Sky Watcher Collapsable Go-To comments??

[Scopie (Brad)]

Is anyone able to comment on the Sky Watcher collapsable Dobs? I am thinking of selling my VC200L and mount which should make me enough to buy a 16 inch.

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

I've only ever used one (a 12") for a short period but it was pretty accurate - putting Betelguese within the inner 60% of 16mm Nagler and ditto subsequent targets Optically I thought it was very, very good (a little too much coma, but a CC can sort that) with objects in the inner 90% of the FoV very nicely defined.
It also tracked very well, keeping M39 in more ore less the centre of the EP for about an hour.
So one's definately on my list!

A 16" is a big scope and my concern would be if the motors were up to holding it steady as well as tracking and slewing.
They seemed adequate for the 12", but I have no idea if they up-rate them for the much heavier 14 & 16 inchers.

[Scopie (Brad)]

Thanks for your thoughts! I have mostly high end EPs (naglers, ethos) but coming from a VC200L, any coma is going to be VERY annoying . Better add a corrector to my list since the 16 is f4.4. The sales blurb says it has "built-in heavy-duty servo motors" so maybe they've got a bigger set on the 16 than the 12... I hope!

[Calibos (Keith)]

People used to think the 16" Lightbridge was huge and heavy. You ain't seen nothin yet. The Skywatcher 16" is gigantic. Its heavier. The rockerbox is about a foot taller than the lightbridge. The lower OTA is about a foot taller and thus heavier obviously and because the UTA is only removable with difficulty then for all intents and purposes you have a single OTA to manhandle and lift. In effect while its not as tall in its collapsed state as a Full lightbridge OTA, its like lifting the weight of a full lightbridge OTA onto the higher rockerboxes alt bearings. Each bit of the Lightbridge is smaller and it is designed to be taken apart and put together in stages so no single lift is as heavy nor as hard to manhandle. The Ep height is also a good 7 or 8 inches higher than on the LB16!! Some will point out that maybe the Skywatcher makes up for the OTA because the Rockerbox can be dismantled for transport but let me tell you from experience, stuff gets banged around in the back of a car no matter how well you pack and I wouldn't see the rockerbox pieces with the Azimuth and Altitude motor housings surviving long without damage as the flat pack rockerbox pieces shift around. The added setup and breakdown time involved in assembling and disassembling the rockerbox doesn't appeal to me either.

However.....

I can see the benefits of the collapsible feature when one is just wheeling the scope in and out but it makes things harder for dark sky trips because it can't be easily dismantled into constituant parts for transport.

For that reason I am combining the best features of my own 16" Lightbridge with the best features of the Skywatcher 16" Goto. I already have a servocat/Skycommander/iPhone Sky Voyager Goto control for my LB16. I will be trimming the oversized round groundboards off. Adding wheels and converting the truss poles of my LB16 to a 3 strut collapsible strut system like the Skywatcher. Moonlite sell the required truss clamps and hardware for the conversion which should cost about 150 dollars

I get a much smaller and lighter 16" Goto Dob who's OTA can be collapsed for storage and quickly rolled out and extended for observing at home just like the Skywatcher.....but.....which also breaks down into much smaller more managable constituant parts than the Skywatcher for transport in the back of the car. When the time comes to make my base even lighter by remaking it from baltic birch plywood, I reckon I'll have a much easier time replicating the LB16 base (sans wide round groundboards) and transferring my servocat hardware etc over to the new base than trying to do the same with a Skywatcher base.

If I were you, with the strength of the Aussie dollar I'd be getting the LB16 servocat kit and a Lightbridge and maybe even doing the strut conversion too . You won't have actually spent much more than the cost of a SKywatcher 16" Goto and you'd have a scope that combined the best features of both scopes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG8nOMGb3q4

[Scopie (Brad)]

Thanks Keith,

I appreciate your thoughts. The vast majority of this scope's use would be from home. I was going to put some heavy duty wheels or castors on the base to roll it in and out the sliding doors. I have a station wagon but the scope would likely have to be placed on its side during travel which may not be a good idea. I have only seen these collapsible dobs from afar and even then likely only the 10 or 12 inch ones so I'm only peripherally aware of the size c.f. a traditional truss dob. Seems these details are handily omitted from the Sky Watcher website too! While I doubt I'll be seeking dark skies with it very often, to not have the option at all would be painful. I'm not affraid of big though, I very seriously considered buying the 25 inch SDM for sale in perth - but it comes with its own trailor . I also carry the fully assembled VC200L and tripod around, however I imagine the SW16 is heavier and certainly a lot more awkward than the Vixen to get in and out of a vehicle!! I must admit though I'm a little daunted by making warranty voiding modifications to a 16 inch scope...

I'll go have a look at the prices to get a lightbridge shipped here.

[Regulus (Trevor)]

Hi Brad.

You will love it! So much light you will see things the VC200L couldn't show you. I have used briefly a collapsable at a star party and it seemed a good scope.

