Thank you for the great video, it's nice to be able to see how nicely it can be assembled! I am considering purchasing one of Taurus telescopes myself and it's impossible to a review anywhere (apart from the official one on the makers site) so I wanted to ask you what is your impression of the durability of the build (given it is made of wood) and also if you find the quality of the optics good enough for the money? Thank you very much
Thanks for watching our video and your comments ! The build is a mix of wooden parts affixed with alluminum tubes. Wood used is actually quite strong though it would probably suffer from scratches over time. Structural alluminum tubes are very robust and feel very secure. The cylinders to complete the Primary and Secondary cells are made of a thin sheet of flexible material. Perhaps the weakest part of the assembly in our opinion, but contributes to the light weight of the setup. As for the optics are concerned, our previous scope was an 8" with Pyrex glass and c.92% reflectivity. So it's unfair to compare with a 12" with 96% and a pretty precise parabola. In any case, under our terrible Bortle 7-8 skies, the level of detail and brightness is truly amazing. We can't wait to bring it to a dark site !!!! Good luck with your decision and clear skies.
@@underlightpollutedskies8012 wow, thank you very much for the quick and helpful reply! I am happy you are satisfied with the telescope. I understand from you reply that you got the professional version of the optics?
It may be too late for your decision but it might be helpful for others. I would like to add one fact on the durability of the telescope. I use this model for about a year and have had never a problem with it except for the need to assemble it in a slightly different order not to lose the collimation (with truss rods attached first to the secondary mirror cage ensuring the correct positioning of the pads on the truss rods against the cage, and THEN attachment to the primary mirror box). So, during this period I once dropped a transport cart with the telescope in it (in the transport configuration, not fixed otherwise) so it rolled from a staircase about 1 m high and landed on the pavement! I almost loomed grey while approaching the considered by me wreckage of the instrument. To my surprise and relief nothing was damaged except for a couple of scratches cut on the plywood near the nuts in the upper part of the main mirror box by the bolts if the secondary mirror cage. The telescope did not even lose its collimation!
Thanks for watching ! Yes, one person can move the different parts when disassembled, though it's worth considering that the heaviest part (the primary mirror's piece) weights about 10kg and is relatively bulky if you leave the arc-shaped vertical bearings on their position. Also, if you don't remove the vertical "legs" of the encoder system, you may find it difficult to put the mirror cell on the base, as they tend to get on your way, clashing with the knobs of the bearings. All other parts are very easy to be moved around. Hopefully this is not too confusing...
@@underlightpollutedskies8012 thank u for your detailed reply, does the telescope hold the collimation well? Also, I wonder how well the telescope can balance if I use heavy eyepiece such as the Nagler 31mm, thanks 🙏🏻
We have only moved the telescope short distances so far across the backyard and it keeps collimation really well. Surely it will need adjustment for travelling, which is normal. In theory, it's balanced for heavy eyepieces such as your Nagler (our heaviest one is about 0.4kg, which is handled perfectly even with a Barlow lens attached). As per their website, there's a way of changing the centre of gravity to allow for higher workloads but it's not explained in the instructions provided. Optionally, they sell counterweights to be attached at the bottom of the primary cell. Hope it helps ! Clear skies 🙂
Thank you for the great video, it's nice to be able to see how nicely it can be assembled!
I am considering purchasing one of Taurus telescopes myself and it's impossible to a review anywhere (apart from the official one on the makers site) so I wanted to ask you what is your impression of the durability of the build (given it is made of wood) and also if you find the quality of the optics good enough for the money? Thank you very much
Thanks for watching our video and your comments !
The build is a mix of wooden parts affixed with alluminum tubes. Wood used is actually quite strong though it would probably suffer from scratches over time. Structural alluminum tubes are very robust and feel very secure. The cylinders to complete the Primary and Secondary cells are made of a thin sheet of flexible material. Perhaps the weakest part of the assembly in our opinion, but contributes to the light weight of the setup.
As for the optics are concerned, our previous scope was an 8" with Pyrex glass and c.92% reflectivity. So it's unfair to compare with a 12" with 96% and a pretty precise parabola. In any case, under our terrible Bortle 7-8 skies, the level of detail and brightness is truly amazing. We can't wait to bring it to a dark site !!!!
Good luck with your decision and clear skies.
@@underlightpollutedskies8012 wow, thank you very much for the quick and helpful reply! I am happy you are satisfied with the telescope. I understand from you reply that you got the professional version of the optics?
Yes, exactly !!!
thanks a lot!
many clear and dark skies
It may be too late for your decision but it might be helpful for others. I would like to add one fact on the durability of the telescope. I use this model for about a year and have had never a problem with it except for the need to assemble it in a slightly different order not to lose the collimation (with truss rods attached first to the secondary mirror cage ensuring the correct positioning of the pads on the truss rods against the cage, and THEN attachment to the primary mirror box). So, during this period I once dropped a transport cart with the telescope in it (in the transport configuration, not fixed otherwise) so it rolled from a staircase about 1 m high and landed on the pavement! I almost loomed grey while approaching the considered by me wreckage of the instrument. To my surprise and relief nothing was damaged except for a couple of scratches cut on the plywood near the nuts in the upper part of the main mirror box by the bolts if the secondary mirror cage. The telescope did not even lose its collimation!
Great video, is it possible to carry the dismantled scope by just one person?
Thanks for watching !
Yes, one person can move the different parts when disassembled, though it's worth considering that the heaviest part (the primary mirror's piece) weights about 10kg and is relatively bulky if you leave the arc-shaped vertical bearings on their position.
Also, if you don't remove the vertical "legs" of the encoder system, you may find it difficult to put the mirror cell on the base, as they tend to get on your way, clashing with the knobs of the bearings.
All other parts are very easy to be moved around.
Hopefully this is not too confusing...
@@underlightpollutedskies8012 thank u for your detailed reply, does the telescope hold the collimation well? Also, I wonder how well the telescope can balance if I use heavy eyepiece such as the Nagler 31mm, thanks 🙏🏻
We have only moved the telescope short distances so far across the backyard and it keeps collimation really well. Surely it will need adjustment for travelling, which is normal.
In theory, it's balanced for heavy eyepieces such as your Nagler (our heaviest one is about 0.4kg, which is handled perfectly even with a Barlow lens attached). As per their website, there's a way of changing the centre of gravity to allow for higher workloads but it's not explained in the instructions provided. Optionally, they sell counterweights to be attached at the bottom of the primary cell.
Hope it helps !
Clear skies 🙂