Skywatcher Explorer 200p

[dilse]

Hiya all. I'm new to SGL. I'm think I've made my mind up to buy a SW 200p (as my first scope) I'm stuck on which mount to go for. EQ5 or HEQ5. I dont fully understand what 'syntrek' or 'synscan' is. I dont fully understand what GOTO entails either.

I'm definately in love with astronomy and have been for a long long time...but I dont know if it will pan out into astrography too. So need advice on which mounts to get and what exactly they all do

I dont fully grasp the concept collimation,. And tracking too and whether i would need it right away or not.

PS: what r the benefits of a SW00PDS as opposed to SW200p?

[dmn21]

Hi,

I'm sure the more experienced folk here will have a better view, but we bought a 200p on an EQ5 mount and we've been very happy with it.

We bought the standard mount without any tracking, but have just ordered the Synscan upgrade, which I understand will give us full GOTO capability, with drives on the RA and Dec axes and the computer controller. I'm hoping this will enable better long exposure deep sky photos.

I think Syntrak is just an RA drive, which keeps you up with the sidereal motion of the stars (well, earth) but doesn't do full GOTO.

Hope that helps,

Dan

[bombassa]

PS: what r the benefits of a SW00PDS as opposed to SW200p?

Hi

The P means 'Parabolic' which refers to the shape of the main mirror. Parabolic should be better than spherical which is probably why Skywatcher is nice enough to draw our attententions to this fact.

DS means the scope is fitted with a Dual Speed focuser which should make focusing easier - which is also why the PDS is somewhat pricier than the 'regular' 200P.

EDIT - The heq5 is a somewhat stronger mount than the eq5 and should therefore be better suited for astrophotos. But surely the photo guys have much more info on this.

[Bizibilder]

The SW200P is an exellent all-round scope to start with - plenty of aparture (size of main mirror) to allow you to see faint objects. As to mount I would go for the best you can within budget. The EQ5 will hold a 200P and is adequate for visual work it can also be upgraded to driven (ie it will follow the stars across the sky - they appear to move across the sky due to the rotation of the earth) or goto (same as driven with the addition that you can enter the name of an object into the handset and the scope will slew to find the object and then track it across the sky). The HEQ5 is a bigger and more capable mount it comes in three guises - basic which is driven to allow tracking (BUT with motors that cannot be upgraded to goto without replacing them!) Syntrek which is driven and able to track the stars etc (with the "correct" motors - hence fully upgradeable) and synscan which has the full goto capability. If you have the Syntrek mount you may also "upgrade" it with a laptop and free software to make it fully goto (In my own case I bought a lappy for less than the cost of the "official" upgrade).

Collimation is the alignment of the mirrors of the telescope - this is something that the owner has to do from time to time. It is not difficult - a bit like riding a bike! Once you have the "nack" it is quite an easy and quick task (The first time you do it could take a while!!) There are several tutorials on how to do it and you do need a collimator (a Cheshire type costs around £25)

If you are even vaguely interested in Astro photography I would suggest the HEQ5 as an absolute minimum. In AP the mount is often said to be 80-90% of the solution of trying to photograph ridiculously faint objects against a black background when every target is moving!!

I hope this helps - don't be put off by the gear needed! You can buy over time and learn to use it quite easily. Astronomy is a huge learning process so enjoy it!!

[bish]

Great scope. I am happy with the EQ5 but if I had the money would have gone for the HEQ5 as I may want to get into imaging. My main interest is visual at the moment though.

[Viv]

Completely agree with Bish - if I had the funds available, earlier this year, it would have been a HEQ5.

But didn't want to invest a huge amount, just in case my interest, didn't turn into a huge disaster.

But saying that, there are a couple of challenges / problems I have found - so am looking at the Celeston CGEM mount (to upgrade later this year) .....

[dilse]

dmn21 Dan thanks that was very helpful. If I went in for a Syn Trek is there a way to also add GOTO using some additional software from a laptop or something?Tell me how you go on with the SynScan cheers

bombassa thanks that solved that mystery

bish thanks. i was a lil scathed about if sw200 was a good scope or not ;)

Scarlet thanks. what sorta problems/challenges did you face??

