A litle bit of first light with the SW 250 flextube Dob

[AlexB67]

To my surprise, come shortly after 6 skies started clearing. The day had been so miserable that I wasn't expecting to bring out my

new toy, so unprepared was I that I had not even finished collimating the secondary very accurately, though it was quite close

based on what I had done the day before when I assembled the scope.  Grabbing the chance I quickly aligned the primary and got

ready, in a way a deliberate ploy, just as I did with my Heritage, I want to know the limits and how sensitive these things

are to collimation errors, after all,  I wasn't really expecting the weather to hold up, just to have a  quick test run. I was so

unprepared that I had not even aligned the finder, but after little while using a chimney and found a star to fine tune it.

Carrying the flextube OTA is nice, I need to carry it through 4 doors, but given it is short and it has a rim around the OTA where

the flextubes protrude, this bit provides an excellent pickup point, at the same time I can look over and around the OTA without

banging into door frames etc, it is easy to see where you are going with it, very handy bonus.

I placed the OTA on the Rocker box outside, extruding the OTA and raising the top part very easily, the flextube trusses work just

as seamlessly as the hydraulic suspension on a Citroen, no bother at all I allowed for a bit of a cool down, then I did a fine

tune of the primary, it turns out the scope would hold this level of collimation very well throughout the night checking it in

between on occasion.

It was not even that dark yet, but getting there, people not in bed, neighbouring house lights nearby

interfering somewhat. 

First up, I haphazardly pointed the scope to where I thought M27 would be without using the finder scope, given the

summer triangle was still quite high In the sky. I took my first look through the BST 25mm and there it was, It was as if I had just

just won the lottery.  The next targets would not prove to be that easy to find, knowing that I lost my beloved RDF ( for now ) ,

just a finder scope, and now my lowest magnification is 48 times and a FOV of 1.25 degrees compared to the 26x and 2.3 degrees In the

Heritage    M27 was very easy and clear to see, crisp pleasant image, but given the conditions, and having used the Heritage

under much better  darker skies, nothing to write home about, a first reminder that increased aperture does not buy dark skies, not

that I was expecting that, in fact I was surprised it showed up as well as it did.

Next, after some struggles with the finder I had a quick attempt at M81/M82, I gave up after some time, I could not get on with the

finder at this point in my first few tries. After a little bit of frustration I went back in the house and removed the RDF from the

Heritage wondering if there was anyway I could attach it to the 250, not that I could see, apart from fixing it with a bit of tape as a quick

fix.  instead I held it in my hand, parallel to the finder just holding it for the rest of the night. 

At this point I decided my hand at a star in Cassiopeia. knowing that M103 was nearby, even with my hold the RDF in the hand mod

I got here quickly, using the finder scope to fine tune the location.  M103 and  neighbouring NGCs 663 and 659 looked nothing short of spectacular.

Skies were getting better at this point, lights going off etc. Very early signs that even under these conditions, and by far not under the best skies

open clusters and going to be redefined looking through this scope.

Next up the double cluster was nothing short of an Xmas tree of full of goodies. I got my missus to come out  and have a look at this

point, she was impressed, the finder scope had fogged up by now,  but given my hand mod RDF I managed to get M45 relatively quickly

for both of use to have a look at, oh so bright and spectacular, I can't wait to see this with a lower power eyepiece and a filter,

but the initial signs, I can already imagine what it will be like given I have seen it under similar conditions in the Heritage without a

filter . 

Quick break to defog the finder scope. Back out, next up M31, even with the slight cloud appearing all three of M110, M32 and M31

could be seen, though M110 only just, again when it comes to galaxies, aperture does not buy dark skies, it was impressive all the

same, especially near the core,  it was more pronounced and the surrounding brightness compared to the heritage  under similar

conditions. For sure I can see the potential waiting to be unleashed under a better sky.

Clouds were beginning to be a bother by now, but not quite the end, by now Auriga had risen above the roof,  and I just managed to

get a glimpse of M38. Once again this cluster was amazingly spectacular in comparison with the heritage when it is at the same  sort of

height in the sky and very faint.

