Skywatcher extras?

[manthla]

I am buying my son his first proper telescope for his birthday, it is a skywatcher skyliner 200p dobsonian. I was just wondering if anybody could advise me on any extras or upgrades I'd need to buy for it as well, thanks

[Cornelius Varley]

Hello and welcome to SGL. In no particular order here are some useful accessories . A red light torch , a copy of Turn left at Orion , a collimation tool (either a laser collimator or Cheshire eyepiece) and a small collapsible picnic table.

 

[Ricochet]

I think the most useful accessory for this type of telescope is some sort of height-adjustable observing chair. I use an old drum stool, some people use ironing chairs, you can buy (more expensive) dedicated astro observing chairs and there are also several plans to build your own freely available online. 

The suggestions made above are good and well worth buying. 

A patch to cover the non-observing eye is also useful. You can pick them up really cheaply on ebay if you've got enough time for one to be delivered from China.

With regards to "upgrades" I would look at:

• A Rigel Quickfinder to supplement the optical finder.
• Extra/better eyepieces
• UHC and/or OIII filters

but these are all things you would usually buy after you've used the telescope a few times. Eyepieces in particular are subject to personal preference, whether your son wears glasses and budget.

Don't forget warm clothes. It gets really cold at night compared to the daytime.

[MattJenko]

+1 for an addition to the finderscope. I use a Telrad and find it the best thing I bought for my 250px.

[Louis D]

Install Stellarium on a desktop or laptop and start learning how to use it to see what is visible on any given night from your location.  There's even a mobile version for tablets and phones.

[triton1]

+1 for the Telrad and maybe a raci finderscope.

[Demonperformer]

Telrad is definitely the best accessory I've bought and I reckon it would be invaluable for a dobviously. 

[ronl]

Telrad or Rigel QuickFinder, I use the latter, makes finding targets so much easier.

You will find them at Flo.

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, Demonperformer said:

dobviously

Great new unintentional(?) portmanteau.   I'll have to remember that one, as in "Dobviously, that scope needs a Telrad."

[Demonperformer]

I HATE SPELLCHECK!!!

[Demonperformer]

Or do I mean autocomplete? 

[Wobbly Bob]

A Telrad or Rigel RDF + a couple of decent eyepieces.

 

[Owmuchonomy]

Peter's suggestion is the most apt.  Your son may have false expectations of what delights can be seen through a scope built from seeing press/media pictures of astounding deep sky objects.  The book 'Turn Left at Orion' perfectly displays what can actually be seen, when, where and how.  It is a masterpiece. Yes, i still have mine after 10 years and used it last night for outreach.

[manthla]

Thank you all for your help, will definitely be investing in some of these suggestions. Are there any eye pieces which are better than others. I keep seeing the name Barlow around. He doesn't wear glasses and budget wise I'm not loaded but I'd rather buy right the first time than buy cheap and pay twice. Thanks all again

[Ricochet]

A barlow is a device that goes between the focuser and eyepiece, changing the resulting magnification, ie a 2x Barlow doubles the magnification of any scope-eyepiece combination. These can be used either to reach high magnifications with short focal length scopes (which the Skyliner is not) or to reduce the total number of eyepieces required. It is more fiddly adding and removing a Barlow rather than just changing eyepieces so using one or just buying eyepieces is personal preference. 

With regards to eyepieces some are better than others but we would need an idea of budget per eyepiece. My standard recommendation is the BST Starguider range at about £50 each. 5-8-12-25mm Starguiders would make a good set, but don't forget that the scope does come with two eyepieces so it is not necessary to buy eyepieces straight away. If your son is old enough to be buying his own eyepieces he may want to make the decisions on which upgrades he wants himself. 

[cletrac1922]

Welcome from land down under

I have a 250mm Skywatcher dob, and first thing I got was a right angle spotting scope

Save the knees having to almost lay on the ground with straight through spotting scope

Second thing is a laser pointer

I lay laser pointer beside mount for the spotting scope, and then able to aim scope at object want to observe, be it Saturn, Jupiter, Orion, and then fine tune using spotting scope

Have purchased a couple of additional eyepieces, and one use the most is a 17mm wide angle eyepiece

Hope both of you have many enjoyable hours from your dob

Cheers

John

 

[Louis D]

20 hours ago, cletrac1922 said:

Second thing is a laser pointer

I lay laser pointer beside mount for the spotting scope, and then able to aim scope at object want to observe, be it Saturn, Jupiter, Orion, and then fine tune using spotting scope

Just be extra aware of aircraft anywhere nearby.  Amateur astronomers don't need to get a bad reputation for blinding pilots.

[cletrac1922]

3 hours ago, Louis D said:

Just be extra aware of aircraft anywhere nearby.  Amateur astronomers don't need to get a bad reputation for blinding pilots.

Louis

In Australia only people who can own a laser pointer are those who belong to a registered astronomy club

Astronomy club has also got to be gazetted on individual state police force website

My club also has a disclaimer on our website with respect to inappropriate use of laser pointers, especially with respect to aircraft

Club members very conscience of aircraft and their flight paths

Cheers

John  

[Louis D]

11 hours ago, cletrac1922 said:

Louis

In Australia only people who can own a laser pointer are those who belong to a registered astronomy club

Astronomy club has also got to be gazetted on individual state police force website

My club also has a disclaimer on our website with respect to inappropriate use of laser pointers, especially with respect to aircraft

Club members very conscience of aircraft and their flight paths

Cheers

John  

I knew Australian laser pointer laws were among the most restrictive on the planet, thus my comment.  Obviously, you're acutely aware of these laws already.  Those laws sound similar to US laws regarding model rocketry and high powered rocket motors.  Those laws require club membership and clubs to clear launch events with nearby air traffic controllers.