Skyliner 250xp (not the flex-tube)

[johnkirkpatrick]

just a wee post to get as much info of the scope as poss before buying.

thanks for your time

[mdstuart]

What do you want to know....Its big and white and is a fab scope!

[wulfrunian]

What do you want to know....Its big and white and is a fab scope!

Seconded!

Actually I've been meaning to write a proper review of this scope since I bought it last November, but haven't got round to it yet. So in summary, it comes in two boxes, the base is easy to assemble, you can get it set up at night in minutes (depending on cool down time - mine's kept in the garage), it gives great views, and now I've got some wide field eyepieces, it's even better. Just ask if there's anything specific you need to know

[Chris H]

Basically the same as my XT10, nice solid tube so you don't need a shroud (solid tube also helps keep dew of the primary) As mdstuart said its big but not massive, at first I thought it was huge but now I'm used to it is is fine. I can be carried in one piece for short distances, I only move mine about 10 metres but its ok. If you can keep it in an unheated shed it will be a great grab and go scope. The views it delivers are IMO really good.

[John]

As everyone has said, it's a great scope and a very significant step up from your current 130mm scope in terms of performance. Do leave some £'s over for a nice eyepiece at some stage - at F/4.7 it will be a bit fussy on eyepieces, especially if you want wide field. A cheshire collimation eyepiece will also be a "must" as well.

[johnkirkpatrick]

Thanks for the reply, what about planetary views, currently through my 130mm Saturn and Mars both so very small at my current max mag of x130 and don't want to buy ep's till I have a new scope. i was hoping a bigger scope would mean bigger images (o) the o to the left is exactly the size if Saturn through my scope and Mars being just a tiny bit bigger (almost).

[John]

Thanks for the reply, what about planetary views, currently through my 130mm Saturn and Mars both so very small at my current max mag of x130 and don't want to buy ep's till I have a new scope. i was hoping a bigger scope would mean bigger images (o) the o to the left is exactly the size if Saturn through my scope and Mars being just a tiny bit bigger (almost).

The magnification that a scope gives with a given eyepiece is determined by it's focal length, not it's aperture. The 250PX has a focal length of 1200mm so a 10mm eyepiece will give 120x, a 5mm 240x and so on. With larger scopes the seeing conditions are usually the limiting factor with regard to the max magnification useable. 250x is often the limit although on really good nights I can use 340x on Mars with my 10". Some objects "take" magnification better than others for some reason - Mars is a challenge but Saturn seems to hold up better at higher powers.

Mind you Mars is growing smaller day by day now so it's getting even more challenging to see details on it.

[oceanheadted]

John,

for planetry viewing you probably won't get the anticipated improvement in resolution with that extra aperture that the 250 offers , most of the time it will be destroyed by turbulence in the atmosphere. The higher you push the magnification the worse the seeing affects the view. I was viewing the moon a few weeks ago an my evostar 90 was beating my 200p because of the poor seeing. I seem to remember in the S@N magazine you get very little return on apertures above 110mm in terms of resolution for most uk conditions. That's a statistic for refractors.

Having said that it gives you a lot of bang for your buck on DSOs and on that magic night when conditions are perfect you will get fab views.

cheers

Alan