Skywatcher Skyliner 400P FlexTube GOTO

[Essex Stargazer]

Anyone have one of these ?

I have never owned a Dob

Everyone says " Size matters " so may go for the biggest first time

Any feedback good and bad appreciated before I wave goodbye to my hard earn t

[John]

I've not got one but had a close look at it's smaller brother / sister the 350. Awesome to look through but huge scopes to handle and move around - you really ought to see one before committing I reckon.

[swamp thing]

Hi

I have compared one directly with my old 16" LB as an observing buddy of mine was using one.

First off the Goto worked very well indeed placing objects in the field of view very accurately. Watching this beast slew about on its own is pretty cool.

The tracking is also very good, keeping objects in the field of view for extended periods of time with no problems.

The focuser is not good, but you expect that, and the finder iisn't the best, but again what do you expect with a budget 16"

The lightbridges are no better, it's focuser is utter gash and the finder it comes with is little more than bin liner.

Moving it without the motors it's not as smooth or easy to use as the LB but still can be done without any real issues.

Set up and take down.

Now this is the Achilles heel of the Skywatcher scope and make no mistake this is a massive issue.

This thing is about as portable as a battleship on dry land.

Forget about taking it anywhere at all in a vehicle unless like my observing buddy you have a three Ton truck fitted with a tail lift.

Where the Flextube has its strengths in the smaller sizes (everything is in one unit and collapses in on itself), at this size and weight of scope this is a serious handicap.

My LB wasn't the most portable instrument available but compared to this, it was a grab n go.

In short I would pick the 16" Lightbridge . Having the Goto is nice (if you like that sort of thing) but the portability is such a huge issue for me, it goes against the whole idea of a truss tube scope.

If you live at a dark sky site and can either mount It on castors for roll out viewing, or build an obsy for it then it's a viable consideration, but otherwise forget it.

Regards Steve

Ps One other thing I remember was the focuser position on the Skywatcher required the use of a ladder when at higher elevations the Lightbridges focuser is better placed and only requires a step right at the zenith.

[DOBBY]

You got em the right way round Swampy ? Had one in a field with a 16inch L'B next to it...the skywatcher won...easier to use with the motors off.. 8yr old was using it (on steps) with no bother...better focuser...far easier to set-up & take down.

As for portability... the flextube just collapses & goes on the back seat with room to spare of a honda jazz...the rocker-box can be taken apart into its 4 pieces in 2-3 mins if needed & no poles to transport like the L'B

[swamp thing]

Ate you sure you are talking about the 16" Skywatcher?

It's massive.

It makes the LB look small.

proof they say is in the pudding. I kept my LB upstairs in the box room and would carry it downstairs, load it in the van and drive to the middle of nowhere and set it up on my own, every possible chance I got.

I only sold it because Im building a larger scope.

Where do they keep/move/use the Skywatcher you mention.

Doubt it's upstairs is it?

How often is it transported by road? Rarely at best I'd guess.

I bet it seldom sees dark sky sites unless it's sited at one. Or there's more than one person to help set it up.

The more agro a big scope is to take to a dark sky site the less it will get there, and that's the plain truth.

I'm not suggesting the LB is perfect but it's a better option than the Skywatcher if you wanna be mobile.

Regards Steve

[DOBBY]

Yeppers... I've got one & it goes everywhere

had it next to a L'B in Jan at a stargazing-live event

[Mike73]

The focuser is not good, but you expect that

So the Crayford dual speed focuser is no good Steve? I was going to upgrade my single speed to that.

[swamp thing]

I wouldn't. Spend a few more pennies get something worthwhile you won't regret it.

Moonlite aren't that much money and they leave either of these piles of junk way behind.

Baader steel track has a god reputation too although I haven't actually had hands on experience with it.

The difference between using quality kit and the usual suplied dross is simply they're in another league.

I'm treating myself to a feathertouch on my new Dob for exactly the above reasons.

Regards Steve

[estwing]

feather touch wins group test in sky at night..

[Essex Stargazer]

Well I did as suggested and went to see one , and to be honest did not think it was that massive

However I was not very impressed with the build quality and did find that is is made in China

I see what you mean regarding the focuser

went away without parting with my beer vouchers

will have to have a re think on this

Thanks for the input

[mbrickley]

I have the 14 inch version of this and have been amazed by this scope for what is after all a really low price for a goto scope of this aperture. The goto is middling to good, by which I mean provided the scope is level and with careful selection of alignment stars, it almost always puts the object in the fov of the 17mm ethos eyepiece which works v nicely with this scope, usually near to but not in the centre.

Inital assembly is frankly scary with a big heavy mirror to install and I ended up taking the bottom off the tube (with 6 scews not hard) and installed the mirror in this rather than trying to lower it down the tube.

Collimation is easy and usually stays pretty close with rasing and lowering the tube extension. The focusser is ok for visual use, I have the dual speed one and although it is *not* as nice as a starlight one it is harsh to say it is complete rubbish, imperfect but ok.

The ability to mix push to and go to is very nice and works well. you can manually slew the scope about right then allow the motors to finish the job.

I doubt the scope will last for ever but mine is 2 years old and doing very nicely.

Once running I keep it outside all the time covered with a tarpaulin and accept that the mirror needs a clean over the summer months. You could mount it on castors and I might do that this summer. It would in my opinion be more hassle than I would be willing to undertake to tow it to a ds site and if this is your position I would get the obsession 15 inch Ultra light. If you ar eintendeding using it at home though I would say that for the relatively modest cost for a scope of this size you wont go wrong.

These comments apply to the 14 inch but I would imagine the 16 inch is much the same (only bigger of course!)

Hope this helps

Mark

[MartyB1973]

How much was your 14 inch?

[ukskies]

Hi Mark may I ask how high your focusser is at zenith please? Do you need a step with the 14"?

[russ.will]

I went to Scopes'n'Skies to have a look at dobs at the weekend, as I considering a shift to purely visual use.

They have a 400p on display and a) You will need a step to view *comfortably* at zenith, unless you are well over 6ft and even if you are, you will need two people to safely lift the OTA on and off the base.

For me, wanting to retain portability, it's too big and that goes for the 350p too. It doesn't shave much off the size of the 400 OTA and practically nothing off the size of the base.

I'm going for a 300p .

Russell

[estwing]

mine's portable on my own....just.