need help with skywatcher 200

[andy bear]

Hi totally new to this

ive just got my skywatcher 200 ive upgraded from celestron gt90 but when viewing jupiter i can see better with my old scope than with the skywatcher. The reviews were brilliant for the telescope so i think its me thats the problem do i need to adjust mirrors or anything else im unaware of? Any help will be usefull thanks

[knobby]

Have you let the scope cool down, reflectors have a large mirror that holds the heat from the day... The mirror distorts as it cools and the air around it becomes turbulent .

[andy bear]

Hi i keep it in my van so its genrally kept cold but i was out with the two last night and i just dont get the same clarity on jupiter is the focuser hard to work?

[knobby]

Maybe collimating then , google collocation, it's aligning the mirrors basically .

[andy bear]

Thanks very much il give it a go i know im not doing somthing right cheers

[knobby]

If you defocus slightly on a bright star you should see fuzzy rings around the star... They should be concentric , of not then you'll need to check your collimation.

I've a 6" mak and a 10" reflector and the reflector is much better on Jupiter than the mak ... But only when the collimation is spot on !

[andy bear]

When i see jupiter with the wee telescope i see two rings round it and its quite crisp what am i realistically going to see if there is an improvement? Total novice its not that il be disapointed in what i see its the fact i dont know what to expect lol

[oldpink]

hi from a fellow Glaswegian

I love my Skywatcher 200 but nothing to compare it to apart from an old 4" scope I had years ago

is the problem image quality or magnification

could be you just need to tweak your setup as I thought I had mirror issues until I found out I still had the camera mount
in place that wasn't supposed to be there after that its just got better

[Rockrae78]

Taking into account the comments above (particularly those about collimation), you've not specified what size EPs you are using.  I know absolutely nothing about the 2 scopes that you have, but I know from my own personal experience with my two scopes that 1 set of EPs may not necessarily 'fit all'.

Generally speaking, for the higher power EPs and the lowest power EPs, I need two different sets - 1 for each scope.  There is some overlap in the middle range. 

For example, to get the best views on Jupiter with my 5" scope, I use a 3x barlow with a 13mm EP.  Barlows don't seem to give me the best results on the 8" scope (which is an SCT), so instead, I just use the 8mm EP.  The 8mm on its own with the 5" scope doesn't give me as good a view, and with a barlow, its just too much magnification for this scope.  

There is a really good thread on here which talks you through the EP/scope calculations to decide which kind of EPs will work best with your scope. You can find it here. It may be worth checking your EPs against both scopes to see if you need to think about any additional kit.  

Note: I would only go down the route of buying anything else once you've eliminated other possibilities.  We both have an 8" scope, so I can only assume that you should be able to see what I can - clear banding, great red spot, galilean moons etc. 

Obviously, if you've already done all of this re EPs, then please ignore! 

HTH.

[brantuk]

If you upgraded to a larger aperture then surely it was for viewing deeper into space than planets? That's the most common reason. You can still use it on planets of course - but achros do give very nice sharp and contrasty planetary views through their glass objectives.

The newtonian is using mirrors which must be collimated - so you may have a small misalignment that needs a little tweaking for the best views. It's major strength is going to be viewing dso's (compared to the refractor) as it gathers more light than the smaller refractor. But it will give very respectable detail on planets as well once set up right.

Try a star test first to confirm if it needs collimation. Hth

[andy bear]

Yes its the image quality rather than magnification where is the camera mount i wouldnt know where to look good skies last night in scotland i was out till past 5 haha

[andy bear]

Thanks very much brantuk it is deep space i was looking to get into just noticed that it wasnt clear on the moon or jupiter so i wouldnt know what to expect going deep space is adjusting it easy enough? Or can i cause more damage doing it wrong?

[andy bear]

Sorry one more thing whats a star test?

[andy bear]

Ahh i had 20mm & 4mm that i got with my 1st telescope the skywatcher came with 25 and 10mm i just assumed cause they are all 1.25mm they can be used in all i see i have some work to do in the eyepiece department thanks alot to take i starti g off :-)

[lensman57]

Hi

Ive upgraded to a skywatcher 200 from a celestron gt90 but i find better views on jupiter for instance on my old wee scope am i not doing somthing or do i need to adjust mirrors? Any help is good help thanks :-)

Most likely it needs a full collimation, that is to align the primary, the secondary and the focus tube . Without this the image will be soft and devoid of detail. 

