upgrades for 200P dob

[M106]

Hi all, first up thanks for all the amazing info i've been able to read while lurking the last 6 months while wondering about where to start 

I'm going to get a Skywatcher 200P dob soon, seems a good place start, but there are differing opinions on some of the kit that comes with it, some say the eye lenses/pieces arent upto scratch, so i'm looking for some suggestions

my main aim is to look into deep space, galaxies and nebula; but i'd also love to see the likes of Saturn "up close", but planets arent my main interest.

Can someone suggest a good eye piece or other kit for this? I'm finding it difficult to sort through the opinions, and would like some 200P dob specific ones -( i'm not upto speed on the different terms yet, so it could be that its not just an "eye piece" i'm looking for...)

Detail, contrast and color are what i'm looking for - i've seen "deep space filters" mentioned, havent found one listed in a shop though, could they be called something else?

Thanks in advance  any other suggestions for additional kit in the future would be welcome too! I plan on building myself a backyard observatory one day, i'm a big DIY fan, and have already started early designs of a raspberry pi system for tracking and recording

 

 

[Charic]

Hi and welcome to the SGL.

Any of the eyepieces in my inventory should work well on your scope, they work fine on my scope for my eyes.
Some were as little as £9, others cost over £300, the Starguiders are my choice of eyepiece at present.

[Dave In Vermont]

I'd suggest something to help you find objects in deep space. Such as a good finder-scope that won't require either a Yoga-Class, or a Chiropractor. Such as what is below:

 

 

Look around various shops. I'm fond of the one from GSO, which is an 8 X 50mm RACI. RACI stands for 'Right-Angle Correct-Image' and, as shown, is much better than a straight-through finder-scope for use on DOB's.

Dave

[popeye85]

I'm afraid the list of 'extras' is never ending! Others will advice better on eyepieces but you will also need other things like a red light torch, star atlas, and lots of warm clothes! You should probably let your wallet know that it is about to get a bit of a beating for the next while! Good luck.

[alanjgreen]

I wouldn't rush into buying a load of extras before you even use the scope.

only after using it a few times will you get a feel for what is annoying you (what you perceive the weaknesses to be).

it comes with enough bits to get you started

having said that, I would recommend a book of the night sky objects and how to find them by star hopping, it's called "turn left at Orion". Search for it on this site to see what others think...

[faulksy]

if i was you i would just use the eye pieces it comes with, as you won't know if there good or bad. a bit like passing your driving test and having a Porsche straight away, you won't appreciate it. but i know were you coming from we have all done it. the sky watcher nirvana are very good and i would recommend you buying your dob and accessories from sgl sponsor FLO, the banner at the top of the page. the filter you mentioned are usually labelled UHC

[M106]

Great advice thanks

 

For sure i wont be stocking up on kit yet, i'm just trying to get an idea of whats what, and what works well from peoples own experience ...marketing blurbs make everything sound like its essential lol

 

Living in london, light pollution is an issue for me (i'm planning on spending the night camping on a hill somewhere as soon as it arrives lol) , i've already got things like red lights and a ton of warm clothes (i'm one of those people who likes camping in a hammock when its snowing  )

 

Flo is probably where i will buy, unless i find a good second hand option

[Charic]

Try the park ? 

http://www.bakerstreetastro.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWQW-Tnb6xQ

[DRT]

I would recommend a Telrad Finder as a very good early upgrade. It transforms your ability to point the scope at the right part of the sky and find the objects you are looking for. You can have all the fancy eyepieces and filters that money can buy but if you can't point the scope at the right part of the sky you won't see much

 

[laudropb]

The usual advice is to stick with the supplied kit as you learn your new scopes capabilities. I did this for a month or so and found that one of the major difficulties was locating targets. As has been pointed out, the supplied straight through finder can be difficult to use. I decided on a RACI finder and although this was an improvement, I still was not entirely happy with my star hopping skills. I found the solution by adding a Rigel quick finder. This in conjunction with the RACI made star hopping so much easier.

Like most others I found the supplied eye pieces not quite up to scratch. I replaced the 25 mm with a Maxvision 24 mm 68 degree ep and the 10 mm with a 9 mm Celestron X-cel. This was all over a period of a few months. There is no real need to hurry. Gaining experience will help you make the best choices.

Of course since then other eps have been bought and indeed other telescopes, but the 203mm Dob is still very much in use. It is a very good choice for a first scope.

 

[Dave In Vermont]

What this sort of forum is invaluable for is we are the actual 'end-users' of this gear, rather than investors & advertisers. So you get the real 'straight-goods' on what works and why. And what doesn't work and why.

That's a great telescope, by the way. An 8" - 200mm - is at the 'sweet-spot' aperture-wise. Capable of showing a good view of every sort of DSO out there, and being able to do this for every night of the rest of our lives!

Enjoy!

Dave

[popeye85]

Oh and also not for the scope but down load stelarium and a app called 'clear outside' which is good for predicting those clear nights-designed by and for astronomer's. 

[faulksy]

1 hour ago, M106 said:

Great advice thanks

 

For sure i wont be stocking up on kit yet, i'm just trying to get an idea of whats what, and what works well from peoples own experience ...marketing blurbs make everything sound like its essential lol

 

Living in london, light pollution is an issue for me (i'm planning on spending the night camping on a hill somewhere as soon as it arrives lol) , i've already got things like red lights and a ton of warm clothes (i'm one of those people who likes camping in a hammock when its snowing  )

 

Flo is probably where i will buy, unless i find a good second hand option

it sounds like you know the importance of dark skys, so your on a winner already  my advice to you is drive out of london and turn left, your looking for signs saying mid wales dark skies 

[Astro Imp]

You've had some great advice. The book Turn Left at Orion is a great help when starting your adventure.

