Age Old Conundrum

[Llamanaut]

Ive changed my mind so many times im preparing myself to buy about 20 different types of telescope all based on their individual merits.

The advice seems to be biggest aperture you can afford and the very best scope is the one thats regularly used.

My requirements in a scope is that its portable and unobtrustive, quick to set up and easy to transport by small car whilst giving the best aperture for useful magnification in unpredictable Uk seeing. Im drifting towards deep sky. The amazing deals from FLO havent helped. Clearly we'd all like a 300 but are they practicable? Yes it provides good light gathering ability but will the aperture/ magnification be used to the full potential given our unpredictable weather?

I like the look of the Skyliner 200 dob, its affordable, it ticks most if not all of my boxes and provides a good aperture to useful mag. The other good thing is that its within my fiscal reach this month Although ive looked at many others i seem to keep coming back to this one.

Does anyone use one? Id be interested to hear your thoughts?

I know several members have successfully converted their dobs for HEQ5/6 use and have added motor drives etc... this interests me as a possible progression for the skyliner 200

Shall i just go for it or hold out till later in the year till i can afford an all singing, all dancing light bucket?

[Merlin66]

IMHO a 10" dobbie and a good small ED refractor/ GEM mount would be a good combination. Which one comes first?????

Ken

[DarkerSky]

Decisions...decisions !!

It's always a difficult choice. Big dob for deep sky.

UK skies do support big apertures for DSO. It might not seem like it after the cloudy skies of winter, but so far this month I have had 5 DSO nights and 4 planetary observing nights, with a couple of other nights I opted not to go out. So it can fall good for us ... sometimes

[John]

I've owned 8" and 12" dobsonians but I've now settled on a 10" which does seem to provide a decent combination of performance potential and managability in my circumatances where the scope lives in the house and has to be carried outside and cooled before use. If I had somewhere like a large shed outside to keep the scope in I'd go back to a larger scope again as there is no substitute for aperture. The 20" I had a look though at the SGL5 star party recently really reinforced that !

[david o]

Careful you don't fall into analysis paralysis!

You won't go far wrong with that Skyliner 200P.

HTH

[twotter]

Does anyone use one? Id be interested to hear your thoughts?

I know several members have successfully converted their dobs for HEQ5/6 use and have added motor drives etc... this interests me as a possible progression for the skyliner 200

I've got a Skyliner 200 and I think it's great. Simple as a simple thing to use, a manageable weight to move, and affordable too (though mine was a birthday present).

The upgrade path you mention is certainly one option I'm considering for the future

[Tinners]

How easy is the Skyliner to transport and set up compared to say Meade or Orion uk telescopes. The Orion and Meade fit together just by slotting the tube onto the base carrage. Not sure how quick the skyliner puts together so thats worth considering if needs doing quickly in the dark.

[Llamanaut]

Speaking to some members with a 200 and 250 dob theyre a breeze to transport in a car with the tube in one piece on the back seat and the dob base on the front seat... fix-up time about 30 seconds too! The 300 needs to be fixed together before mounting so a bit longer

[great_bear]

I agree with Ken.

Plan on buying two scopes - because you will anyway