Orion has been marketing telescopes and accessories since the 1970's. In 1982 Orion briefly offered the first telescope marketed under its own name. This was an unusual (and very rarely found today) 8" f/6 Dobsonian reflector with a round rocker base and metal pedestal. It was supplied with a 6x30 finder and 1 ¼" focuser and two eyepieces. Then in the 1990's they began to market a line of reflectors under the Orion name.
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The first of these reflectors was a 114mm f/8 Japanese built telescope. It came with 1 ¼" focuser and 6x30 finder on a light equatorial mount. Shortly after its introduction it was given the name SpaceProbe 4.5, and in 1992 changed to SpaceProbe II. The Skyview 4.5 replaced the above in 1995 with a similar optical tube and accessories but now with a four vane secondary spider. A new "SkyView" German Equatorial Mount was added with full 360 degree worm gears on both axes and an aluminum tripod. Later a more sturdy equatorial mount was added and the model became the Skyview 4.5 Deluxe. A larger model was added at the same time, called the Skyview 6 Deluxe. This was a 6" f/5?? optical tube with a 1 ¼" focuser and a 6x30 finder on the deluxe mount. | |
| Skyview 6 Deluxe | ||
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In 1996 another 4.5" Newtonian was made available as the ShortTube 4.5. This introduced an f/4.4 primary mirror with a 2x corrector at the base of the focusing mechanism. The result was a short tube with an effective focal length of f/8.8. Accessories included a 1 ¼" focuser, a 5x24 finder and a typical equatorial mount. Another, more stable equatorial mount was also available as the ShortTube 4.5 Ultra. | |
| ShortTube 4.5 | ||
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The Deep Space Explorer series was of Dobsonian design with Teflon bearings, laminate covered particle board box construction and fiber tubes. These telescopes came with helical 1 ¼" focusers and no finder. The mirrors were of plate glass and the secondaries were mounted on a single stalk mount. In 1997 the design was changed by replacing the helical focuser with a rack and pinion unit which allowed more focusing range, and a fully adjustable four vane secondary support took the place of the more difficult to adjust stalk mount. The models in the line included 6" f/8 and 8" f/6 optical tubes. Two other models, the 10" f/5.6 and the 12 ½" f/4.8 were supplied with larger 2" helical focusers. The Premium Deep Space Explorer series, introduced in 1995 added Pyrex mirrors, 2" helical focusers, Formica/Teflon bearings and handles on the altitude bearings. This new premium series was offered only on the larger reflectors, including the 10" f/5.6, 12.5" f/4.8 and 16" f/4.5 optical tubes. | |
| DSE 12.5 | ||
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In 1999 Orion changed over their dobsonian line to a completely new model, the XT. At first they were supplied only as a 6" f/8 and 8" f/6 version. These telescopes were provided with a metal optical tube with aluminum end rings, mirror cell and 1 1/4" focuser. The secondary was supported by a three vane spider with adjustable mirror support. A unique feature of these scopes was the adjustable spring tensioner for the altitude bearing. This allowed applying bit of extra friction when heavy eyepieces tend to cause the tube to fall forward. Also included with the package was a 6x30 finder, 2 eyepieces, dust cap and eyepiece caddy. In 2000 a 4.5" model was added. This dimunitive telescope carried the same features as its larger cousins, but weighed less than 20 pounds.The same year the larger XT10 also came to market. Again, it had the same basic features as the original telescopes, but the focuser was upgraded to a 2" size with 1 1/4" reducer and the finder grew to 8x50. Most recently the line has been readjusted to include a more stable four vane spider instead of three, and a dovetail bracket is included with all finders except for the XT10. Meanwhile the 2" focuser has become standard on the XT8. |
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| SkyQuest XT10 | ||