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The New Skywatcher 200P DS 1st Light Review

Deneb

By Deneb
in Member Equipment Reviews

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Deneb

Deneb

Posted
Posted

Hi

I recieved my Skywatcher 200P DS on Saturday, this is my 3rd scope which I will tend to use for Imaging. This is how I got on:

Well the ota weights around 8.5 kgs inc. the finder, rings & dovetail. There are thumbscrews on the primary for collimation and for the Mirror locking screws. It has the similar paint job as the DS Pro Models Metallic Black with a Gold Skywatcher logo - Quality.

The Secondary mirror is larger in size with an extra 6mm compared to the old 8" reflectors I had, which the secondaries have been around 52mm in size. I think most people are interested in is the Dual Speed Focuser - Let's get some things straight, if you want pure smoothness with quality & wanting to mount some heavy loads onto the focuser, Buy yourself a Moonlight Focuser, their in a different league of their own.

P1300047.jpg

I found the stock focuser design like a cross breed between a R&P focuser draw tube & with the smoothness of the crayford focusers supplied with Standard 200P's (if that makes sense), also there was a little image shift while focusing. The scope came with a 2" 28mm Helical eyepiece instead of the usual 25mm & 10mm eyepieces, there was no barlow included, the build quality of the 28mm is a lot more better , I used it briefly which gave favourable sharp views & after experiencing my 1st 2" Eyepiece I will consider replacing my 1.25" ones, I swapped back using my 1.25" eyepieces.

Unfortunatley the focuser supplied I found the focuser drawtube to grind against the focuser housing while focusing inward or outward, sounds like a tight fit or something in manufacturing was not sanded down properly or even the tension has to be slightly adjusted, the slow mo control is really smooth, but anyway please do not let my little misfortune with QC tarnish the performance of the scope. I also bought a Skywatcher Coma Corrector which is suppose to be optically matched for these F5 Reflectors. To mount it on your favourable DSLR you would have to buy a M48 Adaptor - see pic.

DSC00429.jpg

Mounting it onto my EQ6 Pro was no problem (actually the mount just smiled and laughed) :). I performed a 3 star alignment with the mount, my 1st star was Sirius in the south with a visual magnitude of -1.46, this where I saw the difference in this scope, having the increase size of the secondary mirror I found the contrast & brightness to be very good, actually to be honest I was a bit taken a back, I couldn't believe how much 6mm makes a difference.

The other alignment stars were Deneb & Procyon, even though they were lower in magnitude compared to my 1st alignment star, I was very impressed with the views it presented me.

On DSO's I found it would make the fainter smudges a little more visible compared to my past 8" newtonians. Out of all the Reflectors I have departed with, this one I have liked the most & would think about twice or thrice before departing with it.

If your thinking about buying one of these scopes, I would recommend the 8" version, only because of the change of the size of the Secondary and an added plus with the dual speed focuser.

Cheers

Nadeem.

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FLO

FLO

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Thank-you for the report Nadeem ;)

Yours is the first Skywatcher Explorer 200p DS we have sold. Some will be concerned that the new larger secondary (necessary for a more even field of illumination) might adversely affect contrast so it is particularly pleasing to hear you were impressed with the contrast ;)

Sorry to hear the focuser is not as smooth as you had hoped. I am guessing the roughness can be adjusted out but if not we'll send you a replacement :)

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adamh

adamh

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I'm quite interested in this scope, and am wondering how it is for visual use?

I assume some sort of compromise must have been made, or the 200P would have been designed to work both with DSLRs and the eye when it was originally conceived.

(Please consider me a complete newbie, as all I've got it a galileoscope and some binoculars)

Adam

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mike-h

mike-h

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A suggestion about the grinding - it'll only take 2 mins to check out and rule out. My 250px had a slight grinding in the focuser. It turned out that it was caused by one of the 2 big focuser knobs rubbing something inside the focuser. There is a tiny hex bolt and if you loosen it the knob comes off. Then I put it back on but a mm or 2 further out on the spindle. Grinding noise gone.

Mike H

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Deneb

Deneb

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Well i've got a Moonlight sitting on mine now, would you like a pic ? I think i'll post it anyway, even though it is a single speed focuser, hell of a lot more superior to the stock focuser. Also I have got some bobs knobs on the secondary as well.

Cheers

Nadeem.

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Rob

Rob

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Its a real shame about your focuser nadeem.. Mine is sliky smooth. I think you should consider a return on that, its just not right!.

How are the bobs knobs working out on the secondary?.. I have to say my secondary was out on arrival, and the allen bolts seem very tight. I did manage to collimate though.. I cant see it going to move much though due to the tightness

Rob

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Deneb

Deneb

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Well Rob, Steve @FLO kindly replaced the supplied focuser. Strictly speaking, even though it is a dual speed focuser it's not a Low Profile Focuser, I have been spoiled with Moonlites (which is not a bad thing). If you want zero image shift & a steady quality focuser for imaging & for visual the Moonlites are ones to go for. Im sorry you can't exactly match the Stock focuser quality & workmanship with a Low Profile Moonlite.

Cheers

Nadeem

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Deneb

Deneb

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How are the bobs knobs working out on the secondary?.. I have to say my secondary was out on arrival, and the allen bolts seem very tight. I did manage to collimate though.. I cant see it going to move much though due to the tightness

Rob

I bought the Bobs Knobs only due to if I need to tweak the secondary it can be done with ease, I really don't like the idea with fiddling with allen keys in the dark, especially whens it's darn cold.

Cheers

Nadeem.

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Magnum

Magnum

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DENEB Im wondering if Synta have used a larger diameter OTA as well as the larger secondary, as I have installed a larger 63mm secondary into my old Blue tube 200p, but I still get some vignetting due to the diameter of the OTA, I think mine measures 220 ID.

Would be very interesting if you could measure the OTA diameter of your 200P DS

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zhgutas

zhgutas

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Thanks from me too Nadeem! ;) I'm currently considering this or the 150p DS as my "proper" scope, and the review certainly helped! I actually didn't even know this one's secondary is bigger than "normal" ! :) Sweet.. :)

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AweSIM

AweSIM

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hi.. im planning to get SkyWatcher Explorer 200 PDS.. can someone who's owned this scope tell me the size and weight of the OTA package? im planning to have it hand-carried via airline to pakistan thru a friend.. so i need to know the size and weight of the package.. thanks.. ;)..

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MikeWilson

MikeWilson

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hi.. im planning to get SkyWatcher Explorer 200 PDS.. can someone who's owned this scope tell me the size and weight of the OTA package? im planning to have it hand-carried via airline to pakistan thru a friend.. so i need to know the size and weight of the package.. thanks.. :o..

;)

skywatcher_explorer_200P_DS_OTA_thumb.jpg

This...

Is almost a meter long (800mm), plus it is 8" in diameter with a focuser sticking out of it. Absolutely no way could this be carried in the passenger area of an aeroplane.

xmasetx80package1.jpg

This...

Can be brought as hand luggage :D

Mike

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