SkyWatcher Explorer 130P SynScan AZ GOTO

[Mr Spacely]

I'm back

Been a while since I've posted as I sold my scope ...

But these last few weeks as the nights are drawing in, my interest is back (well my son started to look for a scope so I want one too )

Anyway, what do folk think of the SkyWatcher Explorer 130P SynScan AZ GOTO ?

Looks a decent spec for the money

[red dwalf]

better the 130p autotrak, goto o.k. but with this size mirror alot of the objects you won`t be able to see, big, big nmirrors needed to see faint objects

[Mr Spacely]

OK thanks for reply

was watching a 130p on ebay

went for £150

[red dwalf]

good price, sold mine for £130 to a friend starting up with moon filter,

very good scopes and easy to use and they track very well, you can be up and running in a couple of minutes, it`s the same scope as in my picture

[Breakintheclouds]

I have the 130P GoTo scope and really like it. RD is dead right that you won't be able to see a lot of the items in its database, as you need a really huge telescope to see all of them, but you'll certainly be able to a see quite a lot of them, and if you know what you want to look at then the GOTO makes it much easier to find things.

The way I use the telescope, which works really well for me, is that I use free software, starcharts and web pages to plan what I'd like to look at in the evening (this way I can usually tell in advance whether or not a particular object is likely to be visible with this scope). With this list scribbled on a Post-It note I then head off into the garden and use the Goto drive to move from object to object. I know a lot of people feel that Goto drives are cheating, but for me it maximises the amount of time I spend actually looking at interesting things in the sky. Given how few clear nights we have, I'd much rather spend my time looking AT things rather than FOR things - but I know that for other people a big part of the enjoyment is the chase.

In summary: I have the Skywatcher 130P GOTO and think it's great. Of course, aperture fever is now kicking in and I'm starting to think about a 10-inch scope to replace it!

[red dwalf]

i also agree with Breakintheclouds, i bought the cg5 gt goto mount so i wasn`t spending all my time looking for objects and i wanted to get into imaging, but with the bigger mounts you can keep them and just change the scopes, you should be able to get a 10" newt on a heavy eq mount or a smaller refractor with no problems with all the imaging gear attached

[Macavity]

The way I use the telescope, which works really well for me, is that I use free software, starcharts and web pages to plan what I'd like to look at in the evening...

I think that's it exactly - You need to plan!

Confronted with the handset (slow) "scrolling" object lists can be a bit daunting. I know some Star Names and a few Messier numbers, but that's about it. <G> Also, since most households seem to have a spare Laptop or three(!), I found solace in the Stellarium software + ASCOM drivers. The possibility to point the scope anywhere, and rapidly, from a Netbook screen, is great... Looks really cool too.

[Mr Spacely]

Thanks for all the replies

Spotted a nice little Fiat Punto for sale (need a spare car for a runaround),so I bought that instead if a scope

Maybe next month

[Smiles]

I've been looking at the Skywatcher Explorer 130P SynScan AZ GOTO as it's perfect for my price range and i'm more interested in "seeing" than "finding"!

Could anyone who has one answer the following?

• A few people on here have recommended the 130p over the 130p GOTO, any specific reason why? It looks to me to be more or less the same, plus the GOTO mount!
  
• A review on this site lists a 2x Barlow in the box, everything else I read suggests there is not one. Likewise a lunar filter. Can anyone confirm?
  
• A few other reviews on the forum suggest that the GOTO mount cannot track live, whereas the SupaTrak version does. Other reviewers say the tracking is really good! Since i plan to use the scope to take photos with a DSLR I would rather have the tracking as well as the GOTO functions!
  

Any help would be much appreciated as I am totally new to this!

Thankyou!