Buying a telescope for my other half PLEASE HELP!!!

[Hertford Stargazer]

The only thing with the 200p dob is your gonna have to budget for a vast amount of wrapping paper. It comes in two large boxes one of which is big enough to climb inside. Other then that I'm sure your both love it, they almost become part of the family   

[JED-E3]

The box is going to be bigger than the Christmas tree

[Coastliner]

I'm excited for him already!

[starryeyed2014]

So am I haha

[ollypenrice]

Hi thanks for your response i had looked at the dobsonian ones as well but because they dont come on a tripod and are just based on a swivel stand i feel this wont be good enough for him to use.

Any other ideas?

This is a reasonable mistake to make in considering the various mounts, but it is a mistake. The simple Dobsonian mount is a work of genius invented by a remarkable man, John Dobson.  I am primarily invoved, so far as making a living goes, in high tech astronomical photography where a tight budget might be £10,000. When it comes to visual observing I use a Dobsonian mount. It is simple to use, stable, intuitive and, quite honestly, far better than the fancy stuff we need to use for astrophotography. If you want to look through a telescope at the lovely night sky, look through a Dobsonian.

On your budget the 200P has no rivals.

Olly

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Other/Best-of-Les-Granges/22435624_WLMPTM#!i=2266922474&k=Sc3kgzc

[Oily]

Congrats on the purchase,I was going to suggest adding your location then seeing if anyone was local had either scopes for you to look at so you could get an idea of what your buying.

[starryeyed2014]

Wat about the 150p ?

[C7tsj]

The 150p is a nice scope at 6 inches in aperture but I urge you to look at the 200p.

Both good scopes but for the extra money you can get a good 8 inch dob.

However, if you do go for the 150p, your other half won't be disappointed. It may mean he wants to upgrade slightly quicker than if he had started with the 200p.

[happy-kat]

FLO do several bundles/options of the 150p.

[purdo]

Hi for my twopence, go for the 200P Dob. If I had to choose again, I'd still choose it.  It's a great scope.  5 minutes to set up & 5 to take down. Hubby can always put  the tube (OTA) onto an equatorial mount later down the line if the fancy takes him.  Here is a picture of mine.

[Coastliner]

Purdo,

Good plan. Having contributed to this discussion I may be ordering my 200p today, and have also thought of mounting the tube on an EQ mount later on.

Can anyone suggest a suitable mount, preferably a Go-To, that would support the weight of the tube? And would it be an easy job - would the tube need to be modified in any way?

Neil.

[purdo]

Hi Neil, I would imagine at least a EQ5 mount & if you want a Goto - EQ5 PRO Synscan Goto.  But I will defer to more knowledgeable folk here.  You would  need tube rings as well.  Have a look at FLO' s website.  Depends too if you want to do visual or imaging, which takes it onto a different level.

[happy-kat]

.

[Coastliner]

I've just taken delivery of my Skyliner 200P Dob from FLO, the service was faultless. Ordered around mid-day yesterday, delivered to work mid-day today.

Mary - I intend to eventually mount the tube and use it for photography, and have been advised to use the more stable NEQ6. However, having seen the price, plus the cost of a new dovetail mount + tube rings we are talking in excess of £1000, so I think my aspirations for DSO AP will have to wait quite a while!

[purdo]

Neil, yes NEQ6 for imaging.  Had intended myself to start off with an EQ mount for AP, bit after taking advice from folk here, decided to get the Dob first learn with that and perhaps in  year or so, like yourself  (hopefully) get into AP.  As you can see it ain't cheap.

[Coastliner]

Mary - looking at your kit list you will be able to help me with an early problem with my SW 200P Dob (I've owned it for a full ten hours now!). I have mounted a Canon 60D on the eyepiece via a T adapter and cannot get focus - I cannot see anything through the eyepiece or on live view. I also have a 450D to try. I have various bits of ironmongery that can be screwed together in different areangements, can you tell me which arrangement you use? A pic would be good! :-).

Neil.

[Helen]

Just to add some personal experience...

A work friend asked my advice for a first scope.  I advised him to buy the 200 Dob.  It was a shock when I told him the size (from the pictures he too thought it was table-top), but he went ahead and bought it.  The next time I saw him at a Board meeting he was showing people the pictures of it on his phone like it was his first born! and he and his family have been having fun exploring the heavens with it ever since.  I get middle of the night texts/emails with things like 'Wow we saw Saturn's rings',.  His wife just spends hours exploring the moon.  

The only accessories I recommended were a red dot finder (eg a Telrad or a Rigel) as this makes finding things easier, a red torch and Turn Left at Orion or Nightwatch.  

Helen

[nytecam]

Well done Helen - thought I'd have to add to the 'advise' but with 90+ posting I'm in agreement with the Dob either 6" or 8" :-)

'

[purdo]

Neil, I haven't mounted the camera on the scope yet, just finding my way around the sky & getting used to the scope.  Yet to buy a  t adaptor etc. Will do over the next couple of weeks though.  So, cannot help there, sorry.  I would put a post in the imaging section, plenty of experts there.

[JED-E3]

Mary - looking at your kit list you will be able to help me with an early problem with my SW 200P Dob (I've owned it for a full ten hours now!). I have mounted a Canon 60D on the eyepiece via a T adapter and cannot get focus - I cannot see anything through the eyepiece or on live view. I also have a 450D to try. I have various bits of ironmongery that can be screwed together in different areangements, can you tell me which arrangement you use? A pic would be good! :-).

Neil.

I might be able to help, The 2" to 1.25" eyepiece adapter that comes with the skyliner should unscrew into two parts, the lower part has a thread on it that screws straight onto the eos-t2 adapter. If setup correctly the camera should be very close to the focuser with no spacers between and should then reach focus, you can take great shots of the moon like this.

Hope that helps.

James. 

[Jesterowl]

and how long I wonder before you get a scope of your own 

I went through a similar process last year looking for a scope for the current Mrs Jesterowls birthday in October lest year. (got her a sky-watcher 130P on supatrack mount)

in May this year I bought myself a 200P on EQ5 mount. 

It kinda gets to you after a while 

[Coastliner]

I might be able to help, The 2" to 1.25" eyepiece adapter that comes with the skyliner should unscrew into two parts, the lower part has a thread on it that screws straight onto the eos-t2 adapter. If setup correctly the camera should be very close to the focuser with no spacers between and should then reach focus, you can take great shots of the moon like this.

Hope that helps.

James.

James, that's done the trick. Some of these bits of metalwork are so well engineered that you don't know they come apart til you give them a good hard twist. The camera, as you say, bolts directly to the focuser now, and another huge bonus is that when the camera is removed the 'T' adapter stays where it is - the 1.25" adapter screws through it, making the transition from camera to eyepiece very easy.

[starryeyed2014]

Hi all just took delivery today of the skywatcher dobsonian I got the 150p I was amazed at the size of it, it is huge lol not use where it's goin to go when I give it to my partner for Xmas thank you for all your help. Can anyone recommend any good books on the moon ? I bought stargazing for beginners ?

[Sirius Starwatcher]

Well done Im sure he'll be over the moon ! When he opens it. Have a look on line for " lunar 100 Map" it's a free printout of the moon with 100 sites marked and listed for you to look for. Best of luck.

[Coastliner]

For getting into stargazing everyone recommends "Turn Left at Orion". I have this book, it is very good and and indicates which objects can be seen with eye, binoculars and scope. Search for Moon Map on Amazon, there are loads, and there are apps for a tablet/smartphone eg Moonmap HD (you can download this from Amazon for about 60p).

We will all be waiting with bated breath for an update Christas morning!