Skywatcher Explorer 150P EQ3-2

[lennon890]

Hello, firstly thank you to anybody who answered my question on the other message board.

I was wondering if the Skywatcher Explorer 150P EQ3-2 telescope is any good? I am looking to spend no more than £240 and i was wondering if buying this telescope wolud be a good buy, the main things that i'd use it for are looking at the moon, Mars and Saturn's rings. Any personal experiences with the telescope?

It also comes with a camera adaptor, has anybody took a photograph through it that they could please show me?

The URL for the item is:

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 150P EQ3-2

At the bottom it asks you what type of mount you want it to come with, i'd choose the EQ3-2 (standard).

Any help would be appreciated, thank You

-Lennon890

[DAVPPK]

I would reccomend it lennon, it got a great sky at night review, and has had excellent feedback from others, but its up to you really.

Hope this helps: Review - Skywatcher 150P

Skywatcher explorer 150 Telescope - review, compare prices, buy online.

Dave

[adamsp123]

I doubt for the money you could do any better, good solid performers are sky watchers' products.

[dark knight]

Firstly great choice of telescope. The sky watcher range are excellent value for money, I have the big brother, 200p and the views are great. The only minor point I would seek clarification on would be a price for the 150p on an EQ5 mount. The EQ5 will be much sturdier and allow for some future upgrades as it will carry more weight, not sure how the EQ3 will cope with the weight of a telescope and say a DSLR camera piggy backed on top. The EQ5 is well worth the extra money if it fits in with your budget. This is just my opinion of course.

Look forward to seeing how you go on....

[bish]

I've been using one for the past 2 years or so and it's been great. It's the best £220 I've spent. There have been amazing views of Saturn when the conditions were good and I've searched out 54 of the Messiers so far, under light polluted skies - not to mention the incredible views of the Moon and various other NGC objects, asteroids, comest, planets etc.

I have added a couple of extra eyepieces and RA motor but this was after many nights of usage. I wont comment too much on imaging as I have only tried it a few times. Webcaming the moon / Jupiter I found OK with the EQ3 mount but I haven't got to grips with DSLR imaging through the scope yet. I'll leave others to advise on that aspect. In my opion for the money you can't go wrong.

[Karo]

Nice scope - I own the 150PL and as bish says - best £220 (well, a bit more where I got mine from) that I've ever spent. Optics are very good, however you'll see a lot of places suffixing that claim with '... for the price': but don't let it put you off.

I won't recommend the 150PL instead as this must be your choice, but as you indicated an interested in observing the planets may I recommend that you consider the 150PL as well? The only difference between the 150P and the 150PL is that the PL is a bit longer. At f/8 it's 450mm longer than the 150P (f/5): 1200mm vs 750mm long.

If size is a concern this might be significant, however as you indicated that you would like to look at the planets you may wish to give some consideration to the PL - the longer focal length makes it slightly better suited to planetary work - you can get away with using a lower power eyepiece to give a certain magnification, which in my own experience means you notice the imperfections prevalent in cheaper high-power (low focal length) eyepieces less.

Conversely the 150PL will not be quite as 'good' at looking at deep-sky objects as the 150P, however I've had no trouble seeing all manner of galaxies, nebulae and clusters with mine - I have not unfortunately had the chance to compare to a 150P for this though, so it's entirely possible I'm missing out on a real treat.

You, as I, may find the EQ mount to be a little mind boggling at first, but it gets much easier to use given practice, and as it can take the 150PL with relative ease, it should be perfect for the 150P.

Can't comment on the camera adapter/thread as I've not used it, however you'll find there's one on the barlow lens as well as the one on the focusser.