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Skyliner 250PX first light

Vega

By Vega
in Member Equipment Reviews

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Vega

Vega

Posted
Posted

I finally got my first decent viewing with my new toy. A just past full moon has let me in gently with my new 10" beast. :D. I have quickly realised that dobsonians are a breath of fresh air with regard to setting up compared to my EQ refractor setup. Two simple trips 6 feet from my shed, a quick check with the cheshire eyepiece and she's ready to go.... bliss.

I used Arcturus to align the finder with and was straight away taken back with the sheer brightness of the -0.05 star in the eyepiece. Next I zoom up to Alberio in Cygnus. WOW ... I can safely say that aperture IS king. It's often said that refractors are best for doubles. But with 10" of aperture these two little beauties look fantastic, contrasty and bright even at very high magnifications. My 120mm refractor cannot compete (I'm sure a 120mm APO could though). The moon was already up and the sky had that awfully bright grey/blue tinge to it. However nothing was gonna stop be from having a peek at M13. Again another gasp at this amazing sight in such moon polluted conditions. I dropped in the 10mm to have a closer look and views improved even more! Resolved almost to the core with nice brightish views of the outer stars. I couldn't see the propeller but am sure I would with no moon around. One thing I have noticed is it's hard to stop the tube from slowly slipping downwards without really tightening the handles (which begin to squeak once tight, hope I didn't wake the neighbours! :wink:). Once a small cloud moved away from Lyra I swung back up to M57. A clear smoke ring at 48x (25mm ep). I dropped in the 10mm (120x) and everything changed. It's amazing to find that things improve at higher mags. A lovely view of a smoke ring that is more than large enough to distinguish as a nebula. I then pushed further and dropped in the 6mm radian. :shock: What a sight... a smoke ring filling up almost half the FOV! The centre of the ring was not fuzzy like it would be in my frac.

The only dissapointment was the double cluster in Perseus. Having viewed this treasure many times in my refractor.. I was expecting to be blown away. It was still a lovely view as always. My explanation for the average view being it's in a more Easterly direction and the moon was ripping that piece of sky apart with it's light. With this in mind I left M31 for another night .. (preferrably moonless).

All in all I am well impressed with it's light gathering power. Movement of the tube is nice and smooth and I'm gradually getting used to the mirror-reversed orientation movement! The only slight niggle being the tube slowly sliding downward with bigger EP's in but I think thats just me not getting used to the tightening handle. (So used to my motor driven EQ setup I guess). I cannot wait for the moon to finish it's posing and feast my eye's on those DSO in all their glory. :lol:

My 2nd light report will be posted up soon....

Thanks for reading

Vega

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FLO

FLO

Posted
Posted

Nice report Vega.

The 250px mirror-set is one of the best and I am sure that when the skies are good the Double Cluster will blow you away - you will be able to see several of its warm stars. I find albireo is almost too bright through a 10" aperture so use a neutral-density to lower the glare and reveal the warm/cool colour difference.

Regarding the tension handle and bearing, check that the bearings/washers are fitted correctly. If they are then there are several tricks you can employ to improve the action of both the alt and azimouth bearings - polishing the board or using some talc are popular fixes.

Looking forward to 2nd light :wink:

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James

James

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Nice report Vega! I actually prefer looking at the Double Cluster in my 120mm refractor. Not sure why but I think that with the refractor the Double Cluster is nicely framed with dark sky in my 24mm eyepiece whereas in my 10 inch scope it fills the field and isn't emphasized by having black around it. That said if I ever get a 30mm eyepiece my opinion my change... :wink:

James

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Albireo380

Albireo380

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Good report Vega- I have just ordered one from Steve this morning and with a bit of luck will get first light next week (weather permitting). It will be good to see how my views compare with yours. If it is okay with you, I may PM you if I run up against any problems with mine - as you will be "more advanced" than me about this 'scope. Awaiting my first ever laser collimator with the order - never collimated a Newt before - so I may be sending out a cry for help at some point

Tom

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Vega

Vega

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Great news Tom... we'll be forming a 250PX club in a minute :wink:

Please feel free to PM me as and when needed. I've already had my 2nd light with mine but due to the moon, was not much different to my first light report so my report on SGL will be a 3rd light report :?. The only notable thing on my 2nd light was finding the Whirlpool low in the North West but a desperately faint double blob was all that was seen (using averted vision). Roll on new moon.

Vega

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jimlennie

jimlennie

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The only dissapointment was the double cluster in Perseus. Having viewed this treasure many times in my refractor.. I was expecting to be blown away. It was still a lovely view as always. My explanation for the average view being it's in a more Easterly direction and the moon was ripping that piece of sky apart with it's light. With this in mind I left M31 for another night .. (preferrably moonless).

Thanks for reading

Vega

Hi Vega,

I've used a 'budget' Orion Q70 38mm 2" eyepiece on the double cluster and I can say that the view is breathtaking through the 10" Skyliner. There is a bit of trailing at the last 10% of the field of view but overall the image it produces is very nice. The same view through my Evostar 6" refractor with the same eyepiece is better corrected coma wise but can't match the dobs view in any other way. The first time I saw the double cluster through my Skyliner I remember saying to myself " where did all that come from !!! " it was so amazing.

I still use the Q70 with the dob just for scanning around the sky and this in itself is a fantastic experience.

However, on the moon I can sometimes make out the secondary shadow if my eye isn't placed correctly with this eyepiece, not that this is advisable as you will get dazzled with the light which will ruin your night vision.

Jim

ps

I think that the Orion Q70 is the same as the Rigel 38mm on FLO's website, but I could be mistaken.

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Whippy

Whippy

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Sounds like a great scope Vega. Don't judge it too harshly on the double cluster, sometimes open clusters just look better in refractors, its a framing/ aesthetic thing. Where the scope will excel is globs and fuzzies :wink:

Have to agree with that, I wasn't too impressed with open clusters on my C8N until I got my WO jobbie, the difference was amazing! T'riffic report Vega :D.

Tony..

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Albireo380

Albireo380

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Large package now awaiting me at a local depot - must be my 10" Skyliner Dob - hope to either pick up tomorrow night or get delivered Thursday PM (SWMBO has that afternoon off work).

So .... my apologies to everyone in Central Scotland, this weeks bad weather is down to me.

Tom

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