helios d= 200mm f= 1000mm

[Scott Brown]

Hiya guys.

brand new to this and looking for advice on my first telescope. I want to be able to view the moon, rings of Saturn and the colours on Jupiter and maybe a glimpse of its moons. I have the chance to buy a helios d= 200mm f= 1000mm with a  Meade 4000 eye piece for £125. I'm sure it's an old scope as I can't find info on it. Would it be able to do what I wanted and is it worth the money. I'm new to all this so my knowledge is zero so any help would be great.

thanks in advance...... Scott

[John]

Hello and welcome to the forum !

If it looks like the picture below then it's probably a good buy as long as the mirrors are clean and unmarked. It will show you the things you mention and a lot more !

They are the same scopes as the Skywatcher Explorer 200P. If it does not look like this then be cautious - there was another 200mm newtonian branded as Helios and that was not good at all. Different manufacturer and rather poor.

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

This appears to be the same 8" Newtonian that I own. This is in essence an early Sky-watcher and a good quality instrument. I tracked down a review which was very positive. Even if you are not getting anything other than the items explicitly mentioned in your post it is probably worth the money. 

4 minutes ago, Scott Brown said:

I want to be able to view the moon, rings of Saturn and the colours on Jupiter and maybe a glimpse of its moons.

It will certainly do this for you, but to be honest so will any well-made telescope of 70mm aperture or more.

If a mount is not included, you will need an EQ5 or equivalent mount. They are sometimes available used. 

[Cornelius Varley]

Hello and welcome to SGL. Older Helios branded telescopes were manufactured by Synta, who also make the popular Skywatcher brand. Skywatcher sell this one as the SW Explorer 200P. The latest models are not made by Synta are not as good.

[Scott Brown]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. John that is exactly the scope I'm looking at. It's on eBay just now and the guy lives in the same town as me but I wasn't sure if it was a good buy as I know nothing about them. Is it a good first scope?

[Cornelius Varley]

10 minutes ago, Scott Brown said:

Thanks for the quick replies guys. John that is exactly the scope I'm looking at. It's on eBay just now and the guy lives in the same town as me but I wasn't sure if it was a good buy as I know nothing about them. Is it a good first scope?

The mount looks a bit neglected. And the photo of the manual supplied does not match the telescope (Meade SN 8" Schimdt Newtonian)

[Scott Brown]

Yeh I noticed that as well. That's why I asked for advice in case I was wasting money. I want to get up and running but don't want to make a wrong first move.

[glowjet]

Hi and welcome to SGL. From the pictures shown in the add, the mount leaves a lot to be desired. A 200mm reflector requires a decent mount such as a basic EQ5, although it is described as having clean mirrors I think this may be a case of caveat emptor  

[Scott Brown]

So a new explorer 200p with a good mount would be a better although dearer way to go then?

[Cosmic Geoff]

16 minutes ago, Scott Brown said:

So a new explorer 200p with a good mount would be a better although dearer way to go then?

With respect, if you are not snapping up the Helios, or at least going to view it after looking at pictures of the Sky-watcher version, you should go back to basics and think about what starter scope would best suit you. There is plenty of guidance on this site. Some of the replies seem to be confusing your query with John's picture of another instrument.

As for the Explorer 200p + EQ5, this is often offered as a first scope and would work well for looking at planets and easily found objects. But within three months of assembling its close equivalent I was  looking for a totally different outfit of the same aperture.

[Cornelius Varley]

1 minute ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

With respect, if you are not snapping up the Helios, or at least going to view it after looking at pictures of the Sky-watcher version, you should go back to basics and think about what starter scope would best suit you. There is plenty of guidance on this site. Some of the replies seem to be confusing your query with John's picture of another instrument.

As for the Explorer 200p + EQ5, this is often offered as a first scope and would work well for looking at planets and easily found objects. But within three months of assembling its close equivalent I was  looking for a totally different outfit of the same aperture.

The photo of the telescope is of the actual item. A quick search on ebay will bring up the full listing. The condition of telescope and mount suggests that it has not been looked after with signs of rust and flaking paintwork. 

[Nathan UK]

The above doesn't sound good , flake and rust. One could only have doubts about the mirrors

[Cosmic Geoff]

8 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

The photo of the telescope is of the actual item. A quick search on ebay will bring up the full listing. The condition of telescope and mount suggests that it has not been looked after with signs of rust and flaking paintwork. 