All in all very productive. Things learned so far just focussing on the easier to find targets as an opening session

• This scope is amazing and will serve me well for time to come.  This scope does exactly what I expected and I hoped it would do, and it does exactly that.
• Easy to handle, az movement works very well, the tension handle works great too. even without sitting down I felt comfortable to gaze for long periods without a chair, though it would be a nice addition to have one that can be customised besides my garden chairs.
•  Surprisingly easy to carry around garden when OTA removed from rocker box.
• In spite of not having optimised collimation, the BST explorers worked surprisingly very well with it at f/4.7, certainly not a case of, give me a coma  corrector now more on that when I have achieved better collimation, certainly aberrations can be seen, but it did not annoy except slightly on the one occasion when looking at the double cluster that took up most of the view and not all stars could be clearly seen.
• Without my RDF I am often lost to find a target quickly. I think the first addon I'll want is a  Telrad or Rigel quick finder, but the finder scope does works well when nearby or for a star hop, M31 was interesting in its own right in the finder scope, but If I had to substitute  the finder scope with an RDF or Telrad I'd do it in a heartbeat. Probably I'll have it so I can have both on the scope at the same time.
• Even when under Light polluted skies, clusters are redefined, I did not actually bag any globulars, next time.
• Clouds ended the session, but in spite of what felt a damp night, and without a dew shield the mirrors held up, there was the beginning of a small bit of dew on the secondary by the end, the outside of rocker box and OTA was quite damp on the outside, so I was surprised it did so well in that regard, the scope was outside for quite a long time and also during the breaks.

If you read this far and did not fall asleep yet, thanks for reading 

[Naemeth]

Don't worry about collimation, it's not critical at F/4.7 unless you're imaging. It certainly hasn't seemed critical for me (especially at low power). 

Nice report, you should really try M57, it really is a delight. Shocked me how much of a difference the extra aperture made.

[AlexB67]

Thanks. I never got around to M57, it was on the list but between breaks the sky had moved somewhat and it was no longer in the best place for where the scope  was, I relocated the scope once to another spot to get a better view of the eastern sky, but unlike the Heritage where I move it readily spot to spot in the garden numerous times on a night, the 10 inch is not as quick to do that, one move was enough for the night to begin with.

bedtime is now long overdue

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I use a telrad and the finderscope together on the 200p. It makes life alot easier as i sometimes get lost using the finder. Seems you had a good night out with it though.

Matt

[Schorhr]

Nice Report, have fun with your new telescope!

[AndyWB]

In spite of not having optimised collimation, the BST explorers worked surprisingly very well with it at f/4.7... ... more on that when I have achieved better collimation...

Yup, I'd be interested in knowing more about this myself. It's a factor in my decisions too.

[AlexB67]

Yup, I'd be interested in knowing more about this myself. It's a factor in my decisions too.

Of course if you go for the GSO it is f/5 you are considering, a little bit slower, but initial impression is that the relatively small difference of f/4.7 to f/5 is not that critical with his kind of eyepiece to the extend that I would say, "hold on" this is now all of a sudden a pest or an annoyance ( seeing my collimation was not even optimal ) .  I have little doubt that knowing you are pleased with the Heritage as I was you'll not be coming out with a feeling, I must replace my eyepieces now if you got this scope, or the f/5 GSO. 

I totally forgot to mention how cracking the rocking horse looked, and the coat hanger, it was late when I wrote that, some targets I forgot about in the write up.

[andyman]

Very nice report alex and i am still awake    and dont you get alot of bang for your buck with the 250px

Its just a superb scope for the price

[AlexB67]

Very nice report alex and i am still awake    and dont you get alot of bang for your buck with the 250px

 

Its just a superb scope for the price

Thanks Andy, indeed it is a cracker. The missus is now worried that I'll go to bed with it instead 

Don't worry about collimation, it's not critical at F/4.7 unless you're imaging. It certainly hasn't seemed critical for me (especially at low power).

Nice report, you should really try M57, it really is a delight. Shocked me how much of a difference the extra aperture made.

I like my collimation and want to get the best out if it. I could definitely tell the collimation was not hundred percent in a few star test I did and from the views when looking carefully, but it is one of those things I guess and personal whether that annoys you or not, when I started with the Heritage at first it may not seem like much, but once you see it you know it is there and want it to be as good as it can be.

I would also say, if you ever go down the route of a coma corrector, even for visual it is important to get this right for the coma corrector to work properly, otherwise it will not perform nearly as well, not that I ever looked through one, but it makes sense to me in that it assumes a perfectly collimated instrument.

[Naemeth]

A Coma Corrector definitely makes sense, and is somewhere on the wishlist. But at the moment, 50 degrees doesn't seem to be showing any of it, so for now, it's not a problem.

[AlexB67]

ha yes, that would have a bearing on it, mine are 60, and the UWA is 66, but not even tried that one.  Certainly having seen the views now, well perhaps after a few more nights I should have a better feeling, but right now my feeling getting a coma corrector would be nice, but not high on my list. An extra 2 inch low power eyepiece, some filters, that sort of thing are higher on the list, but number one, a telrad or rigel I think.  Luckily the item on top of the list is a cheap one 

[Naemeth]

ha yes, that would have a bearing on it, mine are 60, and the UWA is 66, but not even tried that one.  Certainly having seen the views now, well perhaps after a few more nights I should have a better feeling, but right now my feeling getting a coma corrector would be nice, but not high on my list. An extra 2 inch low power eyepiece, some filters, that sort of thing are higher on the list, but number one, a telrad or rigel I think.  Luckily the item on top of the list is a cheap one 

The coma must be in those last 10 degrees. I can honestly say I haven't noticed any yet. Still need to do a lot more observing of course .

