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Showing results for tags '200p'.
Found 56 results
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Hi all, I've been dabbling for about a year and am having a lot of fun. Nothing too serious and I don't have mega expectations but I'm starting to wonder if my images could be sharper and there's something I'm missing. I'm attaching a picture which is the best 10% of a 3 minute video with 500d 'bolted' straight to the 200p f5 scope. No filters...no barlows...just camera straight on. It's sharpened and saturated after the fact so in every way this is the sharpest I can get it. I've always had the same issue whether it's with a single shot, stacks of shots, or stacked video. Views through the eyepieces (circle-T 12.5/25) are mega sharp! I'm happy that collimation is very good and it was a remarkably clear night tonight. All in all I'd be pretty happy with this image (maybe over exposed a bit...) if the craters with shadows didn't make me want to rub my eyes. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice! -
Hi all. I've been pondering over the idea of upgrading the standard focuser on my 200p to a dual speed one. This one: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-focusers/dual-speed-crayford-1252-inch-focuser-for-skywatcher-explorer.html This is primarily due to my frustration when observing the planets, especially when the seeing isn't great. I really need that extra tiny bit of precise focus, and the focuser I currently have just moves that notch too much when I try and fine tune. Do you guys think it's worth going for one of these? Also how easy is it to attach a new focuser? I don't want to go recking my scope by dropping screws onto the mirror Many thanks, Thomas -
Hi all I purchased a skywatcher 200p dobsonion from first light optics a few weeks back. During assembly I found that the package containing side handle and the tension control handle is missing. I have contacted the first light optics but they are not sure when and how they are going to make it available for me. Does anyone of you have these to spare?? -
The first two photos were taken using my BST StarGuider 3.2mm ED EP. The middle one was using a 25mm MA EP. The last two were taking with a 10mm MA EP. I was just holding the phone to the eyepiece, using the zoom and exposure compensation. I have no control of the ISO with this phone, even using the Open Camera app.
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Stargazing Session 001 - Saturn, Jupiter & the Milky Way
AbeSapien posted a blog entry in "We are made of star stuff..."
21 of June 2017 / 22h30 UTC+01:00 / Stargazing Conditions: 88% So, I crammed all of my new acquired stuff together and went to the darkest place I could find near my town. It's a mere 5 minute drive from my home. As I set everything up, I tried to wait for 20-30 minutes to give the 'scope a chance to acclimatize but I really couldn't! Jupiter I looked west south west to find Jupiter, pointed my finderscope at it and I was amazed by how clear the image from the 'scope was!! I had a 5 minute stare through my 25mm BST eyepiece where I could distinctly see the two belts, the north and south equatorial belt. As clearly as the belts were also three of its moons were, namely Callisto, Europa and Io, although Europa was quite close to Jupiter. The color was also great and the view, simply mesmerizing! I then switched to the 15mm BST eyepiece. First I was a little, let's say disappointed, but not that strong, by the magnification, and immediatly switched to the 8mm BST. To my surprise I wasn't convinced by the view either... So I decided to get back to the 25mm and calm down and enjoy the view as I clearly was getting hasty. As I started over, I remembered some words from a friend of mine who told me that watching the stars often comes down to 50% of actually seeing the stars and 50% imagination and concentration. So I tried the 15mm a second time and... I was hooked. I could now clearly see eight different colors and belts! I'm not quite sure what it was I saw, except the north and south equatorial belt, but I will have a look at some Jupiter maps and educate myself about the planet's surface. This will help in better understanding and watching next time, the case given that the seeing is as clear as it was that night. With the 15mm eyepiece Europa was now very distinct from Jupiter. I couldn't manage to get more detail out of the 8mm eyepiece, everything just got a tad bigger and a little fainter if my impressions were right. After good half an hour of watching the delightful planet and its moons I sat down and searched for Saturn, which was south not very high above the horizon. Saturn I switched back to the 25mm eyepiece, pointed my viewfinder at Saturn and peaked through the eyepiece. What a marvel! I clearly could see some colors on the surface and easily distinct the ring from the planet itself. As I switched over to the 15mm eyepiece, the separations on the planet's surface became a tad clearer and the ring/planet separation obviously bigger. I encountered the same problem