Skywatcher SKYLINER-150P thoughts?

[Rickjb39]

Hi stargazers, although im not a new comer to looking at the cosmos with nothing more than my eyes i have decided to invest in a telescope which is a subject i know very little about. I've spent many hours going through this forum and other looking at what beginners are being advised to purchase and so far i have my mind set on Skywatcher SKYLINER-150P.

So my question i wanted to ask is this a good/simple telescope to get started with?

[Moonshane]

Hi and welcome to the group.

This is a very able all rounder and will give you many years of good times with the sky. I don't subscribe to the 'beginner's scope' idea on the basis that everyone begins somewhere and some of the so called beginner's scopes are so bad they put off people new to the hobby. This is not one of those though.

It will allow you to detect many deep space objects like the brighter galaxies and nebulae and if your skies are dark, then even better and even more will be visible.

It will also be good on planets and lunar observing too as well as double stars, open and globular clusters and the like.

You'll notice I said, 'detect' and 'good' here rather than observe and excellent.

As long as you ensure your expectations for this aperture are realiastic then you'll be delighted. For me though, there's no doubt that more aperture means more satisfaction up to a point anyway. If you are reasonably fit and strong and don't need to move the scope up and down too many stairs or have a car to go to darker sites and have the budget, I'd consider an 8" version. If not then the 6" will be very good indeed too.

Budget for a red dot finder of some kind (I like Telrads best but the Rigel and the Baader Skysurfer 3 are good too) and a decent star map like the Sky&Telescope Pocket Atlas is excellent - about £10 from Amazon.

[Rickjb39]

Thanks for that great reply i'll defiantly look into the 8" and that sky map.

[Rickjb39]

upon reading more i didnt take into account that the planets move constantly so with that being said is there some sort of tracking motor for the stand that i could look into purchasing for the Skywatcher SKYLINER-150P?

[Moonshane]

you can buy tracking mounts. the one problem though is the more you spend on the mount, the less you have available for optics. what's your budget approx? I should stress that tracking by hand is easy to about 200x.

[fbassett]

Hi

I have the explorer 150p and have found it to be a very capable scope, I think the skyliner 150p is very similar but with a dobsonian mount. I have had my scope for a couple of months now and although I am very happy with it and have no immediate plans to change it, with hindsight, I would have got the 200p. Hope this helps and welcome to the SGL

[Daz Type-R]

I have the 200P scope (8") and find tracking things no problem at all. Also, to give you an idea of the size, the scope (minus the base) just fits nicely on the back seat of a Vauxhall Astra. If you have the cash, then go for the 200 upwards, the bigger the primary mirror, the better quality and more objects you could find.

[Chris H]

upon reading more i didnt take into account that the planets move constantly

Everything moves constantly, but tracking manually with a Dob is no problem at all.

[Rickjb39]

Thanks for the replys guys thats a small weight off my shoulders and my budget would be a max of £200 with it being so close to christmas as i have 3 excited children to please first