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Explorer 200P (EQ-5) - IMAGES please

Omer104

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Omer104

Omer104

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Dear All,

I am first time buy and so am looking to buy the Explorer 200P (EQ-5) 8" Parabolic Newtonian (sky at night group test winner 93%) however before I proceed I was wondering if anybody on this forum has any images taken with this scope? or direct me to a site which has them. I am finding it an absolute nightmare :)

I bascially want to get a idea of the level of the detail of this scope.

Many thanks for your help

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Andrew*

Andrew*

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Hi Omer,

If you are not intending to image, you won't get a good idea of the views it can give from images taken through it. This will give you an unrealistic idea of what to expect due to the very long exposure times of the images.

I have had the 200P for 2.5 years and it has been my pride and joy. A fantastic instrument for the price and does pretty well everything. Enoguh aperture to reveal lots of detail in DSOs - as long as you're not expecting hubble detail!

HTH

Andrew

P.S. A huge WELCOME to SGL from me - well done on your first post.

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Omer104

Omer104

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Andrew thank you so much for your advice and help.

I am complete beginnger so please igore the stupidity of my questions

1) I am a first time buyer, and my budget is £400-500, could you recommend any other telescopes or is this the best one in this price range

2) Do you know if this model 200P is portable? I mean is it difficult to move around?

3) I gather from your response when I look through the telescope the image will be quite different to the photos (if I ever need to take them), is not possible to get a sample of at least the images?

Warm Wishes

Omer

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Andrew*

Andrew*

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Hi Omer,

The 200P is quite light, but large. 10" diameter and 27" long or so. It's easily manageable by one person, but you will need to carry the mount and OTA seperately.

The thing about the EQ5 mount is that it's not driven. You can get motors to get it to track, which can enable you to do astrophotography when you feel ready. I would strongly recommend getting a good EQ mount from the start if you can afford it. The HEQ5 is great and comes driven as standard.

If astrophotography isn't your thing, then you can get more aperture for your money going down the dobsonian route. The 10" Flextube is very portable, because it collapses.

Regarding the views, beware that you won't see any colours in objects throguh the telescope, except on planets and some stars. Things will be quite faint, but when you've got over that, you can start to be blown away by the views, even if it is some indistinct faint smudge!

Andrew

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Aza

Aza

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Aza they are fantastic! Many thanks, how frequently can you see these images?

I see that you have canon400D I have a canon450D is it easy to connect to?

Not sure exactly what you mean, there is always lots of targets as long as the skies are clear :)

The Canons are ideal for astro photography and can connect very easily with one of these:

Adaptors - T Rings

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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

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Omer

I've just got myself a 200p + EQ5. It is easily portable. The tube is pretty light and easy to carry but the mount and steel tripod needs both arms! The greatest problem I have is that you have to go through doors one leg at a time (if you see what I mean!!). the two join easily, one arm / hand holds the tube and the other does up a single knob on the mount.

As for images - nebulae etc seem to be "shades of grey" and faint to the naked eye. Ster clusters are most spectacular. The photos you see around are all time exposures and most often "enhanced" in one way or another.

I've not tried imaging yet - Its probably best to learn your way around the sky first. This will help you as, in the long run, you will gain "the knowledge" of the sky which will help you in the future. Use your time to research imaging equipment carefully - it is expensive!! there is loads of advice to be found.....Good luck

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Omer104

Omer104

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Hi Guys,

Thank you for your advice thus far,

Just a few more questions

Aza – these images you have taken when I actually look through the telescope myself, will I be able to see these quality types of images?

Andrew – I find the HEQ5 a tad on the expensive side, if i just proceed without the motorised Mount what am i losing　in doing this?

The 10" Flextube you recommended seems pretty cool, but dont these types of telescopes have less detail to the naked eye　?

