Orion Telescopes...

[John Pierce]

rumor is buzzing on my local astro club mail list that Orion has closed their doors, this has been 'confirmed' via a couple different friends of members, but I can't find anything in the (admittedly wretched) local news about it.

A former tenant of mine confirmed that he was just laid off and the company folded. He said the company has been struggling since late last year.

So, caveat emptor. 

--

-john r pierce

  recycling used bits in santa cruz

[Franck Bossuwe]

This popped up in the news.

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/meade-and-orion-cease-operations-maybe/

[Jonathan Lawton]

I've tried calling them just now and I can't get ahold of anyone in customer service or sales. I didn't try the options for HR (why is this in a public phone tree?) or dial by last name company directory.

Jonathan 

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[Akarsh Simha]

Rich Ozer posted about it on Facebook, and they apparently share the same parent company with Meade which is the one that’s met its end.

My best guess at why is the lack of innovation. GSO and SkyWatcher are very popular in the non-US market due to their low price point. I imagine US customers want bells and whistles like electronics/go-to, portability and ease of use. Celestron has been innovating to keep up.

I will really miss Orion accessories, I really hope someone takes the business up.

Regards

Akarsh

[Jay Freeman]

Sad news if Orion is gone -- I started shopping there when it was a hole-in-the-wall shop off River Street in Santa Cruz (circa 1980). They were a wonderful source of telescope accessories, and a frequent donor of prototypes, B-stock and remainders to local astronomy clubs for auction: Beneficiaries included SJAA and FPOA. The community owes them much, and I am sure they will be missed.

-- Jay Reynolds Freeman, Deep-Sky Weasel
---------------------
Jay_Reynol...@mac.com
http://JayReynoldsFreeman.com (personal web site)

[Ted Hauter]

I sent an eyepiece back for replacement. Explains where it went after several attempts to contact.

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[John Pierce]

the parent company, Optronic Technologies, Inc, was described as 'dba "Orion Telescopes"'.   It came into existence when Innova bought Orion back in 2005, and was later (2017) bought from Innova by a group of Orion employees who took it private again.     Optronic was just a corporate holding shell for Orion and later (2021) Meade & Coronado.

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[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

Just went to telescope.com and their site is working, was ready to take an order. Must mean something.

Have a lot of good stuff from Orion, including my current eyepiece case, that I bought from Mina Reyes (!) when she was working at their Watsonville store. Every Orion item I've seen has been good quality and reliable.

[Vishal Kasliwal]

It'd be sad news indeed if Orion is out of business. They made good scopes for the non-hardcore amongst us and had some really nice and innovative designs. 

On Fri, Jul 12, 2024, 15:45 Jamie Dillon, DDK <ngc1...@gmail.com> wrote:

Just went to telescope.com and their site is working, was ready to take an order. Must mean something.

Have a lot of good stuff from Orion, including my current eyepiece case, that I bought from Mina Reyes (!) when she was working at their Watsonville store. Every Orion item I've seen has been good quality and reliable.

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[Stephen Migol]

Ozer will have to find another source for red safety goggles...

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[Brad Templeton]

It was nice to have a local Astronomy store, particularly in Cupertino (that ended long ago) but even so it became a place to go if you needed it now, not the best place to shop.  And then it became mostly white label stuff.   So it's not entirely surprising, if disappointing.

On Friday, July 12, 2024 at 9:42:17 AM UTC-7 jhn.p...@gmail.com wrote:

[Aris Pope]

I sure hope not I just picked up a 6" Orion RC from the gssp swap meet. I was going to contact them because I need the focus your extension rings. 

I love Orion, I also image with their 10" Atlas Newtonian.

Aris

On Fri, Jul 12, 2024, 9:42 AM John Pierce <jhn.p...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Aris Pope]

*focuser extension rings 

Aris

[Aris Pope]

Akarsh I agree with you, wouldn't it be interesting if Celestron bought them? They could get into the higher end Refractor or Newtonian market.