as before of not knowing what I was looking at, which bothered me a little. I have to do a little homework here and get myself started with some fancy vocabulary. Milky Way All in all it was a marvelous first light experience and I clearly have to learn the stuff I'm looking at, but I think that's just me and my endless thirst for knowing things. I randomly gazed through the skies at the end, beeing absolutely overwhelmed by everything I saw. Furthermore, I simply was flabbergasted when I ran across the milky way in the north east... There were so many stars I couldn't see with my bare eye, but only with the 'scope (which made aiming with the finderscope a nightmare... How do you guys do that really?!). I'm glad I acquired the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P with the eyepieces. It is one of the best things I got myself and I think I will have a lot of fun with it and furthermore learn so many new things. Thanks for reading, Abe -
(Sorry for double posting hopefully one of the mods can delete my original post) Hello all, hope you’ve all had a good week, been a few clear skies this week . In the next couple of months I’m going to be purchasing the 200p Dobsonian. And doing some research people seem to struggle carrying the ota because of how awkward it is.I was wondering if anyone has successfully put handles on it to make it easier to carry or other solutions I have found this on eBay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Awning-Pole-Storage-Bag-Deluxe-Hardwearing-Holdall-/142422407055?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10 not sure if it’s the right dimensions I’ve also seen people suggest heavy duty trolleys. But I have to use stairs to get to the garden so that’s kind of out the question ( and might need to make a 2 minute walk to a field). Any help would be appreciated and also if possible to post me some images of what you’ve done. I don’t really want to drill in the ota to make holes for a handle.
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A lovely blue tube Skywatcher 200P (8") Newtonian Reflector Telescope OTA that is fully loaded and upgraded. Diameter: 200mm Focal Length: 1000mm Focal Ratio: F5 * Skywatcher blue-tube 200P * Skywatcher Low Profile Dual Speed Crayford Focuser (2", with 1.25" adapter) * Black tube rings * Long Dovetail bar * Whole tube Flocked with black velour material * Blackened Secondary Mirror * 9x50 Finderscope (blue) * Adjustable collimation thumbscrews (Secondary) * Bob's Knobs adjustable collimation thumbscrews (Primary) This is for the OTA (telescope) only, no mount or eyepieces included. £200 Extras: Geoptik padded bag in red. £40 StarSharp Bahtinov Mask. £10 Would meet up within a reasonable distance of Leeds/Wakefield for fuel costs, or scope could be made available near Manchester or Chesterfield area given enough notice. -
Only my second time observing Saturn last night so thought I'd try imaging it as the sky was nice & clear for once! All taken with Sky-Watcher Skyliner 200p + 2x Celestron Barlow + QHY5L-II-C. 100 frames stacked in AS2! De-Noise in Registax. Wavelets in Astra Image 4.0 Cropped & tweaked in CS6. 23/05/16 UT 23:55:23 Lytham, Lancashire, NW UK. Here's my second attempt. ROI was smaller so it gave me a slightly higher magnification. 120 frames stacked in AS2! De-Noise in Registax. Wavelets in Astra Image 4.0 Upscaled & tweaked in CS6. 23/05/16 UT 23:56:14 Lytham, Lancashire, NW UK.
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Hi all, Im living in a fairly light polluted area, and have a Skywatcher 200p on an eq5 pro mount. I've been using my phone to take pictures of varies objects with varying degrees of success ( mainly due to mounting my phone to the telescope) but ive decided id like to take imaging a little more seriously and am looking to get a DSLR with the interest of deep sky astrophotography. having said that i dont have £5k for blow on a camera and am looking to spend around the £100 mark, but dont know cameras and dont know what the best camera in my price range would be. I realize i wont be able to do too long a exposure because of my mount being unguided and it being a eq5 pro not a Heq5. any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated. Daniel
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A lovely blue tube Skywatcher 200P (8") Newtonian Reflector Telescope OTA that is has been substantially upgraded. Diameter: 200mm Focal Length: 1000mm Focal Ratio: F5 * Skywatcher blue-tube 200P * Skywatcher Low Profile Dual Speed Crayford Focuser (2", with 1.25" adapter) [RRP £132] * Black tube rings * Long Dovetail bar * Whole tube Flocked with black velour material * Blackened Secondary Mirror * 9x50 Finderscope (blue) * Adjustable collimation thumbscrews (Secondary) * Bob's Knobs adjustable collimation thumbscrews (Primary) This is for the OTA (telescope) only, no mount or eyepieces included. £180 Extras: Geoptik padded bag in red. £40 Would meet up within a reasonable distance of Leeds/Wakefield for fuel costs, or scope could be made available near Manchester or Chesterfield area given enough notice.
