What do you think of these?

[Zachariah]

Skywatcher Skymax 102 SynScan AZ GOTO

Any good.?

[Capricorn]

Pretty good.

A standard Mak made by skywatcher and on the skywatcher Synscan mount.

[Zachariah]

I wanted something that would find nebs and galaxies for me. Not that I am lazy just getting on in years and need some help. I can find thd plaides and m42 of course, just need some help with the rest. I thought if anyonr had one they could tell me how easy/hard it is?

[KevG]

I wanted something that would find nebs and galaxies for me.

Started out with a 102, great little scope for lunar & planets, but not very good at all for DSO's, due to the long focal length and lack of aperture.

[DoctorD]

Hi

I have the 102 GOTO - with a 32mm eyepiece you get a little over 1 degree field of view - many smaller DSOs fit into this. Also some of the brighter nebula such as the ring can be easily seen along with many of the globular clusters. Just don't go galaxy hunting as you will be limited by the aperture.

It's also great on planets - the long focal length really helps here.

Being small, it places less strain on the mount which can help with accuracy, however these AZ mounts are never going to be that accurate. If I get a target in the FOV of the supplied 25mm eyepiece I'm happy.

Great little scope - easy to carry not too long to cool down.

Hope this helps

Paul

[imarcs]

I have a 102 and love it. I've pimped mine up a bit and dont think ill ever sell it to be honest. Its not great for DSOs as has been said, but it can show some of them of course, albeit not in the detail you want. Because of this it provides some pretty good sharpening of your observing skills which cannot be a bad thing. In my experience as long as you set it up carefully, the goto is pretty spot on. I correct it on every object once its in the eyepiece, only takes 10 seconds and appears to increase the accuracy as the night goes on.

I think these scopes are ideal 2nd hand. They're pretty hard to damage, portable and because of their limited aperture seem to get shifted quite frequently - maybe by beginners expecting Hubble images from the start. I paid <150 GBP for mine.

If you can get one for the right money, and have the right expectations then i thoroughly recommend as a first scope.

hope this helps