What accessories?

knm

Well, after much tooing and froing, I have finally bought my telecope - a "Skywatcher Skyliner 200"]
Aperture: 203mm
Focal Length: 1200 mm
F 5.91
10 + 25 mm Eyepieces

It comes with a Dual-Fit 1.25" / 2" Focuser. What can I do with this? Also, what should I buy next - a Barlow, A lunar filter, what

Thanks in advance.

Redshift

Congrats,:) I would be interested in hearing about first light with this scope.
You will find that a lunar filter is a requirement as the moon is uncomfortably bright without one. a barlow would also be useful as it would effectively give you a 12.5 and a 5ml eyepiece from your current selection.
since we're on the subject what sort of eyepieces did you get?

A dual fit focusser is a nice thing to have as it will accept both 1.25 and 2" eyepieces. most of the wide field eyepieces are of the 2" variety.

knm

You can pop over here, scroll down to see my first night report with this. Eyepieces Supplied (1.25") - 10mm & 25mm. There is no info other than the size on the eyepieces, so I am assuming that they are a generic brand.
Any advise on what make lunar filter or Barlow? Are they standard sizes or will I have to get one that suits my particular scope?
Also is there any particular technique for nudging a dob to move it. I would be interested to hear from anyone that has this particular scope or one similar.

Redshift

Had a look at the other site and I have to say for a first attempt at astrophotography and just holding the camera to the eyepiece those Pics aren't half bad.
The lunar filter I use is an orion optics variable polarizing filter it it does the job nicely plus as it's variable you can adjust the amount of filtering it applies.
There are alot of barlows out there try and go with a name brand from the like meade or televue.
I use a Televue Powermate X2.5 it's optically about as good as it gets but it aint cheap. When selecting a barlow get the best you can afford as a poor quality one will seriosly degrade your experience.
I don't need to tell you at this stage but read as many reviews as you can find before buying anything.

it would be worth checking your eyepieces for common problems often found with cheaper ones.

Spherical aberration causes a softness of the image in the center of the field. It is not usually a problem with eyepieces that have three or more elements unless used with very fast objectives.
Axial color is the appearance of color fringes around an object at the center of the field. It is rarely a problem with designs using three or more elements, and it is absent from some two-element eyepieces.
Lateral color is seen as color fringes around objects near the edge of the field. This is difficult to "design out" of an eyepiece and can arise from poor manufacturing as well. This aberration may persist even when the eyepiece is used with objectives of high f/number.
Coma causes comet-shaped instead of round star images near the edge of the field. It is not usually encountered in good designs.
Astigmatism causes stars to appear as lines, crosses, or squares at the edge of the field. It is the most significant problem with wide-angle eyepieces, especially with low-f/number telescopes. Using a Barlow lens with the eyepiece will often suppress astigmatism dramatically.
Field curvature prevents an image from being in focus at the center and edge of the field simultaneously.
Distortion in an eyepiece makes straight objects look curved. While some eyepieces, especially orthoscopics, are better than others in this regard, distortion is not usually a problem in astronomical viewing.

knm

Cheers Redshift, will check out that lunar filter, as I intend to view the moon regularly. I don't mind spending SOME money on an quality item that will stay with me for a long time.

Was out again tonight. It was a bit cloudy, but Saturn was there to cheer me up. It's truely beautiful. Christ, the dob mount is so easy.
I can't complain. Got the scope Thursday, very good viewing Friday, good viewing Saturday and ok tonight - Sunday, Feb 4.

On my previous link with the picture of Saturn (It is sideways - isn't it?) there is a star in the same pic. Am I right in assuming that this is just a star behind the planet and not a moon of it. It seems too far away to be Titan or any of the others. I thought the viewing was good on Friday and that I may see a Saturn Moon or two, but it didn't happen. This makes me wonder about the quality of the eyepieces.
Will keep ye all informed on my progress.

slade_x

Considering its magnitude is more than likely a star, Iapetus is a good bit out from saturn, its a considerable distance from the rest of saturns moons.

