What telescope is this?

[RSharpy]

Hi, new the the group and in the market for my first telescope, looking for something half decent and have seen this pre owned one locally. Advertised as a Skywatcher 10 inch but that is all the lady knows. Can anyone confirm what the scope and the mount is? and its worth? I assume its quite a old model? Many Thanks Richard 

[Tiny Clanger]

An online search suggested it might be one of these:

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/reviews/telescopes/sky-watcher-explorer-200p-eq5/

I'm sure someone with more experience than me will soon be along with better info though !

Heather

[F15Rules]

Hi Richard, and welcome to SGL😁

It's a Skywatcher Reflector, and looks to be in decent condition with an EQ5 class mount.

So it should be a good scope, quite powerful for a first scope.

It all comes down to price, and I"ll leave our reflector fans to estimate what is a fair price for this one.

Good luck,

Dave

[dweller25]

Telescope size is determined by mirror size not tube size.

I suspect that is an 8” telescope in a 10” tube - which is normal.

The label below the focuser will confirm what it is.

The mount looks like an old EQ5  by Skywatcher which is ok.

Brand new an 8” scope is £479, so depending on what accessories are supplied then around £300 would be a good starting point.

If it is a 10” then around £370 depending on accessories.

It’s a very capable setup - check the primary and secondary mirrors are clear of mould/scratches - probably good as most people look after their scopes

  

Edited November 22, 2020 by dweller25

[John]

It is either a Skywatcher Explorer 200 or 250PX optical tube on what looks like an EQ5 mount head on what looks like a Bresser tripod. It's not the standard Skywatcher tripod but it should work OK. The 250PX would a bit undermounted on the EQ5 mount though. Might be OK for visual observing. There is a black label under the focuser which will have the specs of the scope printed on it - perhaps the owner could confirm for you ?

She might have measured the tube diameter rather than the main mirror diameter which is what defines the aperture.

The eyepiece position can be awkward at times when observing with this type of setup but you can, with some care, rotate the scope in the tube rings to help with that.

The mount does not look like it has motor drives so you use the manual slow motion controls to track with it.

The main thing to check is the condition of the mirror coatings. Ideally they should be very good, clean and bright but slight dust is not an issue.

I would have thought £200-£250 might be a fair price if all is in good order ?

 

Edited November 22, 2020 by John

[Cornelius Varley]

There is a black sticker below the focuser, this sticker has some information on it. F=nnn D=nn, where nnn  is the dimension in millimetres.

[Ships and Stars]

I had the exact same blue Skywatcher scope in 8" with the same older EQ5. It has the older single speed focuser which is a bit meh, but otherwise a decent scope with good optics. 

I don't get on with EQ mounts as I do visual only, so I sold it and went with a dob and haven't looked back, but if you plan on taking photos, learning how to set up and use an EQ mount is essential. You can get motor conversion kits for those so it tracks stars, but I never used mine, just the slow tracking hand adjusters.

I think I sold mine with EQ5 and tripod for £275?? Or £250? It was 8" though.

PS I'm guessing near 20 years old for this one.

Edited November 22, 2020 by Ships and Stars

[Sunshine]

Nice scope!

[RSharpy]

Thanks for the swift replies everyone. I missed out on the last pre-owned scope I spotted locally so after reading your comments shot off to take a look.  I'm after one both my 10 year old and I can get enjoyment out of together, its for her Christmas box and I own a Canon 7D so would like to have a go at taking some photos.  

It was a nice scope and looked in good condition, 200mm x 1000m on the label and the chap was asking £250 which felt a fair price but with my daughter in mind (and me being new to it) the set up felt far to heavy, fiddly and high up for my daughter, her having to stand on a chair to view is not really where we want to be. 

The seller had someone else wanting to view so no doubt it will have a new home very soon but back to the drawing board for me.  If buying new the one I had my eye on was the Sky-watcher 200P Dobsonian but I am going around in circles a little bit lol. Any advice on something of reasonable quality and suitable for both of us would be brilliant  Many Thanks Richard.  

[Peter_D]

51 minutes ago, RSharpy said:

It was a nice scope and looked in good condition, 200mm x 1000m on the label and the chap was asking £250 which felt a fair price but with my daughter in mind (and me being new to it) the set up felt far to heavy, fiddly and high up for my daughter, her having to stand on a chair to view is not really where we want to be. 

If you go down the full size Dobsonian mount route, Ikea have steps in various sizes that your daughter could use to reach the eyepiece. Skywatcher, Bresser and Orion all have smaller table top dobsonians that you could put on a suitable box or platform that would allow your daughter to use the scope comfortably also.

[Ships and Stars]

Simple non-motorized dobsonians are absolutely brilliant and a doddle to use. Collimation or fine adjusting the mirrors for the sharpest image is a little bit of a learning curve at first, but there's really not a great deal to it. An 8" (200mm) dobsonian is a winner all-around for a family scope in my opinion. You can still take photos of bright objects like the moon, I found simply holding my mobile phone to the eyepiece gives better lunar photos than my full frame Nikon in my smaller dobsonian.

[RSharpy]

Thanks for the replies guys, I really appreciate it. Got to say I feel as though I've settled on the Skywatcher 200P Dob but supply issues seem to be another major hurdle at the moment.

My in stock choice is the Bressar 6" Dob. The 8" is a bit out my budget. Anyone know why the Bressar are more money, are they better quality, better spec eye pieces, mirrors etc? or just a case that they are pricier for the same spec Skywatcher for no real reason? 

[KP82]

The bresser comes with a better rockerbox, bearings, focuser and a solar filter. It's OTA is a plain newt with proper tube rings, so if you'd like to mount it on an EQ to take some pictures you will just need a dovetail. The SW on the other hand has a proprietary design.

[RSharpy]

Thanks KP82 very helpful 👍

[dweller25]

3 hours ago, RSharpy said:

Thanks for the replies guys, I really appreciate it. Got to say I feel as though I've settled on the Skywatcher 200P Dob but supply issues seem to be another major hurdle at the moment.

My in stock choice is the Bressar 6" Dob. The 8" is a bit out my budget. Anyone know why the Bressar are more money, are they better quality, better spec eye pieces, mirrors etc? or just a case that they are pricier for the same spec Skywatcher for no real reason? 

The 6” Bresser would be a good choice - you can sit down to view through the eyepiece and your daughter would be able to view standing up or sitting down.

[Skipper Billy]

Heads up!!!!!!!  Be quick !!!!!!

 

[RSharpy]

Thanks Skipper Billy, i've literally just seen this and purchased. Awesome, one very happy Daddy 😃👍

Edited November 23, 2020 by RSharpy

[Skipper Billy]

Well done !

[Jasonb]

Was just about to say that FLO seemed to have put up a couple of 200P Dobsonians today, when I saw you'd got one!

[RSharpy]

Thanks for thinking of me Jasonb 

[Nicola Hannah Butterfield]

@RSharpyHope you both enjoy learning together.