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Good morning people of the SGL collective. I have to admit to an act of selfishness, which is more annoying given that SGLX and the partial eclipse is so close, and the now impending couple of weeks of forthcoming rain and cloud too. Though I won’t be attending SGLX, I live close to Mordiford, so by proxy, I fear that will have an impact. I have turned to the Dob Side. Two years ago, I bought my first scope, a 150p which amazed me. I was hooked. This Thursday I took delivery of my new 300p Flextube which now has pride of place in the living room as I don’t have anywhere else to store it. Matters of consequence are secondary in cases like this you must understand. The process has taken around 6 months to come through in total while my mind went from scope to scope, review to review and showroom visit to showroom visit. SGL being key at all stages, even down to supplier reviews. I’ve documented the build process and first impressions here. I will replicate it in part on the forum when I have more time over the weekend. However, I am now considering the bolt-ons and mods that I can make. I have already replaced the secondary collimation screws with thumb screws similar to Bobs Knobs. I also bought a new Telrad base and have removed the stock finderscope attachment in favour of the Telrad base. And finally, I am waiting on delivery of a dual-speed focuser too. Once the damage to the bank account has been repaired, next on my list will be a shroud. So, my question to the forum. What suggestions or thoughts do you have about improvements or additions to the scope other than those already mentioned? The build and construction itself I am happy with, though I have read about owners applying lithium grease to the bearings for smoother running, but at the moment I am happy with the way it runs. How it reacts in the field is of course a different thing though. Clear Skies (hopefully) everyone. Tony
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COMET C/2014 E2 JACQUES Meets the OPEN CLUSTER NGC 609 23 / 08 / 2014This is my first attempt at a Comet. After having various issues with stacking and a rogue stretched star as a result of a stacking error. I can finally feel proud after relentless hours spent at stacking and re-stacking this image. I feel proud I managed to process this Comet as well as it looks. I think there is a hint of a tail at the 3 O'clock position but who knows... The bonus is the comet is above an Open Cluster NGC 609 which adds more interest. Conditions were good and if I had set-up the Mount better I may have managed longer subs. There is a hint of star trails due to wind and tracking issues.16 x 30 secs Light Frames30 x 30 secs Dark FramesISO 800Skywatcher 200P 8" 1000mm ReflectorEQ5Canon 1100D ModdedBaader MKIII MPCC + Hutech IDAS LPS-D1 FilterHI-RES IMAGE: -
Morning All, Last night I managed this image of Jupiter and I would appreciate your tips on how to improve it. Equipment was 200P on HEQ5 with ASI120MM and Televue 2.5 powermate. Captured in Firecapture beta. 60 seconds. 512x440. Gain 41. Exposure time 13.65. 72 fps. Gamma 26. Processed in Virtual Dub, Castrator, AS2 and Registax 6. Whilst content with the image for my first with the new camera, I know better will come. My initial thoughts are: 1. Should I have taken a 2 minute AVI or is 4,300 frames enough? 2. Is the main problem I am out of focus and should work more on this next time? 3. I notice a slight onion ring. Have I overdone the sliders? Your advice as always would be most appreciated. -
Here's my quicky at M82 SN2014J, two nights ago and the only clear night for ages but quite gusty so the 200p what an excellent sail. 16 x 180s Lights10 x 180s Darks800iso200p HEQ5 Guided in phdProcessed in Nebulosity & CS6
