New (to me) SW 200p hopefully coming

[Astro Imp]

Good luck with the new scope Daz, I think Mrs Daz ought to be getting some chocs/flowers shortly 

[Daz69]

You been talking to her have you?   

[Daz69]

Yay it's arrived! At least this seller stuck to his word..........

 

[Daz69]

What an impressive scope, and that's just me sat here looking at it! Lol, stood next to my 130, it's massive! Only issue so far is that the 2" - 1.25" reducer wasn't included, but the seller said he'll look for it, and if he finds it then he will post it on, can't say fairer than that. I didn't realise that it is a metallic black finish, looks ace. It came with the 9x50 finder and the dovetail bar, all for £120, bargain! Mrs Daz caught me sneaking it in, but there was no way that I was going to let this scope pass at such a cheap price. The mirror seems ok, but I'll remove it and give it a clean with a Brillo pad  I'll pick up some distilled water when I'm out. Already got some Isopropyl Alcohol and organic cotton for a gentle clean. I buy this cotton in pads and use it in my vape machine to make my own coils and wicks, so I know it's organic without anything man made, like harsh fibres. 

I've already ordered some bits to build my dob base, including some teflon sheet to cut the alt and azimuth bearings from. Will pop to our local charity shop and pick up an old LP for the box base, rather than use my scratch signed Def Lepard LP   I've got some adjustable cabinet feet in the workshop somewhere, and a selection of stainless nuts n' bolts in M4 - M12 sizes. 

The next thing I suppose will be flocking it, and making a dew strap for the secondary and E/P. I'm looking forward to seeing what this scope is capable of.

 

[John]

Congrats on the new scope !

My advice (for what it's worth):

- Don't try and clean the mirror. It would need to be pretty filthy to need cleaning and by removing it (which you need to do to clean it) you would need to re-collimate the scope.

- Flocking can make a little difference to contrast but it's not earth shattering in my experience. So perhaps not a top priority ? (unlike the mount for the scope !).

- I've not had dewing issues with the 200P's when I've had them so I'd not rush into dew straps etc.

Get it on a mount and look through it - thats the priority I'd suggest

[Daz69]

I flocked my 130 and found a difference in sharpness or contrast whatever it's called (IMHO) so at some point I will do it. I've got to make dew straps because I just made my dew controllers   Mind you, now the weather has started to warm up, I'm probably a little late! 

I know I've got a load of small polystyrene bits on the mirror as the sender had used the original box and packaging, and some of the polystyrene was not in great shape. It needs collimating as looking through the focuser, I can only see 3/4's of the primary. Besides, my idea of collimation might not be the same as the previous owner, and I can see that already. The 3 secondary adjusters were loose as well. Once I build my dob base, I'll do the collimation. I don't enjoy it, and I'm probably too finnicky about getting it spot on, but my 130 is so much better with good alignment. 

[JOC]

Hi Daz69 you sound like an experienced tinkerer to me, I hope you end up with something that you are pleased with.  It sounds like it will give you similar views to mine and, although I haven't had much experience, I think I get really good views and I reckon you will be pleased with the results.

[JOC]

These do seem popular telescopes don't they?  I bet we could successfully power our own sub-section on SGL - 200P owners group!!

[Daz69]

On 24/02/2017 at 21:26, JOC said:

Hi Daz69 you sound like an experienced tinkerer to me, I hope you end up with something that you are pleased with.  It sounds like it will give you similar views to mine and, although I haven't had much experience, I think I get really good views and I reckon you will be pleased with the results.

I hope so JDC. I've started receiving some bits down for building my base, still waiting on some other small bits. Will probably start next Friday when I'm off for 4 days. It'll give me time to tidy the workshop and get set up for my machines to cut the wood. I'm really looking forward to using it. I'll likely use this just for obs, and will seek to use my 130 for imaging, once I read Every Photon Counts of course!

[Daz69]

Oh, just a quick update, the seller has found the 1.25" inch adaptor and has kindly posted it on FOC. I don't know if he's a member on here as I bought via ABAS, but he's a trusted seller for me.  

[SmokeyJoe]

On 14/02/2017 at 14:32, SyedT said:

The 200P is a great scope, I'll never forget my first look at Saturn and Jupiter with it.

First night out with my sw200 ,heavily light polluted city skies, no idea what I was doing, very rough polar alignment (I don't think you have to worry about that with a dob, never used one), pointed it at the brightest thing in the sky and there was Saturn in all its glory. Never forget that night. Brilliant scope.

[Daz69]

2 minutes ago, SmokeyJoe said:

First night out with my sw200 ,heavily light polluted city skies, no idea what I was doing, very rough polar alignment (I don't think you have to worry about that with a dob, never used one), pointed it at the brightest thing in the sky and there was Saturn in all its glory. Never forget that night. Brilliant scope.

Sounds like a good start for you. I'm in rush to build the mount, and will do some technical drawings to get everything right, and a cut plan for the ply. I ordered one of those inclinometers and will use the compass facility on my iphone with it placed inside the dob base, so it'll help me get aligned. I'm not too bothered to get to use it due to this current weather!

[SyedT]

16 hours ago, SmokeyJoe said:

First night out with my sw200 ,heavily light polluted city skies, no idea what I was doing, very rough polar alignment (I don't think you have to worry about that with a dob, never used one), pointed it at the brightest thing in the sky and there was Saturn in all its glory. Never forget that night. Brilliant scope.

It's quite something isn't it! When I saw Jupiter for the first time it was completely out of focus, my collimation was rubbish, but the feeling was amazing. First time seeing Saturn was even better, especially when I could make out the ring detail. It eventually became far too much to lug it out each night I wanted to observe, so I've switched to DSO imaging with my 80ED for now.  

[SyedT]

16 hours ago, Daz69 said:

Oh, just a quick update, the seller has found the 1.25" inch adaptor and has kindly posted it on FOC. I don't know if he's a member on here as I bought via ABAS, but he's a trusted seller for me.  

Hi Daz,

That seller would be me! I'm glad I could help with sourcing the scope; I always try to keep transactions smooth, whether I'm selling or buying. I went to the post office today and they are shut today for some reason (usually open until 12:30 today), so I will post it out before going to work tomorow morning.

Cheers,

Syed

[Daz69]

1 hour ago, SyedT said:

Hi Daz,

That seller would be me! I'm glad I could help with sourcing the scope; I always try to keep transactions smooth, whether I'm selling or buying. I went to the post office today and they are shut today for some reason (usually open until 12:30 today), so I will post it out before going to work tomorow morning.

Cheers,

Syed

Haha! You're a top bloke Syed. I'm in no rush so don't worry. 

 

If you buy from Syed, take it from me, he's trustworthy and keeps to his word.