200p Dob - Alternative

[JamesOfThinking]

Hey all,

Hope everyone is having a good start to the New Year. Just a quick post really, I got a Skywatcher 200p Dob last Summer and it's quite the dream but it's unvailed some negatives along the way... It kills my back, it's heavy and bulky and It's impossible to transport unless you have a real big car and a giant trolly... It also dosn't seem to be the one for imaging and that is something I'd love to get started on this year.

So; Does anyone have any alternatives to this scope that I may want to look to swap out my dob for? Also what is a good camera to get going with? DSLR seems to be a wise choice, but it's a mine field out there! My budget for is between £200-300 for the camera and depending on what I can get for my dob around the same for the scope.

If anyone can offer some wisdom that would be brilliant.

Thanks all!

[CodnorPaul]

Hmm - the problem is if you want to do AP then you need an EQ mount really, that alone you could maybe swap for your dob, but then you need an OTA as well.  A 200P dob second hand value does not buy you much of an AP set up

[itmo]

get a mount for your dslr. That will get you started on photography and it will cost a lot less than getting a scope and a mount for AP. and if it is killing your back, then move it higher. put it on a pedestal when observing. You dont have to bend down then. If you really want to get rid of it, then sell it to some beginner who needs a beginnerscope and switch to an SCT or a refractor on an EQ mount. 

Note though that EQ mounts are heavy and bulky too. Their counterweights alone weigh as much as that dob. 

[Reeny]

I don't have a back problem when I use the £15 water butt stand to raise the dob up to the correct height.

I ruled out the 200p on EQ5 mount due to the massive size and weight when I was looking for our new scope last year.

A big tripod, mount, and scope set-up would normally need to be split into 2 or 3 pieces to move around.

You can split the Dobsonian into two-pieces at the moment - so a heavy tripod assembly could be worse on your back for lifting.

Maybe you need to go much smaller than 8-inch, and concentrate on the photography side of the hobby.

The camera / mount suggestion above is a good-un.

Best of luck with the search.

[Reeny]

Water butt stand = £12 plus £5 delivery

http://www.crowders.co.uk/buy/watering/water-butt-diverters-linking-kits/water-butt-stand-black-60x32cm

This one should take the 52cm Skywatcher turntable base

You will need to drill some clearance holes for 2 of the feet - then it's good to go.

[JamesOfThinking]

I'd deffinetly look to go smaller. I like to travel around alot my home sky is often poor at times with the amount of cities that surround me, I'm right between Chester & Liverpool with the addition of my local town. I did solve the issue with the waterbutt stand (thanks!) however we recently got Chickens and they've turned the Garden into a mud field because they blumming love digging - again not ideal but you can't blame them!

I'll have a good search and mull over all your suggestions. I think if I get the camera and a mount and stick with the dob for now that'll be a good starting point? I know it's tough work with the trails it can produce? But for planets and such it should be swell?

I'm looking at the Canon 1100D anyone thinking yay or nay for that?

Thanks

[lestergibson]

No trails with something like these:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/blog/vixen-polarie-star-tracker-mount-review.html

http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/review/mounts/ioptron-skytracker-camera-mount

I'm toying with scoring one of these myself in lieu of the full-ap madness

[catman161]

I took the OTA off my 200P dob and got some tube rings and mounted it on an NEQ6. However the NEQ6 was £700 second hand and I have since nodded it with the by drive conversion kit. So it all adds up. I do just planetary imaging with my setup using an ASI120MC which retail at about £200. Even basic planetary Astrophotography can get expensive. DSO imaging can be Ben more expensive once you get into it.