Shopping List - How Does This Look? =)

[AweSIM]

hi all..

i have, currently in my possession, a SkyWatcher Explorer 200PDS.. didnt have enough cash to afford a mount or anything else back then in july.. but now i do.. ive finalized a list of following things.. and hopefully today.. im gonna order these.. please do give your feedback on how good do you think the list is..

SkyWatcher EQ6 SkyScan Pro - i was thinking of saving some cash by going for HEQ5 but since almost everybody on the forum recommended NEQ6/EQ6 as a must for imaging.. i had to stretch my budget to the limit to get this one..

TS Optics Complete Eyepiece + Accessory Kit - i had initially wanted to get just one or two EPs worth around 80 euros or so.. but after some thinking.. i decided to get a complete kit.. i know these EPs would be something like 20 - 30 euros per EP and i shouldnt expect the best views out of them.. but at high power, the EPs wouldnt be as demanding.. plus the kit gives me a barlow and EP projection adapter.. plus some color filters.. this should help me experience these filters and EP magnifications first hand and help me better decide the next time for one or two specific EPs.. but i do hope that these ones do not completely disappoint me..

T2 Adapter for Nikon Cameras - i had accidently ordered the wrong M48 Bajonet Adapter last time which didnt fit on my scope.. took me a lot of time to find out what exactly is a T2 thread.. and which adapter fits over it.. my prime interest lies in DSOs which are impressive only in pics which is what i intend to do with this scope.. so getting this one..

TS Optics Universal Contrast Filter - once again.. this is here to help me better judge the worthiness of filters like these myself.. its cheap and shouldnt give the best results.. but if it works even a bit the way ive been led to believe.. then itll pave way for maybe an astronomic UHC filter soon..

- Orion Illuminated Crosshair 12mm EP - since im new to polar aligning, drift aligning and other tricks of the trade (never having owned a mount before), i felt this is a good purchase..

Laser Collimator for Newtonians - although ive heard low of laser collimators from experts here.. saying that you dont need one.. and the human eye is much better at collimating.. im still getting this one.. reason being that ive collimated my scope to the level best of my skills and still didnt get good views thru it.. might be due to the fact that i dont have a mount at all.. bad seeing.. bad collimation.. or bad optics.. but i cant tell.. so just to be sure that when i do collimate.. it is actually collimated..

what do you guys think of this list?

cheers..

awesim..

pakistan..

[JamesM]

Well, it looks like a load of rubbish!

No only joking some good kit there. The NEQ6 for me needs no introduction as I have one and you will be glad you've made the choice. Whether imaging or not, its big advantage is its payload capacity/price which should future proof your investment for some time. Nothing worse than getting a mount only to change the scope and need a bigger mount. I can't comment on your particular choice of eyepiece kit but in principle I would advise against any of them. Them seem at first glance to be good value and a worthwhile experiment but inevitably, you will find that you don't use some of it which will ultimately increase the true price of the items that you do use making them appear less of a bargain. I would always buy individual items for the best value. I'm not sure what kind of 'contrast' filter you decided on as the link you provided didn't work on my system. There a re a lot of people who don't believe in any of the light pollution, polarising etc filters as they feel it takes something away from the viewing experience and although these types of filters promise a lot, they are not a silver bullet and loss of light might be the price that's paid. The biggest thing that you can do to increase the contrast in any object is to view from as dark a sky as possible - though easier said than done. However, one filter that is proven to make a difference which is very good on nebula and that is an OIII type and will form an important part of your visual armoury. A crosshair eyepiece is very useful but you can get round it when 2 or 3 star aligning by putting in a short focal length eyepiece and defocus the viewed object to help you centre it in the eyepiece. Might save you some money to help you buy a decent mobile power supply for the mount! Laser collimators in my opinion are a luxury BUT if a decent one can prove very effective. Again not essential as there are other ways of collimating accurately but if a good one (Hotech?) makes things very quick.

Hope my opinion helps.

James

[umadog]

"although ive heard low of laser collimators from experts here.. saying that you dont need one.. and the human eye is much better at collimating.. "

I don't know what you mean by "the human eye is better." Last time I checked, you need an eyeball to use a laser collimator Either way, you need a collimating tool and I don't believe anyone would have suggested otherwise. However, the one you have chosen is notorious for not itself being aligned. I think it's adjustable but I don't know how well it maintains alignment. Perhaps someone who owns one can comment.

You'd be better off with a cheshire/sight-tube combo tool. It will be at least as accurate and it doesn't need batteries. "laser" doesn't necessarily imply accurate and there are more accurate tools out there than lasers. Finally, you need the sight-tube portion of the tool anyway for accurately rounding the secondary in the focuser. The laser can't do that.

By the way, assessing the quality of your optics and collimation require a higher power view. You could not possibly have achieved this without mount. I would wait until you have the scope and have used it a bit before passing judgment on its performance or your collimation. You can't make these calls unless you've had some significant experience with the instrument.

[AweSIM]

@umadog.. by collimating with the eye i meant using a cheshire.. my apologies.. yes i do own a cheshire.. and a sight tube too.. i think my collimation is spot on.. but the views disappoint me.. yea i dont have a mount yet and am observing from my backyard in the middle of the city for now.. but i really wanna just double check my collimation with a laser tool.. but your mentioning that this item is notorious is making me a bit uneasy.. but let's see.. =)

@james.. thanks for the words of encouragement regarding NEQ6.. its ripped a nice clean hole in my pocket.. and im terrified about its own weight.. 20kg mount head.. 10 kg tripod.. 5 kg for each of 2 counter-weights.. plus the size of the OTA itself.. i hope ill be able to move it around in my car..

for the EPs.. yes i know i might (though hope not) be disappointed by them.. but since we dont have astro parties around here.. i cant look thru peoples' scopes to judge which EPs i want.. and which will work best with my interests and seeing conditions.. plus since im ordering from germany and having the items brought thru friends who're coming back to pakistan.. i cant order, say, an 100 euro 6mm EP to find out its too high for my seeing conditions.. so.. =(..

the filter ive ordered is for the same reason.. to see for myself how well these actually work.. i didnt want to go ordering a 100 eur+ astronomik filter without having first-hand experience with one.. i know they're not the silver bullet and there's no alternative to dark skies..

about the crosshair EP, i admit i didnt think defocussing would help in centering..

basically.. what i wanna say is that.. you're all right.. i know the items besides EQ6 arent great at all.. but i hope itll set me on the right track as to what i should get next.. =/