[AlexB67]

Personally I can see  aberrations earlier than that away from the on axis view in the BST ( be it the Heritage or the new scope ),  but the point at which it becomes an annoyance is really all that matters in the end of the day, and that also seems to be a personal thing for some it seems to me. On an fuzzy I would not see it, but something like an open cluster with a lot of pin point stars it is a lot more obvious in my lowest power eyepiece, but is It something I'd pay 400 pounds to get rid off as high priority given a fair number of degrees are very functional and acceptable ? not really.  It would be in my luxury request item as it were

[andyman]

Thanks Andy, indeed it is a cracker. The missus is now worried that I'll go to bed with it instead 

I like my collimation and want to get the best out if it. I could definitely tell the collimation was not hundred percent in a few star test I did and from the views when looking carefully, but it is one of those things I guess and personal whether that annoys you or not, when I started with the Heritage at first it may not seem like much, but once you see it you know it is there and want it to be as good as it can be.

I would also say, if you ever go down the route of a coma corrector, even for visual it is important to get this right for the coma corrector to work properly, otherwise it will not perform nearly as well, not that I ever looked through one, but it makes sense to me in that it assumes a perfectly collimated instrument.

LoL 

[Astro Imp]

Enjoyed reading your report and the follow-up posts, you're in for some great nights.

Let's hope for the some clear skies over the next few days/nights.

[AlexB67]

Just added M57 and M13 M81/M82 it was early still, going out later again.

Holy %^$£", M13 resolved to the core, I've never seen anything like it. M57 a mighty impressive doughnut. I was very pleased with even the 66 degrees sky-watcher 6mm and that is only a 30 quid eyepiece !!, a collimation tweak helped, but it held up across the field of view really surprisingly well .

Yes Oh Yes. M13 at even 150x times mag or even higher is a mighty sight, Stars galore

[Schorhr]

Congratulations on your observations :-)

Yeah, the 66deg eyepieces are great for a low budget ep :-)

[JamesF]

M13 is an absolute toe-curler in a 10" scope.  I was totally stunned when I first saw it in mine.  It's a great time of year to be cluster-hunting, too.  There are loads in the south-western sky at the moment.

James

[AlexB67]

I can now truly say the scope has had fist light to conclude this venture.  I went out last night again in the backyard. M81/M82 had improved quite  bit and looked a lot clearer this time. The Open clusters in M35 - M38 looked spectacular, first time I observed them this high in the sky.   Jupiter at 150x and 200x. I think skies must have been rather good also, though it was damp. There was a brief moment at 150x for a  few seconds here and there where the planet revealed an enormous amount of detail, I could not stop looking at it. The views of Jupiter have always been good in the Heritage, but this was another level of detail I'd never seen before, so many bands, with extra details in them too at certain moments that are worth waiting for. 

First time I observed M43/M42, as I have to wait to get enough roof clearance for this pair, so it gets to a rather uncivilised hour, but it was worth it.  Skies were rather excellent at this point. Seeing I've got no filters, it looked like an art work, as if someone had brushed on the sky with a paint brush, pronounced streaks everywhere in this nebula, what a sight

Really need to find a solution for dewing up of the finder scope, I suppose putting the caps on would help in between uses, which I did not do, and put on a dew shield I guess.  As you can imagine finding these things in a 25mm eyepiece for a lot of the session without a finder was not easy, but I managed, but quite a bit a bit of time went by actually finding these things at times ( I did not use my  hold the RDF in the hand mod this time) .

Time to order that telrad or rigel, will have to think about which one I want an read around a bit about them, so next time I can up the ante on harder targets,  work on the Caldwell catalogue a bit etc. etc.

[TractionMan]

Somehow I seem to have missed this report. Better late than never right? Great report! Really enjoyed reading it. No risk of falling asleep while doing that!

[rory]

Nice insight into the flextube. Does the dob base use the Teflon pads On the 250 flextube or a bearing system ?

[AlexB67]

Nice insight into the flextube. Does the dob base use the Teflon pads On the 250 flextube or a bearing system ?

Rory, rather than me explaining, much easier to see the info in the manual, the entire construction can be seen here.

http://www.skywatcher.com/downloads/191110V1_Collapsible.pdf

[rory]

Rory, rather than me explaining, much easier to see the info in the manual, the entire construction can be seen here.

http://www.skywatcher.com/downloads/191110V1_Collapsible.pdf

Teflon pads.  thanks.