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Updated Skywatcher 150p Review and First Experience using.

rickygoespop

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rickygoespop

rickygoespop

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Hi all , this is an updated version of the write up ive already posted, ive just included some photos which shows what you can achieve with this scope as its not a tracking mount. Also some details on what i have seen with Saturn and Mars. Hopefully ideal for anyone thinking about getting this scope.

The photos are taken by a samsung digi cam which was held up to the eyepiece, a little tricky getting the object in the cams viewfinder but you get there in the end.

I just wanted to write my experience with purchasing , setting up and using my new scope my gf got for me for christmas. it might come in handy for anyone who is thinking about buying one.

I purchased the scope (on my girlfriends behalf) from amazon. The scope comes in two seperate boxes, a very large box for the scope and a heavy flat pack kit for the base.

I started constructing the base of the scope, it comes in 5 pieces of wood , a handle and little rack for eye pieces etc... it is a simple screwdriver and spanner job (which comes with the scope) which overall took me around 15 minutes at a leisurely pace to put together.

The scope simply needs the view finder to be slid into position , everything else is done. The scope comes with a 10mm and 25mm eye piece and a 2" adaptor for larger eye pieces.

Overall the scope feels like a very high quality piece of kit, The base is quite heavy but is made easy to carry with the handle, the scope simply attaches and detaches by two handles and takes a minute to do. I manage to carry it to the garden in one unit by holding the handles each side of the scope.

I took the scope out for the first use, the scope was strapped in by seat belt in passenger seat and the base in the back. It was a clear night and moon was a cresent, i struggled with the view finder at first but just simply needs adjusting to match what you have in the scope. The moon showed very detailed craters and was very crisp and clear with the 10mm eye piece, the 25mm eye piece allowed the whole moon to fit in my field of view and was again very crisp and detailed.

I pointed towards Jupiter and was happy with what i had seen. With the 10mm eye piece Jupiter is around the size of a large pea and showed 2 distinct cloudbelts and very faint lighter belts, to be fair viewing wasnt very good last night so i hope to expect more in better conditions.

My next target was M42 orion nebula, as it was still early in the night orion was quite low and above a small town from where i was. Orion nebula did show up quite large in my 10mm eye piece , it was grey/blue in colour and was excactly how it is sketched in the turn left at orion 4th edition book, there was not much detail other than bright stars within it. I hunted for Andromeda and found it using stellarium, it was on the zenith so using the viewfinder i had to get down low. You can see andromeda through the viewfinder. Through the eyepiece Andromeda shows up as a grey blur and shows the nucleus only with this size scope but still amazing none the less.

Mars at present showed up as a small red disc with no detail but later in the year im hoping to catch some detail. I have managed to wake up early to get a glimpse of Saturn, it has a wow factor on first seeing. It shows up as half the size of Jupiter in the scope using the 10mm supplied with scope but hopefully a x2 barlow will get a better view next time. It was all one yellowish colour with no detail in the colouring but a very crisp disc and belt in the viewfinder.

The scope is very solid and stable and i didnt experience any shake in the eye piece what so ever, i was moving around the sky with ease. It is a very good pick up and view scope with no fuss. When viewing in higher magnification you just give the scope a nudge to keep the object in view but easy to do. The scope just needs cooling down if stored in your house but is quite quick to do so.

Overall I know i have purchased a sensible sized scope for portability and will be used for a long time to come, it would be great for kids too as it is not easily rocked by little movements. I was able to take some pictures with my smart phone of the moon and Jupiter just by holding it up to the eye piece, so a proper webcam or camera mount will take nice pics or video but as it doesnt track it is unable to take pics of deep space objects but that is a whole other game and wealth to contend with. Im just happy to capture some things to show others but the dso`s are just for me to admire.

I would reccomend this to any beginner or casual observer who wants portability and would like to capture some pics or video of the planets and moon and anyone who would like a fuss free mount and would like to let the kids use it too. I just recommend a copy of turn left at orion 4th edition as it has exact sketches of what you will actually see in your eye piece.

In the near future i will be asking if there are any recommended eye pieces for better quality viewing of the moon and planets and maybe some filters for maybe a little more detail on nebulas etc. I have ordered an 8mm Tmb planetry II eyepiece which im waiting to recieve.

List of Hardware and acessorys and cost.

Skywatcher 150p Dobsonian £190 (amazon)

Turn Left at Orion Book £19

x2 Barlow £10

Tmb Planetry II 8mm eyepiece £39

Cheshire collamting tool £20

Thankyou for reading and I hope this helps even a little if your thinkng about buying one of these scopes.

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tone71

tone71

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Thanks for the write-up as I am looking at the skywatcher 200p, but now am wondering how much more planetery detail it will show compared to the 150p....oooh what a nice quandary!! great pics too.........

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craigsta

craigsta

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nice write up :)

I've just purchased the skywatcher 150P also but with the eq3 mount. I've had it out the last two nights ( too cloudy tonight :( though ) I've so far ive been able to find the moon and last night jupiter and the 4 moons (YAY!) i was amazed at the moon crispiness and detail, and jupiter was breat taking.... Im yet to set up the view finder and the correct mount ajustment, but hopefully i'll figure it out soon ;) I'm really pleased with the scope.

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