Purchasing my first scope - Skywatcher Equinox 120ED

[cpartsenidis]

Hi everyone,

I'm just about to proceed with the purchase of a second hand SkyWatcher 120 ED. The owner has confirmed that the scope is in excellent condition as there is no cosmetic damage to the scope, case or optics.

He did mention that there an extremely small amount of dust in the optics (on the inside - see attached photo) but also told me that the amount is so small that it doesn't affect the scope's performance.

I just wanted a second opinion from everyone out there.

The picture does show 5 or so dust particles and I also contacted a local astronomy shop and they told me that they also undertake cleaning of lens, so in the worst case, I can get them cleaned - just not sure if this might produce problems with collimation.

Any suggestions on what I should do?

Thank you!

Chris.

[DaveGibbons]

Chris, Congratulations - an Equinox Pro 120 is a magnificent scope and will keep you very happy for years! Like many others here on SGL. I've had far too many scopes over the years and lots of refractors, every one of them had dust specs on the inside of the optics and they have absolutely no effect even in fairly large quantities on the optical performance. It's always reassuring to find them on a used scope as it often shows the optics are untouched, nothing more destructive than botched cleaning attempt! Dust will always get in via the eyepiece end just keep the dust caps on when not in use and you will have no great problem.

cheers

Dave

[dweller25]

As Dave says - that's nothing to worry about.

120ED's are very good scopes.

[WayneR]

Wow, that's one hell of a starter scope!

[JamesM]

Chris that is a jolly nice starter scope and have heard a lot of good things about them - this scope also provides the best excuse to get some rather nice eyepieces now.

Would not worry about those tiny bits of dust - crikey the amount of dribble there is on my scope is shocking, thought it was a dew heating problem till I realised it was me and always when I'm looking at the moon.

Clear skies

James

[Aussie]

wow, well you chose an amazing starter scope. I wouldn't worry at all about the dust, It wont affect your views at all. I would strongly advise against cleaning it as you may just end up making it smudged instead of dust free.

[cpartsenidis]

Wow, I'm excited about the feedback and suggestions received. I'd like to thank you all so much for your input and quick responses!

What I've read from your responses does in fact follow what a few others told me and this is great news for me, because I'm going to close the deal and purchase the scope today or tomorrow. Once received, I'll also post a few pictures

It's my first scope, I haven't got any eyepiece or mount, so you can all understand how I feel

I'll be purchasing a mount next month (most probably an Orion Atlas EQ-G) and an eyepiece or two plus a viewfinder. This should be more than enough to allow me to start exploring the sky and then slowly get into Astrophotography which is where I ultimately want to end up at !

What I forgot to mention is that with the scope, I'm also receiving a moonlight electronic focuser which is already installed (the original focuser will also be provided). This has a price tag around 400 euros alone (from what I've seen). I never knew such things existed until I researched the topic and saw the advantages over normal focusers.

The cost of the scope is 1000 euros, which I believe is an extremely fair price for what it contains.

Once again, thanks to everyone for their input!

Chris.

[F64]

lookforward to seein the results Chris

Janine

[cpartsenidis]

Firstly let me apologise for the late reply as I have unfortunately been so busy these past weeks, I haven't had enough time to take the pictures I wanted in order to show you the scope.

I don't want to bore you all with my story

The scope arrived in an extremely well package, leaving no room for transportation damage. The scope was sent from Athens, where the previous owner lived, to Thessaloniki, which is where I live. The scope travelled around 550Kms via bus - yep, that's right - Bus. Here in Greece, instead of using couriers, you can make use of the Travel bus services that connect each city. The advantage is that the cost is minimum (it cost around 10 euros only for a 10Kgr package) and the package is never moved after being loaded on the bus - this is certainly a big plus for telescopes and sensitive equipment.

The scope left Athens in the morning and was in Thessaloniki around 15:00 the same day, so I picked it up around 17:00.

At 17:00 I arrived at the station in order to receive the telescope and as I parked my car outside, I noticed a large well-wrapped package waiting outside and instantly thought - this must be my baby! As I walked towards the package, I confirmed it was mine! I instantly went inside, provided my ID and picked up the package and placed it next to my car :

After picking up the telescope I headed back the office and despite the fact I was really tempted to open the telescope at the office, I held back so I can enjoy the moment with my fiancee and family...

So, later on that Friday night, we arrived at my sisters home and my 10 year old nephew was ecstatic as we slowly opened the telescope for the first time.

To keep the story short, I'll skip toward the end of the night when I arrived at my home and took the time to slowly examine the scope. The telescope is in fact in immaculate condition. No scratches, only the normal signs found on any scope's dove tail due to the mount.

