Skywatcher

[Itteredumer]

Hi guys,i am about to buy this telescope Sky-watcher Black Diamond
(10") 250 x 1200P f/4.8 is going to be on aNEQ6PRO computerised mount.

I know is going to be a good OTA for AP but i will do first a lot of visual before endeavor in to AP.

I was wonder what you guys think,is going to be good enough for visual? and in general it is a good OTA as i think? Thanks in advance.

[raymo]

Skywatcher are routinely putting out very good optics, and the 10" f4.8
on the NEQ6Pro should be a fine visual and AP scope. For AP you will need
to get the appropriate coma corrector. If you buy SW's own one you won't have to worry about the spacing of the corrector, as it is made for their own scopes. I assume that the set up will be permanently assembled, as the 10"
is a little large and cumbersome for frequent set up and take down,[unless
you are a well built youngish man].
raymo

[garymck]

Hi,
Skywatcher have 2 10" newts. The 250p and the 250pds. The 250pds is optimised for astrophotography - different secondary and shorter tube for better placement of the focal plane. If you are going to do any form of imaging make sure you get the pds version. The standard p version will require mods to image successfully.

hope this helps.
Gary

[glend]

X2, make sure you but the imaging version of any of the newts on the market.

[doppler]

I'm pretty sure most skywatcher newts can be used for imaging without any mods, but as Raymo said you will need a coma corrector. I use a 10" Skywatcher dob with tube rings fitted on a HEQ5 pro for imaging, the NEQ6 will handle the 10" no probs.

Make sure you get the counterweight extension bar, and you will only have to use the two supplied 5kg weights.

Another useful accessory is a 2 step ladder with hand rail, makes things a lot simpler when visually using a eq mount and newt combo.

[skymuster]

Hi there,

I've got this exact same combo and have to say it works great for visual and astrophotography. I started out using it for visual only but very quickly progressed to sticking a camera on it so I could see some deep sky stuff, and I've never looked back since!

I have the p version with a Bintel coma corrector which, like others gave said, does require a little bit of extra effort to achieve focus (I needed to grind down one of the adapters so that the coma corrector could sit deeper into the focuser).

Once you have guide scope, DSLR, dew heaters, cooling fans etc all attached it is quite a heavy setup so need to make sure you balance the rig well so that the EQ6 doesn't have to work too hard. Also, being such a big scope it can act a bit like a sail when it's windy!

I've spent the last year lugging it outside every imaging night and setting it up, however I'm now at the stage where I'm not observing as much as I'd like due to the setup time involved. As a result I'm now embarking on a backyard observatory build so I can leave it setup permanently.

Hope that helps!

Mike

[Itteredumer]

thanks guys for the useful info:)

[raymo]

I'm curious to know why you didn't get the SW coma corrector which slots straight in, and I think is cheaper.
raymo

[skymuster]

Raymo - the skywatcher coma corrector that slots straight in without changing focal length is $500 vs $149 for the bintel one. So I made my selection purely on price. A bit of elbow grease later and the focussing issue was resolved for me without having to resort to more intrusive methods like moving the primary mirror....

[gjr80]

This is timely as I plan on purchasing a 10" newt in the next 2-3 months and was leaning towards the Skywatcher 250 x 1200 f/4.8. My intent is visual only for the foreseeable future, albeit on a different mount. In doing my research around the internet I have found it difficult to find exactly 'what you get' with each model. Even in this thread I see 250p and 250pds mentioned but Skywatcher Australia uses SW25012AP and SWP2501 for the Black Diamond and Black Diamond premium photo versions (I did find mention of the p and pds on overseas sites, initially I thought the p is the SW25012AP and the pds is the SWP2501 but when I look at one of these overseas site the pds is f/4.7 and the p is f/4 which would indicate the reverse of what I first thought. Still confused.)

Skywatcher Australia just adds to the confusion when the summary points and description of the 250 F4 Premium Photo reflector on their site provides details for an 8" scope (The specification are correct though). I am getting the feeling the Skywatcher Australia site has a few issues.

Was not aware of the different secondary, but I guess it stands to reason. Also interesting is the focuser; the Skywatcher Australia web site clearly shows/mentions a dual speed on the SWP2501 and appears to show a single speed on the SW25012AP. Yet two of the larger retailers advertising these scopes clearly show and mention in their blurb that both versions have dual speed focusers. The way I read the Skywatcher 2018 catalogue also indicates that both versions have dual speed focusers.

I guess it pays to actually get out to the dealers before purchasing to know and see exactly what you get.

Itteredumer, I would be interested to hear how you get on.

Gary