Skywatcher Dobsonians?

[Ray Mondo]

Are the optics in the zoom as good as buying separate pieces? 
How close will the zoom get the view of the moon?

[Whistlin Bob]

It's pros and cons- a good prime eyepiece will beat a good zoom, but a zoom wins hands down for convenience. My most used eyepieces are the Baader zoom, OVL Aero 30mm and Celestron 7mm. I use the zoom most of the time, it's great for zooming out, finding your target and then finding the right magnification. I use the 30mm for large targets (eg the veil, m31, the Pleiades) and the 7mm for close in work (the moon, planets and planetary nebulae). The improvement from the zoom at 8mm to the prime at 7mm is marginal, but it is there. The zoom will magnify by 150x which gives you a lot of detail. The scope will go much deeper on a night of good conditions but most nights you don't want to go too much deeper than 200x. Things get better, but the quality doesn't improve.

[Ray Mondo]

2 hours ago, Whistlin Bob said:

It's pros and cons- a good prime eyepiece will beat a good zoom, but a zoom wins hands down for convenience. My most used eyepieces are the Baader zoom, OVL Aero 30mm and Celestron 7mm. I use the zoom most of the time, it's great for zooming out, finding your target and then finding the right magnification. I use the 30mm for large targets (eg the veil, m31, the Pleiades) and the 7mm for close in work (the moon, planets and planetary nebulae). The improvement from the zoom at 8mm to the prime at 7mm is marginal, but it is there. The zoom will magnify by 150x which gives you a lot of detail. The scope will go much deeper on a night of good conditions but most nights you don't want to go too much deeper than 200x. Things get better, but the quality doesn't improve.

thanks 👍

[200pman]

Get yourself a Waterbutt base.brings the eyepiece up to a more comfortable position.depending on how tall you are.

[Sunshine]

There’s a lot going on with that scope, I’m liking it with the slow motion controls and other bits you’ve done. Looking at this scope makes me wonder if somewhere there is a U-boat in a museum missing a few turn wheel thingys.

[200pman]

Eyepieces.

[DanWri]

9 hours ago, 200pman said:

Get yourself a Waterbutt base.brings the eyepiece up to a more comfortable position.depending on how tall you are.

Some fantastic modifications there. Excellent job! Really wish I had the DIY-mind to replicate it.

[MattG]

Do you store it outside with a cover or do you move it in and out of somewhere?

[200pman]

Get yourself a Waterbutt base.brings the eyepiece up to a more comfortable position.depending on how tall you are.

[200pman]

Kept in conservatory always.

[Barry-W-Fenner]

22 hours ago, Ian McCallum said:

I know it's a pain having to wait, but I'd plump for the 200P.  That's the model I have and I'm biased...   😉  @Barry-W-Fenner had the 200P, then upsized to a larger model.  He ended up replacing a load of his BST Starguider eyepieces because they didn't quite cut the mustard on the larger Dobsonian.  I've got the full range of BST Starguider eyepieces and they are very good quality eyepieces, for most telescopes and most people.

 

You look well covered there @Ian McCallum great EP collection!

I must stress that it was a combination of factors that made me sell the BST range and purchase a few of the Morpheus range. It is true that to my eye the longer focal length BST eye pieces seemed to create a large amount of elongated star shapes in the 300p (Coma?) However after a decent collimation of the 300p the 5-8 & 12 seemed to perform very well in this scope. The other factor was after purchasing the 14mm Morpheus and using it in the 300p I was extremely impressed with the optical performance, wide field of view and excellent eye relief.

Back on topic 🙂 BST Eye pieces are extremely great value for money.  I found them to have a much sharper image than the supplied stock eye pieces, They also offer a decent 60 degree fov and comfortable eye relief. I was particular fan of the 8mm for x150 & 15mm x 80 viewing. they both gave very nice medium and low power views. 
 

