Cheaters! I ordered a telescope for a child and only the base arrived without the telescope. They didn't send everything, they don't reply to messages, I'm waiting until Monday, if nothing changes, I'm reporting the matter to the police.

By chance I watched the starlink satellites go over the farm where I live in a perfect evenly spaced line. Utterly incredible. I decided to buy a scope and searched for the best at a certain price. This scope came up time and time again. Along with a couple of books and a planisphere I had high hopes. I'm used to rifle optics and focusing was simple. Got some great views of the moon in detail but when I looked at stars there are just more stars!... Am I missing something?. Not sure what I expected, wildebeest crossing majestically across the sky or the starship enterprise docking with the international space station?. But really, I am disappointed with thousands of stars. My point being is , I rushed into this and on reflection (reflection!! See what I did there) I should have done more research. I think your average non geek is going to be slightly bored after twenty minutes looking at the moon and countless stars. I'm sure I'm missing something and need to put more effort in but my scope will probably join the thousands of other scopes collecting dust. Try before you buy is my advice

I ordered this on Tuesday before they reopened from Christmas I received it two days from them opening I must admit they are a first class company great customer service great prices I’ve seen a lot of bits I need to buy so I will definitely be ordering from them again thank you

Wow fast delivery, well packaged, great price ,very happy with service and purchase . FLO will be the first place I will come to when looking for Astro gear . Thank you so much .

Have had this scope for nearly a year now, used it many dozens of times, and am very happy with it – it’s a perfect first ‘serious’ scope. It arrived well out of collimation, and collimating the secondary was a steep learning curve – it would be best to do some reading up on this before getting any kind of Newtonian, if only to avoid blind panic! Since then, it has held its collimation very well.
I soon found the technique for ‘nudging’ it around the sky, and am now happy with the Teflon bearings, though at higher magnifications it can be a bit frustrating at times. With its heavy base and low centre of gravity it is rock steady. Vibrations settle very quickly indeed, and even a bit of wind doesn’t really affect it. Though the whole thing weighs around 20kg, I find that with the tube vertical and the handles screwed tight, I can easily move the whole thing by lifting with the handles and shuffling along – and I’m a ten stone weakling in my sixties!
While the base and tube are satisfyingly good, the accessories are less so. The straight-through finder is hard work, and soon got replaced by a right angled, fully corrected one, along with a red dot finder. You can then use the RDF to get to a visible object you know, the 9x50 to see a 5 degree field and get the scope centred for a 25mm-ish eyepiece. The supplied eyepieces are poor, worse than poor if you wear glasses. The 25mm is useable for a while but the 10mm is terrible.
One thing I discovered after a bit is that you can create a sort of alt-az version of an azimuth setting circle on the base, and get a cheap magnetic inclinometer to put on the tube. If you then get an app like sky-safari or stellarium which gives you instantaneous alt-az coordinates for any object in the sky, you can ‘set’ the scope to a precise alt-az position, which makes it incredibly easy to find difficult-to-see objects without excessive ‘star-hopping’. This has saved me so much time, and would be my most recommended ‘hack’.
In these 10 months or so I’ve seen dozens of galaxies and planetary nebulae, along with hundreds of open and globular clusters, as well as ‘resolving’ many, many double stars.
All in all, this 200p dobsonian is a highly recommended buy, but remember you will need to budget for some decent eyepieces, and a better finder. It might be worth looking at the more expensive Stellalyra version, or the GSO equivalents, as there is a version of these with a better finder, and better bearings, along with a two speed focuser. It cost £100 more though.

We have only been using this telescope (the first we have bought) for 2 days but it has already exceeded all expectations. Delivery (international) was very fast and the telescope itself is very well built.

The Moon is glorious (the Astro Essentials Moon filter is a highly recommended accessory for starters). Last night we managed to see Jupiter with some moons, including clearly visible coloured bands on Jupiter. All this from our back garden, under strong street lighting and with Jupiter low in the sky.

The two included lenses are really great for starters and the advice, found on many forums, to start with the basic lenses before deciding what type of additional lenses you want, is spot on. Higher zoom is not always good, we find the moon much more spectacular through the 25mm standard lens, where you can see the whole moon in one go. On the other hand, the detail we could make out on Jupiter through and add-on 8mm lens + 2x Barlow was beautiful, even as the planet shot through the field of view in a matter of seconds.

