Obsession UC 18''

Only joking about the weaklings comment.

Am I getting this right so?
the virtual mirror box, mirror, rocker and upper assembly
(the 3 main parts Dave takes out of the hatchback in the video)
are 68 lbs in total?

Surely the flight case is really only for the flight and storage.
If you rented a car could you not transport it like in the video?

Hi Guys,
I might be able to add a few comments to your debate about the 18UC. I have one which I purchased 6 months ago which I think makes it on the second in Europe, No.17 or 18 in production I think. I have the Argo Navis but not the ServoCat, so its just a push too.

It is a great scope, there are faults that I shall detail later but the review is a very fair reflection of owning one. It is an ultra compact not an ultra light. That said I have the air crate and find it manageable. I tend to put the rocker box and mirror in the rate into the car first then add all the other stuff including the upper assembly. The car is a Honda CRV.

Alignment is a since using a laser barlow and even in the middle of Warwick England I get great views of many of the Messier objects (I use the IFAS Messier handbook which is great). The Nagler 13mm Ethos and 31mm are the two best eyepieces and well suited to the scope.

The Argo Navis is a great piece of kit too.

I have done a few mods. I have a lithium battery mounted within the base for running the fan. It would be better to have had this finish. I have made a mount for a laser pointer which is nice for friends unused to knowing where they are looking. I've added spirit levels to aid the set up for the Navis, again these could have been supplied. The encoders are exposed but no real problems to date other than the altitude encoder was fixed too tightly causing the shaft to stick when it first arrived. I have also amde a piggy back mount for my Leica APO spotting scope.

All in all its very portable which is what I wanted for camping trips with my son when he is a little older and all that kind of thing.

I hope that gives you some more insight. I came across your posting by chance because I was searching about putting it on an equatorial mounting for astrophotography as opposed to motorisin it with the servocat as an alt/az.

kind regards

Clive
Warwick,
England.

Thanks for the review.
Out of curiosity,
have you any images of the mods?

I will take some piccies for you at the weekend,
regards
Clive

Hi Clive and welcome,
Its great to get more comments from someone who has used one, have you tried using a telrad on it, at first I was totally against them but they grew very quickly on me, so much so I ditched my 8x50 finder.
The 13mm ethos must be awesome on the likes of globular clusters, how do you find its eyerelief?

Hi Dave,
I found the telrad works really well for me and helps set up the 2 star alignment for the argo navis very easily in combination with two spirit levels, to the point where I don't really need to look through an eyepiece. The Ethos is great but I still actually like the 31mm Nagler better as a general working eyepiece.

I'll post some pics shortly.
kind regards
Clive