Now the proud owner of a 10" scope

[BeerMe]

After a 500 mile round trip to Cheshire with the family yesterday, I finally got my hands (and eyes) on my new-to-me Skyliner 250px. 

I've seen pictures and videos on the Internet of these and I sorta knew what to expect, but nothing really prepares you for when you first see it.  The diameter of the OTA is huge compared to my old Heritage, which now seems like a toy compared to this.  I can see why this is close to the top end of the solid tube Newts, although it is surprisingly light and the lifting is easily manageable for me.

By the time we got home last night, I was too knackered to do much more than give it a closer inspection of the mirrors and the various moving bits.

Both mirrors are in great condition, the primary (which I hadn't seen pics of but had been assured was in good condition) was better than I expected.  No signs of any scratches or marks of any kind and very little dust.  The seller had said it had been little-used and kept with its cap on, which does appear to be the case.

After only ever using the helical focuser on the Heritage, the version on the Skyliner is so much more smooth and easier to operate.  I think other than the obvious jump in size and the extra magnification and details that it brings, the improved focuser is probably my favourite part of this scope.  The Heritage was badly let down in that department, so I'm really looking forward to this aspect of my time at the eyepiece.  Just a thought - does the focuser tube ever need greased, or should it always remain this smooth to operate?  The rubber grips have peeled off of the focusing wheels too, but that is easily remedied.

The alt bearing is perfectly fine, once I had reassembled it at home I was able to find the ideal tightness on the handles that allowed it to move with the push of a finger.  Unfortunately it doesn't have the handy handle at the top of the tube that some of these models do, but I'll be able to fashion something for it.  The azimuth bearing was a little stiff, but I suspect that it just needs a loosening of the centre bolt on the bearing.

All in all, for £155.10 from fleabay I'm very pleased with it.  I'll get it collimated today and sort the azimuth bearing, and hopefully it stays clear enough to get first light with it tonight, even if it just for Jupiter and the moon.  I'll report on my findings later if it happens :-)

 

[John]

Really excellent scope at a bargain price Paul

There are always some tweaks you can do to dobsonians to improve them a little but the Skywatchers are pretty good "out of the box" generally.

Give it a few goes and see how it fares. Telrads and / or RACI finders are very popular early upgrades to these scopes but see what you feel you need

[Chris]

Wow that was worth the trip at 155 quid, nice buy! I bigger scope than I've ever owned, it should be stunning on nights of very good seeing, enjoy!  

[xtreemchaos]

that's a great newt mate, you got it for a very cheap price, it will pay you back the first clear night you have. well done. charl.

[laudropb]

Well done Paul. You have waited a fair bit to achieve your goal, but after your first light I am sure the wait will have been very worthwhile. I have had 6 nights observing in a row. I hope it holds out for you.

[johnfosteruk]

Great bargain you've bagged Paul, very nice indeed. I hope it gets first light soon.

[BeerMe]

Thanks folks :-)

@John my mind is already working overtime on little things I can do to it lol.  It's missing an eyepiece tray, so I'll need to get something made up, although I have a distinct lack of eyepieces to fill it right now so the little funds I have left are getting spent in that department.  Over the summer I'll pick up more things like a Telrad though, for sure.

@laudropb I know, the weather has been glorious whilst I've been scopeless.  Bloody typical haha.  Hopefully I get a try tonight, but I'm not holding my breath.  What is it with new scopes and clouds?!  I think I owe the west of Scotland an apology :-/

[Commanderfish]

That's a real steal, I just got a 10" too, but it cost £600.  Has a moonlight focuser, a laser collimator and a Telrad with it.  Here is it:

[CraigT82]

14 minutes ago, Commanderfish said:

That's a real steal, I just got a 10" too, but it cost £600.  Has a moonlight focuser, a laser collimator and a Telrad with it.  Here is it:

Very nice!  Is that the one that's been for sale on the facebook 2nd hand group recently?  I was sorely tempted by that but just dont have the mounting for it.

[BeerMe]

Very nice setup @Commanderfish.  Do you use the refractor for imaging?  If so, would this mean you'd be viewing visually with the Dob, what you'd be imaging with the frac?

