Stu1smartcookie

I think it has a 3/8 fitment on the bottom of the base that can be mounted onto a sturdy tripod

Hi and welcome , I certainly wouldn't describe myself as a pro but I have owned quite a lot of scopes . So , for your budget your options in terms of quality are a bit limited . Firstly we need to know what you are interested in seeing .. is it the moon and planets or some fainter deep sky objects . I have a couple of suggestions , skywatcher sell a flex tube reflector telescope that comes with its own mount its called skywatcher flex tube 130 which is only slightly over your budget . The only possible draw back is the fact that you would need to use some kind of table to put it on . At the moment there is a 150 bresser dob up for sale on the forum its a fantastic first scope and it's up for sale for 150 pounds . Second hand equipment us usually well looked after so don't discount it . The other first scope is up fact not a scope but a good pair of binoculars . Some of the night sky wonders are best seen in binoculars ie the plaides openstar cluster . You will probably get a lot of people with a lot of good suggestions on here in other words you've come to the right place Good luck in your journey in astronomy

That's the set up I am purchasing, I will probably stick to alt az . Do you know if the android problem with synscan is fixed yet ?

I have also just purchased a 200p .. its a great scope isnt it ? . I would try to get some replacement screws but I have had scopes before that I NEVER tightened the locking screws as collimation was thrown out by doing so . But , as I said , try to get some . As for EPs , I have used both 1 1/4 and 2 inch .. the 2" gives great wide field views and I usually start my viewing with that .

Looks fantastic... and I will be back with an Az-Gti hopefully by the end of next month . .. can't wait .

Welcome to SGL , Alex ... You are off to a good start with that scope

Hi , there is a dedicated thread on SGL which might help you , concerning the AZ-GTi I've had a couple or three of these mounts and they are generally sound . Look, if you are seriously into astrophotography and plan on trying to get images that will eventually get you an APOD , then look elsewhere ... but for simple photos and , in my opinion perfectly acceptable quality its a fine mount . There is also another thread on SGL which i think is called "Non EQ Challenge " where people take photos on alt-az mounts , most of which are stunning images and actually put pay to the , shall we say , rather snobby view that you need to spend thousands of pounds on equipment to gain acceptable results where photography is concerned .

A clear night ,bit freezy weezy but I wasn't going to give up the chance of a second clear night in a row . I just had the 200p on a skytee mount out last night and did a bit of mobile phone photography at the eyepiece . The winter constellations are really a sight to behold aren't they ? Plaides, and the Orion Nebula (photo attached) . Looking at the photo blown up on here it looks a bit naff , but , then again its only a crude snap .

Indeed , Venus for me is only visible during daylight as its far too low at dusk .. i think its fascinating to view it during the daytime .As for Mercury , well done ... i have only seen it once but its surprising how many haven't seen it at all .

Sorry to read that you are unwell Robert . I had a heavy cold (non covid)over Xmas which knocked me for six so I can guess you must be feeling quite low. Hopefully you will be back outside , freezing with the rest of us in no time .

I just had to have it when I knew it was up for sale , the previous owner took some amazing lunar and planetary photos with it , I hope it will still get the use it deserves as the 200p is a bit of an all rounder .

For the first time in about 6 weeks we have a clear sky . Not only does it coincide with a moonless night but also the first light of my newly acquired skywatcher 200p with aftermarket dual speed focuser . So I eagerly set up my SkyTee 2 mount and set up my 2 scopes , a 102 altair starwave achromatic frac f11 and my 200p . (Photo attached ) . The frac was really there just to add a bit of counterweight to the newt as I hardly used it tonight . I went out without any plan but quickly set about panning the cygnus region which was getting lower in the west / northwest, cue masses of stars . The collimation of the scope was tweaked without any collimation tools so I was really surprised and delighted that stars were pinpoint and round . I used a baarder 36mm EP , tonight was going to be a night for scanning . I set the frac up with a 17mm baarder , but it hardly got used . , don't worry , it's day will come . So , my next target was the plaides .. a favourite for all of us and it didn't disappoint, Then onto the Hades and an open star cluster that i stumbled on without knowing what it was called! This really was turning into a great evening and with another clear night forecast for tomorrow Orion will certainly be on the viewing menu . With clear skies a precious commodity I was a bit annoyed with myself for not making the most of this evening by not having pre determined targets but tonight was really about getting used to the scope . It works well on the mount and although purists will frown that i am using a fairly heavy scope hanging off the standard saddles , it seemed very stable . The real plus is that being an alt az the focuser remains at a constant angle , something that wouldn't be the case using an EQ mount . So , to sum up my brief first light of my 200p... a great start and I now have two scopes that compliment each other . All we need now are more clear skies .

