Skyliner 200, easy to set up ?

[Christopher farmer]

Is this a good beginners telescope for my son who is eight many thanks and is it hard to set up thanks Chris 

[Cornelius Varley]

The telescope base will arrive flat packed. Once this has been assembled all that is required is telescope attached to it's pivot points.

 

[Mr Spock]

2 hours ago, Christopher farmer said:

Is this a good beginners telescope for my son who is eight many thanks and is it hard to set up thanks Chris

It's a great beginners scope. Very easy to set up - I doubt an 8 year old could do that though!

[M40]

It's a very good telescope, but.....

The focuser and eyepiece is at the top of the tube and as such, your son may not be able to look through it unless standing on a chair or stool which us not ideal. It's quite large so is not something that your son will be able to manage on his own. Lastly storage needs to be considered.

On the plus side you will get some excellent results with this telescope. All the best

[Christopher farmer]

Thank you 

[Spile]

Yes but only with guidance from an adult.

[Christopher farmer]

Is it hard to collimate a dobsonian 200p thanks 

[Astronomist]

Not particularly, especially if you use a laser collimator. If you don't bash the scope around or drop it it probably won't need collimating very often. I doubt an 8 yr old would manage it though. Especially with a laser adult assistance would definitely be required.

[Spile]

3 hours ago, Christopher farmer said:

Is it hard to collimate a dobsonian 200p thanks 

No very straightforward with a Cheshire eyepiece and sight tube combination tool for the secondary and a cap for the primary. As explained at https://astro.catshill.com/collimation-guide/

[Mr Spock]

5 hours ago, Astronomist said:

Not particularly, especially if you use a laser collimator.

Same. Two easy steps:

1. Adjust the secondary until the laser points in the middle of the primary's doughnut
2. Adjust the primary until the laser points in the centre of the collimator.

All other methods are too fiddly. A laser couldn't be simpler 

[Ratlet]

11 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

Same. Two easy steps:

1. Adjust the secondary until the laser points in the middle of the primary's doughnut
2. Adjust the primary until the laser points in the centre of the collimator.

All other methods are too fiddly. A laser couldn't be simpler 

You might need to collimate the laser as well which is surprisingly easy (cheap ones might need you to dig out some silicone they use to seal the adjustment screws).  It's actually quite fun to do with the kids as you can build quite an effective rig for collimating a laser out of lego.

[Spile]

There is nothing fiddly about using a Cheshire eyepiece and sight tube combination tool and it has some advantages over a laser. 1. It doesn’t need collimating 2. It will not give false readings due to it not being seated correctly (registration) 3. It will allow you to confirm that the secondary is correctly placed and that you don’t have offset errors.

At the end of the day choose the tool(s) that work for you.