New telescope

[AWR]

MY brand new telescope has arrived courtesy of those nice people over at FLO (SW Mak 127, EQ3). Many thanks for all the help and advice from many of you.

Now all I need is for the clear skies I ordered to turn up!

Andrew

(Feeling very fustrated!)

[jgs001]

Nice one Andrew, I hope you enjoy it, good luck with the weather.

btw, love the avatar... Calvin and Hobbes what a duo

[lunator]

Andrew

I hope you get some clear sky soon.

Rgds

Ian

[Sam]

Andrew, that's great news. I hope it's clear tonight so you can give it a good try.

Sam

[PaulG]

Fantastic choice Andrew ........ not that I'm biased in any way

Hope you get chance to use it soon.

Paul

[AWR]

Managed to get the scope out last night; just one night after it arrived. Who says there is a new equipment curse?

What an evening!

I started with Venus before it was properly dark - saw a nice clear crescent shape (with the top and bottom appearing to go round further than they should).

I went on to have a look at Auriga (Capella was the first star visible in the dusk).

I spent some time looking at Castor - Split the pair easily and saw C? and D??? (I've asked a question on the doubles forum)

Had a look at the Pleiades - wonderful blue colour - kidded myself about nebulosity.

Went on to M42 - picked out the trapezium and saw a nice milky smudge of nebulosity (but couldn't separate M43)

Found a lovely red star in perseus (eta?) and had a good view of the double cluster.

Finished the evening with Saturn - what a way to end a first night out with a telescope! Saw Titan, Rhea and Tethys.

All in all, a great night from light polluted W London!

Andrew

[cearnshaw]

very good, that's just caused me even more dilemma now!

[Darren B]

I use to have the SW90 mak. It was a cracking little scope, performed very on DSO's as well as planets. The 127 will show you alot more.

[crepitis]

Nice one andrew, I used to have an Orion (USA) 127 mak on the eq3, and Im sure the Skywatcher version is exactly the same scope, (just the colour is different).

I sold it a couple of years ago and I really regret it now, its a great 'scope.

And well done on getting some clear skies.

[Meerkat]

May I ask why you both, (AWR and PaulG), chose the EQ3-2 mount over either the SupaTrak or Goto?

Steve

[AWR]

Steve,

I decided I didn't want a GOTO mount for my first scope: I wanted to learn my way round the night sky and find things for myself - I figured that there would be more of a sense of achievement that way. Also, with a GOTO scope you are paying for the electronics.

I looked at the SupaTrak mount for the 127 - it was a very good price - but was worried that I would always need a power pack for it, making it less portable. Also, it will only track well if it is aligned with north, otherwise you'll have to make adjustments, just as I do with the EQ3.

I saw the EQ3 mount at Astrofest and it seemed a good balance between being light weight and sturdy. There were some good reviews of it on here.

Finally, I figured that the EQ3 would possibly offer me more use as a portable mount in the future and there is less to go wrong!

HTH

Andrew

[PaulG]

Hi Steve

I bought my mount first and then the OTA separately.

My plan was to upgrade at a later date to add tracking motors to the EQ3-2.

I wanted the versatility of a quick and easy swap between a Mak & a refractor with a dovetail.

The EQ3-2 is more suited to a long refractor.

As for Goto, I only look at the Moon & planets so would be a complete waste for me.

I know that you sold a 120mm Helios Steve, if you lived a little closer I would have bought that telescope from you.

Even though I am really happy with my Mak, I just want to compare it to a larger refractor.

Paul

[Meerkat]

Thanks for the response guys, the 120mm Helios was really on the limit for the EQ3-2 hence my question about having the Mak mounted on it.

I suppose the Mak is a lot lighter?

Steve

[Col B]

Hi Andrew,

How are you finding the scope after 3 months use?

The reason I ask is that I really fancy the Skywatcher 127 Mak, and I'm practically in a frenzy of anticipation at the thought of getting one!

Looks like a great scope.

[Macavity]

Certainly hard to fault. Then there is the neat upgrade to use a Baader T2 2" diagonal. (Or a T2 -> SCT adaptor from FLO?). Then you can use 2" eyepieces upto 32mm/70 deg. A whole ~1.5 Deg True Field! You can see almost ALL the Pleiades then.

[Scuba]

Hi Col B.

I've had my SW Mak 127 for about a month now and it has surpassed my expectations, easily.

I bought it as a grab and go scope but I find I'm grabbing this one even when I have the time to set up a bigger scope.

It's light, focus snaps right in, contrast and sharpness are excellent. I've had some of the best views of the moon I've ever had with this telescope. I can't remember the surface having so many gradations of grey before, and the inner walls of the multi-walled craters are sharply defined. This Mak has also split a lot of stars, at least those in Stellarium. Saturn is good as is M13.

Lets just say it has never let me down with the views it gives. Bare in mind it's only supposed to give a narrow fov, so The Pleides will not all fit into your eyepiece. When your looking through a piece of equipment that gives views this good for such relatively low expense this can easily be forgiven.

Before I bought mine I saw a review which called the Mak 127 "the overlooked jewel in Skywatchers range". At the time I thought it was advertising hype. Now I know it wasn't.

Clear skies.

Dave.

[PaulG]

Hi Andrew,

How are you finding the scope after 3 months use?

The reason I ask is that I really fancy the Skywatcher 127 Mak, and I'm practically in a frenzy of anticipation at the thought of getting one!

Looks like a great scope.

For a Lunar telescope you wont find a better bang for your buck (pound ).

A nice long focal length of 1500mm packed into a dumpy short tube that's really easy to handle.

Gliding along the surface of the Moon at 150x with a comfortable 10mm eyepiece ~ at this mag the telescope is just cruising.

I really enjoyed using mine but I recently sold it and I'm now using an Orion Optics OMC 140 (another Maksutov )

If Lunar is your bag, you wont regret it.

Paul

[Col B]

Thank you all kindly for your informative replies. I'm basically looking at purchasing my second scope and I think the SW Mak 127 fits the bill. I've got a small back yard, plus a bit of space out front, so the compactness and portability appeals to me. My first scope was a 70mm refractor, something like an f/12.8 so I'm pretty used to a small FOV anyway.

I've got a fair bit of light pollution (I was surprised I could see down to about mag5 unaided on an unusually clear night, though this is quite rare) so my line of reasoning is to go for objects that I'll have a fair or good chance of seeing - moon, planets, double stars. Then after picking up some experience, like learning to use an EQ mount, buy the RA motor drive and try a bit of imaging and pick up the DSOs that way. I've already got the DSLR, at this stage it's more for fun than killer quality. I did consider a 130 or 150 newtonian, but I think it's a bit too bulky, plus with the Mak I can use my shed as an impromtu observatory!!

Also thinking about getting a moon filter, light pollution filter, dew shield, T-adaptor, and maybe a 40mm eyepiece. Have I overlooked anything? Would you consider a focal reducer to improve the FOV?

That Baader T" 2" diagonal looks an interesting way to go. Can you do that? I thought that would lead to vignetting...

Thanks for you help chaps, off to do a bit more drooling now

Col.