SkyWatcher Skyliner 200P...what else?

[Venusia]

What other kit do I need for this telescope and why? We've finally treated ourselves and I am so excited!!! Cheshire Collimator is a must right?

Lenses?

Does anyone know where I can read a good article on setting it up? I'm no technobuff :/

[Spec-Chum]

Hi, great choice of scope!

I’m a relative noob myself but my recommendations for “must haves” based on my experience with my new scope are:

• Cheshire collimator is a must!
  
• A bulb blower to blow the dust from your eyepieces, it’s quite surprising how dusty they get after only a couple of uses
  
• Turn Left at Orion book
  
• A Telrad (used mine for the first time last night, what a difference!)
  
• Hold fire on more eyepieces until you know for certain what you’re going to be using your scope with most. I don’t regret getting my 8mm BST but in hindsight, now I have a Barlow, I feel a 12mm would have been better (4mm is a bit much for UK skies, 6mm is more practical IMHO)
  

[pvaz]

To me the essentials are a red light torch, a telrad finder, a neutral density filter for the moon and this free star charts:

http://www.astro-tom...essier_maps.htm

Install Stellarium (http://www.stellarium.org/) as well, it's free and very easy to start with. Cartes du Ciel is another nice free software, better to make your own maps but not as easy to use and haves too many options for a beginner.

Then observe a few times, understand what you're getting with your current gear and you'll know what you need to get a better experience. You'll probably want a 6mm or 5mm EP to get a closer look at the moon and planets, while staying within your scope's limit, but the 10mm will do for now. Maybe if you know someone that could lend you a barlow that would help playing around with different magnifications before you start buying lots of EPs you may not need.

[paul schofield]

Well the list goes on and on. A cheshire collimator you will need for sure. See how you get on with the supplied eyepieces the 25mm is not a bad eyepiece at all and the 10 is ok too. I would not be in a hurry to spend lots of hard earned cash until you have used what you have and then if you are not happy there is lots of room for upgrading items like finders, e.p's, filters etc. You will get lots of advice regarding various upgrades on here when the time comes. Hope you enjoy your new scope. Clear skies.

[jabberwocky]

right angle correct image finder- easier to look through on a dob than the straight through, £70 ish

telrad- simple finder that uses circles on a heads up display to make star hopping easier, £45 ish

dew shield- for the scope make one out of camping mat, stops/delays the scope from dewing up £ 1-20 ish

telrad riser- lifts the telrad up off the scope to make it easier to use £8 ish

telrad rew shield- stops the telrad dwing up which they do very quickly, make or buy, £ 3-15 ish

replacement eyepieces- the supplied ones are pretty rubbish but dont rush into buying replacements, try and get to your local astro meet and have a look through some, try before you buy. because the 200 is f/6 you dont need to go mad with really expensive high end eyepieces that you would do on a f/4 or f/5 scope. others are far more able to advise on eyepieces than me.

dob base bearing upgrade- there is an upgrade you can do to make the base rotate more smoothly which involves fitting a lazy susan bearing but i havent done it.

collimating eyepiece- does what it says on the tin, i dont have one but my scope was well collimated out of the box, i should get one though and learn the dark art of collimating

[sunshine185]

Get yourself a wixey angle gauge and put a setting circle on the base, then you've got yourself a Pushto system. I have replaced the finder with a skysurfer III rdf but I only use this now to centre on polaris, I can find what I'm looking for by using a combination of stellarium and setting circle/wixey.

[farunj]

I would recommend turn left at orion (a book) and stellarium (software). They will help you find your way about!!

[Venusia]

Thank you soo much for the advise :-)

...I'm sure I will be harassing you all again when it comes to setting it up ;-). Patience never has been my strong point :-) ..........