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Hi from Malta


leezuza

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Its been over 2 months since considering which telescope should I get to satisfy my curiosity and over three weeks ago I went for the swkywatcher dob 200mm. After a long wait, today I received the package with the OTA only-no mount. Iwnet through the package and put everything back in original package with the intent to wait for the other box to arrive via postal mail.  Unable to ignore the box  in my living room, I opted to take the scope on my roof, no scopefinder mounted with just one 15mm GSO eyepiece.  I used my recliner chair as a rest and immediately started sweeping the cloudy sky with clear skies every now and then.  I aimed for the bright moon and to my frustration was amazed how difficult it was to get it in view. I was starting to wonder if i got everything in place when i noticed the sky getting brighter and there it was, stunning, amazing, out of thiis world.  I have watched manymany  vidoes on the web in the last few months but honestly was not prepared for this. First reaction was to just watch ,stare ansd then called my wife who was in bed.  She gently came upto my enthusiastic yelling and looked through the eyepiece.The first words uttered was- what is that water up there- i was lost and to my surprise I told her, those are the creaters on the moon.

I love the sea, the sky and all creation and I am so greatful that at 51 years old, I have an opportunity to appreciate the night sky.

One thing got me wonder when checking the scope parts is the scopefinder slider on the OTA.  It is not clear to me why the scope slides is placed in such a way that if by accident, one forgets to lock well the finderscope , when the scop is ponting any angle to the sky it may just fall off.  The scopefinder slider has a lock. If the slider is turned 180deg and fixed again to the OTA, the lock would prevent such incident. Clearly it will still fall if one tilts the scope downwards.

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Lovely story and glad your wife joined in the viewing ! Love your enthusiasm and tenacity using a chair to 'mount' the scope.

Welcome to the forum.

I know what you mean about the finder, but the lock bit fits in cutout to help it fit the same each time it's fitted, no promises but mine never fell off ?

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45 minutes ago, leezuza said:

It is not clear to me why the scope slides is placed in such a way that if by accident, one forgets to lock well the finderscope , when the scop is ponting any angle to the sky it may just fall off.

Hello, leezuza.

That's simply because that kind of base is easier and cheaper to make. I had the same worry so I attached a large black O-ring on each of my finder bases in this way:

20181217_224429.thumb.jpg.d294df5833e669ae7a8c32cd108665ec.jpg

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Welcome to SGL,

Fun that you are getting started without your mount, the moon is indeed a fascinating object to gaze with even the most modest of scopes and a 200p certainly ranks well above that mark.

Best of luck with your new Scope,

                    Freddie ?

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