Is this price a mistake?

[Rufusgj]

Hi All,

Have been searching for various Skywatcher scopes and came across the following price for a Skywatcher Explorer 200PDS EQ5

SkyWatcher EXPLORER-200PDS EQ5 Newtonian Reflector Telescope [skyWatcher-10220/20464] - £489.12 : 365Astronomy: Discovery for every day!

FLO have the same scope at £275 (TAO) + £485 (HEQ5 mount) total=£760.85

That's a difference of £271.73! It may be that the mounts are different - being a newbie i'm not sure!

I think it's a fab deal if it is the right price.

Simon

[russ]

It is indeed down to the mounts. The HEQ5 Syntrek is a far more capable mount and has high quality dual drives already built into the mount. Dual drives are a £120 extra on the EQ5. Which closes the gap to £150. The difference then is purely down to the HEQ5 being superior.

[jgs001]

The mounts are different. Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 200P EQ5 That's FLO's 200p on an EQ5 (ok it's not the DS)... I think the DS, being targeted for imaging, is probably best on the HEQ5, rather than the EQ5... I've read that the 200p is getting up towards the top end of the HEQ5 load limit for imaging, and therefore mounting it on an EQ5, for imaging, is looking for a frustrating time.

[Rufusgj]

Thaks for you responses Russ & John - I thought it must be a difference in the mount systems - it's quite rare to find a deal too good to be true!

I guess it may be difficult to get good results for imaging using the EQ5 mount then with this scope if it is close to the load limit.

Simon

[russ]

Wouldn't be the ideal choice for deepsky imaging. But plenty of people do use that setup (or the Celestron equiv) and get good results.

[sixela]

Hi All,

Have been searching for various Skywatcher scopes and came across the following price for a Skywatcher Explorer 200PDS EQ5

SkyWatcher EXPLORER-200PDS EQ5 Newtonian Reflector Telescope [skyWatcher-10220/20464] - £489.12 : 365Astronomy: Discovery for every day!

FLO have the same scope at £275 (TAO) + £485 (HEQ5 mount) total=£760.85

HEQ5 != EQ5. If you want to do long exposure astrophotography, even an HEQ5 is borderline for that tube, and an EQ5 (which is a lighter mount) certainly is.