Where to buy 2nd hand online

[gbarnett]

Hi,

re collimation, I've had the 8" Skyliner dob for nearly a year now and haven't felt the need to collimate the scope yet. I just observe from my back yard and when carrying it all as one piece the base been banged against doorways a few times and I've still not noticed any difference. I probably will though after I collimate :-)

Graham.

[vvsloan]

oo, I know you're all right about leaving extra's alone for the time being, especially as there wont be any birthdays till the end of next November : ) It's just so tempting isn't it.  (I'll probably get drunk one night and find one come through the post a few days later  But would a moon filter be an advisable extra from the off? I read someone say somewhere that they were unable to observe the moon without it  as it was so bright (though I think that was a review from a website, which cant always be trusted).

Thanks for that Alfian, it did make sense to me and settled a confusing issue I had in my head.

Graham, glad you havnt felt the need to collimate the telescope yet : ) As I'm half-petrified of having to do it I want to face it head on and get it mastered asap, so I intend to collimate the f**k out of it when it arrives  (given it needs doing that is)

Thanks again all!

[Alfian]

Collimating a reflector is one of those things that sounds a lot worse than it is - getting your head about the process and what that entails is half the battle - Lots of goos sites about it. Try AstroBabys - you can't go wrong. You will not need to collimate the **** out of it  - first check it needs collimating in the first place - if it doesn't leave it alone! If it does - take it a step at a time . Once collimated it should only need an occasional tweak unless you'e rough with it! 

[vvsloan]

yes, somebody else recommended the AstroBaby's guide. Its fantastic,  I've printed it off and have spent a very long time reading it through and trying to get my head around the whole process and am now actually looking forward to having a go (if it needs it) and putting theory into practice. And as per the guide, I aren't going to touch it unless it actually needs adjusting! Don't worry, I dont intend to be rough with it, was just a turn of phrase to express my enthusiasm!  

[Paul73]

My goodness. This was me 3 months ago.

Scanning the forums for telescope advice. Then eventually talking myself up from the intended 150 skywatcher dob to the 250 Flextube version on eBay ("for an extra £100 I can get......").

Echoing a previous poster - The bigger you go. The heavier they get.

AstroBaby guide - Check Recommend (I did spend £30 on a non laser collimator) and would recommend that the first go at collimating should be a two person job for, a/ moral support and, b/ seeing easily what difference the various adjustments make to the view through the collimator. That said. Second time should be a piece of cake.

Hope that it goes well. And don't get carried away with all of the great eyepiece reviews (shiny new MaxVision 24mm arrived today).

Paul

[Reeny]

You can wait for the eyepieces and extras.

Once the scope arrives, you will know if you are happy with it, and you will find out which targets you need to see.

I fitted the skywatcher 25mm into the old scope to drop the lowest magnification down from 35x to 28x.

All of the double cluster is now visible in the view finder, And the Andromeda Galaxy is much much better with the wider view.

More magnification does not always = better.

I am now looking for a 42mm eyepiece for the 200p dob to get the same wide view results.

Moon filters.

I stripped the threads on my £12 Amazon moon filter.

Be careful with the 10mm Skywatcher eyepiece - the internal filter threads are a loose fit, and it is easy to cross thread the filter

The replacement came from here - Joys Optics

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Joys-Optics/Telescope-and-Accessories-/_i.html?_fsub=2848145011&_sid=126738601&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

Wait until the product (below) comes up again, and see if you can get one for £2.80p (if you think you really need one)

If you win the item, there are three verisons to choose from - go for the ND96-0.6 (25%) / or the ND96-0.9 (13%).

I chose the 25% middle one.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ONE-High-Quality-1-25-Neutral-Density-Filter-for-Telescopes-3-Choices-50-/141113936744?pt=UK_Photography_Telescopes&hash=item20db0bcb68#ht_3706wt_1162

Some 200p owners simply keep the big end cap on the tube, and remove the smaller 2" cover to reduce the moon light glare.

[vvsloan]

Thanks for all that Reeny.  And you've conclusively convinced me to leave the extras alone for the time being. It is a bit silly to be thinking of spending money on extra eye pieces when we dont even have the scope yet, so dont know what we'd like to target better and in what way. I'll take your recommendation on the ND96-0.6 (25%) though. 

Paul, I bet you dont regret talking yourself up to the better scope though do you? And you're not helping re the extra eyepieces by going 'dont get carried away by all the great eyes piece reviews'  and then immediately after 'oo, and my shiny new MaxVision 24mm arrived today!'

[Reeny]

My £2.80p ND96-0.6 moon filter arrived today, and it is nice and dark as expected.

Here is me telling you you might not need a moon filter - and I have 3x.

• ND96-0.9 13% - which is very dark
• ND96-0.6 25% - which should be more useable
• And the worn-out, lightly tinted Amazon version - which is good for showing the bands on Jupiter

I will let you know what the ND96-0.6 25% is like on the moon once the clouds clear away later in the week.

[vvsloan]

Cool, thanks, please do.

[Reeny]

I will let you know what the ND96-0.6 25% is like on the moon once the clouds clear away later in the week.

Just been out tonight with a blindingly bright moon (nearly full)

The ND96-0.9 (13%) moon filter is the one to go for when you get the 200p Dob.

I didn't even bother to take the 25% out of the box it was so bright.

(I can use the 25% ND96-0.6 on our smaller scope)

I got myself a good view of Jupiter as well tonight.

The eyepieces used were between 100x and 210x (with a brief go at 260x)

As always - the 160x magnification was good enough, and anything above 200x was just me being greedy.

The 8mm BST should suit the 200p well giving you a usable 150x.

[vvsloan]

Again, thanks for that Reeny. Theres one on ebay (from the link you gave) ending in an hour. Current bid £1.25 so I'll see what happens with that.

Still umming and ahh-ing over that extra eye piece, as no one, yourself included, has a bad word, or regrets getting one for the 200p Dobsonian. I'm edging back towards to just deciding to get one as part of the xmas pressie, as she definately wont be able to afford one in the coming year, then at least she's set with everything she could really want/need til next xmas..

All's needed now is just to get the telescope, I think...

[vvsloan]

So just picked up the ND96-0.9 (13%) for £2.60, which is nice. Cheers for the link : )