Weight tho is a factor and you said:
" I was going to put some heavy duty wheels or castors on the base to roll it in and out the sliding doors."
This is a very good idea.
We had a Saxon 8" Dob, tho not the collapsible so a bit more weight. Although one person could lift scope and base together, it was awkward and, you didn't want to carry it far. The 16" will be a bit of a nuisance in this regard but if you can solve that problem for transporting it to dark sky sites or star parties etc. then, you will have made a good move in buying it.

I don't think you will regret the purchase and all that light.

[Calibos (Keith)]

Originally Posted by Scopie

Thanks Keith,

I appreciate your thoughts. The vast majority of this scope's use would be from home. I was going to put some heavy duty wheels or castors on the base to roll it in and out the sliding doors. I have a station wagon but the scope would likely have to be placed on its side during travel which may not be a good idea. I have only seen these collapsible dobs from afar and even then likely only the 10 or 12 inch ones so I'm only peripherally aware of the size c.f. a traditional truss dob. Seems these details are handily omitted from the Sky Watcher website too! While I doubt I'll be seeking dark skies with it very often, to not have the option at all would be painful. I'm not affraid of big though, I very seriously considered buying the 25 inch SDM for sale in perth - but it comes with its own trailor . I also carry the fully assembled VC200L and tripod around, however I imagine the SW16 is heavier and certainly a lot more awkward than the Vixen to get in and out of a vehicle!! I must admit though I'm a little daunted by making warranty voiding modifications to a 16 inch scope...

I'll go have a look at the prices to get a lightbridge shipped here.

Surely it would cost the same to ship any 16" to Perth? You know Bintel sell Lightbridges too don't you. AUD$1999 versus AUD$3699 for the Skywatcher Goto. I am pretty sure the $1700 price difference pretty much gets you a Servocat from the States and an Argo Navis. You have the benefit of the Argo being a local product. In fact I am sure fellow Aussie Gary Keopf maker of the Argo who posts on this forum and works closely with Gary Myers of Servocat can get you up to date AUD pricing on the servocat and argo combo.

As for Warranty. I just tested my optics, checked the base for manufacturing defects etc before I started modding in case the scope had to be sent back because of lemon mirrors etc . Other than that what else can go wrong on the scope needing a return? They are very simple basic types of scopes. ie. What else can go wrong on a dob 6 months down the road that you would see the need to take advantage of a warranty. Baseboard warped after 6 months due to moisture. They'll say its not covered cauase you put it on grass and not honour warranty. Dent in OTA? Why didn't you send it back as soon as you took delivery. Not covered etc etc. Warranty on a non driven dob is not an issue once you've done delivery inspection and optics check IMHO and would not prevent me modding. Dobs were made to be modded!! Thats half the fun!!

Actually return will be easier for the Lightbridge/Servocat/Argo combo should anything go wrong with the motor systems than with the Skywatcher Goto. With the former, you just have to send back the faulty part. With the Latter you have to send back the whole scope. While the Customer Service of the likes of Orion, Skywatcher and Meade is generally very good, the problem is that no matter what is wrong with the scope be it Optics, electronics or cracked rockerbox sides etc, they want the whole kit and caboodle sent back before they'll send a replacement. Both Garys are world renowned in the international astronomy world as having the best goto products for dobs with Customer Service that is second to none.

A 3 strut mod to the lightbridge that gets you the main benefit of the Skywatcher without the cons it has on the skywatcher is 6x USD$18 1.25" Truss clamps from Moonlite and I am sure you can source 1.25" Aluminium truss poles somewhere in OZ for about 30 dollars. Drill 24 holes for the 24 little nuts and bolts for the clamps on your OTA and jobs a goodin'.

I'm just putting all that out there so you can make an educated decision before you order the leviathan

BTW, Just bought my mother an airline ticket from Ireland to Australia to go visit her Sister in Perth for her birthday. She was there back in late '08/'09 and loved every minute of it. Loves the place and would emmigrate there at the drop of a hat if she could. I joked with her that I wanted the ticket back when I discovered that the Perth Astrofest was on during the time she'd be over there. Only 5 minutes from the Aunts place in Wittenoom street too

[Scopie (Brad)]

Thanks guys,

The telescope shop in Perth is the cheapest in Australia for 16 inch Monsters- no postage required. AUD 2999 for the sky watcher. Incidentally, with the AUD so high business at the shop (BTOW) is booming. He's just had 2 x 20ft and 1 x 40ft container of scopes and stuff delivered. Awesome! He also said he is trying to negotiate a deal with Meade at the moment.

Dings in the ota- probably not much of a problem... they'd have to be hellish dings if you couldn't collimate them out!!

Hey Keith, hope we can see you down here sometime, though for seeing the best experience I have had in Australia was at Siding Springs- it's little wonder they put one of our biggest optical observatories there. When I was there you could see faint stars across the entire sky and I spent most of my younger years in the country. I've never seen anything like it. I think we are too close to the coast for that here in Perth- not even 100km inland (our dark sky site) have I seen someting like that.