S&T Test Report by Ken Hewitt-White
ALL PHOTOS ARE BY THE AUTHORpThe Explore FirstLight 8′′ Dobsonian is an
easy-to-use starter scope or nice upgrade
for the budding backyard astronomer. The
compact unit weighs less than 50 lbs fully
assembled.The Explore
Scientifi c
FirstLight 8"
Dobsonian
This modestly priced Dobsonian
is a solid performer.EXPLORE SCIENTIFIC’S FIRSTLIGHT
series offers telescopes of various sizes,
mount designs, and optical confi gu-
rations. Some are small, entry-level
instruments — quickly set up, simply
operated, and easily stored. For this
review, we acquired a larger yet still
user-friendly model in the FirstLight
lineup: an 8-inch f/6 Newtonian refl ec-
tor on a manually operated Dobsonian-
style mount. The product arrived at my
home in two well-packed, reinforced
cardboard boxes. One squarish box was
a “fl at pack” of the various laminated
particleboard pieces requiring assembly
to make the Dobsonian rocker box. A
longer box contained the optical tube
assembly (OTA), which, at fi rst glance,
looked ready to go under the stars right
out of the gate.Some Assembly Required
The fl at pack meant work! Anyone who’s
purchased u-build furniture like that
from Ikea will recognize the procedure,
though the provided wordless quick-
assembly pamphlet guides you along.
A detailed instruction manual exists
online. Oddly, however, it isn’t men-
tioned in the pamphlet. If you seek help
on the scope’s website (https://is.gd/
ESdob), you’ll be happy to know the link
to the written instruction manual is
cleverly hidden in a tab labeled “Extras.”
Both assembly instructions contain
errors. In the pamphlet, for example,
the illustrated parts list shows two
semicircular altitude bearings but sug-
gests there are four by labeling each
bearing “2×”. Another head-scratcher,
both in print and online, depicts theExplore Scientifi c First-
Light 8′′ Dobsonian
U.S. Price: $499.99
Telescope.comWhat We Like
Good optics
Quick setup
Compact for storageWhat We Don’t Like
No optical fi nderscope
Slightly oversized spider hub
Errors in assembly instructions30 JUNE 2020 • SKY & TELESCOPE
round base plate with four bolt holes
when, in fact, there are six. The online
manual begins by using both numbers
and letters to identify the same com-
ponents. Later, the parts aren’t labelled
at all. During each step of the instruc-
tions, we’re forced to return to the early
graphics to match letters and numbers
to illustrated parts. Fortunately, assem-
bly is essentially an intuitive exercise.
Two hours later, the entire scope was
put together and I was itching to get it
outside. I fi rst verifi ed that collimation
of the OTA had survived shipping by
analyzing a refl ection of the primary