Unpacking & First Light: 200P Dob

[cybernautic]

Well my telescope arrived today

Some might remember I'd said I was getting the 10'' 250PX. At the last minute I decided on the 8'' instead, partly for financial reasons and partly for weight issues!

So today it arrives, very well packaged from Teleskop Services in Germany. Their service has been really good and I'd recommend them. They answered emails quickly and were very helpful. The scope base was easy to assemble and I'm pretty happy with the its movement (although I might do the easy mod on the base using a CD or milk bottle washers). I'd also ordered a Baader 2.25mm Q-Turret barlow, Cheshire collimator and the Rigel Quikfinder, all of which were packaged with the OTA.

Luckily it was clear tonight. Less lucky was an almost full moon! I put the scope out about an hour before using it and then spent a couple of hours just familiarising myself with the different bits and pieces. I saw M103 in Cassiopeia even though the stars of Cassiopeia, almost drowned out by the rising moon, were barely visible to the naked eye. I can hardly wait for a really dark sky night with no moon as I was very impressed with M103 even in such poor DSO conditions.

I looked at the moon for a while (must get a moon filter) and then went in to get a cup of tea. When I came back out the telescope was covered in dew! I decided to call it a night so brought the telescope back in. I wiped the dew from the outer surface of the OTA with a soft cloth and left it tilted downwards with the dust cap off. Is this the right thing to do? I didn't want to store it away with the dust cap on if there was moisture in the OTA.

Collimation seems to be ok at the moment but I'm going to spend some time checking it tomorrow. I've not mounted the Rigel Quikfinder yet as I'm not sure where to put it. There's room between the focuser and the finderscope. I experimented in different places and that seems to be the best location.

One thing I do need to sort out is the best posture when using the scope. I think I'm going to have to get a RACI finderscope, as I suspected, although I'll probably wait until I've had a chance to use the Quikfinder for a while. I had the scope on a piece of board on the ground but I might try raising it up a little.

Am I happy I got the 8'' rather than the 10''? It's early days but on the whole I would say yes. I can lift the 8'' as a single piece and carry it out of the house and down into the garden. The OTA isn't as heavy as I thought it would be but the base is pretty hefty.

Maybe in a few years I'll upgrade to a 12''

Clear skies to all!

[cotterless45]

Neat, best posture for this scope is a small wooden table/ bench to sit on. This is most comfortable and easy to move. Allows viewing at both high and low declination and retro fitted with a fluffy cushion,

Nick.

[TractionMan]

Congratulations on your new scope. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with it. There's probably a reason that it's one of the most popular telescopes around.

[Crebles]

Congratulations cybernautic, good call. I absolutely love mine. I love the no-faffing simplicity of it. No power cords, no hernia, great views of pretty much anything, portable to dark sites if required, and so on. Pound-per-star I reckon its the best-value, all-round telescope available at the moment.

[Ally8446]

Congratulations cybernautic, good call. I absolutely love mine. I love the no-faffing simplicity of it. No power cords, no hernia, great views of pretty much anything, portable to dark sites if required, and so on. Pound-per-star I reckon its the best-value, all-round telescope available at the moment.

I couldn't have put it any better.

I have the same scope and its just awesome. Here's to many a clear night and many hours of night time wonder :-D

Sent from my LT30p using Tapatalk

[Liquid360]

When I made my first purchase I ended up with a 10in SCT. After a month I was longing for an 8in. Like the saying goes, the best scope is a scope used. My 10" is a lot of weight. In the heat of The Fever it seemed a no brainer. Be happy with your choice.

- Nate

Birmingham, AL

[Reeny]

Instead of paying mega money for a right angled finder scope - try a water butt stand instead.

You need to get the right one - same one as this picture

This one came from Ebay today, they sent the wrong one which is no good to me.

I got a full refund.

It is 51cm diameter, and I needed 52cm.

So it's time to get the hacksaw out.

[Kropster]

I put an RACI finder on my 10" dob.... SO much better than the straight through finder. Much better for your back.

As for a seat, I have one of those ironing stools that you can change seat height on.

I have also seen somewhere a clever box/shelf  type structure which, by rotating so it stands on various sides, gives a shelf to sit on at different heights. looked simple to use and easy to make...just can't remember where I saw it!

[Ally8446]

I put an RACI finder on my 10" dob.... SO much better than the straight through finder. Much better for your back.

As for a seat, I have one of those ironing stools that you can change seat height on.

I have also seen somewhere a clever box/shelf type structure which, by rotating so it stands on various sides, gives a shelf to sit on at different heights. looked simple to use and easy to make...just can't remember where I saw it!

