Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonian

[TwistedJester]

Hi guys, its great to join the forum. I am new to astronomy and am looking to purchase my first telescope =D, The skyliner 150p. I am not sure whether to purchase the collimating eye piece for an extra £30 with the telescope. Could you please give me some advice on this. Also as I am new to astronomy could you please give me any other advice on the telescope and on astronomy in general. Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[rowan46]

welcome to sgl I think the best way to use this site is like I do if you have a specific question it is easier to answer. It is worth getting the eyepiece as you will have to collimate at some point probably sooner than later. As to advice be patient your scope will come packed with cloud so it may be weeks after opening it before you get to use it and when you do use it wrap up warm. Read the stickies they are full of good advice. And when you have looked through your scope I promise you will come back with lots of questions. The 150p is a good scope and should certainly start you down an interesting road. again welcome

[TwistedJester]

Thanks alot m8 can't wait

[kernowstargazer]

Welcome to SGL . Ive got the Skyliner 150p Dob and i am well pleased with it. I have had many hobbies and this tops the lot. Have you tryed Stellerium its a free program and is a real big help. The best advice i can give dont put you expectations to high just take it as it comes and you'll be fine.

[TwistedJester]

How tall does the telescope stand, do you ideally need a table when using it?

[redgiantjohn]

i have this scope too and seen some amazing things with it, i dont own a collimater and luckily i havnt needed one yet,with yhis dob there is quite alot of bending down or kneeling on the ground so a small table would help maybe 1-2ft would be ok depending on how tall you are

[knobby]

You'd be better off sitting on a chair, ideally the scope needs to be solid, so no vibrations.

My eyepiece is about eye level when the scope is at 45 degrees ish if i sit on a patio chair

good choice and good luck

[TwistedJester]

OK, thanks guys.

[mcsheffield]

Hi, Welcome to SGL

[633_steve]

I've also got a Skyliner 150P and totally recommend it to anyone who is new to astronomy. It's such a great scope for the money.

I bought the standard Cheshire from FLO and it works great for collimation, but I've read that it's just as easy to use an old 35mm film case with a hole drilled in it, so you could try this first.

As for the height, it stands about 4ft, but I do almost all of my viewing sitting in a garden chair and find the height fine.

[jabberwocky]

im seriously considering one of these as im at my wits end with the eq2 i have, i detest the eq2, i spend more time swearing at the mount than i do observing. i so should have bought a dob in the first place, i do like the idea of sitting down to observe:)

[Parus major]

The tube of the Explorer 150PL is 112cm long and it's the same. There's a fair bit of tube fiddliness going on, try here http://stargazerslounge.com/discussions-scopes-whole-setups/171668-skywatcher-150pl-owners-tips-mods.html#post2114434