If it was a moon you would have picked up a few others considering the mag. looking at a star chart the position would suggest it may be USNO J0939050+152116, but then again that has a higher magnitude rating than any of saturn moons

MOD

Hi,
I am very new to all of this, but thanks to the purchase of a Meade ETX-70-AT in Lidl just before Christmas I am now kind of hooked (it was 169 euros).
My biggest achievment so far has been viewing Saturn and yes it was an amazing moment to see those rings - more of a halo in this case - but very visible and definite none the less.
I haven't yet attempted to align, so as to use the GOTO function but I find the motorised hand control excellent for following/centering once I manually find something.

Although I am delighted by my views of Saturn of course I would like to see it (and other things) in more detail. I know I read somewhere in here that Redshift said he had both an ETX-70-AT and an ETX-125-PE and I would be grateful if he could tell me if there is much difference - would Saturns rings look much different. I see also that Meade do an ETX-125-PE and an ETX-125-AT, is this difference just down to lens coatings (better quality) or are there other differences also.

Thanks.:)

dbran

Hi

I think the difference is in the shape of the mirior. The PE or premier edition version has the better parabolic mirror design and the AT is an older model with a sperical mirrior.

Dbran

Redshift

Hi Mod,
As you pointed out I have an etx 70at and a 125pe,
They are vastly different telescopes in term of capability the 125 being substantially bigger not to mention heavier. the 125 has 127mm (5") objective to the 70mm or (2.8") of the etx 70.
When viewing saturn for instance the cassini division is routinely seen through the 125 whereas I never managed it with the 70.
The planetary disks appear larger with more detail seen on the likes of jupiter and mars.
The etx 125 is optically of a different design; Maksutov Cassegrain
while the 70 is a refractor telescope

The difference between the AT and PE models is down to the coatings and the addition of the LNT module and smart finder on the PE edition.

The LNT stands for the "Level North Technology". It is a module which it is located on the top on the OTA and has:

• An Electronic Level Sensor
• An Electronic Magnetic North Sensor (a Compass)
• High Precision Clock
• A "Red Dot" or [URL="javascript:open_window("]Reflex Finderscope[/URL]

There is excellent information and comparisons on the ETX range on this site.

MOD

Hi Redshift,

Thanks for all the info.
The comparison link (wessner) seems very good.

Can I ask if anybody would know the phone number for Andromeda Optics.
I saw metion of them on one of the pages (can't find it now) and from what I remember it said the were in Rathmines and gave a phone number. Their website is "under construction" for the last while and I haven't heard anything back from their "info@--" address given on their site.
11811 couldn't help either.

Thanks,

Martin.

Redshift

Try 01-496 6866
If thats not it some of the lads on irishastonomy.org will know it for sure

knm

Redshift wrote:

There are alot of barlows out there try and go with a name brand from the like meade or televue.
I use a Televue Powermate X2.5 it's optically about as good as it gets but it aint cheap. When selecting a barlow get the best you can afford as a poor quality one will seriosly degrade your experience.

Where do you recommend to buy these accessories for those of us living in Ireland.
Thanks for all your help.

Redshift

knm wrote:

Where do you recommend to buy these accessories for those of us living in Ireland.
Thanks for all your help.

I usually get stuff from Telescope House and in the past I have used scsastro.
You won't get the free delivery though.
Telescope house are very quick and I always had anything I ordered within 2 days, their website says uk only but they will accept your order.
I'm sure there are other but these are just the ones I have used.

knm

Thanks for your quick reply.
I was hoping to get filter to improve the view of the Orion nebula - although I was pretty impressed with my view last weekend.
About three quarters way down this page then go to Skywatcher Telescope Eyepieces, Diagonals and Filtersat the Tal Filter Set is a picture comparison.
Sorry, for some reason , i cannot get a direct link to the page. The pic on the left is what I see - the pic on the right would be nice. Will the filter really make this much difference? At £40, the price seems nice.
Also, will any 1.25" filter fit any 1.25" eyepiece, regardless of telescope make?

I checked out the price of your Televue Powermate X2.5, and it did make me weep. I am not ready to splash out that much yet, but I do agree that you get what you pay for.
I do not want to buy a filter that I will not get long term use out of so feel free to recommend a more expensive, better filter.

Thanks again.

Tea drinker

If you are in a light polluted area maybe it's ok.
Better off going to a non light polluted area. Avoid any harsh light during several previous hours Wear dark glasses for a few hours before you observe, and don't break your neck on the stairs. eat carrots.
I've been dissapointed with Nebula filters.