This birthday, I’m sorry to amit was a landmark birthday, and I’ve spent the last month or so trying to work out what to put my gift money towards.
I’ve wanted an astronomical telescope for a while, and after several discussions with a work colleague I decided to opt for a dobsonian telescope for the following reasons:
- Ridiculously simple Dobsonian mount requiring no set up
- Dobsonians offer more aperture for your money
- I decided to heed the warnings on the forums and steer clear of Astrophotography
I did a lot of research on various forums, and decided that I could afford a 8″ (200mm) diameter Dobsonian telescope, whereas I could only afford a 6″ (150mm) diameter telescope on an equatorial mount. Given that I wanted a scope that I could literally unload and start observing with, I discovered that Dobsonians could not be beaten.
After several weeks of deliberation, I’d narrowed my choices to a Skywatcher Skyliner 200P or a Revelation 8″ F6/M-CRF.
From the reviews that I read, I gathered that the Revelation scope was slightly better specified including:
- A Micro 10:1 Crayford style focuser;
- Mirror cell with cooling fan;
- Roller bearing heavy duty wood base with handles; and,
- Slightly better eyepieces.
But the scope was out of stock at http://www.telescopehouse.com and the scope was more expensive than the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P. I was going to wait for a while, but then this deal appeared at Jessops and so I decided to take advantage and take the plunge there and then.
Anyway, the scope was delivered this morning, and I took about an hour to assemble it during my lunch break, and here is the fully assembled item.
I have to confess that its a lot bigger than I thought, but I’m lookg forward to taking it out for a test drive later this evening or possibly tomorrow.