Bizibilder thanks great to be finally talking to you.i came across a lot of your work in my inital research.great stuff...keep up the brill work right, say i go in for the syntrek.what exactly do i need to make it a full GOTO? please advice.

Thank you all for such quick responses and for all the wonderful help.

[Viv]

Scarlet thanks. what sorta problems/challenges did you face??

Hi ya - my main problem is not being able to see Polaris !!

Yes - there is dift align, but also due to a horrid street light, can't see much over the east side.

I know people say in time, it's a really quick process to sort (but don't think I ever realised how long set up time can be (or is going to be in the future, when start dabbling with guiding) !

Hence the CGEM mount, has the special 2 star (from searching for user reports, using a 3 star, gets is dead on) alignment, in that it's a database of stars that you can use, Polaris doesn't have to be one of them.

Also finding things, the standard EQ5 has no motors, syntrek or skyscan - it's a big open space up there, when light pollution is arround - not so easy to see ......

Hope that help - cheers.

[Bizibilder]

There are two ways to upgrade a Syntrek to full goto:

First simply buy the Skywatcher upgrade - basically a new handset which will set you back £290 from FLO.

OR If you have a lappy (or netbook which is cheaper!) you can use EQMOD/ASCOM which is free. It works in conjunction with a computer star atlas such as Cartes du Ceil (also free!) and an adapter cable which costs £44.90 from FLO - some folk make thier own.

EQMOD has far more functionality than the SW handset eg you can goto ANY star or DSO in CdC (hundreds of thousands!) rather than just those on the handset. It has a really useful (and idiot proof - I've used it!!) polar alignment routine, periodic error control for the mount (too advanced for me at the moment!) and allows guiding control via the ASCOM part using software like PHD (again freeware) and a webcam or "proper" guide camera.

As I said I got my lappy in an Amazon sale and I noticed this week that tesco's had lappys for around £275 - Don't forget that the lappy can also be used to control more than the mount - cameras, guiders etc and, most usefully (I think) you can download pictures as you take them thus checking as you go - I used to hate taking a couple of hours of subs directly onto the camera memory card just to find that something was wrong!!

[dilse]

Scarlet: Ahaa i see why you need to get a CGEM. And thanks yup that does help

Bizibilder: As far as FLO goes; I saw a HEQ5 syncan SW200 package from another supplier that was £95 cheaper.And yet FLO comes highly recommended.Is it justified to spend that much extra just to get it from FLO?

I already have a laptop that I use for normal browsing.That'll do? After getting a syntrek package, next I have to get the softwares (EQMOD, ASCOM & PH) and a connecting cable and I'm 'GOTO'?

You reckon going that way is more fruitful than getting a GOTO handset? Hmm and as far as using the laptop n softwares go is that fairly user friendly or needs lots of technical knowledge?Also the difference between a HEQ5 Syntrek n Synscan package is around £.120-£.140.

And would it be advantagous to go for a GOTO and also use EQMOD n ASCOM?

Whats the difference between HEQ5 n HEQ5 PRO?

And I need to get a power supply for a GOTO right?What ways are there?

Thanks again for helping out.Means a lot. Appreciate it wholeheartedly.

[Bizibilder]

Taking things in order:

You will need a power supply for any driven mount. The usual kind is a "power Pack" ie a 12v car jump starter. Maplins usually have them on offer for around £20. BUT they are not the ideal (they contain a 17Ah - see below - battery) - really you should be using a "Leisure Battery" as used in caravans and boats. These are designed to allow a continuous draw of a small current over time - the power pack is designed for a quick "oomph!" to start a car and then a recharge. You will need a decent charger as well. All of this will be connected up using "cigarette lighter plugs" which come ready attached to the kit. Although more expensive I would go for the leisure battery - they will last years if treated well and will have sufficient capacity to run all your kit.

