Dobsonian Question

[GrahamS]

Hello

An introduction and question

I am new to astronomy. I do not intend to get a telescope yet, I already have some very good Opticron Binoculars and spotting scope and will use those before I purchase a telescope. I have bought 'Turn left at Orion' and I am begining to learn my way around the stars but, being attracted to new kit I've already done some research on what scope I will buy for my own use preferences, which, I hope will be a 8" Dobsonian.

The question is is there any difference in the current Dobsonian offereings? Skywatcher Skyliner 200P and the Orion Skyquest XT8 Classic ?

Thanks for any Advice.

[pvaz]

They are both owned by Synta so it's basically the same thing.

I have the XT8i (version with the PushTo controller) and it's great. Skywatcher probably haves the best price in UK.

[Cornelius Varley]

Hello and welcome. The Skywatcher and Orion US range of telescopes are made by the same manufacturer Synta. Optically the two telescopes should be the same. The main difference is that the Skywatcher range is stocked by more outlets than the Orion brand and tend to be a little cheaper aswell.

Peter

[Mr Dobby]

They are both owned by Synta so it's basically the same thing.

I have the XT8i (version with the PushTo controller) and it's great. Skywatcher probably haves the best price in UK.

Paulo,

I think the word PushTO controller should make it fairly obvious to me, but any chance you can explain what it does and how it works for you and the Dob please, any photos of it? if possible.

Cheers

Phil

[pvaz]

The scope haves 2 sensors on the base. You plug the controler, powered with a 9v battery, then you do a simple 2 star allignment and it works as a goto.

You just say what you want to see and it tell you where to point. You point manually as it doesn't have motors.

For a full goto version they have the xt8g (mine is xt8i), but then you also need a powerpack.

You can leave it off when you want to star hop instead of being lazy .

You can see the pics here:

Orion SkyQuest XT8i Computerized IntelliScope | Orion Telescopes

[Mr Dobby]

Thanks for the quick reply Paulo, very interesting, at the moment with my new dob I'm using a Wixey which shows Alt/Inclination when its attached by magnets to the scope, and would you believe a handheld compass for Az, I think some will consider me still in the dark ages, and have I heard of the wheel. Is the pushto controller something I could add to a skyliner 8"dob as an afterthought, or would there be too much messing about adding it and a lot of cost.

Phil

[pvaz]

It's specially design for the orion xti scopes/mounts. You'd have to do a lot of mods and the result may not be good. I think it only works with the Orion Alt breaks system.

The sensors are extremely sensitive. I messed up and forgot a tiny 1 mm Teflon washer (luckily I noticed it was a "left over" and stored it). As I wanted to learn the sky I only did a quick test on the system and it was off a bit, but I thought it was cause of a quick star allignement. After a couple of mounts when I tried the real 1st session with it the error was noticeable so I called orion support. They told me immediately to retrace the scope assembly and check if all the spacers where in place, I did and now it's accurate. Anyway this goes to prove how sensible it is as the washer haves only 1mm and it made all the difference.

[MarkF]

Thanks for the quick reply Paulo, very interesting, at the moment with my new dob I'm using a Wixey which shows Alt/Inclination when its attached by magnets to the scope, and would you believe a handheld compass for Az, I think some will consider me still in the dark ages, and have I heard of the wheel. Is the pushto controller something I could add to a skyliner 8"dob as an afterthought, or would there be too much messing about adding it and a lot of cost.

Phil

Phil is this any good?

Astro-Fix Locator

[Mr Dobby]

Paulo

Thanks for that info I can see I would have problems getting hold of one let alone fixing it up, I wouldn't want to ruin the scope with my handiwork.

MarkF

Thanks for your input seems interesting, I wonder if anyone has bought one and what their views on it are?. I haven't had the scope that long, and apart from a view of the moon one cloudy evening I've not had an opportunity since to try out the method I would be using with assistance from stellarium. I don't expect my method to be that accurate but close enough for jazz, and a bit of califudging hopefully will sort it!!!!!!! technical or what, but I will bear it mind when I can get some decent viewing and practice time in and see how it goes, I've put it on my favourites for future reference

Cheers

Phil