Aris

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[Peter Santangeli]

I've owned many, many Meade optics over the years, but the reality is that most of Orion's stuff is pretty replaceable with other manufacturers, except maybe SCT's and they are sort of 'yesterday's scope' (I say that, admitting full well that my main instrument is a C11). There was a spurt of innovation a few years ago, but they seem to have spent a lot of time 'on-shoring' manufacturing back to the US... at a time when a lot of Chinese companies were getting their quality acts in together. Politics aside, I'm not sure that's a business plan these days.

The one big exception.. Coronado equipment.

My recollection is they purchased Coronado a number of years ago - solar is just too niche a part of a niche hobby for it to survive alone.

That may be the biggest thing at risk.

pete

[John Pierce]

On Fri, Jul 12, 2024 at 4:59 PM Peter Santangeli <pe...@santangeli.net> wrote:

...

The one big exception.. Coronado equipment.

My recollection is they purchased Coronado a number of years ago - solar is just too niche a part of a niche hobby for it to survive alone.

They bought  Coronado from Lunt who was the founder and designer...  He was almost immediately onhappy with working within Meade, and founded Lunt solar systems, which is still going strong.     Yeah, their products are all on the premium side, they don't have any sort of 'PST', but I've never heard anyone badmouth anything they've sold.

[Jonathan Lawton]

I'd say the Lunt 40 is pretty much a PST.

Speaking of the PST, I recently bought one that could benefit from a replacement objective and ITF... I was going to have Meade repair it but maybe not now!

Jonathan

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[Nikola Nikolov]

It is interesting how different Celestron and Orion are. The two companies are very similar, but the first survived, while the second one struggled. 

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[Peter Santangeli]

A lot more similar than you'd know.

Celestron was first bought by Tasco (who went out of business) and then bought by Synta, another Chinese telescope manufacturer in 2005. Similar fate as Meade that was eventually bought by Ningbo Sunny electronics. Orion (Optonics) sued Meade for anti-competitive practices and won, which led to Orion buying Meade.

Now it looks like Orion is toast.

Neither survived as a US company with US manufacturing.

Consumer products is a tough business.

pete

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[Nikola Nikolov]

Yes, especially today when we have new players in the electronic assisted astronomy (EAA), like Vaonis and UniStellar, ZWO, etc.

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[mtoma...@comcast.net]

You guys and your acronyms.  I know what “SCT” means.  Nikola, thank you for defining “EAA” when referring to it for the first time in this particular thread.

What do “PST” and “IFT” mean?  Acronymfinder.com gives me “Perfect Square Trinomial” and “International Frisbee Tournament”.

;-)

[John Pierce]

On Sat, Jul 13, 2024 at 2:44 AM mtoma...@comcast.net <mtoma...@comcast.net> wrote:

You guys and your acronyms.  I know what “SCT” means.  Nikola, thank you for defining “EAA” when referring to it for the first time in this particular thread.

What do “PST” and “IFT” mean?  Acronymfinder.com gives me “Perfect Square Trinomial” and “International Frisbee Tournament”.

PST is the Coronado PST aka Personal Solar Telescope. 

[Thomas Taylor]

It's ironic that Orion and Meade ended-up sharing the same office space and ultimate fate. I started buying from Orion at their Marina store in SF and when that closed from their Cupertino store. I don't know if it's true or not, but I was told back in the 90's that Tim Gieseler, Orion's founder, turned down a partnership or reseller connection with Meade which resulted in Orion never carrying the Meade line which I thought hurt their bottom line as Meade later developed into a powerhouse. After Orion opened the Marina store, Scope City opened it's store about a miles away on Bay street which carried the full Meade line. Sam was the manager at Scope City and I can't remember the name of the Orion store manager.

[Richard Ozer]

Dammit.  I'll make my own red safety goggles!  I'll use red paint!

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[John Pierce]

On Sat, Jul 13, 2024 at 1:19 PM Richard Ozer <rich...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dammit.  I'll make my own red safety goggles!  I'll use red paint!

easy peasy... https://shop.archsupplies.com/products/rublylith-masking-film-20x24 

[Les Niles]

Just cut out some little circles of rubylith a centimeter or so in diameter and slip them in like contact lenses. No uncomfortable head strap! 

:) 

  -Les

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