Here is the scope in its carry case:

The telescope is much bigger than what the picture shows and I always found this frustrating when researching for the telescope, however it turned out to be a pleasant surprise for me once I saw the telescope

The telescope is quite heavy when you carry it and the large size carry case means you need to be a bit more careful when making turns or walking with it as you can easily hit it on a wall or door!

The telescope's dew shield is retracted while in the case, so it becomes much larger when fully extended!

To help give a clear picture on just how large the telescope is, here's another picture on my desk, next to my laptop and other accessories most of us have:

As you can see, its quite large of a telescope! The dew shield is not extended in this picture.

Optics - we'll this was another pleasant surprise. I knew the diameter was 120mm, however, its different when you see it up front

The lens seem so large that I actually carefully placed a CD on top (without touching them) to provide a comparison:

Yep - you guessed correctly - the front lens are as large as a CD or DVD!!! Awesome view!

Moving toward the back end of the telescope, is the bonus moonlight electronic focuser which comes in a brilliant glossy-red colour:

It's the first time I've actually owned a telescope and feel a bit spoilt that this was included, but I can't complain - its a wonderful accessory to have and its extremely useful when viewing in high magnifications as the vibrations of the telescope are kept to a minimum when trying to focus.

The cylinder extending on the right is the DC servo motor. On its right (not visible) there's a 3,5mm jack used to plug the remote controller so you can control the motor and focus in/out.

Impressions: Well, as everyone so correctly said, I didn't regret the purchase. This is an extremely fine scope and I actually got to use it once at a star gazing party with my local astronomy group, at around 1010m above sea level and the views offered were crystal clear. We compared it with a fellow astronomer's telescope (Orion ED 80 EON) and he couldn't believe the resolution and clarity the scope gave.

We viewed Jupiter at x235 and it was outstanding. My friend George told me that this one of the best views he had even seen through a telescope.

Orion nebula, pleiades, M81 & M82 were beautiful.

Due to my limited experience, I am unable to compare the scope with others, however I am an extremely pleased and happy owner.

The next step now is to purchase my mount and I'm leaning toward the Celestron CGEM, plus a star diagonal and eyepieces.

I'll keep you all updated as I proceed.

I've even started my own website that will act as a personal blog to share my experience and learning curve with everyone else. I'll post the site once I have enough material online to make it worth while reading.

Thanks once again to everyone for their help!

Chris,

[astroimpulse]

Awesome stuff *thumbsup*

With the added motorised moonlight focuser you have a magic deal right there

My 120 should arrive on Tuesday and I'm as excited as you were

[laser_jock99]

Good to see the scope arrived safely- the Equinox 120 is awsome scope for the money. I brought one two years ago and have been very pleased with it so far. I would advise not cleaning the objective lens unless absolutely necessary. Many a good optic has been ruined by ill-advised attempts at cleaning.

[brantuk]

Smashing purchase - would have liked that myself if I had the reddies - what mount are you putting it on?

[cpartsenidis]

Laser Jock, I certainly won't be cleaning the optics unless necessary. Considering that I haven't got any mount or eyepieces - they are certainly safe for now

brantuk, regarding the mount, it looks like its going to be a CGEM, however I'm still giving it a bit more time in order to conclude, just in case I see something better for the same amount of money!

The telescope was indeed a great buy

astroimpulse - You're in for a great ride mate. Once you open that case, you'll understand how much larger the scope really is when compared with photos!!! Hope it arrives in good condition.

Cheers guys!

[Glider]

Fantastic looking scope, enjoy.

[Astro_Baby]

Wow thats some serious scope to start with - its a real beauty. Bet you will get some fabulous views with it.

[cpartsenidis]

G'Day to everyone!

Since my OTA arrived, I've made a couple of purchases to slowly complete my setup. I've purchased my CGEM mount & diagonal which are scheduled to arrive on Tuesday and already got two Naglers 20mm & 7mm which provide x45 & x128 views.

While I haven't used the Naglers yet (mount hasn't arrived) I'm interested in purchasing an eyepiece that will provide a large magnification, so I was thinking about a Nagler 3,5mm that will give x257. The thing is that I don't know if I should I go even higher e.g 3mm or 2,5mm. I've read about people pushing the scope up to x360 in some cases without much problems!!

In short, I'm thinking of a Badder 8-24mm zoom to cover a large range and a high-power Nagler, but I'm also not to sure about the Badder Hyperion quality as I'll be comparing it to the Naglers and wouldn't want to be left disappointed!

I'd like to hear out other opinions to help me decide.

Thanks for reading!

Chris.