Orion Sirius ED80 EQ-G Telescope Review

The Orion Sirius ED80 EQ-G Computerized GoTo Refractor Telescope is a telescope that is upgraded to the hilt with every conceivable modern upgrade on the market. All of these upgrades come at a very high cost but if you are in the market for a telescope that has no weak spots or downsides and are willing to spend a large upfront sum for the promise of telescopic greatness, then this could be a telescope for you.

Highly upgraded imaging lenses? Check. A computerized telescope mount with a large database? Check. Automatic search and tracking features? Check. Able to support astrophotography? Check.

Specs

• Refractor telescope
• 80mm primary aperture
• f/7.5 focal ratio
• 160x highest useful magnification
• 50lbs assembled weight

If these are the sorts of things you are looking for in your telescope then this could be a purchase you do not regret. But you will need deep pockets.

A Fully Computerized Experience

One of the best features of this telescope is the fully outfitted computerized experience. Not only does the Orion Sirius ED80 EQ-G Computerized GoTo Refractor Telescope come with a full database featuring over 40,000 celestial objects, it also comes with a fully motorized goto mount.

The database is truly expansive and has every object you can think of off the top of your head plus thousands of objects that you had no idea existed. This really opens up the sky to tons of brand new views and brand new vectors of viewing that you never would have been able to access before.

The database has everything preprogrammed into it and once the telescope is properly aligned and located, it will be able to automatically search for, find and track any object in the database.

This is possible due to the goto mount which takes the information from the database, uses the telescope’s location and then automatically finds the object. Watching it in action, when everything is working smoothly, is a sight to behold. The technology involved here is truly spectacular.

What this does is takes all of the heavy lifting out of the stargazing portion of astronomy. If you are easily frustrated by the finesse required in pinpointing specific deep sky objects or have no knack for finding planets or galaxies, you are going to appreciate the computerized features packed into this kit.

This also opens up other avenues of viewing that sometimes get lost if you have to spend a lot of time moving and tracking your telescope.

Crystal Clear Views

The computerized setup of this telescope allows for some more diverse ways to use the scope that focus in on the image quality. The optics on this telescope are top notch in every way. It has fully multi-coated glass on all of the lenses and an apochromatic light gathering setup that capitalizes on the quality of the optics to create truly stunning panoramas of the deep sky.

With the computer doing the heavy lifting this allows you to focus on astrophotography or image quality long viewing of your favorite objects. It can be exceedingly hard to find an object, keep it in the eyepiece and get a good picture of it if you are going for some great pictures. Now that the computer can do all of that for you, you can really focus on photography or any other avenue of astronomy that strikes your fancy without being bogged down with the more tedious aspects of the hobby.

You can see the focus on astrophotography from the list of standard features that come included on this telescope. Those are periodic error correction (PEC), a port for an autoguider, and an illuminated polar axis scope for accurate polar alignment.

These are all things added and designed to make astrophotography easy and enjoyable.

This telescope is going to be able to offer great views of deep sky objects such as distant star fields, spiral galaxies or irregular galaxies, nebulae and more. It will also be able to give you high contrast, super sharp views of favorites such as Mars and Jupiter without breaking a sweat. In fact, it will be able to find the best views for you.

Drawbacks

Despite the high tech features and excellent views there are a few drawbacks that might turn off some perspective buyers.

First, this telescope is super heavy and rather bulky. It weighs 50lbs assembled and has some sensitive parts and components. This means, this telescope will not be one that will travel nicely and is not very portable. For the price, I would not want to put this scope in harm’s way for any reason and it will be best served in one designated spot.

It uses counterweights to remain upright and balanced and if you are not comfortable or familiar with the use of counterweights in astronomy, you are going to have to learn in order to ensure that this telescope functions at its best.

Lastly, the price is extremely high. Even for telescopes, this unit clocks in at well over a grand and some places have it marked closer to two grand. This is a hefty sum for anyone to think about investing in a piece of equipment. While the telescope is extremely good and has a lot of niche upgrades, unless you are looking for a telescope geared specifically for astrophotography, you could probably spend a lot less and get a similar viewing experience.

Verdict

The explosion of computerized telescopes entering the market recently has led to some truly unique and interesting telescopes coming to fruition. This is another excellent entry to the goto telescope market with a focus on astrophotography and image quality. Everything looks great and works smoothly. However, the asking price is a little too much for my blood and you can find adequate computerized telescopes for a much lower price than this one.

If you are interested in getting the absolute best for your money and don’t mind dropping a ton of cash on an excellent telescope, this one just might have enough features to get you to commit.