It's called a 'Lybar' seat. Basically it's 4 pieces of 3x2 screwed together. Simple but effective. Google it for dimensions :-D

Sent from my LT30p using Tapatalk

[cybernautic]

Moon too bright tonight so I've come inside I got my Rigel Quikfinder set up though. I'll try raising the entire scope up a bit as it's way too low on the ground. Thank you for the ideas. Roll on the dark skies!

[Naemeth]

Moon too bright tonight so I've come inside I got my Rigel Quikfinder set up though. I'll try raising the entire scope up a bit as it's way too low on the ground. Thank you for the ideas. Roll on the dark skies!

Failing that get an ironing chair .

Glad you like it, but I wouldn't bother with a moon filter - just avoid looking at the Moon when it's full .

[cybernautic]

Failing that get an ironing chair .

Glad you like it, but I wouldn't bother with a moon filter - just avoid looking at the Moon when it's full .

Just looked at ironing chairs online. I had no idea they even existed and I'd already baulked at the cost of the proper astronomy seats! I'll see if I can get one here in France as it looks perfect. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Kropster]

Amazon used to do them. I think that is where I got mine.

[cybernautic]

Amazon used to do them. I think that is where I got mine.

I found one on Amazon France that I've ordered. Apart from a high magnification EP I hope it'll be the last thing I have to buy for a while!

[Kropster]

Wishfull thinking.

Astronomy seems to be like the queues at theme parks..... you think you are near the end but then turn a corner to see you are nowhere near!

[AlexB67]

Enjoy the new scope and welcome to the (Dob) Mob. 

[Liquid360]

Awww that's so cute! I remember when I believed there was such a thing as "last thing to buy for awhile"... sigh... such simpler times.

I found one on Amazon France that I've ordered. Apart from a high magnification EP I hope it'll be the last thing I have to buy for a while!

- Nate

Birmingham, AL

[rory]

Awww that's so cute! I remember when I believed there was such a thing as "last thing to buy for awhile"... sigh... such simpler times.

- Nate

Birmingham, AL

made me laugh  .  its a myth that theres a simple set up to be happy with. theres always some dark force pulling toward the next "essential" piece (cough !)

[rory]

congrats on the scope by the way,nice choice indeed. as said a pound for pound contender no doubt. 

[cybernautic]

Awww that's so cute! I remember when I believed there was such a thing as "last thing to buy for awhile"... sigh... such simpler times.

- Nate

Birmingham, AL

I already spend too much time looking at telescope accessories online. I am going to wait a while though until I can actually use my scope a bit more.

I think I was a bit hasty in posting a first light report as it really wasn't much of a session with the full moon. Last night was going to be better as the moon was rising later and it was clear. I put the scope outside just after dinner, did the washing up and went down the garden full of excitement only to see a huge cloud bank rolling in from the south! I had about ten minutes viewing before the stars were obscured, so it all came back inside. I haven't actually been able to use the thing properly yet which is frustrating. Cloudy here at the moment but I'm hoping it may clear for the evening.

[Reeny]

My 220p will be up to £505 spend once I'm ready to buy an OIII filter.

£80 binoculars / plus £165 on the 700/76 scope

= £750 in total.

I'm sure that's small money compared to some folk on here.

[Naemeth]

My 220p will be up to £505 spend once I'm ready to buy an OIII filter.

£80 binoculars / plus £165 on the 700/76 scope

= £750 in total.

I'm sure that's small money compared to some folk on here.

It doesn't really matter how much you spend as long as you feel you're enjoying it and as long as money for astronomy doesn't come out of money for important things (like food, water, heating, electricity etc..). But for what it's worth, yes, some folk (me included) have spent a lot more than that...

[Kropster]

I think it is right to take things at a slow pace. Work out what you really, really need next, then wait a while, change your mind and repeat the process afew times.

Much cheaper than rushing out and buying something that you don't need or won't use.

If you do buy something that is not of much use, sell it and put the money into the next big idea (after repeating the above process!).

[cybernautic]

My 220p will be up to £505 spend once I'm ready to buy an OIII filter.

£80 binoculars / plus £165 on the 700/76 scope

= £750 in total.

I'm sure that's small money compared to some folk on here.

It's scary how it all adds up. The 200P is a great buy but then you add in 'Turn Left at Orion', a Telrad or Rigel, a couple of new EPs, maybe a barlow and a chair then suddenly it's got expensive. Anyway, my adjustable chair arrived today! Tried it out with the scope and it's brilliant. Unfortunately it's been raining here all day with no sign of a change.

[kirkster501]

The 200P Dob is an absolute corker of a scope.  I bought my dad one and he is smitten with it!  It is the sweet spot for scopes in so many ways - a perfect combination of aperture, quality, cost, ease of use, portability and size for storage.  The Dob's start to get bigger and heavier out of proportion to their aperture.  The 300P is very much bigger than the 200P.

Congrats on your scope!