Skywatcher 300p flex tube

[Uplooker]

If you thought the scope might be large, just wait til you see the size of the boxes that the scope comes in 😮

Congrats on the new purchase. Now the spendings starts on upgrades such as focuser and EPs😇

Enjoy the new scope👍

[Geoff Barnes]

Solid tube or flex tube Barry? 

Either way a great scope that will impress you with everything you view, particularly Jupiter and Saturn later in the year, but also DSO's if your skies are dark enough. If it is flex tube I highly recommend you get the Astrozap light shroud which collapses down with the scope so can stay on permanently.  

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Thanks chaps!

I do have a dual speed focuser on the 200p that I might swap over on to the 300p

I ordered a flex tube and did purchase an astrozap dew shield. I would like to add an astro engineering light shield also.

I also purchased a couple of rolls of flocking and will do the whole tube.

Regarding the eye pieces I will start by using my current set  and see What I can use reasonably well for now. When the wife gets over this purchase  the upgrading will begin 😁

 

Baz

 

[bomberbaz]

1 hour ago, merlin100 said:

It'll be interesting to see how your existing BST StarGuider eyepieces perform with your new scope... 

Likewise. My own thoughts are that you will see a difference between them and the aero 30. Hope you enjoy the new purchase. 

[Barry-W-Fenner]

9 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

Likewise. My own thoughts are that you will see a difference between them and the aero 30. Hope you enjoy the new purchase. 

Thanks Steve.

Due to the experienced advise I have been given I am kind of going in to this knowing that I will probably have to improve some of if not all of my eye piece set for the 300p

it's good to know this from the outset as I won't be disappointed when I use my eye pieces with the scope for the 1st time. Hopefully there will be some that I can use reasonably well in the short term until I start looking and asking for advise on here for a more specific set of eye pieces tailored for the 300p i will certainly have a look at the badeer line alone with other higher end brands.

I am fortunate that the BSTs perform very well in the 200p and I will certainly still be using this scope still aswell.

The 300p is going to be the next stage in my astro journey and I look forward to slowly increasing my eye pieces to get the best out of it!

Thanks again for all your input. It's appreciated As it has kept me grounded as to what to expect from the outset and I won't be disappointed know what I do now.

Thanks to everyone else also, the information passed on to me here has helped me to step back and not spontaneously purchased a larger scope that I might have very little interest to use once the "honeymoon" period is over.

Regards

Baz

 

[Geoff Barnes]

13 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Hopefully there will be some that I can use reasonably well in the short term until I start looking and asking for advise on here for a more specific set of eye pieces tailored for the 300p i will certainly have a look at the badeer line alone with other higher end brands.

I have the same scope Barry (with goto) and unless money is no object to you I think you won't do better than the Baader Morpheus EP's, high end quality at a very reasonable price.  

[Barry-W-Fenner]

11 minutes ago, Geoff Barnes said:

I have the same scope Barry (with goto) and unless money is no object to you I think you won't do better than the Baader Morpheus EP's, high end quality at a very reasonable price.  

Thanks Geoff.

money is definitely an object 😀 I will be checking out the Morpheus range. Do they come up often second hand? 🤔

Regards

[Guest]

I'd love to try a large Dobsonian, but I don't know if I'll be able to lift it in and out of the house, later in life.  I'm in my early 50's at the moment, but who knows what I'll be like in years to come, especially if these telescopes can last a lifetime! 😱

Tennis elbow and other ailments have a way of creeping up on you. No doubt, what I can do now many considerably change in a decade, or less... 

Edited June 6, 2020 by Guest

[bomberbaz]

2 hours ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Thanks Geoff.

money is definitely an object 😀 I will be checking out the Morpheus range. Do they come up often second hand? 🤔

Regards

According to UK ABS no, which tells it's own story. https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/results.php

Edited June 6, 2020 by bomberbaz

[bomberbaz]

@Barry-W-Fenner there is a very good review here of the Morpheus, well worth a read. Seems to me you are getting a lot of quality at a very competitive price.

If I ever want (note I don't say need 🤣 ) another eyepiece that falls within their range, I will certainly be giving them consideration. 

[John]

If I was starting a quality eyepiece set afresh the Morpheus would be high up my list I'm sure

[Barry-W-Fenner]

1 hour ago, John said:

If I was starting a quality eyepiece set afresh the Morpheus would be high up my list I'm sure

Thanks for the confirmation John, if it's considered a good eye piece in your opinion then they can't be bad. 👍

I hope you dont mind me asking your advice  in the near future for eye pieces for a 300p. I will be buying far fewer for this scope but would like to start exploring some high end eye pieces if possible.

I really can't wait for it to arrive now 😂 😁

[Trikeflyer]

My two favourite eyepieces in my 12 inch revelation dob are my Morpheus 17.5mm and my Pentax XW 10mm. In fact they are my two favourite eyepieces full stop. I don’t think you will go far wrong with Morpheus range  and they are really light weight compared to others. 
 

Steve

[John]

19 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Thanks for the confirmation John, if it's considered a good eye piece in your opinion then they can't be bad. 👍

 

Er, I've not actually used a Morpheus, but from the reports that others have made, they would be on my short list.

