SkyWatcher Explorer 130p AZ GoTo

[scottphillips]

Hey guys any advice on this scope, looking to buy it soon as it's at the max of my budet and I'm looking to try out the GoTo mount with decent Views and I think this is a 5" scope ??

Thanks

[daiwelly]

This was my first scope its good first scope, you can use 2" eyepieces don't rely on batteries to power it (pencil batteries) get a power pack, or leisure type battery or mains power adaptor for it I found I had a netgear router power adaptor tip positive this important with 1 amp power output and this operated it perfectly I also had a leisure battery for when I was away from a mains power source   it can be connected to stellarium and this can be used to control the scope, the scope is f5 so is what is termed as a fast scope (light). I bought a 200 Dob because I want to do DSO also the goto was making me lazy in as much I was not learning the night sky I was just clicking on stellarium or the handset and the scope would swing to it. so I joined the dob mob.

[scottphillips]

Thanks mate !! What kind of views am I going to get, I have clear skies up a mountain near my home and my travelscope 70 has given me decent views of saturn and it's rings, the two bands of jupiter and it's 4 biggest moons and I can just pick out the andromeda galaxy !! What are these going to look like through the skywatcher ??

[daiwelly]

I would say good views  of planetary if your in good location LP wise you should be able to see nebula as grey fuzzies as i have done. thats where astrophotograpy comes in the goto is ok for tracking planetary photo'.s,  DSO and nebula it would only be good for very short bursts, for astrophotograpy proper  you would need a  something  like a EQ5 synscan mount then its questionable if this tube is up to it.

I am sure some one with more knowledge of astro photography would advise you better.

it depends what you want do with it ?

[scottphillips]

Yeah I mean planetary imaging is probably what I'm more going for at the moment and just want to have decent views of galaxies and nebula, not expecting amazing views for £280 but the GoTo can quickly find these rather than me wasting precious time searching myself, could I at some point maybe upgrade the scope on this mount for even better views of the planets such as an 8inch dob or is this the only scope that will attach to this mount ?

[daiwelly]

The simple answer no could possibly put  a refractor or SW 127 mak on it you would need to check with FLO you certainly would not be able to put a dob on it,

Accepts telescopes fitted with a regular Skywatcher/Celestron/Vixen-style dovetail bar. 

Maximum recommended OTA examples: 4-inch short-tube refractor, 5-inch Newtonian, 5-inch Maksutov.

But I dont think you would gain anything from upgrading any of the above

[Owmuchonomy]

Yeah I mean planetary imaging is probably what I'm more going for at the moment and just want to have decent views of galaxies and nebula, not expecting amazing views for £280 but the GoTo can quickly find these rather than me wasting precious time searching myself, could I at some point maybe upgrade the scope on this mount for even better views of the planets such as an 8inch dob or is this the only scope that will attach to this mount ?

Hi.  If you want to get the best visual experience for your money then its wise to invest in a Dobsonian.  A Dob as it is called is basically a Newtonian OTA mounted cleverly on a simple Alt Az mount that sits on the ground.  The mount was designed by John Dobson in order to take stargazing to the masses and encourage 'sidewalk stargazing'.  I suspect you wish to have GoTo so the GoTo versions of Dobs are above your budget.  The SW 130 you have chosen will improve the view you have described through your travelscope but you will need to make sure it is well collimated.  The mount it comes with although offering GoTo is also an Alt Az design and thus is very limited in what it can do particularly from an imaging standpoint.  It sounds as though you are close to good dark skies and this will help a lot particularly if you do eventually go for an 8" Dob.  Enjoy.

[happy-kat]

How do you get to the dark sky site if it involves a walk need to be realistic on what can be carried.

[scottphillips]

I park my car right next to where I am viewing !! I only wanted a GoTo because it seems the quickest way to get around the sky with short periods of good viewing conditions, I mean sounds like a dob is what most people say is the best option but I have looked at these equatorial mounts and don't think I'm up to polar aligning that yet it looks tricky !

Ok let me ask one last question !!

So I want good views of planetary, galaxies, nebula and clusters with the option of planetary imaging, and at a budget of £300 max what setup should I go for ??

Any links would help thanks guys

[scottphillips]

I park my car right next to where I am viewing !! I only wanted a GoTo because it seems the quickest way to get around the sky with short periods of good viewing conditions, I mean sounds like a dob is what most people say is the best option but I have looked at these equatorial mounts and don't think I'm up to polar aligning that yet it looks tricky !

Ok let me ask one last question !!

So I want good views of planetary, galaxies, nebula and clusters with the option of planetary imaging, and at a budget of £300 max what setup should I go for ??

Any links would help thanks guys

[daiwelly]

SW 200 dob gets my vote and you would have change

[scottphillips]

Any links please ?? Price ?

[daiwelly]

Any links please ?? Price ?

FLO link:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

have a read of my blog:

http://stargazerslounge.com/blog/1370/entry-1760-sw-200-dobson-eyepieces-my-mods/

[happy-kat]

To use go to you still need to align the tripod on a star or few during initial turn on to be able to use the goto I think.

Are you happy to collimate a telescope? It might not need it every time or are you more of a set it down and use it and not into checking mirrors? Collimation is easy though.

To make finding objects easier with a dob there are tricks you can do like a push too solution using a cheap android phone stuck to the tube with a data connection using an app.

[scottphillips]

I have no idea how to collomate sorry how could I find this out it sounds tricky :L

[scottphillips]

That scope doesn't look very portable ??

[happy-kat]

It is two pieces base and telescope but it comes in at 26kilos for all of it. The telescope is 1200mm long.

I guess you get great views with a telescope of this size apperature if you can use it.

[happy-kat]

It is not hard to collimate a newtonian telescope and once done the first time gets easier I manage my little telescope though I love that my refractor is just ready there to use which better suits where I keep it.

[scottphillips]

Yeah If rather just get out and go rather than fussing, don't have much clear skies so when I do I need to make the most of it