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3rd of July 2017 / 21h30 UTC+01:00 / Stargazing Conditions: 80% After much reading and hyping myself so much, I was pretty stunned by the early notification on my phone that yesterday night could potentially be a good evening with good seeing. So I went home after work (with my phone still showing 80% of potential seeing), sat on my desk and prepared myself. I chose to watch the Moon, since I never really observed it, Jupiter, Saturn and search for the Sombrero Galaxy! Last week I searched for a few good atlases and stumbled unto the Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas. A promising atlas which should arrive this week, but still would let me be without a field atlas, since it is a desk edition... After cramming in the forums I mainly found three downloadable recommendations: 1) The Deep-Sky Atlas 2) Deep-Sky Hunter Atlas 3) TriAtlas I downloaded all of them and browsed through them, noticing that only the Deep-Sky Hunter Atlas exists in a field edition. I printed the normal Version on A3 paper to look if it fits the need and, hell yeah, I really like it so far!! Only downside (for me) at the moment, is that the constellations are in black lines in contrary to the Deep-Sky Atlas. So I think I'll print both of them, laminate them and take them with me on my sessions. (I will have to inverse the colors on the Deep-Sky Atlas though) To round everything up, I figured that I'll need a software too, to plan my sessions a little better and just give me the right impressions on where I will have to search in the sky. A while back I downloaded Stellarum, which seemed to be a great free app, but it simply kept crashing on my laptop... Searching for alternatives I found SkySafari 5 and Starry Night 7. Given the prices of Starry Night 7 and the fact that it isn't to be found on the AppStore, I went ahead and downloaded SkySafari 5 Pro. It is a beautifully simple app which does the job just fine and gives me the needed input to satisfy my thirst for knowledge (at least for now). At this point, I was wondering if someone knows if Starry Night 7 was up-gradable? So let's say I buy the Enthusiast Edition and wanted to up-grade to the Pro or even Pro-Plus version one day. Do I have to buy the App entirely new or does it give the opportunity to up-grade for a few bucks to the next edition? Enough rambling an off to my stargazing site! I arrived well early before sunset, which gave me the opportunity to once check again, if my finderscope was well aligned with the 'scope. It also gave me the chance to let my 'scope acclimatize the same way as last time and so I sat back and waited a little until the moon gained a little on contrast as the sun was setting. The Moon The Moon, being a waxing gibbous, shone bright in the slightly dark blue night sky with literally NO clouds in the sky. I put my 15mm BTS eyepiece in and looked at the beautiful moonscape. It is defiantly the first time I've seen the Moon so up-close and I was in awe by it. I never imagined that it could be so nice to look at all these craters and I began to wonder where they all came from. It is simply a battlefield of craters and each and everyone has its own story to tell... after a good 30 minutes of switching between the 8mm and 15mm eyepiece and lots of "ohs" and "wows", I figured I could try and photograph the Moon with my phone through the eyepiece... what seemed to be a really stupid idea at first turned out to be a really great shot (I think?)! (very little photoshop-magic to increase contrast and sharpness) Jupiter Next on that nights list was Jupiter. I remembered the image last time I looked at it and I was thrilled to already clearly identify Europa from Io through the finderscope. I managed to see Callisto, Ganymede, Europa and Io. I think that Jupiter itself was a little less contrasty as last time BUT I think I could make out the Red Spot which really made me happy! I was so thrilled by the view I even can't write down how I felt... I switched from 15mm to the 8mm eyepiece and focused in... I kept focusing and focusing and focusing but nothing happened... As I looked up in the sky I was shocked... the beautiful cloudless sky had turned into a thick carpet of Cumulus Cumulonimbus... I immediately looked at the horizon on my right to see if there was a slight possibility of clear sky but the enemy had invaded the sky... To make matters even worse at that moment, I met my locations' neighbor, which is no other company then Arcelor Mittal... The sky with the clouds lit up in a bright orange from the molten metal... At that moment I knew it was over for that night... Thanks for reading Abe
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From the album: 2015 Various
My best attempt at jupiter with the 200p at 5x barlow f25 5000mm© Aenima
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From the album: The next step.
