Skywatcher 150 or 200p

[Darrent]

AnT

I've had lots of advise over the past few days, I've saved for this so I'm going to blow it on the 200p with an eq5 mount. Based on the fact that I can add motor drives and use the mount for other scopes. I'm also going to treat myself to a couple of Skywatcher SP eyepieces, a 17 and 32, does that sound like a good choice to you? I'm also splashing out on a baader filter!

Must admit I'll miss the portability of my etx90 but I long for better views! If imaging comes along later I'll count that as a bonus.

Darren

[Williams]

Ooh I'd really think carefully.. Have you seen one in the flesh on this mount? I shouldn't upgrade this mount as it's already at it's limits when my dslr is on as well.. Im not sure if the new 200p comes with the upgraded focuser does it? it's about £100 to upgrade. It's hard work to do DSO's without auto guiding, if im honest i've only had sub optimal results so far, certainly nothing worth posting yet, but im also putting that down to lack of knowledge.

Live view on the 1100d only gives 10x zoom and with the stock focuser on the 200p, I can't get prime focus easily, so it's trial and error with the shots.

If you wanna come checkout my setup to get a feel for how challenging the imaging is, your more than welcome., but i'd advise you to think carefully about the HEQ5 or EQ6 with guiding for imaging.

I have a lovely 30mm Vixen NPL, great for star hopping, but you'll want something smaller than a 17mm if your not using a barlow?

I'd wait for some senior advise Anyone?

[Sammyb]

Some pics of my 200p on the Eq5 for ya..

Regards, Ant.

Your OTA looks quite low in the tube rungs there. Mine is the opposite. Is it balanced OK?

[Sammyb]

The planets are a real challenge to image, but I knew this scope was mainly for DSO's. I'm wondering about a second scope for the planets, so perhaps a refractor would be a good idea

I think with the 200P you can get excellent images of planets. There are some in the flickr link in my sig

[Williams]

Your OTA looks quite low in the tube rungs there. Mine is the opposite. Is it balanced OK?

That was the first setup out of the box, I've fiddled with everything since, it seems okay when I go through setup checks, but depends where im pointing it.

Nice pics of Jupiter, did you have tracking for those images?

Regards, Ant.

[Darrent]

I think with the 200P you can get excellent images of planets. There are some in the flickr link in my sig

Great images, thanks for sharing them. Viewing the first priority for me, photography is an aspiration. This is a steep learning curve, thanks for your input, much appreciated.

[Williams]

Kewl, let us know how you get on Darrent

Regards, Ant.

[Scott]

sure look here

http://s473.beta.pho...ibrary/10th May

http://s473.beta.pho... 11th june 2011

also if you goto YouTube and search for todd8137

and go and look at my moon drift videos you can atchlley a dslr onto a 300p ,I had a low profile focuser not the standard one I never said you could do dso's with a manual dob ?

cheers pat

nice moonshots but i was under the impression that dso's were not in our solar system. galaxies,nebulae etc. i thought the op wanted to do dso's sorry for the misunderstanding

[Darrent]

Well it's arrived. Thanks to Martin a FLO for all the advice plus everyone here. I'm glad I went for the 200p. It's big but once out of the box and on the eq5 you get used to it. Clear skies have turned cloudy here in Peterborough but stuck it outside for half an hour and was amazed with the clarity, even on a poor night with no real cool down time.

Cheers all.

[Astro Imp]

Enjoy your new toy when these pesky clouds finally move away.

[Darrent]

Enjoy your new toy when these pesky clouds finally move away.

Thanks Alan

i notice you're south of Lincoln. Can you recommend any good dark sky sites around this area of any you know of in the fens?

Thanks

Darren

[Darrent]

The skies finally cleared last night and I took the opportunity to try out my new SW200p. I wasn't disappointed. Jupiter was clear and detailed with four moons visible. Orion Nebula and Pleiades were excellent topped off with 2 shooting stars and a detailed view of our moon I didn't think possible with a scope at this price.

Even managed some star hoping, something I relied on my goto to do before. The EQ5 is a big learning curve, but very enjoyable to use.

Thanks to everyone for your advise, which convinced me to go for this type of scope.

Cheers all,

[Obi Wan Ken00bi]

Indeed or the C6 on the heavier CG- 5 mount.

I know from your OP that you don't need GOTO but if you want to do any imaging then you will need a driven mount.

Good luck and please do plenty of research before parting with the hard earned.

I have this setup, with the goto, and the cg 5 mount is very stable with a 6 inch reflector. for photography its nice, but for viewing I keep thinking what about that 8 inch OTA upgrade :) I guess one can never do it right.

[Obi Wan Ken00bi]

And congrats on your new scope btw