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Hello and Thanks!

PaulR18

By PaulR18
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PaulR18

PaulR18

Posted
Posted

Hi everyone!

Just joined and this is my first post so just want to firstly say hello and compliment everyone on such a great forum. :grin:

I've been lurking in the shadows so to speak for the last few weeks since buying a small Heritage telescope and have been picking up great bits of advice and information on all sorts of things in astronomy. I'm 100% new to this and most things I've picked up on here so thanks for being such a great source of information!

I've been unable to contain myself and have just purchased a Skywatcher Skyliner 200p Dob and I can't wait for it to arrive on Friday (hoping for clear skies in the West of Scotland!). I didn't have a clue which telescope to go for but all the advice and recommendations on here seemed to point to this scope as an ideal starter. I was pretty pleased to get it for £270 post included which seems like a bargain and my 5 year old daughter is excited at getting dads little telescope to herself!

Again thanks everyone and what a great forum this is for total newbies like myself.

Happy star-gazing everyone! :rolleyes:

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damnut

damnut

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HI There,

Warm welcome to SGL. Great choice for the first scope, keep some pennies by for a copy of 'turn left at orion' and 'sky & telescope pocket star atlas'... Also worth downloading a planetarium program, try stellarium its great ans free, can be found here :-- http://www.stellarium.org/

And if you have any budget left a couple of BST explorer eyepieces.

Enjoy your new scope.

Slainte!

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Itabot

Itabot

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Hi welcome to SGL :laugh:

Great choice for the first scope, keep some pennies by for a copy of 'turn left at orion' and 'sky & telescope pocket star atlas'... Also worth downloading a planetarium program, try stellarium its great.

And if you have any budget left a couple of BST explorer eyepieces.

+ 1 exactly what I've bought, still waiting for perfect conditions.

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ronl

ronl

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Hi Paul welcome to the lounge, great scope, I am contemplating on buying the 200p myself, I am a newbie too, so I have searched the lounge for a while myself, dobs seem to be the most popular and they get great reviews, you will have to let everyone know how you get on with your scope.

Looking forward to reading your post, Clear Sky's

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HIP3802

HIP3802

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Hi, PaulR18, and welcome to SGL! Congrats on the new scope; you have a very capable Dobsonian that should give you great views. To add to the list of things to get with your new scope I would say a collimating tool is one that will be needed. Collimation re-alligns the two mirrors in your scope to give the best possible view. This is something that has to be done on a fairly regular basis - and is similar to tuning an instrument in order to get the best out of it. Either a laser or 'Cheshire' collimator will do (Cheshire are generally cheaper)

Also a red torch will help you keep your night vision.

Martin

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PaulR18

PaulR18

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Thanks guys for all the advice and warm welcome.

I was really eager to go out and buy loads of accessories but the guy I bought it from Phil Burton Photography in Norwich (I think) suggested I try out the scope with the supplied eyepieces first and see how I get on. He's even offered a 60 day return to upgrade if I'm looking for bigger/better but from what I hear I think the 200p will be sufficient. I asked about a collimator and he reckons the scope with be setup ok to begin and may not need to collimate it for the first 18 months. I will get one though - even though the process sounds daunting!

I've got the telrad, 2x barlow and additional eyepieces in my mind but I'll try the scope out first.

Thanks for your advice Damnut, I've now downloaded Stellarium and it looks great! I've got a few apps on my iphone and ipad too. Thanks Martin and HIP3802, I'll keep you posted once the telescope arrives and when I get viewing through it.

Paul

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damnut

damnut

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Hi Paul,

Thats good news to find a decent seller, would also say that if you have a local astro group then they are a great source of trying new kit too!. Great skies in the west but our favourite haunt is Strathconon in the Highlands, 17 miles down a track..Really dark skies,

Cheers

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PaulR18

PaulR18

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Thanks guys.

Damnut I was up north and visiting Skye a few weeks ago and the Sky was clear and dark with the naked eye. I'm fortunate enough to stay 10 mins away from Loch Lomond so that'll be my local spot.

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Welrod50

Welrod50

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Hello Paul and welcome to SGL. 10 mins from Loch Lomond - how very envious am I !!

Enjoy the scope and the great views it will doubtless offer :)

While I think on, although the seller is clearly very good, I would not discount collimating just yet. If the scope has been made abroad, it needs to be transported to the UK, then from the shop to you, then in your car to Lomond and so on.... This all leads to mirror movement, which albeit slight, will mean that the scope needs collimating much soner than 18 months from now! I've not long since upgraded to a 130 PDS and mine needed doing straight out of the box, only a bit, but it needed doing nonetheless. Larger aperture instruments tend to hold collimation less well than smaller mirrored ones such as mine. But, please don't be put off at all. If you do a bit of research first and get advice here (as did I) then it really is very straightforward and nothing to be scared of, and it will improve your viewing too!

Good luck and enjoy those clear skies (when they choose to put in an appearance). :)

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