I think a mak is complimented by a wide field scope . As you progress through the hobby you may realise you need more than one scope. As for finding things in the sky , download a program called Stellarium or Sky safari . Free apps that can point you in the right direction for your latitude and longitude .

The ST102 is a decent Achromat that unfortunately will not be as good viewing bright objects such as planets and the moon , and even the brighter stars . Because of its short focal length the scope will show false colour aroung the outside of bright objects , at higher magnification ... and you will need to up the magnification to get decent views of planets . However it will show deep sky objects but don't expect galaxies to be any more than just grey smudges . The Mak will excel on the Moon , especially ( don't underestimate the joy of viewing the moon , there is loads to see ) . As for planetary well, with Jupiter ( along with the outer planets Neptune and Uranus) are the only planets with anything like a decent viewing angle as saturn is slipping lower and lower, you may have to concentrate on double stars . I have owned both scopes and i would say , go for the Mak but thats just my opinion . After all you still have a refractor close at hand ... best of both comes to mind There is NO perfect scope which really excels at everything . People favour the heritage series 130, and 150mm as they are both portable but offer enough light gathering power to be useful on both planets and DSO's. These are table top dobs but they can be mounted on a sturdy tripod , i believe.

Not the postman , but me and my wife had a lovely trip today to collect a 200p Skywatcher from @Captain Magenta Many thanks Magnus . The scope is in great condition

Thanks for the post , seems a bit of a faff to me lol , but it makes perfect sense . I see that FLO sell ADM clamps for the skytee .I am going to get one of those .

Save I think that's a good solution

Thanks John. I seem to remember you putting a link on suitable brackets on here before, but I can't find it , where did you get your please

Thanks guys for the replies. John , I will transfer the top saddle to the side as my mount is one of the newer models , having said that , you've got me a bit paranoid about the supplied saddles ! What makes them so inferior ? Also even putting the star wave on one side I guess the most weight will be on the other side where the 200p will be , would you still use the counterweight and bar which can remain under the top clamp to give the star wave side a bit more weight ?

Hi All So I've asked a question about something similar before but I will have two largish scopes to put on this mount as from tomorrow . I intend to place a 200p on one side of the mount , and my starwave 102 on the top with the supplied cw underneath . I think it will work better than mounting the starwave on one side and the 200p on the other . Any thoughts on this ? Stu

It's actually warmer than it was on some days in May and June but it's no good having mild temperatures when it's raining everyday

The once great BBC put a statistic out this morning that over the past 16 days we have only had 0.2 hours of sunshine in London!!! Yea I know we don't need the sun for night time astronomy , but the clouds have hung around at night too

Whilst I agree with this , it's the reason I asked the initial questions ie to ascertain knowledge of the product , especially any negstives . You are so right , Jeremy , the pleasure of use indeed is the main area that counts , but to use , you have to buy , and to buy means commitment and cost . I've certainly made too many rash decisions in the past , and not so distant past in buying astronomy equipment on a whim only to regret the purchase and of course sell at a loss thereafter. Knowledge I am gaining on this thread has helped me in my decision of whether to buy the 6" CC . The worst type of reviews I see are the 5* reports ( of which I have undoubtedly been guilty of in the past too) . There have been certain issues, regarding the scope on this thread that users have highlighted that I would never have even thought about . This is what SGL is all about . Sensible down to earth opinions .

Hmm the more we delve into things the more we learn. Really interesting regarding the aperture .

From what I read and from experience I upgraded my mount pretty quickly to a sky Tee 2 as I also had an az5. For the smaller maks and fracs the AZ5 is a really nice mount but having briefly used it with a 4" frac I would say the vibrations would be too annoying when mounting the 6" CC . I remember commenting at the time that there isn't an "inbetween" mount that would bridge the gap between the az5 and skytee . The skyTee is rock solid .