Skyliner 300p - first light report

[Llamanaut]

My 300P arrived today in three huge packing cases, overall weight about 45kgs! Unpacking the dob mount first i was impressed with the protective packing, everything wrapped very securely. Working logically its best to make up the mount first and allow about 20 to 30 minutes depending how good you are with a screwdriver...

Next up the huge (and i mean huge) coffin like box that houses the scope, again securely packaged i found that the polystyrene can be kept and used to make a cradle if you wish to transport the 300 by car. You may need an extra pair of hands to help lower the scope onto the mount. A right angled finder and 2" adaptor is included.

The mirror assembly is in the third and smallest box, its covered in clingfilm and is fitted to the scope by a number of small screws, again a friend (or partner) will come in handy when it comes to securing. In the centre of the mirror is a white circle sticker, this is for collimation purposes so dont remove it (cheers russ!)

I purchased a hotech laser collimator to go with this scope and it took about 10 minutes once id got the hang of which way to move the screws. Adjust the secondary first, you wont be able to get away with not collimating because out of the box its way off.

Next the primary mirror which is simplicity itself... loosen the three adjuster bolts and then move the 3 knurled bolts until the laser centres...simples. After adjusting carefully nip up the lock bolts finger tight (any more and the mirror is squeezed and rides up out of centre)

Almost at first light, i moved the 300 outside to cool about 2130 and by 2200 it was ready. I hadnt adjusted the finder during the day so that was my first job, i chose the moon as the largest and brightest object. The finder is adjusted via two knurled screws and takes about 5 seconds.

Had a sneaky peek at the moon with the supplied 25 and 10mm ep's which provided clean and crisp views. The view of the craters and rilles of the moon were outstanding, almost like looking at the ground from an aircraft!

Wifey came out at this point and demanded to see Saturn which i duly obliged... i even let her put saturn in the finder, she's never used a telescope before but after i pointed saturn out to her she found it and focussed in on it. A small squeal of delight told me she'd found it! Sure enough the best view of the ringed planet Ive seen flanked by three of its moons. The detail is just astounding.

She went to bed and I fine tuned the supplied finder on regulus however there was still quite an error even with a low power ep so i removed the finder in favour of the telrad. A word of caution here, if you remove the finder shoe make sure you hold onto the plate located inside the tube, its big and hefty and you could very easily drop it onto the mirror below. After zeroing the telrad once on Polaris (which doesnt move) it was spot on for the rest of the session. My advice is ditch the supplied finder straight away and get a telrad or rigel... theyre just made for dobs!

Unfortunately for tonights session the moon was to prove a pain because of its brightness, washing out most of leo and virgo (and all the virgo galaxies) so i ditched my plan of attempting the leo triplets and virgo galaxies and instead turned my attention to Lyra...

I put vega in the centre circle of the telrad and looked through the ep... certainly a wow moment, dead centre and bright as you like but my proper first light was M57, the ring nebula which literally took my breath away with its clarity. A definate ringed donut shape which looked like it was made of fine guaze. Outstanding!

Manoevering the dob takes some getting used to and the addition of a handle underneath the focusser will be my first diy mod. The scope tends to drift upwards slightly at first but with the side handles fully tensioned this was overcome, later in the session i was able to release a little tension as the friction pads began to bed in more.

The focusser is silky smooth throughout its range of movement, i mainly used a skywatcher 7 - 21mm zoom ep for this session and the view was crisp across the fov with no fringing or distortion.

The two things i underestimated is the 300's size and weight. Its fairly difficult to carry by yourself, and the dob mount takes up a lot of floor space. You need a lot of space to house it. The height from floor to ep pointed at the celestial equator is around 4 foot... Im 5ft 11" and frequently had to bend as none of my garden furniture allowed me the correct height to view. If youre tall you may have to find a dedicated seat for use with the scope. Also manoevering the scope takes some getting used to, i did find by the end of the session i was getting used to it though.

All in all the 300p's performance excelled my expectations of it even on an evening which was bullied by the moon, its the kind of scope you dont want to stop using and look forward to the next session as soon as youve finished.

Id highly recommend it for deep sky viewing but also a cracking planetary scope too. Grin factor 5/5 :)

[yeti monster]

Excellent FL report Llama, you'll get years of great views from your Dob. I miss my 10" SNT so much whilst I'm away, I can't wait to get back up to the EP when Iget home.

