SkyWatcher Explorer 200P/1000 OTA

[stevenson166]

Have been looking for a while now as a novice and have kinda chosen/Like this Telescope to use with my sig...secondly to mount my DSLR if i decide to keep my Nikon or sell and buy a Canon. The views i want to observe are galaxies and Nebula and to educate my kids as a primary ....so its a budget buy, but one i hope will get me value for money, as i say down the road i want to take deep field pics. By all acounts its a heavy beast at 8.5kg so need to see if my tripod can handle the weight or if i need to buy a mount..any views appreciated ...budget £300

[Bizibilder]

To support a 200P for photography you will need at least an HEQ5 size mount, in fact better would be an EQ6 - as you are aware it's a big beastie! It is reckoned that you should load a mount with half or less of its design weight for successful imaging, the HEQ5 will hold a max of 15Kg so the 200P is right on the limit. If you are to add cameras, guidescopes etc then you are "over". Hence my suggestion of the EQ6 (with a 25Kg max load - if memory serves correctly).

[Steve 1962]

I'm entirely with Bizibuilder on this - I had an HEQ5 Pro and it couldn't really handle a 200p, guide scope and DSLR properly for imaging (it was fine with just the 200p visually). I ended up upgrading to an EQ6 - but that's not much help with your budget

[stevenson166]

Now i am totally confused !! , wanted a scope to take camping that fitted to my sig specs and did the job for Astro Photography and educating the kids without spending load of money at the start..and for it not to be a "beast" that would cost loads for a mount. Astronomy eh not for the faint hearted. My Tripod can handle 15.4 lbs no where near enough for the 200p but it looks a great piece of equipment. ??

[planetdnb]

i had an HEQ5 and SW200, it worked ok for learning but within 6 nmonths I upgraded to an EQ6 pro.

Astro Photography is certainly not for the faint hearted!

[Space Beagle]

Hello fellow 'Stokie'

FA Cup Semi Final eh!! What's one of those??:hello2:

I have a 200P which came with an EQ5 mount, it was fine for just visual use, but not stable enough for serious photographic work! I would agree with the others who have replied and recommend a bigger mount such as the HEQ5 or, even better, the EQ6 to carry a 200P (plus all the extras that go with it!) if you want to get good results with your cameras! Both mounts are quite expensive new , of course, but used ones do come up for sale on this forum fairly often, so it's worth keeping an eye on the for sale section.

The 200P is a very good OTA for DSO's and, well, whatever you point it at to be honest will give you very good views! Mine is now mounted on a homemade 'Dobsonian' mount, which I find very nice to use, but no good for imaging as it has no tracking motors etc!

Keep having a good look about the forum for ideas though, as there are some very helpful people here who will happily share their knowledge with all!

Doc

[TheThing]

Erm, I use a 200p on an EQ4 equivalent and I can do great photography with it. Admitedly, I'm using a webcam, so I can stack the avi and ignore the duff frames, but it is a much more feasible option. True, it does wobble a bit, but I've added an auto focuser which cuts down on having to touch it.

Most people say get a bigger mount, but sometime, on a tight budget, you can make do with much less and still get good results.

[malc-c]

I think the OP should define exactly what he wants to do photography wise. If it's spending all night taking guided long exposures with a 35mm DSLR then I have to agree that the mount is critical and minimum would be an HEQ5. However I have to agree with "The Thing" in that using webcams (modded or not) can get decent results with the 200P on a standard EQ5 (or similar) mount.

Here's my 1st image of Saturn using my 200P by way of example

[stevenson166]

I was looking for a telescope that would fit my sig specs, and be light and convenient to take on Caravan trips. The manfrotto has a weight to carry of 15.4lbs. I wanted to view nebula and learn more about astrophotography. The astrotrac will track what i view for photo purposes and so i stumbled upon the 200...seems it too large for my portability reqs, Maybe i need to look at a telescope that will fit to my astrotrac then , so it looks like a smaller variety...so much choice , but thanks for everyones input thus far

Seen this little beauty Takahashi FS-78 refractor but at £700 gonna take a bit of saving