[BeerMe]

Tried the collimation, and it was a real doddle.  Used the collimation cap first and, after confirming the positioning of the secondary mirror, I enlisted my son's help and had him turning the collimation knobs whilst I checked the view.  A couple of little twists here and there and we had the dot centred in the donut.  I then used the Cheshire just to check, and it all looks spot on.

A small loosening of the centre bolt on the azimuth bearing, and I should be good to go if the weather is kind tonight :-)

[Astro Imp]

That's a great scope at a great price, you are in for some real WOW moments.

Hope you get first light soon, look forward to reading all about it.

 

[John]

6 hours ago, BeerMe said:

Tried the collimation, and it was a real doddle.  Used the collimation cap first and, after confirming the positioning of the secondary mirror, I enlisted my son's help and had him turning the collimation knobs whilst I checked the view.  A couple of little twists here and there and we had the dot centred in the donut.  I then used the Cheshire just to check, and it all looks spot on.

A small loosening of the centre bolt on the azimuth bearing, and I should be good to go if the weather is kind tonight :-)

Great stuff. You see so many posts agonising over collimating these scopes but you seem to have taken to it like a duck to water, so to speak

[Commanderfish]

On 5/11/2017 at 15:02, BeerMe said:

Very nice setup @Commanderfish.  Do you use the refractor for imaging?  If so, would this mean you'd be viewing visually with the Dob, what you'd be imaging with the frac?

I'm strictly visual and the mount is manual. On these giro mounts, you use one scope to balance out the other so you don't need counterweights. You can then have one scope at low mag for wide field and the other for high mag detail, both pointing at the same target at the same time, without having to change EPs. It's a great way to view. There is some vibration on the VX10 at high mags so I've ordered an OOUK Dob base for it. They are great bases, very light, easy and steady, but you can only mount one scope on them - though I tend to piggyback an 80mm or 70mm refractor on the big scope as a finder.

Yes this is the scope from the Facebook page.

[Saganite]

What an absolute bargain price for such a good scope, well done.

[BeerMe]

I managed to get it out the back garden last night, but only for an hour or so unfortunately.  A combination of clouds, very poor seeing and still feeling the effects of that long drive the day before meant that I ended up calling a halt once the moon started riding over the tops of nearby houses.

After leaving it outside for around an hour as there was little variation in the inside and outside temperature, Jupiter eventually peaked through the thin blanket that covered most of sky, and I soon had it in view on the 25mm.  Not for the last time, I fumbled to find the focuser which I'm so used to being directly under the eyepiece.  Once that was sorted, Jupiter and the 4 moons came in to view although there wasn't a great deal of detail visible as the sky was still darkening so the contrast was pretty poor.  I did try the short end of the zoom too, but the atmospheric turbulence made any details impossible. 

I left the scope for half an hour to allow the sky to darken a bit more before trying again.  Again I went straight to Jupiter as, even with the darker skies, there were very few actual stars visible so trying for DSOs was a no-no.  With the 25mm EP, Jupiter began to show a bit more detail and the seeing was a little more stable.  I could clearly make out the bands on it and the view was quite similar to using a 10mm in the Heritage, although much easier to view.  The contrast was still quite poor, but otherwise the view was nice and it was good to see her looking resplendent again.  I then switched to the zoom, which was okay in the mid-range but not so great at the longest or shortest focal lengths.  At 7mm (170x) the seeing was still pretty bad, although it had improved on earlier and I'm sure I could see a slight bulge on one of the bands that may have been the GRS, but without any other details visible and no difference in colour.  It was in the correct position for it (I'd been researching it yesterday) so I think it's fair to claim it ;-)

By now, the clouds had parted sufficiently that the handle of the Plough was at the zenith and clearly visible so I decided to turn my attention to that, in the hopes of maybe finding M81/M82 which I've never seen.  Last night wasn't going to change that, but that was chiefly down to the 9x50 finder.  You really need to be a contortionist, or maybe even a sado-masochist to persevere with one of these finders for too long.  It is passable I found for objects up to maybe 60 or 70 degrees above the horizon, however for anything close to the zenith it is utterly useless and the best thing I got from it was splitting Mizar.  The lack of a corrected image was very difficult to get used to also, and I ended up just circling around the zenith aimlessly with both scope and finder trying to work out just what part of the sky I was pointed at.