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Andrew*

Andrew*

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Hi again Omer. The HEQ5 tracks the stars while you are looking. Therefore the stars don't drift out of the FOV. The EQ5 doesn't track without additional motors, so you have to track manually. If you're at all considering astrophotography, a good, tracking mount, is indispensible.

The Flextube also doesn't track - you have to nudge it all the time to track. This can take some getting used to, particularly at high powers. However, dobsonian telescopes offer the most aperture (brightest, most detailed views) for the cost.

Andrew

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Omer104

Omer104

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Hi Andrew, I think I will def go for this Dobsonian, however are these portable at all?

I have a big garden of which the majority of the time i will be star gazing, however I do hope to be able to take and transport the telescope in my car. Is this possible with this model?

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SteveL

SteveL

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Am surprised that no-one picked up on this question:

Aza – these images you have taken, when I actually look through the telescope myself, will I be able to see these quality types of images?

The deep sky images images posted on this website and on others are the result of many minutes or hours of exposures, and therefore show VASTLY more detail than you could see with the human eye.

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John

John

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Aza – these images you have taken when I actually look through the telescope myself, will I be able to see these quality types of images?

The 10" Flextube you recommended seems pretty cool, but dont these types of telescopes have less detail to the naked eye　?

Omer104,

To re-iterate what SteveL has said (because it's very important to manage your expections), you cannot see the sorts of details that these images show when viewing with your eyes. What you will see is generally much fainter, with less detail and contrast - much more subtle than images show. Our eyes just cannot compete with the CCD's in the cameras !.

The 10" Flextube will actually show more details visually than an 8" scope like the Explorere 200P will. The bigger the diameter of the main lens or mirror, the more details you can see :)

John

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alfingido

alfingido

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Hi again Omer. The HEQ5 tracks the stars while you are looking. Therefore the stars don't drift out of the FOV. The EQ5 doesn't track without additional motors, so you have to track manually.

If the HEQ5 is too expensive for you, there is a goto version of the EQ5 with very similar tracking ability and the same Synscan ( goto) handset, this is about £200 - £250 cheaper than the HEQ5 Pro. Click HERE for a link to an image of this mount

You could easily fit a 200p on the mount and it wouldnt be too heavy to carry around.

You could always go down the used route first, that way you get a lot more for your money, and if you buy from a forum rather than ebay or the like, you will know some of the history of the kit.

Keep an eye on the For Sale forum, somebody might be selling an EQ5 Pro Goto mount on there quite soon :) Then you just need the OTA!

Allan

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mattlane

mattlane

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I am also considering upgrading to this scope within the next 6 months or so (i have to save up twice the amount as I'm only allowed to buy it if i pay for upgrades to the home...).

So i have a question (probably aimed at one of the chaps from FLO), I'm referring to this link:

Homepage - Skywatcher Explorer 200P EQ5

This i assume comes without the motor drive? I noticed on the optical vision website (Skywatcher Motor Drives - Telescope Motor Drives by OVL) that you can get not only an RA drive, but a dual axis drive for the mount.

Currently i have an SW Explorer 130PM, with an RA drive - which does me fine, is it worth investing in the dual drive, or stick to RA only. My ultimate aim, following on from my interest in lunar and planetary imaging is to have a crack at imaging some DSOs, am i going to see a benefit from having both axis driven.

I will of course be using the scope for visual observing as well.

Thanks

Matt

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matthelliwell

matthelliwell

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Hi Andrew, I think I will def go for this Dobsonian, however are these portable at all?

I have a big garden of which the majority of the time i will be star gazing, however I do hope to be able to take and transport the telescope in my car. Is this possible with this model?

You can lug the scope and mount both together around the garden without too much trouble. The mount and OTA come apart and then are easily liftable and transportable. Bear in mind that after transporting, you'll have to collimate the thing.

Also with your budget, keep in mind any accessories you might want to buy. I kept a couple of hundred pounds of my budget back to buy bit and pieces. So far I've bought a light shroud, right angle finder scope and laser collimator. A 5 or 6mm eye piece is going to be next.

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