mattnedgus

I'd be grateful for your opinions on whether I'm best upgrading my scope or selling it for a new setup! I have a Skywatcher 200P Dobsonian (the 1200 tube) but: I'd really like it to be more rigid, so it doesn’t wobble as much at the slightest touch I'd like a finer focuser so I can get a sharper image I'd like the scope to keep the object where I put it, rather than have it drift outside the field of view and having to keep nudging it back in - I feel like I spend more time doing this than observing! I can probably do without a GOTO if it helps keep the cost down, but the option might be nice - it's fun finding objects but I have a narrow view of the sky between the house and trees and so it's not long before some objects have set! I might like to put my dslr on and take a photo or few but it would only be a dabble at the moment - I mainly want to see the sky with my own eyes!

Oh, and Charic: I wear glasses too but I've been finding I put them on when someone else is looking through the scope just so I can see the stars by eye! I think I understand what you mean though: that to move from scope to finder on an optical finder means you don't need to put them on. I hadn't considered this when I'd thought about using a red dot finder!

I think for now I'll just be happy to have a decent telescope I can use, even if there are more perfect (focuser) options out there - I've been coping with a Celestron Travel Scope 70 and it's true what I've read: the best telescope is the one you have to hand. I think I'll go to Rother Valley Optics in the morning and maybe pick up the Skyliner. I am really tempted with the Bresser because of the Focuser but I have some reservations about their design and I don't want to be drilling anything just yet.

I called Rother Valley Optics and they could get the Bresser in in a few days. How is the Skyliner balanced if you put heavier Binoviewers on for example? I'm a little concerned about transporting the Bresser - I think those wheels could be put under strain laid down in a car? I also wouldn't fancy drilling into a new tube just yet so I'll have to make the decision leaving out a RACI on the Bresser. I'm leaning more towards the Skyliner - it feels like the optical finder might be better for a starter and a Telrad/Riegel could be zip tied on later rather than needing to drill the tube. However, I'm struggling to ignore how good Bresser's focusser sounds (with it's zero backlash and smooth motion - and the 'option' of a dual speed add on). I might ask Rother Valley Optics to get one in to compare side by side.

Would a RACI fit straight onto the Bresser's existing mounting points or would it need something extra? What makes the Bresser Focusser better vs the Skywatchers? I've managed to confuse myself looking at the Revelation 8" Dobsonian with it's dual speed Crayford - would you say the Bresser is easier to achieve fine focus? I notice the Bresser is more like a helical rack and pinion but I was under the impression Crayford-style focussers were better? Thanks, that's tempting depending on the rate my card gives me!

I was wondering if I join in with a bit of a newbie question? I've done a lot of reading around tonight and settled pretty much on an 8" Dobsonian as being a good all-round starter scope. I was all about ready to part with some cash (£275 on the Skyliner 200P) when I discovered the Bresser Messier 8" Dob (£333) which somewhat threw a spanner into the works! The way I see the pro's and con's of the Bresser 8" Dob as described by Ricochet above and Bresser/retailers I've seen are: + Better focuser (movement / over sized focuser avoids vignetting a smaller barrel might incur) + Smoother alt/az movements + Secondary mirror edges blackened + Primary mirror collimation via knobs - No optical/magnifying finder and would need something to fasten one to it - Only one eyepiece But I'd like to know whether it's the opinion of more experienced users that these pro's and con's add up to being worth the extra £60 on top of the Skyliner 200P Dob? At the moment I just want to use a scope for viewing that's quick and easy to set up and relatively transportable (in the back of an estate car!). Someday I might like to try photography but I think that's so far off and would require so much more equipment anyway that it's not really a viable (and financial!) consideration for the foreseeable future. I like the idea of reducing vignetting, having smoother alt/az and wonder if blackened mirror edges would improve the image(?). The fact it uses knobs for collimating the primary mirror means I wouldn't have to consider buying any Bobs knobs mods anytime soon... I'm a little unsure of the Bresser's MDF box using MFI/Ikea style fasteners (I've always found them on the weak side) and although the large semi-circular bearings look great, they don't appear to fasten the telescope as securely to the base (could you knock it enough to have it come completely out of the base?). I came across the Bresser Messier NT-203 (http://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/bresser-messier-2031200-optical-tube-assembly.html) which looked like it ironed out the issue with the optical finder but it looks like an EQ mount-only option and seems to raise the price bracket again! (I naively hoped Bresser made a Dobsonian 'kit' to retrofit to such a unit after seeing the Messier 8" Dob!). I apologise if it's not good etiquette to re-ignite an old(ish) post but it seemed the best place to raise these questions! Regards, Matthew