I'd certainly like to try one someday.

 

[kev]

Good luck with the new scope. i used to have a 14” but boy, was it big n heavy.  

[Barry-W-Fenner]

1 hour ago, John said:

, I've not actually used a Morpheus, but from the reports that others have made, they would be on my short list.

1 hour ago, John said:

 

😂 That surprises me with your experience and knowledge of eye pieces.

55 minutes ago, kev said:

Good luck with the new scope. i used to have a 14” but boy, was it big n heavy.

Thank you, I am really looking forward to its arrival and hopefully some clear sky!

There did seem to be a large increase in Size from a 12" to 14" flex tube. I'm no telescope engineer but the 14 seemed a lot bigger for a 2" gain.

I bet the views through a 14 were worth while though!

 

Baz

Edited June 6, 2020 by Barry-W-Fenner

[Timebandit]

 

14 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

😂

I bet the views through a 14 were worth while though!

 

Baz

 

 

Views through a 14" on faint DSO are spectacular, at a true Dark site. In a light pollution area then the 14" is outgunned in performance by the  8" Dark site experience easily IMO

I see the eyepiece advice has began😉

In my option you will not go far wrong with the Pentax XW 3.5 to XW10 range and in the range above that in TV Naglers or Delos. Not the cheapest eyepiece's admittedly, but second hand are more reasonable. And buy once and buy well and eyepiece's will last you a life time. Enjoy your new scope 👍 

 

 

 

[kerrylewis]

I have the 350P and although it is a bit of a handful I use a B&Q trolley to wheel it from the garage where it’s stored . My favoured eyepieces are the Explore Scientific wide angle ones - they give superb views.  

[kev]

what i really liked was the views on jupiter were really colourful. even witha big exit pupil, the magnification was sufficent that detail was easy.   

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Evening all.

I have been playing with the 300p this evening trying to set it up. I have done a few mods and fitted my skywatcher duel speed focuser. I then collimated the scope with my laser.

I understand that my current eye piece collection isn't idea for this scope, however I am having an issue where I can't seem to get focused on an object at all. I have tried to focus on a tree aroud 20mtrs away and it's just a blur. I have tried various powers to no joy. I have also tried to focus with  my 2" 30mm aero ED and still no joy. I'm a bit stumped as to what is going on. Any help appreciated.

Regards

 

Baz

 

[John]

The closest focus on the scope is probably a lot further away than 20 metres - probably more like 100 metres or more.

 

[Barry-W-Fenner]

6 minutes ago, John said:

The closest focus on the scope is probably a lot further away than 20 metres - probably more like 100 metres or more.

 

Thanks John, that makes sense really. I should have through about it more. The trees were the furthest thing I could try to focus on. Now the sky is thick cloud so no joy trying to target a star 😕

Might have to wait until the weekend now as that is the next clear night forecast here.

Regards

Barry

 

 

[bomberbaz]

I use a street lamp to do my focusing and alignment on. It's about 100M, as john mentioned above away. 

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Thanks chaps. I will have another go tomorrow night.

1st impressions are it's a beautiful scope. It's put together very well to a high standard. The weight is not to bad to lump around in two parts. It's certainly not a one lift job like the 200p though 😀

Regards

[Ships and Stars]

16 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Thanks chaps. I will have another go tomorrow night.

1st impressions are it's a beautiful scope. It's put together very well to a high standard. The weight is not to bad to lump around in two parts. It's certainly not a one lift job like the 200p though 😀

Regards

Good call on the 300p! Welcome to the '300p club' haha.

I bought a 300p flextube (non-GOTO) from FLO as well back in January I think. I love it, and that's from someone who also has a Stargate 500p. The 500p is no doubt pretty awesome, but for setting up quickly, the 300p is a doddle and not having to do an alignment etc, you are up and running quickly in minutes. It's also a doddle to 'steer' by hand with light pressure. I have also 'detected' the Horsehead from a fairly dark site with the 300p, so it is no doubt a capable scope. My best lunar views are with the 300p and binoviewers. Oh and the trusses have two presets, you'll notice them catching or clicking once on the way up before it's fully extended, that's the binoviewer preset so you don't need a barlow or glass path corrector with binoviewers and can get the full field of view - a really nice touch.

Just to complicate things on the eyepiece front, I am a big fan (fairly certain most everyone on SGL has figured that out by now 🤣) of the APM XWA 100 degree range and have the 20mm/13mm and 9mm. They are an absolute bargain compared to the other 100 degree eyepiece offerings out there and are compact with excellent optical quality for the price. I rarely use any other eyepieces now in my case and that includes the 17.5mm Morpheus which I keep mainly for the Horsehead or smaller Hb targets like the Cocoon. If I didn't go APM, I'd go Morpheus though, really happy with mine. The Tele Vue stuff is brilliant too, but getting seriously pricey as we all know and there's some good competition out there now from Baader, APM etc.

PS make sure you've put the 2" (or 1.25") extension tube into the focuser - that may cause you to not reach focus depending on which eyepiece you are using. Most eyepieces need it from my experience.

Have fun!