In short, if you are looking for a starter telescope, you will most definitely not be disappointed.

Really great scope, fast and efficient order processing and delivery. Can see Jupiter, orion nebula, andromeda galaxy - bit faint so order Barlow and filters right away, also collimator. Clear skies

Absolutely blown away by this scope and the speed with which it was dispatched! Only looked at the Moon - late afternoon - was breathtaking, Am utterly addicted now and will be casting my eye towards Barlows.......

It took 6 months to arrive, instead of the 2 to 3 months quoted, but I'm sure that was outside FLO's control. Easy to assemble (think easier end of Ikea), although there were a couple of minor discrepancies between instructions and actuality. A bit bigger that I expected, although easy for one person to carry the base and OTA separately and is a matter of seconds to mount the OTA. I'm a relative novice at observing and used it in a moonlight sky in an urban setting so can't fully review performance. Fairly easy to move around the sky. Found it a bit awkward to aim the finder scope at the intended targets, but maybe that will come with experience. Finder scope seems to keep its alignment even when removed from OTA and refitted later. Scope came almost perfectly collimated - have't tried any adjustment. Was easily able to split a 4" double, but 2" double looked like a single oblong. I believe the scope will support considerably higher magnification so making the latter double split possible. All in all, the telescope met my expectations and I would recommend it.

I purchased this for both myself and my father to enjoy back in September, It arrived on time in December (pandemic!) and has had several nights of use. I have to say as a first timer when it comes to telescopes the workforce of FLO have been exceptional. I had a ton of questions and all of them were answered before I even made my purchase, allowing me (as a complete novice) to choose the right scope for me. Never at any point did I feel like I was being 'sold to' Just really good, friendly advice.

The build quality of the scope is fantastic, The scope itself arrived prebuilt just needing the finder scope to be attached along with the handles (all really simple). The base was fairly easy to assemble and only took around 30 minutes to complete. I would advise getting yourself a laser collimator to get the mirrors aligned for the best viewing, the scope comes with a bunch of tools to help assemble it and also has an alan key to adjust the small secondary mirror and a phillips screwdriver for the primary mirror adjustments. You will need a slightly larger alan (hex) key for the primary mirror locking bolts which isn't supplied.

Honestly the most exciting bit of kit I've bought in a few years, excellent views of the moon and the stars. Hoping to see the planets later in the year! Will always come back to FLO to purchase future items.

My grandson hasn’t had too many clear nights to use the telescope since Christmas, but he has been impressed with what he has been able to see so far! Thank you for ensuring it got to him in time for Christmas Day!

This is my first proper telescope and has not disappointed. Easy to build from the two boxes it arrived in with clear instructions and decent enough tools included if you don’t posses any. Slightly irritating but when you come to collimate the mirrors the supplied Allen keys don’t fit the locking screws on the primary mirror so had to go searching around the garage and various ‘man draws’ to locate the correct sized Allen key. The collimating was slightly out, not surprising after weeks in transit and being piled in the back of DHL’s vans but it was rectified easily enough. The tube and base separate easily for transport and are not too heavy when moving around, I reused the polystyrene moulds that came in the box to hold the tube securely in the boot of my car.

Performance: To mirror everyone else you will not be disappointed as long as you are realistic and not expecting hi-res Hubble images. The moon is stunning and the details along the terminator of craters and mountain ranges just pop out at you. I saw the Orion Nebula on a poor night with too full a moon, and was able to see the rings of Saturn and Jupiter just after the conjunction on the 21st Dec. Conditions were not ideal for viewing and detail was limited but they were there and could be easily identified. I’m very happy and can’t wait to get out there again on a better night for viewing.

One thing that wasn’t so good. DHL! Drop it Hide it Loose it! They managed to deliver the tube and loose the base assembly. Lots of frustrating phone calls that went nowhere and resulted in me just driving 20 miles to the depot and doorstepping them. They assured me it had been delivered I assured them it hadn’t. Anyway long story short they found the base assembly box in a pile of parcels that was ready to be returned to sender! Maybe FLO might consider using a different courier, I have yet to have a good experience with large deliveries using DHL and their customer service is in direct opposition to that of FLO.

