Decision Made

[cyborg421]

Dear all,

Thanks for all your advice guys.

I plumped for the following kit initially.

Should arrive Monday. Here's hoping for clear skies.

Thanks to FLO for their advice also.

Skywatcher Skyliner 250PX FlexTube GOTO

Revelation Photo-Visual Eyepiece kit

Baader Neodymium Filter

HoTech SCA laser collimator

Skywatcher PowerTank 7Ah

Astrozap light shroud for Skywatcher FlexTube

Simon

[LukeSkywatcher]

Nice kit.

The clouds WILL roll in .

[smulx]

Did you get a 1.25" or 2" Neodymium Filter?

[bcfcciderhead]

Nice kit there cyborg, that 250P skyliner is a monster, i just bought the 200P flextube and thats big enough, so i guess more clouds monday then

[cyborg421]

Smulx,

The 1.25" to go with the lens kit.

Simon

[smulx]

Smulx,

The 1.25" to go with the lens kit.

Simon

Oh yeah. Doh. I really should have figured that out myself. Do you think you'll be investing in any 2" EP's or are you gonna wait till you've got the most out of that kit?

[toshapetriji]

Congrats

[cyborg421]

Smulx,

You had me worried there, I thought I'd missed something.

I gather the 2" lenses are better with the 25 mm + objectives, so I might push the boat out with those. I just want to get the feel of the scope first of all, see how it goes and then mod it (almost certainly!)

Simon

[toshapetriji]

Bet you change your mind tomorrow.

[pvaz]

That's a great kit!

[brantuk]

"Skywatcher Skyliner 250PX FlexTube GOTO - great choice

Revelation Photo-Visual Eyepiece kit - best kit but I'd choose individual ep's

Baader Neodymium Filter - not got one so don't know

HoTech SCA laser collimator - superb choice - the best!!

Skywatcher PowerTank 7Ah - go to Maplins and get similar (17ah) for less than half the price

Astrozap light shroud for Skywatcher FlexTube" - posey and expensive but I have the same - functional and cool

[cyborg421]

Brant,

Thanks for your comments.

For the eyepieces I decided I wanted a range so that I could get a feel of each lens.

For £20 a lens + filters and a sky at night recommendation, I thought I could do worse. I will look to get some 2" wide field lenses at a later point + some better quality individual ones. As they can cost £120+ each, I need to know which ones I will use most and buy them in that order.

For the power tank it was £49 which was OK as I didn't feel confident in buying a battery + ring ends with no fuse. I played safe. I didn't want to fry a new scope.

An extra £25 if necessary isn't going to break the bank, when I'm clearer in my own mind about it or can meet up with you guys and see how you do it.

The astrozap was a last minute addition. TBH I didn't do much research but the guy at FLO thought it would be a useful addition.

There was a reason behind all my choices and I thought about it carefully before jumping - and as I said before with a lot of help from you guys at Stargazers.

Hence tosha, I will not change my mind tomorrow but maybe in the light of experience. Never say never.

Thanks to everyone who helped/advised me especially Brant/Paulo.

:headbang:You guys rock!

[pvaz]

The light shroud will be useful if you get any stray light where you observe.

I would gladly exchange everything I got for that setup, with the exception of EPs as that's where I invested the most so far. The EP kit will definitely allow you to learn what works best for you.

I hope you get lots of clear nights to use it!

[brantuk]

Overall great choices Simon.

One thing about ep kits is that you do soon learn which direction you want to go with ep's. And the Revelation kit should hold about 65% of it's value if you ever decide to sell it on.

Don't flatten your power pack or you may have trouble rejuvenating it - give it a top up charge after every session and a full charge once every 4-6 weeks when not in use.

Bet you're really excited now waiting for it all to arrive - glad to have helped and look forward to your first reports

[cyborg421]

Brandt,

You're not wrong there. Can't wait. Monday's not looking good. However, I will need to build it and will take my time to find my way around it and work out how functions.

Is there a sticky on the site about setting up Dobs + setting up Synscan?

Although I've downloaded the manuals, it's like buying stuff from IKEA - there's always something you'd wish you'd known beforehand to do a better job.

Clear Skies

Simon

[Rob wright]

wow I am jealous a great set up

I have to say that I got some Binos from FLO and their delivery was amazingly fast

I can see you having many years of enjoyment with that kit

I can't think of a hobby where we want new gadets now and then so upgrades will always be wanted.

Rob

[brantuk]

Simon - there's a whole Dob Users Group on here with loads of stuff on dobs and plenty of useful links. If you find any good links you'd be welcome to add them in yourself.

http://stargazerslounge.com/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=409

(Just click the link in my signature to join up).

For setting up Synscan it's quite a simple process - the manuals are usually adequate but if you have any probs just let us know - there's plenty of help on hand for the asking

Here's where to get your location with Longitude and Latitude in both formats:

http://www.satsig.net/maps/lat-long-finder.htm