what equipment do i need ?

[grumpy]

'not sure if this is the right place for this thread, so sorry if it isnt and go ahead and move my thread if needed'.

hi,

after a few weeks of thinking and asking around here and asking my astronomy teacher i have desided on what my first telescope will be .

im going to get a :

Skywatcher Explorer 200P HEQ5 PRO

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 200P HEQ5 PRO

now im not sure on what sort accessories i will be needing. i will be useing the scope for astrophotography and observation for the moment.

1. what size power suppy i will be needing ? i will need something that can keep the mount going for several hours

2. eyepieces ? it does come with a few but not sure if they are anygood , i would like some that will allow me to do deep-sky and planetary observation.

i have looked at the stickys on SGL about eyepieces but its just going over my head.

3. anything else that i will think that i will need, that i cant think of .

will be ordering scope & accessories tomoz. Yay:D

[pvaz]

Any budget in mind?

1) Can't help on that as I use a dob.

2) A fast scope as the 200p will be a bit demanding on the edge correction of EPs. If you're too fussy about that then it will cost you, if not you got lots of options.

Going for a quality, but somewhat affordable EP set, I would suggest 2 sky watcher nirvana EPs (maybe the 28 and 16mm) for DSOs. At budget wide field level I can recommend the Agena SWAs I used and was pleased with. If you have a lot of funds the televue's or Pentax will garantee you won't buy another EP no matter what scope you use. A 4th option for your low power EPs, is to forget about widefield and get 2 nice quality plossls. The Televue plossls often come up at 50£ a piece.

After you get 2 of those for DSOs, the you'll need another 2 EPs for planetary. This are usually a lot cheaper then the widefield quality ones. You can pick top orthoscopics as low as 50£ a piece (I just got a 7mm last week). The TMB planetary line gets great reviews too. I find 4 well chosen EPs cover 99% of all situations.

3) A telrad finder if you ever plan to starhop. A red light torch, "Pocket Sky Atlas", an EP/accessory case, a dark cloth to avoid stray light so you can observe with both eyes open instead of squinting.

That's about it.

You might wanna try those stock EPs out before lashing out on EPs. You can easily spend more money on an EP kit then a scope so it's better if you take your time, try some out at star parties and keep an ear to the ground on the 2nd hand sales threads, or even ebay if you really know what to look for.

[grumpy]

cheers pvaz,

yer my budget isnt that high as i have just spend it all on a new scope , yer i will be checking out the eyepieces that come with scope before i buy new ones. just needed to know what i would need if i got a new set.

also im not fussed on edge correction on eyepieces atm cus im just starting out.

cheers for the advice m8, anyone know how much power i will need to power the mount for several hours ? will this do ? Power - Skywatcher PowerTank 7Ah

[red dwalf]

do yourself a favor on the powertank, go down to maplins and get a 17ah power unit,

maplins sell 2, on has a jump start leads on it, it`s yellow and sells for about £25,

they also sell a balck one which is the same but doesn`t have the jump leads on which you don`t need unless like me you have a crappy car that doesn`t want to start in the mornings !

this unit sells for £19, a bargain, i have a heq5 synscan mount and it has been running for hours without problems, the mount draws at 2 amps per hour, the only problem is the charger that comes with the tanks, they only charge at 1/2 amp per hour so i charge it with a car battery charger which charges the unit alot better and quicker.

enjoy the mount and scope, you will love them, a great choice.

[grumpy]

do yourself a favor on the powertank, go down to maplins and get a 17ah power unit

cheers , i wasnt thinking . will nip into town tomoz and pick one up.

[red dwalf]

heres a couple of links.

Portable Jump Starter and Air Compressor : InCar Battery Chargers and Compressors : Maplin

black one,

3in1 Portable Jumpstarter : InCar Battery Chargers and Compressors : Maplin

sorry both have jump leads, but the black one doesn`t have the air compressor, i knew one had something the other didn`t.

i have the yellow one and as long as you keep them charged regularly the fine for the purpose,

cheers Rob

[darkly]

I'm certainly no expert but my 38mm Panaview works well with the 200P, it's probably up there in my most used top few ep's - love it to bits.

[pvaz]

... just needed to know what i would need if i got a new set...

Eyepieces are a tricky choice. Don't get a wrong idea you don't need a fortune to get some nice EPs. I had my Agena SWAs and they had great quality, only the last 10-15% of the FoV wasn't as well defined as the center, showing stars slightly elongated and a bit out of focus (not much). I gave them to my sister and they work very well on her retractor at f/10, about as good as my TVs in my f/5.9.

After some time I managed to get some money together and decided to make a carefully chosen set with only a few top quality EPs. I bought them s/h in mint condition and saved some cash. In the end my current EPs cost about 20x more then my Agena set and the view is not 20x better. It simply doesn't have that mushy edge and the FoV is larger. When you go for top quality, you pay a lot more, for a little improvement.

[red dwalf]

well said, and very true, i still use my old set of revelation eyepieces £100 second hand and a bargain i think when i use them with my f10 sct, bigger f ratios are more forgiving than fast scope i.e f6 or less.

saing that i did buy a second hand 21mm baader hyperion which next to the others looks the business but they are allmost as much as the whole set of revelations l.o.l

[TheThing]

Oh no, th old 'it's a fast scope so you need expensive EP's post' (although admittedly corrected later!)

You do not need to spend a fortune on EPs at all for this scope. Although fast, it doesn't cause major problems. I've used fast scopes pretty much exclusively and never bought an expensive EPs and my viewing hasn't suffered at all.

In fact, I have to SW 200p right now and use a mix of EPs to great effect. Some Paridagams (sp?) will do you well and can be picked up easily and fairly cheaply from Ebay. Also, try Astro Buy Sell for cheap 2nd hand EPs. Avoid the SW plossl, but other than that, try anything. Be safe in the knowledge, that if you don't get on with it you can always sell it on!

[pvaz]

Oh no, th old 'it's a fast scope so you need expensive EP's post' (although admittedly corrected later!)

If you read the 1st post again I did say he will only need expensive EPs if he is too fussy about edge correction.

[TheThing]

I stand corrected and offer humble, and public, apologies Paulo!

[pvaz]

I stand corrected and offer humble, and public, apologies Paulo!

lol

[grumpy]

well just ordered my new scope , i will tryout the EP's that come with the scope. im sure they will be fine for now until i get the hang of everything.

I will pop into plymouth some point this week to pick up a powertank, i dont really mind if it comes with jump leads. you never know when the old banger will play up and i might need them.

cheers for everyones advice and help, much appreciated. lets hope for clear skys this weekend

[dmahon]

Wouldn't you be better with the Skywatcher Explorer 200P DS if you want it for astrophotography? I've heard that you can find it difficult to acheive enough infocus with a standard Newtonian.

You can probably get your order changed, especially when going slightly more upmarket. FLO kindly changed mine when I realised I had made the wrong decision.

PS - it's £15 cheaper to order the HEQ5 seperately with the 200P DS, as FLO reduced their HEQ5 PRO price but forgot to adjust some of their bundle prices.

[grumpy]

Wouldn't you be better with the Skywatcher Explorer 200P DS if you want it for astrophotography? I've heard that you can find it difficult to acheive enough infocus with a standard Newtonian.

true but i really didnt have the spair cash to buy it, after buying a crappy car and other things. But i will be updating my equipment every chance get, so im not too fussed atm