My initial telescope was a 114mm tabletop Dobsonian which was gifted to me June 2020. I knew almost straight away that I wanted something better. I looked around various forums and two things kept getting mentioned Skywatcher 200 dobsonian and FLO. I eventually succumbed and ordered this scope.

I knew the pandemic was causing supply issues but FLO were upfront and honest and told me the next delivery wouldn't be until Dec (it was very early Nov) but there was a good chance it would arrive pre-Christmas but no promises. Well true to their word the telescope arrived on 21st of December.

First impressions are this is a big scope. It stands just over 4ft tall when fully assembled. It is fairly heavy but in saying that the main OTA and base come apart easily to allow it to be moved around. I only use the telescope in my garden so find I can move it short distances without having to separate the two bits. I'm also lucky enough to have a garden store to keep the telescope in. I imagine if you have any steps to negotiate you may find it easier and safer to separate both parts.

Assembly was pretty straightforward. Just take your time and follow the instructions.

Once assembled it is ready to be used and you won't be disappointed. My initial thought was look at objects I've seen before, which I did. Albireo, Aldberan, The Pleiades, Orion Nebula and M15 (the globular cluster in Pegasus). They all showed way more detail than my previous telescope. The Moon was an excellent target very clear and detailed but when full and cloudless it is very bright.

I'm not going to lie I found the finderscope, although it is good, hard to get along with. My old telescope had a basic red dot finder and I found myself yearning after it. It was just easier to find objects with a RDF. I guess it's just what your used to but I have ordered a RDF to accompany the finderscope.

I would have no hesitation in recommending this telescope nor would I hesitate in recommending FLO for their customer service.

First time bought a telescope. Easy to set up, and provides great opportunities to not only explore the skies, but also just astronomy in general

As complete beginners to astronomy, my partner and I did plenty of research before choosing this telescope. Originally we were looking at the Orion XT8, until I found that the Skywatcher 200P was highly recommended and has the same specs as the Orion for considerably less money (and also comes with an additional lens). There was a long wait for delivery due to the pandemic, presumably causing manufacturing/shipping disruptions, however FLO were fully upfront about this and actually, the scope arrived a week earlier than we anticipated - delivered on the 23rd of December which felt somewhat like a miracle! Customer service has been excellent throughout, with all of my questions answered patiently and quickly.

It was easy to build although undeniably large - I plan on inventing some sort of carry case so make it easier to get in and out of my car. Regardless, it does strap into the back seat quite well with the seatbelts around it.

Due to poor weather, we've only been out once with this scope, but found it very easy to use and quickly found M42 with a surprising amount of detail, as well as getting some really clear images of the moon. Unfortunately, the temperature was - 1°C and my toes nearly fell off so we had to cut our trip short. However, our first experience with this scope was phenomenal and we are very much looking forward to clear skies (and thicker socks) so that we can enjoy it to its fullest potential.

After reading a few forum and Facebook group reviews, this telescope (I have never understood why it isn't described as a Newtonian with a Dobsonian mount) kept getting praise and recommendations. Based on all those positive comments and based on the price point, I decided to to purchase it after initially considering a 150P.
I expected a wait which turned out to be two months but once I found (by using the FLO Facebook page) the correct email address (questions@ NOT contact@ which was indicated on the Paypal receipt) for FLO communications were prompt, helpful and friendly. Based on that I am very happy to recommend them.
Building...
Two two packages arrived and assembly was straight forward using the instruction manual Just a few suggestions...
P4 Step 3 Base assembly instructions.
I did not find this section clear, i) there is no mention about installing the three black feet and they are not listed in the parts list on P3 either.
Also I inadvertently installed board D upside down. ii) NB the three stapled pads should face upwards.
P4 Step 7 Saddle side bearings. I think the diagram of the bearing, bolt and arrow is meant to show that the nut in the bearing is supposed to be closest to the bolt as it enters the bearing but I was not sure.
P10 Collimation. I found this difficult to follow but many of the guides are the same. Well all apart from this one which is brilliantly easy to understand - https://garyseronik.com/a-beginners-guide-to-collimation/
A ton of friendly advice at https://stargazerslounge.com.
Conflicting views on this topic from the forums A) "New telescopes usually do not need collimating - use your scope first and consider once you are familiar with it" B) A new scope will always need collimating before use.
v) I think a basic collimating cap should be included with the telescope. 35mm film canisters, especially grey ones!, as described in the manual are not easy to come with and were only talking about pennies. I also did not want to put a hole in a lens cap!
P11 Suggest adding section on v) Carrying/caring / dos and don'ts for your telescope vi) Useful/recommended accessories