With all of the above in mind, I learned..

• The RDF on my Heritage was infinitely easier to use than the 9x50.  This was a big surprise indeed, although I'd maybe look at a RACI version.  I definitely need a Telrad or Rigel though, a RACI would only be to supplement one of them.
• I definitely need new EPs.  The 25mm is passable thankfully, but even with the poor seeing I can tell that the short end of the zoom will never show me the level of detail that is possible with this scope, even in optimum conditions. It may suffice for something in the 15mm range but only until I can get a replacement. 
• This thing is a beast to move about, I'll be glad when I get my shed to store it in!  If I thought I'd have to lug this in and out of the house for the next 10 years every time I want to do some observing, it'd be a daunting prospect.  Thankfully, I only need to endure it for a few weeks.  Also, a dark site is a must some time soon. 
• Most importantly, the scope appears to be in tip-top shape optically and the mount and bearings are in great condition and smooth to operate at the EP.  That said, I will be looking for a suitable grab handle for the top of the tube.

Apologies for the long-winded way of saying that I didn't see much other than a possible GRS sighting, but it was more than enough to whet my appetite for more :-)

[laudropb]

Hi Paul. Looks like the curse of buying new equipment has struck. Still at least you got a little play with your new scope. I am not surprised that the zoom at its highest mags was not too good in your fast scope. I prefer the Rigel finder because it is smaller than the Telrad and less likely to disturb the balance of your scope. As for eyepieces, if you are only purchasing one for now I would go for a 10 mm and a mag of 120x. I find that this is the one I use most given the seeing conditions. I can let you have the standard 10 mm ep supplied with Skywatcher scopes. I have a spare set which have never been out of the boxes as I had another set. The 10 mm is not great, but may be useable to get you started. You are welcome to both if it is of help.

[BeerMe]

Thanks @laudropb that's a very kind offer.  I've got my eye on something in that range at the moment but if that changes and I'm without a short focal length EP, I'll let you know :-)

[Davesellars]

Congrats on bagging a real bargain!

The Rigel Quickfinder is excellent - I switched from a Telrad that I used for my SCT to the Rigel for my dobsonian as the Telrad was just too heavy and dews up too quickly.  The Rigel Quickfinder doesn't seem to have such issues with dew (or nowhere near as fast anyway)

Definitely get a RACI.  I use a 60mm one that makes star-hopping pretty easy.

Regarding an eyepiece.  Since you have a 25mm already I'd get next something that will give you between 2mm to 3mm of exit pupil (works out to an EP of 10mm to 14mm focal length) for good contrast and detail for DSOs.

[Commanderfish]

So, how long til your aperture fever returns?!

VX16 on the left, VX10 on the right   

[Stu]

Let's give BeerMe a chance to enjoy his scope for a while perhaps?

[MattJenko]

Best upgrade for my 250px was a telrad. Almost like cheating. Telrad, Finder, EP and target is more often than not right there. Lovely scope. I added a Moonlite over time as I wanted to do some imaging, but gave up on that idea as it is just way too large and scary but like the Moonlite on it now. Telrad was still a better, and much cheaper, upgrade though.

[Commanderfish]

I agree, Telrads are really good sights for the money.  I also like Baader Sky Surfer V's but they cost about twice as much as a Telrad.  Thought the SSV is a lovely aluminium item and less bulky.

These 10" scopes are great with a focal length of 1200 or similar; the field of view at low mag is great - in this respect it's better than my big VX16 above which I can only squeeze 1.34 degrees out using a 30mm 82 degree eyepiece and Paracorr.  (I have a 41mm Panoptic but the exit pupil is a bit big so the sky background becomes greyer).    In the VX10 with a Paracorr I can get 2 degrees of field out of the 41mm Panoptic with an exit pupil of 7.4mm, or 1.78 degrees from the 30mm 82 degree with a 5.4mm exit pupil. Enough for the whole of the Orion's Sword area.

[BeerMe]

I got a Rigel finder for £20 delivered on ASB so I'm pleased with that.  Can't wait to get that and a clear patch of night sky :-)