image. Now the technical bit. You will notice the letters PV after the fraction. This is an abbreviation for Peak to Valley. This relates to, (for want of a better description), the hills and depressions in what should be, a perfect image. As an example, a 1/6PV telescope means that the image produced has some small errors, the difference from the highest error to the lowest is 1/6th of the wavelength of visible light. Or, if you prefer, approximately 0.00009mm. Our page on this site contains a much more detailed explanation. CLICK HERE
What is a Zygo Report?
A Zygo laser interferometer is the most accurate method known of measuring and displaying the accuracy of a telescope’s optics. Nothing else comes even close. A Zygo report is a colour print out from the Zygo computer which shows all the main aspects of a telescope’s accuracy. It features much more information than a PV value and is shown in detail if you want a full description. CLICK HERE
Some of your telescopes come in different focal ratios - why is this?
Objects in the night sky appear to be many different sizes. From infinitely small stars to enormous galaxies, occupying almost five full moons in apparent diameter. To enable all these to be viewed successfully with one telescope is not possible, if it was, there would only be the need for just one telescope to carry out all jobs. To enable a narrower and, more selective range of objects to be viewed well, a telescope is chosen with a focal ratio best suited to give a higher performance. As a general rule, long/high f numbers, f10 or higher, are mostly chosen for use with planets and the moon. Short f numbers, f4 or shorter are used for dedicated deep sky use. All f numbers in between, can be considered as general purpose instruments.
I want to buy a good telescope for my nephew as a gift - what model should I buy for general purpose use?
My choice, and way above all others in our or anyone else’s range of telescopes, is the Europa 150 f5 (the Deluxe model of this telescope won a group test award in BBC's 'Sky at Night Magazine). Simple to use, quality of optics, Vixen’s GP-2 mount and upgrades available.
Can I contact you for advice?
Yes, we recommend anyone does unless, you know exactly what you are buying. If you have any doubts whether you may possibly not choose the correct model, please contact us by phone or email. We will not try to steer you to buy anything, what we will do is give you advice on which of our models not to buy. This is more important than telling you which to buy. We prefer for you to apply your preferences and needs, and of course your budget, to a group of telescopes we think would satisfy your needs, after, we have advised you on the ones we don’t think would be ideal for you.
Digital photography seems to be very much to the fore in Astronomy, are any of your telescopes suited for this purpose?
Apart from Dobsonians which have limited photographic capabilities due to being an altazimuth mount and not driven, all other models in our range and Vixen’s, are perfectly suited for photography. You can even use almost any typical, domestic camera with incredible results. Contact us for details.
Can Orion Optics UK supply equipment outside the United Kingdom - I live and work in Spain?
Of course. We can export to all European Countries.
Do you supply telescopes to any Universities or Research facilities?
Dozens of them. Not only Universities and research facilities like Atomic Research Laboratories in Abingdon but also to BAe systems, GCHQ Cheltenham, M.O.D., Zygo Inc. and many more.
Is it possible to visit your Factory?
Yes. We can even show you around parts of the factory, especially the testing of optics in the laboratory. You can even buy our telescopes from our factory shop.
There are lots of American GOTO and other makes of telescopes on the market - why should I buy yours?
Please remember, all GOTO systems are basically to save you time and point your telescope to your chosen object relatively quickly. No matter how good the system is, it does not make amends for any other areas lacking in the telescope’s attributes, optics in particular. So, don’t even consider buying any GOTO system if you are not 100% certain of the optics’ performance. Otherwise you will just be viewing bad images quicker!
There are cheap GOTO systems and there are good GOTO systems, there are no good, cheap GOTO systems. Why buy ours . . . well, we think its relatively simple. Ours are by no means the cheapest but, they are amongst the most accurate, fast and reliable. From the Skypod add-on to GP-2 and GP-D2 mounts, to the sophisticated, user friendly colour display computer control of the Sphinx series of telescopes and mounts.
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We welcome your questions about optics and our telescope ranges to enable you to get the best advice in your pursuit of the fascinating field of Astronomy.
We pride ourselves in letting you know we have the expertise and experience to help answer any question in our field (information is free and simple to obtain) just ask - please use this email link.