Use...
Had some great views using the telescope for the first time - Venus, Pleiades, Orion nebula, Moon, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Uranus viewed on the same day (morning/evening)
Issues? None really although I find the straight through finder scope painful (in terms of bending over) to use and I am not sure how good quality the supplied eye pieces are.

In summary - A great telescope from a good supplier so very happy to recommend First Light Optics and the Sky-Watcher Skyliner 200P Newtonian with Dobsonian mount.

Great piece of kit to get started. The stand is solid, and it's easy to adjust the position of the scope. I've seen Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn and it's rings so far with it. Easy to assemble, and not too heavy to move around. FLO provide a great service too.

Ordered the telescope and then realised the shipping time was from 40 to 60 days, an email to the team confirmed this but luckily some stock must have arrived because the telescope was shipped the next day. The telescope arrived undamaged and as others have said this is a large scope. The mount is easy to assemble and use and with telescope mounted not too heavy to move short distances, Have only viewed Saturn and Jupiter and image quality was excellent with the supplied eyepieces although I shall invest in better quality / higher magnification at a later date. Excellent service from FLO.

So completely over the moon (pun intended) with the things I've seen from just two observing sessions. Was able to see both storms of Jupiter and rings of Saturn. Obviously its no NASA scope, but its without a doubt the perfect reflector for beginners. Scope came pre-assembled, base took me around an hour to put together.

Only complaint is it took approximately seven weeks to arrive, but considering the current Covid conditions that really wasn't a problem for me.

Will be picking up a barlow and moon filter in the next few weeks, I hope to take some great pics
Thankyou FLO!

Can not fault this item. Very easy to put together. Every happy with the scope. Would recommend it. Value for money.

A nice scope for the beginner as its easy to use. Took about 30mins to put together once unboxed as I took my time. Did the base first before unboxing the scope. As I was new to Astronomy and Telescopes I followed the advice and directions given with the telescope. Setting up the Finder Scope was my first task. Initially placed in my spare bedroom and used through an open window (I know this limits my view but needed to make sure it was working before dragging it into the garden). First night I managed to get a good view of the Moon. Fully in the eye piece with the 25mm lens and managed to view the surface with the 10mm lens (both supplied). 2nd night was a bit cloudy but saw 2 bright stars through my window. Managed to see both through the 10mm lens and was visibly able to identify them as Saturn and Jupiter. Was able to make out the rings around Saturn and the bands on Jupiter, both were quite small but easily identifiable. I am looking forward to getting it into the garden and getting some viewing sessions done. A friend has advised getting a Barlow lens (a x2 or a x3 and a x5) which will increase the magnification of the 2 lenses supplied without breaking the bank. Once you get into your stargazing you can look at better quality eyepieces.
For the price a very good starter telescope for the beginner - just make sure you are aware of its size and weight before ordering (I didn’t but it wasn’t an issue).

I’ll start by telling you, I’m the kind of chap that wants to make sure I’m getting value for money and that the retailer is reputable. This means I tend to do a lot of research before I buy it, which in turn can lead to me being even more confused.

As you probably know already, there are a lot of different telescopes and retailers out there, all with attractive prices and accessories etc.

Let me hopefully save you some time. Let FLO save you some time. Let’s save you time so you can be looking at the skies sooner rather than later.

This is the only entry level telescope you should buy, and FLO is the only place you should buy from.

Wow. So easy to build. Sturdier than ikea. And handles very well. Not as heavy as I thought.

Arrived well packed and secure to prevent damage in transit.
Took about 45 mins to build as very straight forward.
The total size of the scope is about 135cm high x 55cm diameter base and the scope is easily moveable in two parts. Adding and removing the scope to the base takes about 5 seconds!

Used that night in OK viewing conditions and was able to see some amazing objects inc double stars, nebulae, open & globular clusters. The supplied 25mm lens is decent, the 10mm is slightly lower quality. The 9 x 50 spotting scope is excellent and only gets slightly awkward to use if pointing straight up.