A 75 Ah battery will run 1 amp for 75 hours. So a mount drawing 1A plus a lappy drawing 3.5A totals 4.5A - So 75/4.5= 16 hours BUT you dont want to discharge the battrery more than half way so 8 hours max. This is more than enough to run for a whole night! (Don't whatever you do buy a "astro branded" power pack - they are around £100 for £20 quids worth of kit!!!!!!!)

As far as goto is concerned you can use one or the other but not both. If you have the goto mount and you want to run EQMOD/ASCOM then you dont use the goto handset (which contains the goto computer).

You can get kit cheaper but FLO are reliable and dependable. (I am a satisfied customer and have no other connection). I would keep away from fleabay etc if you are a beginner - some awful stuff as well as some good stuff there and some folk pay ridiculous prices for things!

You may well be quite happy with the handset, especially starting out with visual observing - you can always upgrade later - the choice is yours. However as you have the lappy you may prefer to use EQMOD - it is not technically difficult and there are some exellent video tutorials available on You Tube (google Chris Shillito's Channel). (You can tell I'm hooked on EQMOD!)

Hope this helps.

[Big Jim Slade]

As a newb who has travelled the very same road over the last few months, I thought I'd chip in my 2p.

Mounts:

HEQ5 standard - large beast, no GOTO, comes with a little box with n,s,e,w buttons. It tracks stars across the sky, but does not slew - that is, you can't use the buttons to move quickly from one target to another. Can't be operated by EQMOD.

HEQ5 Syntrek - again not GOTO, but has the bigger motors required for it. Comes with a slightly better looking little box with the same buttons on it. It does slew, so you don't have to move the mount manually at all. EQMOD works with this.

HEQ5 Synscan (or Pro GOTO)- the full goto version. This has the fancy handset that lets you view any object by typing it in. EQMOD works as well.

Upgrades:

HEQ5 - can be upgraded to a full Synscan Pro Goto with the upgrade kit. This costs just south of 300 quid, and includes upgraded motors, a new circuit board and the Synscan handset. It's relatively easy to fit if you feel competent with this sort of thing.

HEQ5 Syntrek - this can be turned into a full GOTO mount by buying a replacement handset for the princely sum of 177 quid (FLO price.)

EQMOD

You will need an EQDIR box that connects your laptop to the mount, these cost about 45 quid. If you have a Synscan handset it is possible to connect to it without the EQDIR I think, but I'm not sure how many people do that.

My advice would be get the GOTO handest if at all possible. It's simple and straightforward. As Bizi says you can always upgrade later. As a newby, it's almost certain that EQMOD will scare the bejesus out of you - it's absolutely fantastic but will appear immensely complex to the beginner. Plus you will need to install planetarium software and possibly software to connect the planetarium to EQMOD, I know I found it all very daunting when I started.

Power

Everything Bizi said is spot on, but I would just go for the Maplin Jump Starter for now, assuming you can get 3 or 4 hours out of your laptop battery if you plan on using it. It has a built in charger and will run the mount for ages. You're probably not going to be pulling all-nighters straight away, plus "all night" is all of about 4 hours for the next few months anyway!

For me, I progressed from manual, to handset GOTO, then laptop with EQMOD and Stellarium, which felt like a nice smooth progression over the space of several months. Your mileage may vary, of course.

[malc-c]

Like others I've started with the EQ5 but went straight in at the pro goto model. If you are small stature like me then this mount is just portable without having to remove all the weights etc. It's fantastic for visual observing, and adequate IMO for basic imaging with webcams or dSLR's.

I opted for this model as I wasn't sure if I would be really bitten by the astronomy bug, or it would be a phase and I would get bored with it, hence why I didn't pay the extra for the HEQ5 goto. Now I know that you can control the scope via a simple cable and PC, I wish I had opted for the HEQ5 syntrek version. These mounts are rock solid and are a must if you end up getting more and more into imaging rather than visual work.

Shop around, but be careful as there are some shops advertising the bog standard HEQ5 as the syntrek and thus it appears that they are a lot cheaper. I would suggest Rother Valley Optics or FLO. The widescreen centre in London are also good place to go if you are in the south of England