[Moonshane]

great report mate - told you it would be a good move!

if you are in any way handy you can make an observing seat for not a lot of money - I did http://stargazerslounge.com/members-equipment-gallery/97962-observing-chair.html and it has served me well. makes life a lot easier.

you can buy them too for about £100.

[Moonshane]

ps, look at M13 - it's awesome.

[russ]

Awesome report and really pleased your first light was outstanding. I'm really missing my 12 now. As Shane says, checkout M13. Serious wow factor in a 12. Also prepare yourself for some dark sky viewing because it will blow your socks off.

Impressed your wide took a look and was impressed. I had Saturn in the scope Saturday evening and my wife was only 2 foot from the eyepiece but refused to look.

[yeti monster]

I had Saturn in the scope Saturday evening and my wife was only 2 foot from the eyepiece but refused to look.

One presumes that she was far too busy biting off her own nose, in order that she could spite her face.........

[Moonshane]

Awesome report and really pleased your first light was outstanding. I'm really missing my 12 now. As Shane says, checkout M13. Serious wow factor in a 12. Also prepare yourself for some dark sky viewing because it will blow your socks off.

Impressed your wide took a look and was impressed. I had Saturn in the scope Saturday evening and my wife was only 2 foot from the eyepiece but refused to look.

I reckon Saturn is what turned my wife's attention to the fact there might actually be a reason I spend time at the scope! see http://stargazerslounge.com/observing-deep-sky/104484-light-hearted-observing-report-18th-may-2010-a.html

the trouble is I think she's hooked now and keeps pushing me away from the dob for a look! I'm not complaining though. that said, I'll be setting up both scopes for the next session!

[russ]

She doesn't get the astronomy thing, never has. She wasn't alone it has to be said. We were having a BBQ party and only 4 of the 18 people there wanted a look. And even those 4 said they couldn't see the appeal beyond one night of looking. There was total agreement that the astronomy was just a cover and the scope was for perving purposes only....ho hum! Won't bother trying again.

[Doc]

All I can say is enjoy the trip as it will be a good one

Fantastic report I really enjoyed reading it.

[John]

Great first light report on a great scope !.

Like Russ, I miss my 12" dob on really dark nights though it was not getting used as much as it deserved due to it's size / weight so I had to downsize to a 10".

I had the pleasure of using a Skywatcher 12" dob at the SGL4 star party last year and it provided great views - with my 13mm Ethos the view of M51 was superb with spiral arms clearly showing. We also managed to see a mag 13 supernova in another faint galaxy with it that evening. I've great respect for the capabilites of those scopes

I hope you really enjoy it and you can look forward to a fabulous period of DSO spotting when the darker skies of Autumn and Winter are here.

If you can find some money left in the coffers for a really nice eyepiece, eg: a Nirvana / UWAN 16mm or similar it's well worth it - these eyepieces were designed to shine when used with fast medium-large aperture newtonians

[Doc]

I couldn't agree more with John here. The difference in the view from a normal plossl to a WO 28 Uwan was well worth the extra money.

[ZOG]

Loved the report, your pleasure shone through it. I well remember the wow factor when I first used mine and the rings stood out like never before. Galaxies are pretty special in a 12" as well.

You'll have years of excellent views with the scope........if your wife lets you that is

[Space Cowboy]

Great report Mr Farmer! Itching to get a Dob myself but wont be going above the 10". Interesting to see your using a Skywatcher zoom just got one myself.

Russ you are clearly doing something wrong, I took my scope to a bbq/birthday party Saturday night and nearly all adults and kids looked through the scope and were amazed at the Moon and Saturn

[russ]

Russ you are clearly doing something wrong, I took my scope to a bbq/birthday party Saturday night and nearly all adults and kids looked through the scope and were amazed at the Moon and Saturn

I've only once had any luck getting a favourable response from non astro types and that was a totally unplanned session with a bunch of hoodies at our dark site. In fairness to the BBQ party, they were all well on their way to being tanked up.

[Llamanaut]

Galaxies are pretty special in a 12" as well.

The ring nebula pretty much filled the fov in my 10mm ep, just a remarkable sight and one im keen to do again... weather let me down last night overcast and slightly misty... could it get any worse for looking through a telescope?