@Ray Mondo

The 200p was also my 1st scope, I do still have it now. It is a very impressive scope. Looking at Jupiter through it for the 1st time genuinely made me step back from the eye piece in shock at what I was actually seeing.  It has given me great views of Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus along with a number of deep sky objects all with the BST EP range.  A truly wonderful combination.

Regards

 

Barry

[Spile]

4 hours ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

 

@Ray Mondo

The 200p was also my 1st scope, I do still have it now.

And that is the main reason I chose one and recommend Dobsonians when responding to the many, many Facebook posts asking "Is this telescope any good"? 

An instrument that is used and valued by those starting out as well as experienced hands says a lot about its credibility. 

[Ian McCallum]

10 hours ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

 

You look well covered there @Ian McCallum great EP collection!

I must stress that it was a combination of factors that made me sell the BST range and purchase a few of the Morpheus range. It is true that to my eye the longer focal length BST eye pieces seemed to create a large amount of elongated star shapes in the 300p (Coma?) However after a decent collimation of the 300p the 5-8 & 12 seemed to perform very well in this scope. The other factor was after purchasing the 14mm Morpheus and using it in the 300p I was extremely impressed with the optical performance, wide field of view and excellent eye relief.

Back on topic 🙂 BST Eye pieces are extremely great value for money.  I found them to have a much sharper image than the supplied stock eye pieces, They also offer a decent 60 degree fov and comfortable eye relief. I was particular fan of the 8mm for x150 & 15mm x 80 viewing. they both gave very nice medium and low power views. 
 

@Ray Mondo

The 200p was also my 1st scope, I do still have it now. It is a very impressive scope. Looking at Jupiter through it for the 1st time genuinely made me step back from the eye piece in shock at what I was actually seeing.  It has given me great views of Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus along with a number of deep sky objects all with the BST EP range.  A truly wonderful combination.

Regards

 

Barry

I bet you're glad you kept your 200P.😉

Regards,

Ian (aka formerly merlin100).

[Barry-W-Fenner]

14 minutes ago, Ian McCallum said:

I bet you're glad you kept your 200P.😉

Regards,

Ian (aka formerly merlin100).

Ian! I was wondering where Merlin100 had been hiding! Why the account change? Good to know your still around 👍

[Ian McCallum]

11 hours ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Ian! I was wondering where Merlin100 had been hiding! Why the account change? Good to know your still around 👍

Long story, but I wanted a fresh start.😉

[Ray Mondo]

On 11/01/2021 at 11:39, Barry-W-Fenner said:

 

You look well covered there @Ian McCallum great EP collection!

I must stress that it was a combination of factors that made me sell the BST range and purchase a few of the Morpheus range. It is true that to my eye the longer focal length BST eye pieces seemed to create a large amount of elongated star shapes in the 300p (Coma?) However after a decent collimation of the 300p the 5-8 & 12 seemed to perform very well in this scope. The other factor was after purchasing the 14mm Morpheus and using it in the 300p I was extremely impressed with the optical performance, wide field of view and excellent eye relief.

Back on topic 🙂 BST Eye pieces are extremely great value for money.  I found them to have a much sharper image than the supplied stock eye pieces, They also offer a decent 60 degree fov and comfortable eye relief. I was particular fan of the 8mm for x150 & 15mm x 80 viewing. they both gave very nice medium and low power views. 
 

@Ray Mondo

The 200p was also my 1st scope, I do still have it now. It is a very impressive scope. Looking at Jupiter through it for the 1st time genuinely made me step back from the eye piece in shock at what I was actually seeing.  It has given me great views of Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus along with a number of deep sky objects all with the BST EP range.  A truly wonderful combination.

Regards

 

Barry

Thanks Barry

[Ray Mondo]

On 11/01/2021 at 10:15, DanWri said:

Some fantastic modifications there. Excellent job! Really wish I had the DIY-mind to replicate it.

Thanks, good idea