200p? or 200px?

[Andy78]

Ive finally decided to go with a dob as my upgrade. But which is better? Cosidering that people say from England, 200x mag is probably good to observe? If this is the case? Then my budget allows for the 200p and a 8mm BST. Or should i just get the 200px and worry about EPs later?

[knobby]

Do you mean the 250 PX?

[Andy78]

Yeah thats the one.... typo error

[knobby]

[emoji1] the 250 is nice... A bit harder on eyepieces and a bit heavier...

Not much in it really, I just went for the biggest I could easily handle

[Andy78]

Im a big fella so weights not an issue. But how do you mean harder on EPs? Im new to all this!

[Dreadz]

The 250px is a fast (f4.7) scope so is by its nature less forgiving both on eyepieces and collimation.

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[Andy78]

Thanx for the advicei Dreadz. Is that the same for 200p?

[Dreadz]

The 200p is f5.9 so should be far more forgiving. I use BST starguider ep's with my 250px and although not faultless they are certainly an improvement over the stock ep's and they should perform even better in the slower 200p, although as has been stated in several threads on here recently, everyones opinions on what is acceptable in terms of aberration, coma etc will vary dramatically. Ideally if possible go to your local astro society and try them both out. Either one will undoubtedly give you some fantastic views even just using the stock ep's, so dont jump in to buying ep's straight out of the gate. Get used to the scope first, it will give you a better idea of where to spend your money down the line.

If you can stretch to it financially, can handle the weight/bulk of it, are prepared to tweak collimation regularly and shop wisely for ep's when you do decide to upgrade then the 250px would probably be the way to go IMHO. It will give you significantly more light grasp (56% more) than the 200p which will make a difference on all the faint fuzzies you'll be hunting for especially under a dark sky and if you're anything like me, you'll only be wondering how much better the views would be through a bigger scope (I'm already eyeing up a 16" dob and waiting with bated breath for the gso 20" dob reportedly being released later this year! Aperture fever has struck!!!!!).

Just my noob opinion though. As they say, your mileage may vary..........

[Andy78]

Cheers dreadz. Im a passive observer! I dont get chance to look up as near as often as i would like. 3 kids, 2 dogs, misses and shift patterns mess it all up lol. So wen i do get out, quality of veiwing is paramount. I actually join my local astro society this coming Friday. Cant come soon enough cos im having trouble collimating my SW 114/1000. And wen i upgrade? I only want to do it once! And cosidering the space i have to store (not much) i reckon i could go for the 250px. I wll hold off on the EPs for now. Im too practical... i dont like buying owt that i may have to sell or swap out a few months down the line!!! Once again.... cheers for the advice

[KevUU]

The 200 is certainly a very capable scope, and 8" aperture is not to be sneezed at. There are plenty of members with years - I mean several decades - of happy observing with 8" scopes. On the other hand, the usual advice is to get all the aperture you can afford

For what it's worth, on Friday night at the SGL star party I borrowed AstroTux's 25mm BST and he came over to compare it with my similar-ish eyepiece. I have the 200, he has the 250. As soon as he looked through his eyepiece in my scope he noticed with some surprise that it's a lot better in my scope than his. So the effect of the 'faster' 250 on eyepieces is tangible, and if you notice this sort of thing it may cause you to get more expensive eyepieces down the line.

However as others have said, don't feel you need to get carried away with eyepieces yet. I would advise taking the time to get a feel for what you like and what you don't and where you think the gaps are, before you upgrade.

(You mentioned the 8mm BST - in either the 200 or 250 the 12mm gives you x100, and this is the ep I use most often, it's my default ep if you like - so I might consider that before the 8mm. But as I say don't rush to eps, see what you think you need first.)

Hope this helps. Sorry for any incoherence, I'm a little sleep deprived from the star party still

[Andy78]

Hi KevUU....

After alot of thinking, ive decided to go with the 200p! For me and the way i like to observe it seems to be the better of the two.

Hope you enjoyed the party?

Andy

[Myopicus]

Welcome to the Dob Squad!  

[KevUU]

Hi KevUU....

After alot of thinking, ive decided to go with the 200p! For me and the way i like to observe it seems to be the better of the two.

Hope you enjoyed the party?

Andy

"After a lot of thinking" yes I recognise that, I take forever to make these decisions... You'll enjoy the views with either, that's for sure

The star party was great thanks, a little light on the 'star' side but plenty of socialising - and not being at work, which always helps!

[Andy78]

Its taken me ages to decide which scope to upgrade to, refractor or reflector... newt or dob... size and brand!!! My home life kind of dictated which way a went in my decision. Mainly cos of space saving... the dob is perfect for this. Plus me and the misses agreed on a £500 limit. I dont like to spend money on myself. As long as we have food, bills and rent are paid and the misses and kids have all they want and need.... then im a happy man. So as a treat just for me i get to upgrade my scope. Little does she know that after buying the SW 200P, there maybe just enough to buy SW 120 on AZ3 aswell, to be used as my grab and go scope....... happy days lol

[Andy78]

And thank you Myopicus... dob squad all the way

[Andy78]

Ive just read another thread on here..... 'grab & go telescope'..... and one fella on there uses his dob! Fair enough, each to there own. But he did mention that after he moves it, he tweaks the collimation!!!! Is this a common thing thatvyou have to do with dobs??? I ask only cos i cant even collimate my SW 114/1000, never mind a great big dob lol. Im joining my local astro society this friday and taking it with me in hope that someone there may be so kind as to help me???

[KevUU]

I very rarely collimate, but when I do I have to make not-insignificant tweaks so I should do it more often. For the most part my scope just goes from house to garden, so it shouldn't be a problem. With truss-rod or flex-tube dobs it's a bit different I think, but with a solid tube it should be pretty resilient. I ought to check it every time I've moved it by car, at the very least. I find it a lot easier now I've bought *and collimated* a laser collimator, so I'll try to do it more often.

[Dreadz]

My 250px is my grab and go scope (has to be as it's my only scope. ..........for now ) and I was seriously paranoid about collimating the first time around. Read the guides available online and just take your time. The secondary shouldn't require adjustment very often once you've set it and tweaking the primary takes me two minutes now using a Cheshire. I check it every time I take the scope out

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[Andy78]

Hopefully someone at this meeting can point me in the right direction. I too had a laser, but the lense in my focuser difused the beam so it wasnt any good .... sold it and got a cheshire.... that was to heavy for the focuser so it bent i t downwards a couple of mm so i couldnt get true collimation anyway. And now ive gat a cap from FLO, and now i simply cannot get the dohnuts to aligne!!!! I know im doing summat wrong, just cant figure out what. Ive read loads on here and else where but still it aint working for me. I will get there in the end lol. Frustrating but all good fun lol.

[cotterless45]

bent it ?

[Andy78]

What the Rubbish is that about, apart from a sacastical and theatrical comment about my collimation issue with the cheshire!?! Doodie song though.... thats gotta be my next ring tone ha ha ha!!!!!!