First light, for pretty much all my kit. (SW Explorer 200P, Pentax XW EPs.)

[Mike_F]

Hi all,

Bought a Skywatcher Explorer 200P, (8 inch Newt) back in October, but have spent a lot of time accumulating kit and setting it up before getting out to use it.

Having finally sorted today the problem that was stopping me using Stellarium on my Ubuntu laptop to control the newly Synscan-equipped EQ5, I managed to get out tonight for a first proper session.

First thoughts:

My previous observing sessions involved a freebie (broken) "Aspen" 5" Newt, with the infamous included H20 and SR4 EPs along with junk plastic Barlows. Despite the badly mis-collimated OTA and broken tripod, I had manged to get some reasonable Jovian and Lunar observing in, which piqued my interest no end.

I initially tried some more Jupiter observation when I first bought the 200P, and was disappointed with the badly light-scattered views through the included 25 and 10mm EPs, made even worse by quick dewing up of said EPs, the poor-quality included Barlow and coarse standard Crayford focuser. I was also frustrated by the standard straight-through 9x50 finder being really awkward to look though at most angles.

So, over the last few months, by raiding savings and with the benefit of some generous family members at Christmas, I've accumulated the following to go with the Explorer 200P and its EQ5:

• Pentax XW 5,10 & 20mm EPs.
  
• Astrozap dew shield
  
• Astrozap dew heater controller
  
• Astrozap heater tapes for OTA, EP and finder
  
• Moonlite dual-rate Crayford focuser
  
• Orion 20mm cross-hair reticule EP
  
• Skywatcher 9x50 right-angle finder
  
• Hotech laser collimation tool
  
• Collicap and Cheshire sight-tube
  
• Skywatcher ED 2" 2x Barlow
  
• Synscan EQ5 upgrade kit, making the mount fully GOTO capable.
  

So, with a clear night predicted, and no particular observing plan in mind, I set about the following workflow:

• Setup the mount, roughly polar aligned by compass, whilst still light.
  
• Setup the OTA, connecting the heater-tape cables etc.
  
• Collimate the OTA once mounted with the Hotech laser.
  
• Setup the laptop, with associated cabling to the mount.
  
• Properly polar-align the mount once Polaris became visible.
  
• Perform 3-star alignment for the Synscan.
  
• Observe, observe, observe...
  

Steps 1 to 3 went well. The Hotech SCA laser makes collimation so easy, it goes dreamily. Setting up the laptop and polar alignment also went reasonably well. It was a little hard to identify Polaris itself amongst the other available targets in the polar finder, but I got there in 10 minutes or so.

Then we came to the GOTO 3-star alignment...

Man, for a first-timer, that can be a problem..

The Synscan alignment routine seems quite sensitive to which star you pick as the first alignment star. I have a reasonably limited view from my observing spot in my back garden, with quite a bit of the horizon obscured by surrounding houses and foliage. Selecting the "wrong" first star, leads to it forcing selection of stars blocked by my surroundings as 2nd and 3rd stars. Eventually, I found that selecting Capella as the first star, allowed stars I could easily see as my 2nd and 3rd stars for the latter part of the alignment process. Deneb and Betelgeuse being the best available candidates.

It took 1.5 hours, but eventually I got the 3-star "alignment successful" message from the handset that I'd been waiting for.

During the alignment process, I'd been using the Orion 20mm illuminated cross-hair reticule EP to get the target stars spot-on centered. It also helped me immensely in getting the finder collimated with the scope. Having bright target stars and cross-hairs in both the finder and EP made the whole process very easy. I was also stunned by the quality of the view in that EP, despite the etched cross-hairs being in the way. It was clearly much better than the standard Skywatcher EPs I'd been looking through prior to tonight.

Once the mount was aligned, it was over to Stellarium-controlled GOTO observing mode.

I started by looking at Capella in the Pentax XW 20mm, and checking the focusing ease with the Moonlite unit now attached to the OTA. Oh my, what a lovely piece of kit that focuser is. It's easy to get the XW eyepiece to "snap" into focus with the coarse adjustment wheel, let alone the fine adjustment one. I tried a quick de-focused star collimation test with Capella - and was pleased to see that the Hotech unit had got the airy disk nice and concentric - no fine tuning required. Back into focus, and marvelling at the clarity of the diffraction spikes (4-leg spider on the 200P) the bright star and sharp focus allows. Very pretty to look at.

From Capella, I slewed to Betelgeuse - and revelled in it's redness for a while.

Then, onto Luna - still with the 20mm EP in place. My ${preferred_deity}, what a sight. The entire half-moon bang-on-center in the EP, with tack-sharp clarity. The brightness leaving such a hard-edged after-image on my retina prompts me to break-out the 5mm Pentax XW, hoping the extra mag will drop the volume a tad. It does. Moving to the southern pole, my jaw is dropped by the clarity and sharpness of the shadows cast by some of the taller peaks. Stunning. It's noticable though that the focusing seems to be much more sensitive on the moon, I really have to lean on the fine-focusing wheel to get a sharp image.

