SW Explorer 150P Eq3-2 First night out...

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Well at long last i can actually say ive used my new scope having had it for nearly a month... Gave me a chance to familiarise myself with the workings of it.

For anyone with only a small budget say £300, i dont think you can go far wrong with this set-up. The Eq3-2 GEM is very stable and can carry quite a load and perfect for this scope. It has a built-in bubble level which makes set up quick and easy, with an optional polarscope to help polar-alignment more accurate. I would suggest you get one. easy to fit and centralise. But be careful with the grub screws they are very small and easily lost if they come out. you could do what i did & replaced them with the silver screws that you remove when taking apart the original polarscope holder, (dont know proper wording for it lol). The 6x30 finderscope is quite sharp and really easy to align (best done in daylight)

So in went the supplied 25mm Ep, it also comes with 10mm & a x2 barlow. i swung the scope around to find Jupiter, once focus was archived the WoW factor began, which as i worked my way through the standard Ep's got bigger & bigger. I then tried my new Celestron X-Cel LX EP's and was blown away completely. The detail was Amazing, you could see the cloud belts in very good detail especially with the 5mm. Once the Moon was up, i did the same again & worked my way through all the EP's with & without Barlows be it either the standard SW or the x3 Tal. Again i was blown away, it was as if you could reach out & touch the surface of the moon, the higher you went with the magnification. Finally i had a quick look at Mars & it was quick, which even though you couldn't make out the detail still looked amazing.

My only downer is the supplied EP's/Barlow lens, if you do have a little more cash ( i know its hard times for some people) to spend then get yourself a decent couple of EP's, a Good Barlow (tal), polarscope & lastly a collimator to re-align your mirrors when needed....

Finally, i hope this has been a help to anyone looking at getting this scope, i dont think you'll be disappointed with it at all....

Cheers & clear skies to all

Ady

P.S. i'll do a little follow up once i get the R.A. motor fitted for tracking & have taken some pics...

[LeeG]

Hi mate how did the find the x3 Barlow? Wonder if you still get the same quality as u do with the x2 tal? Still waitiing on my x2 and my 12mm celestron but think i'm gona get the 5mm ordered....and possible the x3 tal if its any good!

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Hi Lee (again) lol, i found it very good but then i only had the X2 barlow that came with the scope to compare it to. I did find the Tal a lot sharper when side by side with the SW barlow...

[LeeG]

Ok thanks mate (again) ha. I think a motorised mount is def gona be a future investment. Quite frustrating having to adjust the mount manually every 20 seconds last night trying to view Jupiter....or am i just lazy? lol. Also abit rubbish for taking pix aswell which is what i eventually would like to do. Them Heq5 pro synscans look pretty tasty

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MMM HEQ5 i can only dream of that at the moment, maybe in a year or 2 might be able to afford one of them babies. I notice on here lots of people saying the eq3-2 aint stable enough to take pics with. Well my aim, all be it very small is to prove them slightly wrong...

[Astro Imp]

Hi Ady,

Glad you enjoyed your first night out with your new scope.

You have more great nights to come, looking good for to-night.

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OH Yeah, the scope is going out shortly to start cooling down couple of hours if that, then i'll get rapped up and join it. Can't wait...