A.G

[brantuk]

If you go slightly out of focus in both directions on a star - you should see airy rings of light. If they are concentric in both directions (in focus and out focus) then the scope is in good collimation. If not then a tweak may be needed.

Collimation is very easy - there are around three main techniques and tools. Cheshire, laser, and barlowed laser. So you need to get a demo of each and decide which you'd like to use and acquire the relevant tool. It sounds scary but actually quite easy once practised - it's only a matter of tilting mirrors using the screws they balance on.

On a newtonian it will need checking regularly and takes only 3 mins to do at most. The 200P will hold collimation well - the secondary rarely needs adjusting at all - I check my primary each session cos I transport the scope every time I go out and it gets a few shakes in the car.

[brantuk]

Most likely it needs a full collimation, that is to align the primary, the secondary and the focus tube . Without this the image will be soft and devoid of detail. 

A.G

Yes - if you just got the scope then a first time full collimation is a good idea - particularly if it's second hand.

[John]

Hi again,

I've just noticed that you have two threads running on this topic but just one reply on the other one (from me !) so I've deleted that thread so we can concentrate on this one 

Any 1.25" eyepieces will actually work with the 200P but some will work better than others. Is yours the dobsonian mounted 200P or the one on the equatorial mount ?

The 4mm eyepiece is likely to give too much magnification on Jupiter which ever you have but the 10mm should do OK.

You say you can see 2 bands and a crisp disk of Jupiter with the 90mm - what can you see with the 200mm ?

Understanding where the larger scope is falling short of the 90mm will help diagnose the problem you see.

[John]

This is the 3rd thread running on the same topic - I'll try and merge them ! 

[lensman57]

very high magnificatio

Sorry one more thing whats a star test?

In a scope with its optics well aligned or collimated and at the point of critical focus on a point light source, a star for example, the focused image is not really a point of light but it consists of a very bright central point surrounded by concentric but  alternative rings of light and dark . This is only evident at high magnification above 30X per inch of aperture. If the collimation is off the rings will not be concentric with the central light source but offset in one direction or the other. If you focused on a bright star at high mag and the rings are offset then you know for sure that the optics are not in collimation. To get a better view ofrings you have to defocus in or out of the focus position. 

A.G

[oldpink]

The 4mm eyepiece is likely to give too much magnification on Jupiter which ever you have but the 10mm should do OK.

You say you can see 2 bands and a crisp disk of Jupiter with the 90mm - what can you see with the 200mm ?

Understanding where the larger scope is falling short of the 90mm will help diagnose the problem you see.

anything more than my 25 with Barlow x2 is practically useless so far

but with that set up I can clearly see the bands and moons with no issue with that setup or even the 25 on its own

[HumptyMoo]

I have the Skywatcher 200p Dobsonian one. With the stock 10mm eyepiece Jupiter is clearly visible with the equatorial bands and it's moons. Unfortunately I have no other scope to compare image resolution with, but, if another scope would give better resolution at less or like for like aperture size I can't see it being levels of magnitude higher that would warrant a feeling of disappointment (or in shorter words, looks nice through mine guv! ).

Given my experience with the scope (little though that is <shakes fist at sky> Weeeeeatheeeer!!!!) and ruling out any personal attributes like eyes and personal expectation and interpretation, I would definitely check that your scopes collimation is in order. Remember to check the collimation thoroughly before turning your first screw, make sure the scope really does need it and if it does, make sure you have your internet up and running and a good chunk of time handy as the first run through is usually quite tricky and you may need to engage some advice for each step 

I hope it works out for you as I believe you have a great scope there. Good luck!

[andy bear]

Hi john haha yes i didnt know which topic to put my question in its the eq5 mount i have with the 200 i see jupiter and its moons but without clear detail no rings just white blur no matter how i focus thanks

[andy bear]

Cheers humpty it must be the collimation i read reviews and i wouldnt blame the scope its me not knowing enough thanks

[Ben Smith]

When I got my 200p the mirrors were well off, it was the first thing I did so can't compare the image to what it could have been before collimation. But now mirrors are perfectly aligned jupiter looks amazing, clear bands and perfect focus. I've also loosened the tension on my focus tube so now it's easier to get a sharper image