johninderby

Does Captain Janeway know you’ve got her replicator?  😁

Yes you can pick up some good sruff on eBay but can be a minefield for the beginner. Once you’ve been in the hobby a little while and are starting to understand whats what and know whats good and what isn’t then eBay is worth looking at

Someone like FLO is a good source of advice and of course here on SGL where you can take advantage of others experience ( mistakes?😁) before buying.

As they might say in certain parts of the country “Proper Job” 👍🏻

The Skywatcher Skyliner 200p was a good scope for its time and one I used to recommend but now if you can afford to pay a bit more the Bresser 8” dob haa a lot of advantages and is well worth the extra and makes the Skyliner 200p look outdated and badly in need of upgrading. A better buy in the long run as you won’t have to spend extra upgrading it.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bresser-telescopes/bresser-messier-8-dobsonian-telescope.html

Nothing in white light at all. Seeing isn’t good though. 🙁

A Skywatcher AZ5 mount to replace the ageing Manfrotto geared head that was getting past it. Will,be ideal for my Bresser 127 mak and sits nicely on my heavy duty Manfrotto 475 geared tripod. Already changed the clutch tension knobs for some black stainless steel ones that I had in my spares box. Much easier to tighten. 👍🏻

Ha.......the Baader cases are child's play to open compared to the evilness of the cases used on some small drills and milling bits. You have to press, lift and twist the tabs all at the same time. 🙀🙀🙀

There is the Baader short bracket but makes the Vixen bracket look cheap in comparison. 🙀

1 minute ago, Alan White said:

@johninderby tyres by post, interesting, do they self fit? 😂
 

 

At half the Halfords price I’m happy to pop round to the local tyre place to have them fitted. Fresh rubber as well only made in  June. 👍🏻

Why is it that almost all 6x30 or 9x50 finder scope brackets are so tall? Can see it for a straight through finder but for a right angle  finder don’t need the finder stuck on top of a long stalk. Want it tucked down against the OTA. Many SCT brackets do this but want a bracket that fits a standard synta type shoe.

Definately a gap in the market for a short finder bracket. There is a short Vixen 9x50  bracket but the price is crazy.

Perhaps FLO could ask Rowan if they could come up with something.🤔

My favourite filter for Jupiter / Saturn and also the moon. 👍🏻

12mm is common but maybe up to 16mm. As above depends on your tube and finder shoe.

They’re cheap enough so get some of both. 

Reminds you of just how cratered a world it is. Smaller images just don’t have the same impact. 

Hmmmmm impact seems appropriate somehow. 🙂

Glad you got ir sorted. Kayfast or Boltbase or one of the other eBay sellers usually has whatever screws I want. 👍🏻

Although I only live about 3 miles away from a huge bolt and screw warehouse that has every bolt and screw imaginable they have a minimum spend so cheaper to go to eBay for most orders. They are really set up for industrial supply but do have a public sales counter.

Most DIY places don’t stock the right type of screws and allmost never stainless.An electronics supply place is a possibility.. 

Easy to find the right size on eBay. Just search M3 or M4 countersunk stainless screws and select the length.

I do like it but feel that £700.00 is just a bit too high in the UK. £599.00 maybe but £700  no. 🙁

Maybe others will feel differently.

10 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I thought you’d be getting tyred if buying stuff by now, John

🤣

Time to get your coat I think. 😁😁😁

Good, I think you properly understand that every telescope is a comprimise. 👍🏻

I like the simplicity of a dob. If you look at my link to the Bresser 10” dob you’ll see that I fitted feet to keep the base out of the wet grass. 

I do like other scopes too. Here’s Big Red a scope that I built myself using Japanese optics.

     John

The most important thing in selecting a telescope is finding one that suits you. It might be an SCT or it might be a dob that suits you best. People are different so don’t always agree on what’s best. A lot depends on your particular requirements. Of course we could get into the an APO refractor is the best argument but not going there. 🙄

I’ve had 5”, 6”, 8” and 11” SCTs but sold all of them. Might even get another one someday. Who knows but in no hurry. 🤔

The Breeser dob can be moved a mm at a time due to the proper bearings yet doesn’t move too easily. Just right. Get a stool/ seat for comfortable viewing. If you want an easy way to add tracking get an EQ platorm and stick the whole dob on it.

Some nuts and bolts and a thread adapter for part of my my getting a Berlebach EQ5 tripod ready to take an AZ100 mount without buying an EQ6 top project . 🙂

Oh and a stack of round black rubbery things. 😁

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Optically the Bresser and Skywatcher are very similar. There won’t be a lot in it.

The advantage the Bresser has over the Skywatcher is as follows.

Focuser. 

       The Skywatcher has a cheap one that while usable is usually the first upgrade that people do. The Bresser has a great high quality focuser rhat is a pleasure to use although recommend ordering the 1:10 knob.

Alt & Az Bearings

       No contest as the Bresser has proper full sized alt bearings and a proper az bearing. On the Skywatcher the az bearing  in the base is just three teflon pads rubbing on the underside of the base. The Bresser has the three teflon pads but also a textured bearing ring for the pads to run against. The Bresser’s alt bearings also make great carrying handles. Also with the Bresser you just have to drop the tube into place on the base. With the Skywatcher you have to insert handles into each side and screw them into place after dropping the tube in place.

Way the tube is mounted

       The Skywatcher has plastic bearing”blocks” that are bolted onto the tube. The Bresser uses tube rings which aloow you to move the tube up and down a bit to adjust balance (afer temporarily .loosening the tube rings). Also you can rotate the tube to put the focuser in the right position for you. Then as it uses tube rings easy to remove the alt bearings and fit a dovetail if you ever wanted to use the scope on an EQ mount.

Inside of tube

      The Skywatcher has some thin paint that isn’t very black. The Bresser has a rubberised anti-refective coating that is very effective. Yes proper flocking would imprive it even further but not really needed.

Mirror cell

      The Skywatcher has a very basic 3 point mirror cell. The Bresser has a proper 9 point cell for beter mirror support. Although in an 8” scope not a huge advantage.

Secondary mirror adjustment

        The Skywatcher has screws to adjust the tilt. The Bresser has asjutment knobs.

Now to the weak point of both scopes. Poor finder scopes. They need replacing with something better. Usualy a 9x50 right angle erect image finder is fitted. This is where the Skywatcher has it’s one adavantage. A standrad finder mounting shoe is fitted. The Bresser has an odd finder shoe and will want chaning to a Skywatcher type shoe. You may also want to fit a red dot finder as many find using the red dot fiber is usefull to get you near to you target and then use the right angle finder to zero in on your target.

Hope this answers your question.

I’ve found that some of the Omegon stuff can be fairly expensive but they do have good deals from time to time.