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New Sky-Watcher Explorer 200P!

NickMilner

By NickMilner
in Members Equipment Gallery

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NickMilner

NickMilner

Posted
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So, my first "proper" telescope arrived today! As the title suggests it's a Sky-Watcher Explorer 200P and here are a few quick piccies from box to fully set up...

In its box:

IMG_0693.jpg

A focuser, doncha know!

IMG_0694.jpg

Fixed the mount:

IMG_0697.jpg

Counterweighted:

IMG_0705.jpg

Fully set up and balanced:

IMG_0707.jpg

Great, all ready to go! Is the seeing good tonight? No. But I can see the moon, at least, right? I can barely see the house over the street through the THICK FOG! :/ Ah well, there's always tomorrow night. :D

BTW, if you see something obviously wrong (in the tiny pictures) please let me know. I've never set one of these things up before and the instructions are blumming awful!

Thanks!

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John

John

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Very nice Nick !,

Looks like you've cracked it with the assembly. Did you work out where the rubber ring goes on the finder scope ? - some folk leave it off and the finder flops around !.

Hope you get a chance to use it soon :D

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NickMilner

NickMilner

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Did you work out where the rubber ring goes on the finder scope ? - some folk leave it off and the finder flops around !.

I did, but no thanks to the instructions! It mentions the o-ring under the section marked "refractor". There's no mention of the o-ring in the reflector setup section.

The instructions also have no mention of the altitude locking screw thingies (technical term) - I had these two weird bolt things and had to hunt around for a couple of holes that they'd fit into. It makes obvious sense in retrospect.

I pondered for about half an hour whether I should fit the tube rings first and then try to connect the OTA/rings to the mount, or fit the tube rings to the mount first and then place the OTA. I went with the latter which turned out to be easy and (in my view) less prone to accident.

There's also a "short mounting plate" which appears to be completely surplus to requirements. I'm fitting the long mounting plate (which the tube rings are connected to) directly to the mount and that seems to work ok.

Finally (sorry about all this blathering), there are 4 bolts, two in either end of the long mounting plate that appear to do nothing at all. Hope I'm not missing anything there!

Thanks!

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John

John

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I pondered for about half an hour whether I should fit the tube rings first and then try to connect the OTA/rings to the mount, or fit the tube rings to the mount first and then place the OTA. I went with the latter which turned out to be easy and (in my view) less prone to accident.

There's also a "short mounting plate" which appears to be completely surplus to requirements. I'm fitting the long mounting plate (which the tube rings are connected to) directly to the mount and that seems to work ok.

Finally (sorry about all this blathering), there are 4 bolts, two in either end of the long mounting plate that appear to do nothing at all. Hope I'm not missing anything there!

Thanks!

You can do it either way with the tube rings / mounting plate (generally known as a dovetail bar). I tend to have mine on the scope then lift the scope onto the mount and tighten the bolts. But the other way around works fine as well.

The small mounting plate is a "spare" so not needed.

The 4 bolts you mention can be used to keep the long mounting plate (dovetail bar) stiff by tightening them into the mount. Many folks don't bother with this so it's optional.

Hope you have fund with it :D

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steve2310

steve2310

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So good to open the box to your first scope eh? I have exactly the same scope and went through exactly the same process that you have just been through (especially trying to make headway with the awful instructions).

With regard to the finderscope I can't actually work the fella out. I look through it in the day and I can make out the star formations pointing to Polaris but at night I can see sweet nothing. I dont use it anyway and align the eq mount as shown by some nice fella on YouTube.

It's all a bit confusing in the early days!!!

Enjoy your new scope - I'm really pleased with my SW EXPL 200P!

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A McEwan

A McEwan

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Lovely kit! In the last pic it looks like the declination axis slow motion knob is facing the front of the tube. Personally I always set up with it at the rear, but I suppose it doesn't really matter to be honest as long as you can reach it when viewing.

You'll see a lot with that 'scope!

Ant

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NickMilner

NickMilner

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Lovely kit! In the last pic it looks like the declination axis slow motion knob is facing the front of the tube.

Actually, I'm having trouble getting those knobs to stay on as they don't seem to be a good fit. I'll probably end up getting the extension cable thingies (another technical term) anyway.

OOoohh, nice scope! Can't wait for a first light report!:D
I saw my hall light last night. Does that count? :evil1:
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jasonp

jasonp

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Those knobs are not great. I ended up cracking one of mine as i put it on the wrong side and it hit the mount as the scope moved.

It all still works, just a little loose wobbly thats all.

Are the metal inserts present in the knob?

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robwoods

robwoods

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Hi! I too had the pleasure of unboxing and setting up my 200p on wednesday night, my first ever scope. managed to get it out in the garden last night (heavy aint it!) and spent about half an hour trying to find the moon! Finally got it set up and rewarded with an amazing image with lots of detail, that lasted about 20 seconds and then it clouded over and started to rain, im now sat at work peering out the window and praying for the clouds to clear......

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JamesF

JamesF

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Now I know what that threaded knob on the front ring is for. I did wonder when I put my ST80 together.

Looks like an enormous scope compared to the door it's standing in front of. Does it come with a crane? :D

James

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NickMilner

NickMilner

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The scope is back to front on its rings. You can tell because on top of one of the rings there is a big black washer on a bolt which can be used to mount a camera and you want that ring to be the front one.

Ha, I knew I'd get something wrong. Thanks for that, and for letting me know what it was for.

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