The item I found transformed my observing was a comfortable seat. If you're stooping/contorting at the eyepiece it is very difficult to give objects the attention they deserve.

Good luck and have fun.

[ronin]

I tend to say that the supplied eyepieces are just to allow you to see something but not necessarily see anything well. And on that basis I tend to disregard them, half the reason it that it alows me to suggest a 10mm eyepiece of another variety. Less restrictive.

For DSO viewing you will not really require magnifications too great, oddly 80x seems often used. A lot depends on how many. You can go for 3 at high, medium and low magnifications. Likely 4 is better, high. med-high, medium, low.

I have and like the BST Starguiders, £49 each, the slight problem I find is that a 5mm can be a bit too much, the next is 8mm which can be a bit too low. More relevant to planets. I sorted that by buying a 6mm.

Ignoring the 5mm for now think of the 8mm, 12mm and 18 or 25mm BST should do well. My half set on a somewhat smaller scope is the 5mm, 8mm and 25mm so I suspect that the one EP longer should be equally good for you as in 8mm, 12mm, 25mm.

Later you can consider either the 5mm or a similar 6mm (Altair Astro item).

Better(?) EP's are ones like the ES 82's, you will have to make your choice on those as when they get wider they also get shorter focal lengths so you may not gain the additional field expected.

Filters ignore for now, filters always remove something so there is a need to at least partially understand what is going on.

Finders again your choice. People say Telrads are the best, I cannot use one to save my life . Just me I suppose but it seems I get on better with 2 pins in 2 bits of blu-tak. I have no idea why. To add more to the amusement I find an RDF fine to use and to an extent the principle is similar.

Take it easy, and still try the supplied items something to practise with at least. Will say I also suggest forgetting the "Eyepiece kits". the choce may not suit and they used to be plossl's but now I see a number have 1 plossl and the rest are Huygens or such like. Presently best avoided.

Oh yes, when you get the 200P take the 1.25" eyepiece adaptor out of the 2" eyepiece adaptor, then take the 2" adaptor out of the focuser, then put JUST the 1.25" eyepiece adaptor back in all on it's own. Store the 2" adaptor somewhere safe.

[M106]

Thanks for the details sub giant; i spent some time going over the magnifications with various lesnses and came to the conclusion that 6 or 7 would be something i'd want to try, glad i'm on the right track!

 

Expecting delivery tomorrow  feel like a kid again haha i suppose it is still xmas aswell

 

 

3 hours ago, Astro Imp said:

You've had some great advice. The book Turn Left at Orion is a great help when starting your adventure.

The item I found transformed my observing was a comfortable seat. If you're stooping/contorting at the eyepiece it is very difficult to give objects the attention they deserve.

Good luck and have fun.

Good point on the seat, i'm 6'1", and my back doesnt like me much already! Will look into that

 

Seen the book recommend a few times, is it a general amateur astronomy book, or a star chart with extra info? I'm currently using Stellarium, and managed to find my way around the sky with my old scope (ubranded piece of rubbish), but i am expecting things to be quite different with the 200P in terms of pinpointing and locking onto targets

[Astro Imp]

Turn Left at Orion takes you through the best sights season by season. 

For each object there is a diagram of the general area of sky with prominent stars marked, a diagram showing what you are likely to see in the finder scope and a realistic sketch at the eyepiece. Alongside the diagrams are detailed instructions for finding the object together with a written description and lastly a small amount of technical detail explaining what you are seeing.

HTH.

Good luck.

[faulksy]

1 hour ago, M106 said:

Thanks for the details sub giant; i spent some time going over the magnifications with various lesnses and came to the conclusion that 6 or 7 would be something i'd want to try, glad i'm on the right track!

 

Expecting delivery tomorrow  feel like a kid again haha i suppose it is still xmas aswell

 

 

Good point on the seat, i'm 6'1", and my back doesnt like me much already! Will look into that

 

Seen the book recommend a few times, is it a general amateur astronomy book, or a star chart with extra info? I'm currently using Stellarium, and managed to find my way around the sky with my old scope (ubranded piece of rubbish), but i am expecting things to be quite different with the 200P in terms of pinpointing and locking onto targets

look foward to your un boxing pictures and your first light report

[M106]

2 hours ago, faulksy said:

look foward to your un boxing pictures and your first light report

Looks like i have to wait till tuesday midnight to see anything, fingers crossed, cant guarantee british weather 4 days in advance lol

[M106]

Its arrived, started a blog  wooo!

[popeye85]

23 minutes ago, M106 said:

Its arrived, started a blog  wooo!

Great news! Where can we have a wee gander of the blog?

[M106]

24 minutes ago, popeye85 said:

Great news! Where can we have a wee gander of the blog?

Added to my sig

As its cloudy skies till monday i'm going test it out looking into london city from the top of my hill

[Avocette]

There are a few things you might consider as improvements to your 200p Dob that I wrote up a few years ago. I would also recommend adding a Rigel Quikfinder and replacing the straight through finder with a RACI one. The stand places the eyepiece at a more comfortable height and protects the chipboard from dew on the ground. The Quikfinder and RACI finderscope are the final steps  in helping you to find the objects you're looking for, after pointing the tube roughly according to the digital setting circles for azimuth and a Wixey angle meter for elevation. 

 

[M106]

I have already started building a stand for it, being 6'1" its definitely not a good height for me as is lol

[Charic]

27 minutes ago, M106 said:

I have already started building a stand for it, being 6'1" its definitely not a good height for me as is lol

I use a height adjustable drum stool, I've tried standing,  but for  longer observations at the eyepiece, I feel  more comfortable and stable whilst sitting.