BritAngler

The 10mm eyepiece isn't really a good bit of glass, so I would replace that one soon(ish), the 25mm however is good for the price so you could stick with that one for a while longer. Zoom eyepieces are good when it comes to convenience but cannot beat the quality of a prime eyepiece. Considering the price of a zoom (£70+ for the Celestron 8-24mm), I would instead consider buying 2 or 3 prime eyepieces instead. One thing you might like to buy is a twistlock adapter, it fits into the 2" adaptor and self-centres your 1.25" eyepieces. At about £25 for the SkyWatcher version, it's not a bad price.

I belong to three, one in Beverley, one in Brough and one on the south bank of the Humber. Leeds and York are a bit too far from me for a casual drive out to an astro club John

If astrophotography is going to come some time later, you might want to get the bigger SW200P/EQ5 combo, and then buy a smaller scope later on for photo's. An EQ5 Goto can easily handle the SW130 or 150 Newts and both those have the potential for excellent photo's, and as already pointed out, a good-but-not-expensive refractor would also suit. Just a thought John

The main gist of it is to first try to work out which of the prisms has gone out of alignment. Under the lining near the prism you will find one or two small screws (usually just the one on each side); these are often dipped in screw-lock before being screwed in so can be a little stiff to turn at first but should still be easy enough to move. Then it's just a matter of turning the screw(s) until both images line up. The bloke at the astro-club who demonstrated it deliberately took his bins out of alignment and let each of us take turns to collimate them, it really does take just a minute or t

You took the word right out of my mouth John

You've made a good choice on the 200, it will last you years, even decades! As for SWMBO, start saving for a diamond ring or necklace John

Svsa, if your 'scope doesn't have the 'standard' finder shoe, they are cheap to buy and easy to fit. I can't make out the type of fitting on your finder, is there any chance of a close-up photo of that please? Once you have the standard finder shoe fitted, you will be able to empty your wallet on a whole range of finderscopes, red-dot-finders & etc etc etc John

I fitted the electric focuser onto my 200P (why do they call it an auto-focuser?) and found it a good update. Yes it is a bit on the slow side even when the knob is turned to 'Fast', but really that is a minor consideration. You will find that you can reach critical focus a lot easier than with the standard focusing mechanism.

I've not had any of the problems mentioned in that review of the Starpointer Pro. I guess it all comes down to personal taste in the end, and my tastes do not extend to cable ties, sticky backed plastic and a Blue Peter badge John

I use mine pretty often, but then I also use one of several RDF's or the standard 9x50 finderscope that came with my SkyWatcher 200P, depending on what I'm wanting to look at. One thing I'd suggest to anyone using a RDF, Starpointer Pro or Telrad - buy spare batteries! John

Or as I said in an earlier post, if you don't want to mess about with cable ties, double-sided tape and sticky pads, there's the Celestron Starpointer Pro that just slides into a standard finder shoe.... Not a half brick

As I've just posted in another thread, if you are any good at woodworking you can make a case for almost any 'scope. The one for my 127 Mak cost me about £20-30, including the cost of hinges, clips and leather handle. I used lagging meant for water pipes cut in half lengthwise for padding. Sorted John

If you are any good with woodworking, you can make a case for any 'scope easily enough. I use foam lagging meant for water pipes cut in half lengthwise for padding, makes for a good solid (and cheap to make) case.

Alternatively, if you don't want half a brick stuck to your 'scope with sticky pads, you could try the Celestron Starpointer Pro. It does the same job as the Telrad, fits into a standard finder shoe, and doesn't look like a brick John

Can get a bit more info from the Amazon listing LINK Spherical mirror, 5 stars from just one reviewer who stated that it's easy to modify.... John