I like the flame nebula and the horsehead appearing was a bonus as well. approx 16 x 1min exposures canon 300D, 200p EQ5 - DSS.© Aenima
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I've decided the Skywatcher dual speed focuser is not up to astrophotography, there's too much play in it, I've tried tightening it up but it still flops about. My sweatheart has asked me what I want for my birthday/xmas presents, as the are very close together I don't mind just the one. So the question is which should I go for, either the Baader Diamond Steeltrack or the Moonlite CR2 dual speed crayford which with the installation kit will be quite a bit more in price.
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Hello, after deciding on getting a dobsonian either a 150p or 200p I was wondering if anyone leaves their dobsonian outside?. Obviously I won’t be leaving it uncovered, I was hoping if there are any special all weather covers? So I can just leave it all assembled.I do have some room left in my garage but might be a tight fit . I was also thinking of getting a bag like this ( something a bit bigger) http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/textiles-rugs/outdoor-textiles/tosterö-storage-bag-for-cushions-black-art-20292328/?cid=gb|ps|pla||||. I’d wrap it up in dust sheets or something as well. I really want to get one of those dobs but I’m struggling on where I can store it. And please would someone confirm the weights for me Ive seen the 150p dob is about 7kg is and the 200p is about 9kg and the base being around 10kg for both is this correct?
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Hey guys, Pretty new to the forums, so hello everyone! I have been using a Vixen Super Polaris EQ mount with a Vixen 80m refractor for many, many years. During this period I was not caring too much about polar alignment at all, but instead just to whip it out and have a look around. Recently I have purchased myself a SkyWatcher 200 P reflector with a HEQ5 SynScan mount which together is extremely heavy in a bid to start learning some astrophotography as in East Anglia light pollution isn't too common. My garden does have 'some' solid ground but this is not in an ideal location and so I will most definitely have to use my gardens boggy grass. I am worried due to the weight and the boggy grass, my scope will slowly sink down whilst taking shots. Do any of you guys have any proven solutions or mods that you have come up with in a similar situation to eradicate your set up sinking on loose ground? Just curious if this has been dealt with before in a smart manor. Cheers! -
Hi all, I walked into the spare room and wasn't too happy with the amount of dust on my Skyliner 200p DOB and decided it was time to take her out. I live about 23 miles away from Kelling Heath (Norwich City) and decided to drive out to Kelling in search of Dark skies. Rather than go to the camp site where the star parties take place, I went to the actual heathland in kelling also known as Kelling Heath. A friend of mine is into taking pictures of the night sky so he came along with his DSLR. The Plan was to view Saturn and to take a look at the moon too, however we got there a little later than expected and Saturn had just dipped out of view. I still got a good look at the Moon, my friend had his first look through a telescope and was amazed at the detail! Not the most exciting report but it was my first proper outing of the year so I was glad to get back out there!
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My current setup for astrophotography is an eq5 pro mount with a 200p telescope, using a canon 1000d camera, I’ve been looking at what I could upgrade to improve my astrophotos and my top priority is getting a light pollution filter and it in the middle of a city. But next I’m torn, between getting an autoguiding system and getting a new mount (heq5 or neq6 if I could find one used) I recognise I will need both eventually it’s just about which to get first. I’m that respect if I were to get the auto guider first, I would probably have to find a different way of mounting it because of the weight limit, I found a old thread that referenced mounting the autoguiding system to the counterweight bar which would not increase the weight, I see a few problems with this but for the sake of saving the weight I figure it’s a good idea. Im not sure what autoguiding kit I would get but I’ve seen that the st80 is highly regarded and probably a Astro ccd around the £150 mark. Any advice on which to get first for my setup would be appriciated and what mount and autoguiding system that is advisable. Thanks in advance.
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From the album: Sulaco
21 x 180s @800iso & 20x darks only SW200p on Heq5 Guided with QHY5v and PHD© © 2013 Campbell Muir
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From the album: The next step.
I wanted to try again on this for a while now, a gap in the clouds recently gave me the chance although it was literally twenty minutes: 19 x 60sec subs with calibration frames taken indoors. Quite surprised with the image for such a short exposure time.© Aenima
