Home > Consumer Reviews > Orion SkyQuest XT6 Classic Dobsonian Telescope

It is unbelievable to me that a scope this good can be had for this price. Six inches is a LOT of aperture. Forget those little blue rigs with the computerized pointing--you don't need a computer to find stuff, you need *aperture* so you can actually see it. Download some free planetarium software (like Stellarium), buy a sky atlas, and get a nice fat telescope like this one. You'll enjoy it more because the views will actually be good enough to linger over, and you can take pride in finding observing targets on your own. If you want a computer to do all the work, why even buy a telescope? Stay on the couch and surf for some Hubble images.

The scope is rock solid, it was in nearly perfect collimation right out of the box, and I put it together in about an hour while I watched TV. Then it was out the back door and BAM! The moon looks so good you may get stuck there for a while. Cloud belts on Jupiter are a breeze, as are the rings of Saturn. Star clusters look like diamonds scattered on black velvet. Galaxies and nebulas seduce your eyeballs until you realize that it's well past midnight and you're frozen half to death.

One warning: the best scope for you is the one you will use the most. At 35 lbs assembled this is about as much scope as I want to be moving by myself. So think about the weight. If you decide it would keep you from using this scope very often, get a smaller one. Orion's XT4.5 is this thing's little brother, it weighs half as much, and it has gotten uniformly good reviews just about everywhere.

One last thing: Dobsonians are not useful for most kinds of astrophotography but I have taken some stunning pictures of the moon just by holding my digital camera up to the eyepiece of this telescope. Give it a try--you may end up decorating your entryway with moon photos you took yourself.

I just picked up one of these scopes and I can't say enough good about it. I love EVERY part of it. It is easy to carry in and out of my garage. The optics are great. It is easy to use. It is not designed for photography, but that's ok with me. I like my new scope.

Q. So . . . why wouldn't I endorse it?

A. If I had it to do over I would go for the 8" model. The 8" is about the largest aperature that I could lug in and out of my garage and it gathers substantially more light. I purchased mine because I got a good deal and couldn't afford the 8". Now I've got aperture fever and want bigger and bigger (at least as big as I can handle).

If you just don't have the money for the 8", do not worry. The 6" will allow you to see enough to keep you busy for years, perhaps a lifetime. If I ever succumb to aperture fever and purchase a larger model, I think I'll keep my 6" for its portability. I really like this scope! Yep, that's it, a big gun for home and a grab and go for the road.

This is my first telescope, so I'll refrain from any comparisons or ratings, apart from things I know something about.

I'm having a blast with my XT6. I bought it used, but it's very easy to use. Its going to be fun learning about the heavens with it.

In retrospect, though, I should have bought the 8" one. I was scared of the weight... I'm 56 years old, and will be moving it from my suburban home to my rural getaway fairly often, and I was worried it would be too heavy for me to carry from the car into the field.

I should not have worried. The 6" scope is quite easy to transport, even with a stool and my milk crate with eyepieces, flashlight, atlas, notebook, etc. The 8" one is 7 pounds heavier, which I could easily handle. And since the optical tube easily separates from the base, breaking into 2 20 pound units, I could make multiple trips if I wanted to. But I shouldn't have really worried... 40 pounds is not a problem for me at all.

Every boat owner wants to buy a bigger boat, and I guess every astronomer wants a bigger bucket. I'm not an astronomer yet, but I do want that XT8 some day soon.

Buy the 6" and know it's a great piece of engineering... or save up another month and get more aperture.

This was my Christmas gift to myself. I must have been good this year. Currently I have only two eyepieces, one is the 25mm that came with it, the other is a 20mm I already had. Those give me 48x and 60x magnification respectively. The optics should support much higher magnifications. So far I am blown away. I've seen the Orion nebula, amazing detail in the moon, Venus resolved to a very large disk, and the rings of Saturn. Even from my light polluted south St. Louis backyard I can make out two of Saturn's moons.
It is very portable, weighing about 35lbs, mount and all. If I decide to drive out to a suburban park on a moments notice, I can have it disassembled, packed and in my car in five minutes. Then setup is equally fast. I can pick it up and walk anywhere with it. I can't wait to get some higher power eyepieces and drive out to some darker rural skies. For a guy who so far has only owned a pair of 20x80 binoculars and a cheap refractor when I was a child, this thing is unbeatable for the price. If you are thinking about buying a refractor, this might be the one.

This is a great telescope. Easy to assemble and even easier to use. Not too heavy to move about. My son (age 10) is absolutely thrilled with it. Recommend it? Definitely.