It was not made clear that John had identified from Ebay the item the OP was interested in. The detail around the focuser does look like mine, but as has been pointed out it is in poor condition. Mine is pristine. OTOH this one evidently has a mount. However the mount has alloy legs rather than the preferred and stiffer stainless steel legs.  It's a lot of kit for the money, but if the mirrors are not good or the OP has no expertise about refurbishing astronomical telescopes it might be wise to back away.

[John]

I didn't realse that I'd managed to find a pic of the actual scope involved !

Having looked at the e.bay listing and seen the larger photos I'd say steer well clear of that example.

They are good scopes and can be bought for £150-£200 in nice used condition but that one is very far from that

[ecuador]

Whoa, that is a lot of rust there! Both on the mount and the focuser...

[Louis D]

Based on the amount of corrosion, I'd have doubts about the mechanics of both the OTA and the mount.  Does the focuser still move smoothly?  Does the mirror move smoothly on the collimation bolts?  Can the secondary be moved using its collimation screws?  Can the mount move smoothly in both axes?  Can the latitude be adjusted?  Are the tripod bolts about to rust through?  Where was this thing stored, in a swamp?

[nightfisher]

Put a bit more money into it and get a new 200 skywatcher dobsonian from FLO

[Scott Brown]

Thanks guys for the advice it helped a lot. I will keep looking around for my first scope and mount. I will look on FLO for telescopes and maybe ask you guys some more questions. I think I just need a decent point and shot telescope that I can learn the trade with. Thanks again...... Scott

[Scott Brown]

Been looking around and checking reviews and the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian looks like a great easy to use telescope for a complete beginner like me. Would you agree that it's worthwhile increasing my budget and getting this and is it a good learning starting point. Thanks in advance..... Scott

[Cosmic Geoff]

It's cheap, large aperture and popular, but I would still suggest getting a smaller, general purpose scope (perhaps with GoTo) that will introduce you to various types of observing and perhaps serve as a travel scope or grab'n go scope later. 

The primary purpose of the Dobsonian design is that one hauls a large Newtonian to a dark-skies site and looks at faint objects like galaxies. If that's what you have in mind, fine. But if it's your sole instrument you will be biased toward looking at easy to find objects, at low magnifications.  All the telescope and mount designs have pros and cons that may only become obvious after you have experienced them and spent a wad of money. 

[Louis D]

3 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

The primary purpose of the Dobsonian design is that one hauls a large Newtonian to a dark-skies site and looks at faint objects like galaxies.

I've been using my 8" dob from my backyard for nearly 20 years now.  It can go down to 30x (2.3 degree TFOV) with a 70 degree 40mm SWA.  It's not quite wide enough to take in the entire Pleiades or belt of Orion, but it's close.  It's also quite good on the planets and moon.  For faint galaxies, I do better from a dark site, but I also use a larger dob that doesn't get much use because of its size and weight and my bad back.  For really low power, I use my AT72ED which will get me down to 11x and a 6+ degree TFOV.  It tops out at about 120x, so it leaves a lot on the table for planets and the moon.

[Scott Brown]

After talking to the missus about getting the skywatcher 200p Dob  she has put the skids on it as she says it's to big and wants a smaller compact scope but I still want one with a bit of power. I am trying hard to compromise and had a look at the skywatcher heritage 130p flexi tube. Can you guys give me some advice on this scope, how does it compare to other compact scopes  or is there a better choice out there to keep us both happy. Thanks in advance..... Scott

[Cornelius Varley]

5 minutes ago, Scott Brown said:

After talking to the missus about getting the skywatcher 200p Dob  she has put the skids on it as she says it's to big and wants a smaller compact scope but I still want one with a bit of power. I am trying hard to compromise and had a look at the skywatcher heritage 130p flexi tube. Can you guys give me some advice on this scope, how does it compare to other compact scopes  or is there a better choice out there to keep us both happy. Thanks in advance..... Scott

The Heritage 130P is a very nice telescope using the same optics as the Explorer 130P. Very compact, the telescope collapses down when not in use and is stored in its own box.

 

[Scott Brown]

Thanks Cornelius she likes this one as it wouldn't take up much room when stored.  Would this scope keep me happy for a while or would I be looking to upgrade it anytime soon. Also what eye pieces would I buy along with this to get the best out of the scope. Thanks again.

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL. Where will you be observing from ? I ask this because you

will need a table or something similar to sit this telescope on. As for eyepieces, it is best to use the supplied ones at first until you familiarise your self with the scope and its capabilities. After a couple of months you will be in a much better position to decide on the upgrades you want.