Swapping back to the 20mm XW EP, I move to Alcyone in Pleiades. Despite it's proximity to the bright moon, I'm impressed by the dark background and lack of scatter. However, in combination with this OTA - it provides too narrow a view to take in the whole cluster. Time to think about raiding the savings for that 30mm Pentax XW..

Still with the 20mm in place, time to move onto M42.

Oh.. my.. ${preferred_deity}..

Nebulosity aplenty, albeit with no colour to my eye. Just a beautiful white/grey cloud cradling the main stars. Trapezium? PIN sharp. Amazing. Absolutely stunning.

By now, I'm three hours into sub-zero viewing. The OTA has frost and dew all over the outside of it. The laptop has been under a blanket for the last hour, trying to keep it from dewing-up. Despite the dew-shield and heater tapes successfully keeping the mirrors dew-free, the EPs are starting to fog-up just a few minutes after being put in the focuser. That was despite them being wrapped in a heater tape too.

That said, I managed a total of 3 hours outside viewing in very cold/moist conditions. Much more than the 30 minutes or so I managed wihtout the anti-dew kit, so I personally deem that as successful.

All in all, I'm blown away by the difference some quality EPs, dew control and a GOTO mount make to the visual observing experience. In a way, it's a shame that manufacturers of lower to medium-end kit feel obliged to include EPs and barlows. Cost constraints tend to dictate that what gets packed into the box is of pretty poor quality, which to my mind takes more away than they add. Having now personally seen the difference between what a generic 25mm included EP can do against a Pentax XW 20mm - there's no contest. Dark backgrounds, pin-sharp images from edge-to-edge and with very little scatter? It's what most newbies believe they're going to see but almost never do.

I count myself as very fortunate that I had the patience to persevere beyond the initial learning curve hump, and was prepared to invest a little more time, funds, and family-member goodwill. I am optimistic that this hobby is going to be most rewarding.

[Beyond_Vision]

What a great night you have had. It makes me want to get back out there and sample some of the delights of the cosmos . Thanks for the detailed report and I'm glad you persevered.

Regards

Kevin

[Doc]

A very enjoyable read Mike. I agree with your comments on buying better eyepieces and dew control, but alot of people are not in such a financial position to do this, so in reality it's a good job the manufacturers do supply some accessories even if only mediocre.

I moved up from TAL eyepieces to the WO Uwan to use on my dob and the difference is amazing.

[Matthew.Blake]

Pentax XW eyepieces for someone just beginning. You lucky soul! Still, you'll never appreciate them as much as someone who had to save their pennies for months just to get a bog standard wide angle eyepiece so I can take some comfort in that I suppose.

[Mike_F]

Pentax XW eyepieces for someone just beginning. You lucky soul! Still, you'll never appreciate them as much as someone who had to save their pennies for months just to get a bog standard wide angle eyepiece so I can take some comfort in that I suppose.

<blush> I feel bad now.. It certainly wasn't my intention to brag.

Trust me, I do appreciate them - they're beautiful, and what they cost me is a significant portion of available disposable income for some time to come.

In fact, I'm far from wealthy. Two of the EPs and the Moonlite were a self purchase but the rest has been from my family and lovely missus as birthday and xmas gifts - in that sense I'm fortunate, I agree.

I was initially taken aback at the high cost of decent astro gear.

There seems to be a massive gulf between what you pay for the department store scopes and the better stuff. So much so, that having started out with a budget instrument, I was really worried until last night that the investment I've made wouldn't pay dividends. The post was partly about: "Phew, it was worth the expense"

In a way, I'd advise everyone to go budget first. Even with the poor quality included EPs and Barlow, I'd managed some good viewing and confirmed my underlying interest with that Aspen 'scope. Plus, I learned more about collimation with it than I could ever have done otherwise - as it went out of alignment every time I used it.

So, although I'd adverstied myself as a relative newb, I guess the truth is that I've just made the next step up from the initial budget kit, and have been amazed at the difference it makes to the observing experience.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Lovely kit Mike now the journey begins. Set yourself a target whether its the knowledge of the lunar surface, finding and studying the planets/asteriods or completing the Messier list.

I bought a goto scope over 10 years ago and found it great jumping from one DSO to another. Eventually, I felt I wanted to find these objects by reference to a star atlas and star hopping. It made the journey much more enjoyable - I can now find most Messier objects without reference to an atlas.

I know how you feel about great EPs - enjoy your scope and the quality of the visual images that you get. However, as you enjoy your hobby more you might get the problem of aperture fever!!!

Mark