Help on first buy please.

[Thorney]

Hi everyone, right I'm a total newbie to this and looking at ordering my first telescope ASAP. Done some research and think I'm going to settle on the skywatcher skyliner 200p as its had a lot of good feed back.

There's a few things I'm not sure about tho and one of them is the eyepiece, I've read a couple of threads people saying to get an 8mm one but was wonder if any eyepiece would fit or would I need one for that model of telescope.

Another question is would I be able to attach a camera to this and if so what would be recommended? Also if I wanted to upgrade to a better tripod and motorised one would I be able to or would upgrading the whole thing be an easier option?

Sorry for all the questions and if there's anything else I need to know feel free to comment .

Cheers chris

[lw24]

The eyepiece you're talking about is the standard 10mm eyepiece packaged (along with an arguably better 25mm eyepiece) with Skywatcher telescopes. The general advice is to try it out and see for yourself if you think you need to upgrade it.

When buying a dobsonian, you remove the option of using a camera for deep sky object photography. However, you could, in the future, buy tube rings, and then mount the 200p tube on a motorised tripod (which would enable you to do astrophotography).

Clear Skies,

Luke

[ronin]

Any 1.25" eyepiece will work on the scope.

You can attach a DSLR/Camera with the correct T-piece.

Isn't the Skyliner a Dobsonian and not on an EQ.

If it comes on an EQ then you can upgrade the mount at a later time.

If it is a dobsonian then astrophotography isn't really applicable. No tracking and the mount is effectively an Alt/Az.

[jonathan]

Eyepiece wise, the standard size is 1 1/4 inch, or 1.25, these will fit most telescopes out there. The other most common size is 2" but you will need a different focuser to fit these. Typically, a 2" focuser will come with a 2" to 1.25" adaptor so you can easily use any eyepiece in your collection.

You probably will only need a good quality 25mm, an 8-10mm, and perhaps a wide field 38mm, though for that last one you'll probably need the 2" focuser.

Opinions on which eyepieces are better than others is sometimes divided, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the views through my Skywatcher 38mm: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-eyepieces/skywatcher-panaview-2-eyepieces.html

You should seek advice as to which high power (10mm) / wide field (38mm) eyepieces best suit the Skyliner 200.

There is such a thing as a goto dobsonian, and there are dobsonian setups that can be used for photography, but from my minimal research on the subject it gets very complicated and very expensive very quickly, it's probably far cheaper and easier to go the EQ route if photography is definitely your bag, but this too is complicated and can get expensive very quickly.

[Thorney]

Thanks for the fast reply guys. I did look at the EQ but as I'm just starting out I thought the Dobsonian would be more ideal. (guess can always sell it if want to upgrade)

As for the eyepieces then I might just use the standard one and then change in a few weeks once I've got the hang of using the scope and know what I'm looking at.

[Tribal-Wolf]

There some very cheap 2nd hand 200Ps on EQ mounts popping up I saw an almost new one sell for just over £200 a few days ago, might be worth thinking about