SkyWatcher Explorer 130P AUTO 130mm Reflector Telescope?

[Cheekyman]

What do you say as first scope?

SkyWatcher Explorer 130P AUTO 130mm Reflector Telescope

Can't really afford to go to a bigger one just yet......

Any feedback would be wonderful guys

Cheers

Frank

[Aenima]

Which type of auto is it? I have the AZ GoTo 130p and can recommend or quick-review it if you need, but otherwise the Skywatcher range are pretty good and as a first scope the 130p served me well for a 1st scope visually, the eyepieces are good, the barlow does the job and for the money I would be hard pressed to recommend a better reflector that size (big enough to give impressive view of the moon, recognise Jupiter by faint lines of its cloud belt + four pinpoint moons, Saturn's rings but not really faint DSO's apart from bright clusters like beehive or pleides) if you want detail on mars or a chance to do astrophotography then as always - aperture is the biggest factor.

Anything else I can tell you let me know.

Good luck with your first scope.

Jay

[JamesM]

Hi Frank, I suppose it all depends on what you want to do with it, namely whether you are interested in solar system objects (planets & moon) or whether you want to go more for deep sky objects (DSO's) such as galaxies and nebulae. Dobsonian scopes offer the best value for money as most of the money goes into the mirror leaving the rest to go towards a simple mount and accessories. Then you go in the other direction and go for a degree of automation such as Goto system which will take you to where all the objects are but will the scope that is attached resolve these objects in sufficient detail to satisfy your interest? Remember all of these extra 'toys' have to come out of the same costing. This of course brings us on to the subject of the budget as this will ultimately decide what the above trade offs will be and are tey in the direction that will suit your specific desires.

I believe it is very important to take your time here because as they say, "...the stars aren't going anywhere" and it is the research that you do now that will bring you the closest to that which will meet your expectations. All the pictures on the boxes and all the specifications the manufacturers list won't mean a thing unless you have got something to hang them from. I would suggest as part of your research that you go along to your local astro club and attend one of their public observation nights to get your eye in on some of this kit to see for yourself what will meet your own expectations. It will also give you the opportunity to examine some of this kit close up to how it works, ascertain cool down and setup times, is the kit bigger than you expected and therefore how easy will it be to store or transport it should you need to travel to a dark site. One other advantage of going to these events is that you can check out the eyepieces that people are using, as they can make a difference to the view you are experiencing. Although the eyepieces that come with kit today are certainly better than the jam jars they used to include, knowledge gained here about possible upgrades will pay dividends later on. What I am trying to say here is to take your time, get a feel for some of this kit so that when you finally choose something, you will be happy that it is right for you and that it will help make your expectations a reality. Hope that helps.

James

[Aenima]

Hi Frank, I suppose it all depends on what you want to do with it, namely whether you are interested in solar system objects (planets & moon) or whether you want to go more for deep sky objects (DSO's) such as galaxies and nebulae. Dobsonian scopes offer the best value for money as most of the money goes into the mirror leaving the rest to go towards a simple mount and accessories. Then you go in the other direction and go for a degree of automation such as Goto system which will take you to where all the objects are but will the scope that is attached resolve these objects in sufficient detail to satisfy your interest? Remember all of these extra 'toys' have to come out of the same costing. This of course brings us on to the subject of the budget as this will ultimately decide what the above trade offs will be and are tey in the direction that will suit your specific desires.

I believe it is very important to take your time here because as they say, "...the stars aren't going anywhere" and it is the research that you do now that will bring you the closest to that which will meet your expectations. All the pictures on the boxes and all the specifications the manufacturers list won't mean a thing unless you have got something to hang them from. I would suggest as part of your research that you go along to your local astro club and attend one of their public observation nights to get your eye in on some of this kit to see for yourself what will meet your own expectations. It will also give you the opportunity to examine some of this kit close up to how it works, ascertain cool down and setup times, is the kit bigger than you expected and therefore how easy will it be to store or transport it should you need to travel to a dark site. One other advantage of going to these events is that you can check out the eyepieces that people are using, as they can make a difference to the view you are experiencing. Although the eyepieces that come with kit today are certainly better than the jam jars they used to include, knowledge gained here about possible upgrades will pay dividends later on. What I am trying to say here is to take your time, get a feel for some of this kit so that when you finally choose something, you will be happy that it is right for you and that it will help make your expectations a reality. Hope that helps.

