RVision GT 8-1200 GoTo Telescope
The GoTo version of our 203 mm (8-inch) Newtonian: a motorised Dobsonian that finds the Moon, the planets and the brighter deep-sky objects for you and then follows them across the sky. Designed by Pakistan Science Club and made in Pakistan.
Rs 380,000
Made to order- Made in Pakistan
- Strong on the Moon
- Strong on the planets
- 203 mm Aperture
- 1200 mm Focal length
- Newtonian reflector Optical design
- Dobsonian Mount
- Moon, Planets Best for
- Intermediate Experience level
Captured with this telescope
Real results from this telescope
Photographs taken through this model, not stock images. What you see depends on the sky, the night and the observer.
Where it works best
- Beginner friendly Good
- Moon Excellent
- Planetary Excellent
- Deep sky Excellent
- Astrophotography Good
- Portability Limited
- Urban / light-pollution use Good
- School use Excellent
What can you see?
Through the eyepiece with this aperture - not processed astrophotography.
- The Moon Excellent Very fine detail, limited mostly by the steadiness of the air rather than by the telescope. High magnification becomes usable on good nights.
- Jupiter Excellent Festoons, knots and fine structure in the belts on nights of steady air.
- Saturn Excellent Finer ring detail and the shadow the planet casts on its rings.
- Mars Excellent More surface markings and occasional clouds near a close approach. Far from one, Mars is a tiny disc in any telescope.
| Aperture | 203 mm |
|---|---|
| Focal length | 1200 mm |
| Focal ratio | f/5.9 (calculated from aperture and focal length) |
| Optical design | Newtonian reflector |
| Mount | Dobsonian |
| Tracking | Motorized tracking |
| GoTo | Yes |
| Eyepiece barrel | 1.25" |
| Focuser | Rack and pinion |
| Finder | Finder on an adjustable bracket |
| Assembled weight | 19.0 kg |
| Recommended experience | Intermediate |
- Telescope tube, 203 mm Newtonian reflector
- Motorised Dobsonian base with the PSC-GT2 controller
- Hand controller
- 12 V power supply
- 23 mm eyepiece, 1.25-inch
- 10 mm eyepiece, 1.25-inch
- Finder, on an adjustable bracket
Before you buy
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Built to order in our Karachi workshop. Allow about 30 days from the advance payment, then courier time on top.
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50% advance starts the build; the balance is due before dispatch.
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Twelve-month warranty. The motors, the controller and the optics are all serviced here in Pakistan rather than shipped abroad.
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GoTo needs power. It runs on the 12 V supply in the box; for a dark site away from mains you will want a battery pack.
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The tube is 1.2 m long and the crate is heavy. Check your car and your doorway before ordering.
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from the manual RV8-1200?
The optics are the same. This one has a motorised base that points itself and then tracks, so you spend the night looking rather than nudging. The manual version costs less, needs no power, and is the better choice if you enjoy finding things yourself.
Do I still need to know the sky?
Less than with a manual telescope, but alignment asks you to centre a couple of bright stars first. After that the controller does the finding. It is the city observer who gains most: GoTo reaches objects you simply cannot star-hop to when only a dozen stars are visible.
Can I photograph through it?
Photographs of the Moon and the bright planets work well. Long-exposure deep-sky astrophotography does not: the base tracks in altitude and azimuth, so the field of view slowly rotates and long exposures trail. That needs an equatorial mount.
What powers it?
A 12 V supply, included. At a dark site with no mains, a 12 V battery pack runs it for an evening.
Can I control it from my phone?
Yes, with our AstroGuide app. Its current release status is on the Apps page. The hand controller is included either way, so the telescope works with no phone at all.
Full description
The RVision GT 8-1200 is the GoTo version of our 8-inch (203 mm) Newtonian: the same optics as the manual RV8-1200, on a motorised Dobsonian base that finds objects for you and follows them as the sky turns. Designed by the Pakistan Science Club team and made in Pakistan.
What it does
- After a short alignment, choose an object on the hand controller and the telescope moves to it.
- It then tracks automatically, so the object stays in the eyepiece instead of drifting out of it in under a minute.
- GoTo earns its keep most under city skies, where too few stars are visible to find your way by eye.
What you can see
- The Moon: craters, mountain ranges and the long shadows along the terminator.
- Jupiter's cloud belts and its four brightest moons; Saturn's rings, with the Cassini division on a steady night; the phases of Venus; the polar cap on Mars near opposition.
- From darker skies: the Orion Nebula, globular clusters resolved into individual stars, and the brighter galaxies as shapes rather than smudges.
Optics
- 203 mm aperture, 1200 mm focal length (f/5.9)
- Newtonian reflector with adjustable mirror cells for collimation
- Rack-and-pinion focuser, 1.25-inch
Mount and control
- Motorised Dobsonian base with the PSC-GT2 GoTo controller
- Hand controller included
- Phone control with the AstroGuide app - see Apps for its release status
- Runs on 12 V power, included
Good to know
- The 8-inch collects about 1.8 times as much light as a 6-inch. On the Moon and the planets that is a modest gain; on galaxies, nebulae and faint clusters it is the difference between a smudge and a shape.
- Tracking holds an object in view, but this is an alt-azimuth mount: the field slowly rotates, so it suits short exposures of the Moon and the planets rather than long deep-sky exposures.
- A reflector needs collimating from time to time, especially after it has been moved. The collimation guide in Support walks through it, and our Karachi workshop will do it for you.
- The tube is 1.2 metres long and the packed crate is heavy. It is carried in two parts, the tube and the base.
- Built to order in our own workshop: allow about 30 days.
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