Sky-Watcher 130N-EQ2 Newtonian Reflector Telescope

[cap603]

I've seen this being offered for $159-$179, but it's now being sold by Amazon.com for only $99.99. Is it any good?

Thanks

[Cornelius Varley]

A lot of beginners start with this telescope and at $99.99 has to be a bargain.

Peter

[cap603]

Can anyone tell me if the mirror in this 'scope is parabolic or spherical?

Thanks

[Astro_Baby]

I'd think spherical as its the long tube version - I also notice in the pic it has thick spider vanes as per the Celestron Astromaster scopes rather than the thin vanes more typical of Sky-Watcher scopes. The price is weird - no idea whay its so cheap but I'd ask some questions.

By and large I'd buy from a proper dealer rather than amazon and ebay stores. You may just need support and you wont be getting much from amazon.

[orionhunter]

ive found amazon to be an excellent retailer and have honoured any warranty issues 100%.

make sure youre buying from amazon directly and not a reseller.

[Astro_Baby]

Have you ever asked Amazon for technical support and gotten any ? Ever asked Amazon for advice about what product would best suit you ?

I agree for a fast turnround on a generic item thay are good (though I did wait for about 8 weeks for a DVD from them) but once your into the realms of telescopes I;d avoid unless you know what it is your getting.

That scope mentioned is the perfect example. The blurb suggests its a stanrad Sky-Watcher 130 on an EQ2 - the picture says different.

Sorry but I just happen to think the advice and support from a decent dealer is worth something - I was on the receiving end of a scope with no support. Yes the dealer changed it - and changed it again but never once was any support on offer and it soured the whole experience.

[Cornelius Varley]

That scope mentioned is the perfect example. The blurb suggests its a standard Sky-Watcher 130 on an EQ2 - the picture says different

I think the colour scheme is misleading you. The OTA is black, just as the latest Skywatcher telescopoes and the mount is white, the latest colour for the EQ mounts is also white. In every other respect it is the same telescope as the blue Skywatcher Explorer 130 as imported into the UK by OVL. It probably won't be long before the rest of the Skywatcher range will follow the style of the 150P and above.

I am not sure how Amazon.com can sell it for half the price of the same telescope as sold by Adorama Cameras.

Peter

[Astro_Baby]

But its not the same - look at the spider vanes. It has hulking thick vanes a'la Celestron Astromaster scopes NOT the thin vanes on Skywatcher stuff.

If thats different what else may be. The price tells you something as well.

[Cornelius Varley]

The 0.5mm vanes are only fitted to the f5 telescopes. The OVL Skywatcher 130/900 uses the same thick vanes as the one sold by Amazon.com. Adorama Cameras are also selling the same telescope for $174.95.

Peter

[Astro_Baby]

Beg to differ again but I have seen a 130/900 and it absolutely didndt have the thick vanes. If you look at Skywatchers US site you will see the pic they have there clearly doesnt have th thick vanes because thay are moulded onto the front part of the etelescopes whereas the thin vanes arent - they are held on with thumbscrews.

A quick search round the web reveals some of the 130/650 models with an N prefix or suffix also called 'Greatstart' have the thick vanes too so I would suspect this is Skywatcher hosing out some cheap stock to hoover up the bottom end of the market or perhaps gearing up to replace the Celestron Astromaster range. Either way theres a difference which may be only US based at the present time.

Heres a short tube version with thick vanes Sky-Watcher GreatStart 130NS-EQ2 Short-Style 5" Reflector on EQ2 Equatorial Mount - 11950 - OPT Telescopes

And heres a long tube with thin vanes - I have actually seen one of these in the flesh SkyWatcher Explorer-130/900 EQ2 Telescope kaufen bei Optical-Systems.com

As I said - those are all the reasons you should talk to a dealer who knows his stuff.

[cap603]

Actually, this has been a great, lively and valuable debate that has allowed me, being new to astronomy, to learn quite a lot.

Many thanks!

[sxinias]

As far as the SkyWatcher 130N-eq2 for $99 on Amazon. I'd say its quite a bargain .... go for it. Really.... for a manually operated telescope .... what customer service other than an outstanding return policy such as Amazon has do you really need? Not much to go wrong with a manually operated Newtonian telescope from SkyWatcher, etc. Heck, if you are worried about reliability; buy a spare.... you can purchase two of these telescopes from Amazon for less than one from a typical telescope vendor.

Many SkyWatdher USA products are not the same as SkyWatcher rest of the world. If you pay carefull attention to web and photograph address as you go through the SkyWatcher USA site you will notice that a lot of photographs of SkyWatcher telescope refer back to a photograph of its Celestron counterpart. This is also true for their mounts as well ... eg. the SkyWatcher USA synscan az goto mount is a Celestron NexStar SLT mount complete down to the firmware ... nothing like the firmware of the SkyWatcher AZ mounts sold elsewhere.

Amazon calls the scope they are selling a SkyWatcher 130N eq2 and also shows a photograph of a skywatcher 130 N eq2. This is a f/6.9 classical Newtonian telescope with a parabolic mirror. The SkyWatcher 130NS eq2 is a f/5 classical newtonial telescope. The Bird Jones newtonian variant, a catadioptric design that uses a spherical mirror with a corrector lens, has one characteristic that easily sets it apart .... its focal length will always be longer than the telecope's tube lengh. This is not the case for either the 130N or the 130NS.

And even if the scope were a Bird Jones with a spherical mirror and corrector lens ... it's still a bargain at $99. This design is getting a lot of bad press because of colliimation issues as the process provided by the manufactures in the manuals are next to impossible to do. However, excellent work arounds have been developed and published on internet forms ... simply remove the corrector lens, collimate as with a regular Newtonian, then replace the corrector lens.

As far as the price. Celestron and SkyWatcher's parent company has a history of dumping scopes they are discontinuing on the market through selected retailers. A little over a year ago, Celestron dumped the Advanced Series C6S(XLT) and C6N(XLT). For this exercise they chose some UK vendors. I was able to purchase my C6S(XLT) from Telescope Planet at a price cheaper than Celestron was selling the OTA alone in the USA and the rest of the world.

anyway that's my two cents worth.