Skyliner 200P Dobsonian - Accessories questions

[Hari Seldon]

Hi, I'm going to be buying my first telescope, and the Skyliner 200P seems to get really good reviews and positive feedback from users on forums, but I have a few questions.

Firstly I have a DSLR (a Canon EOS 500D) and I know I won't be able to do any real astrophotography with this telescope, but I would like to do some video capture of the moon (and maybe Saturn and Jupiter if I'm lucky). Additionally I've read the sticky thread on this forum about eyepieces, and so I'm thinking of getting this eyepiece set from FLO.

Is this a good buy for a beginner? Or something I should hold off on? Is the T-adapter all that's needed for connecting the DSLR? (I'm a bit ignorant about t-rings, t-adapters etc). Another thing I've seen mentioned is that the focuser for the telescope might not be able to attain focus with a DSLR attached, is this true?

Finally, I've read (some of) a guide to collimation and they recommend this Cheshire collimating eyepiece. Short of buying a laser collimator, is this the best tool for collimation?

Any help with what to buy would be greatly appreciated.

[rowan46]

Welcome to sgl Hari (great handle by the way) I can answer some of your questions now the rest will have to wait till there's more people awake. the best way to do video work is with a webcam google morgans webcams they are very reasonable and very good. Revelation eyepieces will be slightly better than the ones that come supplied but you will probably find a few in there you can't use. Get the scope before you buy bits for it the supplied 20mm eyepiece is ok and you may find you want to spend your hard earned on a couple of good eyepieces rather than several mediocre a couple of which you'll never use. you will need something to collimate and many people swear by the cheshire eyepiece. I've looked through a 200p dob and properly collimated they are lovely instruments but to be frank I have no idea about dslr attatchment. apparently most dealers have sold out of the dob and are waiting for a shipment to arrive so hang around the forums, take your time, ask questions after 50 posts and a months membership you get access to the for sale board. in answer to your questions. If you get a reflector you will need a cheshire or a laser or a 35mm film cap. As to the eyepiece I would hang fire on that for a while. Just my opinion and probably somebody will be along to tell me how wrong I am. Again welcome to sgl

[rowan46]

Scrub what I said about waiting for delivery. I have just read that the 200p is back in stock and more expected next week but I would still hang fire on the eyepieces

[Hari Seldon]

Good to see someone else is awake at irregular hours!

I was leaning towards leaving the eyepiece set actually. To be honest it's not critical that I can connect my DSLR as soon as I've got the telescope up and running, I can just do some regular wide angle shots with the camera on a tripod if I'm at a dark sky site while I'm figuring out what to do, but I'm definitely going to get that Cheshire collimator eyepiece now it has had a (second) recommendation.

Also glad to hear the Skyliner is coming back in stock, was wondering how long I'd have to wait to buy it (not many opportunities to do some stargazing with friends so the earlier the better).

[AWR]

I'd hold up on the eyepiece set too - I think it's better to buy EPs as you think that you need them. You'll end up with fewer but better quality eyepieces.

I can't comment on the Cheshire (other than you'll need some sort of collimator) but I've not heard anything bad about them.

Andrew

[davehunt]

Where is the 200p in stock please!!!!!I have been waiting sooo long for one.

[twotter]

I think the Revelation kit is a good buy, but then I have built up a collection of plossls which include all except the 20mm. The EPs I've used most with my 200P dob have been the 32 & 12mm, though the others all get used as well. I use a 2x barlow if conditions are good but mainly for observing the Moon.

Talking of which, the Moon filter is useful, not sure about the coloured ones as I don't have any, and the case is very handy.

I don't use a camera, or webcam, so haven't got a T-ring.

All in all I think the kits are worth it, as to build up a similar collection takes time and costs more. Whilst I would now agree that it would be money well spent in buying specific EPs of higher quality, I certainly didn't know enough to decide what I would want when I first started observing. By that I mean which focal length of EP and also how much money I was prepared to spend on a new hobby.

My approach was to build a collection of decent plossls then decide which EPs I was using the most, then upgrade them. For me that turned out to be the 32 & 12mm. I bought a 13mm Hyperion a few months ago and it is ideal for me. Now I'm saving for a 24mm Hyperion to take over from my 32mm plossl (the Hyperion has a wider field of view so it sees the same amount of sky as the plossl).

Now I've thought about it I think the kits would be more popular if a version was offered that included a collimating device in place of the coloured filters - just a thought

[Rover]

You can so some basic photography but I wouldn't expect too much. I did some webcam images of the moon and single shot pictures of the moon and I did get manage to get saturn (although they were over exposed and didn't get much chance with clouds.) The biggest problem is the speed that things move. With the barlow I found that I had to setup finder absolutely spot on so it was bang on to quickly take it.

I have gone the same route as you by the sounds of it. I love my dob, so easy to set it up and give awesome sights for the cost of it but as I want to progress and slowly move into photography it's either mount it on EQ with tracking, get EQ mount and refractor or get a dob EQ platform. All options are quite costly though.

[FLO]

Where is the 200p in stock please!!!!!I have been waiting sooo long for one.

Details HERE

[Hari Seldon]

If I were to get a single eye piece with my initial order, any recommendations? I noticed FLO wasn't particularly impressed by the Skywatcher 10mm.

[twotter]

I would suggest a widefield EP, something like a 32mm plossl. Which one depends on how much you want to spend

[brantuk]

There are good, average, and poor eyepieces - you'd be well advised to join an astro soc or local observing group and borrow one or two to try till you are familiar with the makes your most comfortable with.

Kit's I would avoid - but if you have to have one the Revelation set represents best vfm at that price break. I have the Celestron set and was dissapointed - but others do like it - just my personal opinion.

Rather than a kit I would strongly recommend a Baader Hyperion 8mm-24mm zoom. It's crisp, clear, several steps up in quality from supplied ep's, and gives you 5 lenses in 1 - plenty to go on with and it transforms starter scopes into decent instruments.

Tad expensive at round £180 ish new - but a great bargain s/h at around £100. Oh and you can attach a T-ring directly to it for projection photography

[AWR]

Here's my EP history - probably irrelevant - but here it is anyway.

My first EP was my 15mm Vixen plossl. I wanted something between the supplied 10mm and 25mm EPs (my Mak has 1500mm FL). It is very good too and I would heartily recommend them!.

Next I went for the 24mm Hyperion, trying to get as much FOV out of the Mak as possible. I then replaced the 10mm with a 9mm TS planetary.

I added the 35mm Panoptic later for use with the dob and my next purchase will be a 6mm, again for the dob.

Andrew

[Hari Seldon]

Thanks for the advice guys, a lot to think about. I think I'm going to try using the standard eyepieces for a while until I get used to using the telescope. I might be able to get to an astronomy society night and check out other eyepieces but I'm not sure, good idea though.

[gedmac]

a cheshire is a must have mate:p

[Hari Seldon]

Yep, ordered that today along with the telescope.