Made my order with FLO cant wait! opinions on purchase pls.

[stafford_stargazer]

Hello again.

Well think i have made the right choice now,ordered today from FLO a skyliner 200P dob,and celestron 102 wide view tube assembly as that was on offer for £89..just a quick grab and go scope.

What is your opinions on this choice?

Do i need a laser collimator for the dob or can i do it without?

Thanks Gary

[brantuk]

You're gonna love the 200P - it's a bit bigger than you think in the pics. You don't need a laser collimator specifically - you can use a Cheshire collimator or just a lense cap with a hole in the middle. Personally I find the Hotech laser collimator very useful though. Nice purchase

[Hypernova]

Can't go wrong with the dob, I have one and its brilliant

[johninderby]

Great choice, you can't go wrong with the 200p. Great value for money. At f/5.9 collimation won't be too difficult and it should also keep collimation very well. It won't be over demanding on eyepieces either so you won't need premium eyepieces to get great views.

Funnily enough I also ordered a 200p from FLO yesterday as I sold another scope over the weekend, and the sale paid for the 200p plus a dual speed crayford from Telescope House.

John

[stafford_stargazer]

cool stuff,looks like there pretty popular,hope it sclear tomorrow.I want to hopefully do a bit deep sky viewing to so what should i expect to see.Will it see some of the fainter dso and nebula.

Also i only grabbed the celestron 102 as it was a bargain and may come in handy,what will that be like?

Any good for planets?

Cheers all great help on here.

[johninderby]

The 102 is actually quite good on the moon and planets and CA isn't a real problem just so long as you don't use too high a magnification. It's also good for widefield use. One thing the 102 is really great at however is white light solar observing. Just get some Baader solar film (about £17.00) and make up a simple cell (real Blue Peter type project) to hold it and there you go.

Here's a simple shot of the moon with a 102 and taken through the eyepiece.

John

[PeterM]

Ah, you lucky thing. I'm hoping to receive a 200p dob for my birthday in September and I can't wait. I never thought I'd be looking forward to turning 40.

[nitram100]

8 inch dob is the perfect scope. Portable enough to carry anywhere whilst gathering enough light to last you for ages.

[stafford_stargazer]

Gutted just got email saying my 102 is on the way but skyliner 200p is ordered.

Anyone know how long this might take,whats the usual way FLO work.

Thanks Gaz

[FLO]

Don't worry Gaz, there is a strong chance they will both be with you tomorrow

(The Celestron was dispatched from base but the Skyliner 200p was sent direct to you from Skywatcher's importers)

HTH,

Steve

[stafford_stargazer]

nice thanks steve

[blinky]

The 102's a nice scope as well!! Got mine today and at high mag there is a little CA but not too much. I stuck in a 2" diagonal and 42mm 2" EP and had an amazing view - shame it was just of some distant fields but...... it should give some nice views of the summer milky way in a few months.

[stafford_stargazer]

Great stuff,so i assume its the same 102 im getting from FLO,would you say that its worth changing the diagonal then?

Whats the one like it comes with?

WHat sort of power could you realistically go up to for the planets and still get good views?

Gaz

Looking forward to tomorrow,strange how we get older and do the things we wanted to do when we were younger but never did.Like being a kid all over again.

[blinky]

Hi Gaz

TBH I am not much of an observer so dont really know about changing the diagonal etc. I do have a 1.25" diagonal that I will be using as I have not heard good things about the supplied one. Generally for astro use you dont want as errecting diagonal as I assume it slightly degrades image quality and light grasp. If you dont have anything else then it will do fine - I dont think it would be a lot worse than a standard cheap 1.25" astro diagonal.

As for planetry power, well I dont know that either! I stuck in a 12mm eyepiece with a 2X barlow and still got some nice sharp views of far away fields - that would be around 83X mag and I reckon this would be about as hard as you could push it.

[johninderby]

The 102 comes with a 45 degree erecting prism. You'll want to change to a proper 90 degree star diagonal for night time observing. Up to 100 mag it's pretty good with a decent diagonal, but CA will become more evident when you go higher than this.

In the afocal moon image I posted earlier in this thread you can see that CA is not a problem if you don't go too high in mag.

John.

[stafford_stargazer]

Sweet!

Sounds ok to me,and for the price one cant complain.I seriously dont know how they do it for that price at all.

Cheers

[johninderby]

Sweet!

Sounds ok to me,and for the price one cant complain.I seriously dont know how they do it for that price at all.

Cheers

It's been discontinued and they're dumping the last remaining stock. It was selling for about £150.00 until quite recently. The only real improvement it needs is a new focuser.

John

[blinky]

I think the finder is the worst part of the setup - I have already ordered an RDf finder! Other than that it's very good value. I found that if you tighten the focus lock a little the focuser is not too bad.

[stafford_stargazer]

thankyou!

G

[johninderby]

My 200p arrived this lunchtime. Thanks FLO. Tonight it's various bits and pieces will be spread across my workbench as a few mods are carried out, flocking, new focuser, carry handle for the tube etc.

John

[stafford_stargazer]

John

Did yours come witha crayford focusser?still watching for mine.lol how come your changing it right away and what to?

G

[Ogri]

Gaz don't bin that 45 degree erecting diagonal though!

If the 102 is anything like my 120 (and it is!), they are really terrific terrestrial 'scopes as well, and with the amount of daylight around in daytime (duh! lol! ), those 45 degree prisms work well enough to say the least.

Congrats on two terrific 'scopes, and don't be surprised if you find yourself getting a huge amount of use out of the refractor, much more than you might have expected.

[johninderby]

John

Did yours come witha crayford focusser?still watching for mine.lol how come your changing it right away and what to?

G

Yes it did come with a crayford focuser, and while the focuser is miles better than the old rack & pinion that they used to fit, you can improve upon it. I ordered one of the Revelation dual speed crayfords from Telescope House while they had the 10% off sale (£92.00 delivered) and also the correct base-plate to fit the Skywatcher from Scopes'n'Skies (£2.00). It's a much higher quality focuser that is really nice and smooth to use. It's not as good as a MoonLite or Feather Touch of course but is only a fraction of the price.

I've modified a number of Skywatcher dobs, and there are several things that you can do to improve them that aren't too expensive or difficult to do. The focuser is the number one improvement, but flocking and a carry handle for the tube just make it that much nicer to use.

John

[LukeSkywatcher]

The 45 degree erecting diagonal will be great during the day with the Celestron. Take it with you when you go for drives in the country or up a mountain. Great for observing wildlife.

P.S.~~~you will also have to take the scope with you...........not just the erecting diag.

Haha............i was gonna say that if you wanted to sell it that i would take it off of you. I forgot that i now use a 130P Heritage Dob. There aint no place for a diag on the scope.

[stafford_stargazer]

John

Flocking whats that?

Also whe n you look down the tube to look at the main mirror,is it perfect or is there any foreign elements on it,like bits of dust and stuff.

Mine has a few,does this matter or is it quite a common thing as its open to the elements.

Could i remove the mirror and give it a blow with my rocket blower,obviously not touch it.

Paul

Yes seems to be ok in daylight,bit of the dreaded fringing but thats at higher powers,what ya expect for £89 no gonna be perfect but reckon its gonna get used alot.

Scope wil be with me too

Thanks G