SKYLINER 300P more pro's than con's ...

[rob7]

Well my new Skywatcher Skyliner 300p arrived last Monday and due to the constant bad weather have only been able to use it briefly once. I have thought about maybe jigsawing a slot in it and placing the ota upright on the corner of my street. That way the Royal Mail would at least find a use for it!

So leaving visual use aside I'll comment on some of my initial thoughts from a relative newbies point of view as to its general build quality and asthetics.

Firstly, it arrives in three boxes consisting of ota / flat packed rocker box / mirror and cell. The box for the ota is obviously huge and will go along way into filling my recycling wheely bin. Once out of the boxes to check the items, it was time to build the flat packed rocker box which was a straight forward job. But, during this process I had my first bit of dissappointment when I realised the instuctions were wrong when it came to what type of azumith system it had. I was assuming from what I'd been told and from what the instructions said that the azumith base spun on teflon pads, but they don't on this 12" model. Instead they use the roller bearing method, which can supposedly be a bit lumpy. I'll save full judgement for when the scope has been properly through its paces.

With the rockerbox built I then proceeded to put the ota in situ. The ota sits on two lugs on either internal side of the rockerbox . Two threaded peg handles are used to secure the ota to the rockerbox, one of which acts as a tensioner for the ota, [either to set the smoothness of operation in altitude with different equipment attached to the ota or to virtually lock it in position at a set altitude. This is a nice touch on comparison with the Revelation dobs I've had in the past as I always had a wee bit of trouble with their rocker boxes / spring tensioners and low attitudes or heavy-ish equipment. In my view though there is a slight down side to the Skywatchers rocker assembley as its a tad more difficult taking the ota of the cradle of the rocker. Instead of just releasing two springs and lifting from 2 pegs which stick out of the Rev' ota and off you go, with the skywatcher you have to unscrew the two side peg handles, then hold the ota with one hand gripping the mirror cell area and the other hand hugging the side of the ota, so you can sit it on the floor before adjusting and picking the ota up by its cradle rings. Still, I'm not going to complain to much as I would much sooner have the better altitude control of the Skywatcher.

From there it was just a case of sliding the mirror and cell into the back of the ota and tightening up the retaining screws, but of course I had to have a little episode when I saw the state of the mirror. The mirror is wrapped in a sort of shrink wrap and when I pulled it clear of the mirror I thought it had left a terrible imprinted mess covering the mirrors surface. Turned out, it had just 'sweated' and it cleared up by itself over an hour to ressemble the mirror I had expected. [Phew]! Anyway, from there it was just a case of collimating the secondary and the primary. The secondary was out some and you have to use an allen key to do any adjustments, [ bobs knobs 'might' be a future aquistion for me]. The adjustment of the primary is a far better situation with the help of large knurled hand adjustable knobs which made life so much easier, [afterall and especially as this scope is an F5 ,these are the adjusters that will get the most use]!

Now the whole set up was up and running, I gave more attention to the crayford focuser which is supplied on these Skywatchers and have got to say on anitial impressions I want to swap it. I'm not saying its not a lovely smooth action ,but having owned two Revelation dobs in the past I've become accustomed to a nice anodized machined block with the benefit of brass compression rings. The focuser on the Skywatcher has the 'hammerite' paint finish with thumb screws for clamping your eyepieces. Can't for the life of me think why they could'nt of used brass compression rings as it can't add that much to the production / retail costs? Oh well, I've always wanted a dual speed, so I'll look to upgrade as soon as...

So, on to my final thoughts..

Even though I have mentioned a couple of issues 'at least for me' that were not to my expectations, I can honestly say I'm overall very happy and pleased with the Skyliner. It looks a nice looking scope on its curvy shaped rockerbox. The attitude tensioner works a treat, coping with a 2" Revelation ed barlow coupled to a 2" Meade telextender and then topped off with a 2" Meade series 5000 40mm ep. [ My Rev' dob would need the help of stategically placed weights to not dip with that sort of weight]. I'm sure the optics when tested properly will be a match for the Rev's I've had and I've got to give the roller bearings at least a chance to impress, so when I get my anodized, machined, compression ring equipped dual speed focuser I think the Skyliner will be a pleasure to own and use...

Not forgetting two 'back saving' grab handles!!!!

Rob.

[DanDare]

Good report Rob,

Would be interested to hear your first light report and how easy/hard it is lugging the beast around!

Cheers

Roy

[martin2008]

Hi there! I've just bought the same 'scope but it hasn't come with any instructions on how to mount the mirror cell!? I was wondering if you would be kind enough to explain how to do it so I don't stuff it up.

Many thanks!

Martin

[rob7]

Hello Martin. Glad to hear you've got your new scope. Regarding mounting the mirror cell, I'm not sure what your problem is exactly and I'm no astronomy know everthing geek [yet!!], but don't threat as its quite easy. Firstly with my mirror cell I had to tighten the mirror retaing clips as they were very loose. You will see these around the top/edge of the mirror. As far as I know and certainly for me I only tightened them where they gently met the mirror surface to avoid 'pinching' the mirror. Its probably best if you had a helper as the mirror cell is quite heavy and can be a bit daunting sliding it into the ota [optical tube assembly]. I mounted the mirrorless ota to its rocker box and positioned it just below horizontal, then fully tightening the side tensioners. If you have a helper this person can steady the eyepiece end of the ota ready for you to place the mirror cell into the rear of the ota. Slide the mirror cell into the opening and align the small holes around the rim of the rear opening to the holes around the cell. With that simply fix and tighten the supplied screws the these holes. Job done other than you'll need to check your collimation. If I've missed something you were especially needing advice on, just let us know and I will do my best to help you further...

Good look and enjoy...

Regards, Robert.

[martin2008]

Many thanks for the info, Robert. Top Man! I'll 'commence operations' this weekend. Really looking forward to the views, IF we get any clear skies eventually!?

Happy gazing and thanks again.

Martin

[rob7]

Your welcome Martin. I'm also pleased you could understand my 'broken english'!. [One eye on the laptop, one on the telly]...........

Regards, Rob.