James

Yes, this is something I should have done more of (thought I had done enough research but no...) but learn as much as you can about your options cos its hard to go back and re-choose a first scope. Good advice from James.

[Cheekyman]

Cheers guys as always common sense prevails....

Its the Skywatcher 130P SupaTrak AUTO I saw!!

I love gadgets and I suppose having something that is automated

and finds the stars for you is a bonus. I was being a bit of a miser

as I was going to purchase the SKYWATCHER EXPLORER 200P

Telescope with the EQ5 mount but I can't afford the auto mount

for it.

I also want to try and take photographs etc.....

Thanks as always!!

Frank

[Aenima]

Just for clarity, the Supatrak is not the same as GoTo technology, as with motorised mounts you only track an object once you have found it, but with goto you can align it to two stars then the rest is totally automatic - you type in an object Mars for example, and the goto will literally go to mars. Once at mars it will track the planet for you on its own. Supatrak is a lot lot more basic, you will need to learn the sky and find objects yourself before the motors will be of any use.

I apologise if i'm pointing out things you already know, I just want to be clear on which kind of auto you are thinking of, anything less than full 'Goto technology' will be more like an auto tracking rather than auto observing and auto location.

Its the one in my signature - SW EXplorer 130p AZ GoTo (about £240)

The 200p EQ5 is not auto even with motors, you will need like £250 worth of Synscan Goto on top of that to make it properly Automatic.

Sorry dude, and good luck with your purchase.

Regards

Jay

[Cheekyman]

Great info thanks....

I know absolutely nothing about telescopes... Really glad you pointed this out. That will make a big difference now!!

I want to buy but I haven't enough information I don't think?

It's the not knowing...... that is the problem!!

Cheers again....

Frank

[DaveJFT]

Hi,

I'm new to the hobby too and not long had a SW Explorer 130p on a manual EQ2 mount.

To be honest I'm actually really enjoying the experience of learning the sky, how and where to find stuff and how everything moves. Yes, a GOTO would help me find everything faster and would remove the need for me to keep twiddling knobs and wheels, but I'm not ready for astro photography yet and I do feel that it might isolate me from the hands-on touchy-feely stuff.

Perhaps it's just me but I do like to at least try to learn a hobby from first principles - like I'm doing with my beer making too.

I'd love to try and build a big Dobsonian ...one day.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

[Aenima]

Frank, this is the good thing about forums like this one. You need as much info up front as possible, and even better to try something out before commiting to owning it. Anything I can help you with just ask - I owe a lot to a large amount of helpful Stargazers willing to share their hard earned knowledge with noobs like me, and i'm always looking for an opportunity to give back something to anyone who might need it. Its a good thing that i can look back and possibly save someone the grief of making the same mistakes.

Dave, it sounds like the Explorer is getting good use, its a great first scope I know that much. Also I'm just now learning about the Equatorial mounts and its good to hear your enjoying using the EQ2. I'm wondering how accurate your finding the setting circles, and whether the objects you can locate are reached by using the mounts dials or with naked eye first then centered using the knobs? I havent tried yet and there are mixed opinions over how accurate the setting circles are for locating hard to see objects, I want to eventually be able to find things using the circles but have heard differing stories of how well that technique works. Whats been your experience so far?

Regards

Jay

[DaveJFT]

Dave, it sounds like the Explorer is getting good use, its a great first scope I know that much. Also I'm just now learning about the Equatorial mounts and its good to hear your enjoying using the EQ2. I'm wondering how accurate your finding the setting circles, and whether the objects you can locate are reached by using the mounts dials or with naked eye first then centered using the knobs? I havent tried yet and there are mixed opinions over how accurate the setting circles are for locating hard to see objects, I want to eventually be able to find things using the circles but have heard differing stories of how well that technique works. Whats been your experience so far?

I'll be honest with you Jay, I've not tried using the setting circles yet. The truly horrendous LP we get within Northampton means that I get to properly view little but the brightest of stars and planets and I only had a couple of weeks of clear skys before this overcast weather set in all those weeks ago.

I'm itching to get out to my local group's dark sky site and pick their brains but that's not easy given that it's a good ½hr drive away and I have to be up by 5:30am every morning. When decent viewing doesn't really start until approaching midnight at this time of the year and for the next few months I'm going to struggle until I have a week off ...but then I'll be on holiday and thus virtually guaranteed cloudy skies.