I am delighted with this product so far and have zero negatives with either FLO or the telescope. 100% recommended.

This is my first telescope, very easy to follow instructions to build the base all fittings correct and fitted well.
Aligning the main scope with the finder scope was a doodle with the instructions.
Used it first time and was amazed at the clarity of the images,, really happy.
FLO e-mailed to say maybe a couple of weeks wait but arrived after a week, so again great service.

Well packaged and arrived safely. First impressions were WOW! We got to use the telescope at a fairly dark place, seeing the Great Orion Nebula was fantastic.

The only down side is the supplied eyepieces, being Modified Acromatics. They aren't the best quality, I'm afraid.

I bought this telescope as my first one and it has done wonders so far, I have seen the moon and a couple of nebulas and I am just waiting for the planets to swing my way but I am very impressed and would 100% recommend to anyone looking to give star gazing a shot.

Instructions to put it together were adequate as I am not normally good at following instructions. However the small screws to hold the eye piece holder on the Telescope screwdriver philips screw head got wrecked. Just managed to extract the screws before using a plastic weld super glue to stick it on there securely.
Saw Jupiter and Saturn clearly on my first night out with it. I would share the photo's i took with my galaxy s10 through the eyepiece if I could in this review, but being a phone camera doesn't quite do it justice!!

First the only bad thing. It didn't come with any instructions on how to put the base together, but a quick google search led me straight the needed pdf.
Really easy to put together once the instructions were to hand. Obviously a big bit of kit, but rather light considering.

The 2 eyepeices it came with (10mm and 25mm) are great (I'm a full on newbie, this is my first telescope), so much so that i'm wondering just how much better expensive brand replacements can actually be.
The telescope itself is absolutely fantastic and giving me absolutely amazing views from my back garden, just a couple of miles outside of Newcastle.
Even the finder scope felt amazing to use and look through and was a doddle to line up with the main view.

I don't have a collimator yet but from the clarity of the views im getting I would say it seems like the factory collimation has held up well so far, and if it isn't still fully collimated then I really cant wait to see the views when it is, because they are already clean and crisp.

The feeling of excitement and pure joy after navigating a dobsonian by hand and finding M81 and M82 was like nothing i've experienced in a long time, im 37 and it had me giggling like a little kid and saying "wow" every few seconds. Even after only a few hours of Stargazing, and this being my first telescope, I would highly recommend this bit of kit to anyone even slightly interested in observing the night sky.

This is a very nice telescope, but while you're contemplating aperture and focal length please also consider the size of the telescope. It is much larger than the image would suggest, being 8" across, 5' tall, and it doesn't fold down in any way. If you have any doubts about storing or moving this telescope then you may want something a little bit smaller.

It also doesn't come with an equatorial mount, which may an advantage, and my not be.

Please seek advice from you local astronomy club.

Really pleased with the telescope, saw jupiter really well through it. Delivery was super fast, I will definitely use Flo again. Thank you.

For the simplicity and ease of set up coupled with the large appature this scope is my go to set up for long nights wizzing around the night sky or for when there isn’t a break in the cloud. The build quality is great and I found it holds its collimating very well. With only occasional tweets needed to keep everything sharp.

We purchased this telescope back in February ( it is now November). Viewing from the back garden of our house the sky is quite heavily light polluted ( we are on Teesside ) but earlier in the year we had spectacular views of Jupiter ( cloud bands, spot and larger moons crystal clear ) and Saturn ( moons, rings and Cassini Division) . We have now notched up good views of over 30 DSO's ; despite it being mostly summer month twilight viewing and many nights with no viewing at all owing to cloudy skies. Great views of M3, M11, M13 and M15 - the higher mag. eyepiece supplied clearly resolving individual stars when using averted vision. Very good, clear, detailed view of M57 on many occasions. M27 visible clearly but have yet to see any detail - the same for M1 last week which was VERY faint. The Leo galaxies could clearly be seen but were also faint as the sky not very dark. 'Easier' objects such as M31, M44 and M35/6/7/8 all excellent viewing through the Dob. but we have yet to observe proper structure in M31. In addition many excellent double stars have been split.
I bought this telescope as a first serious telescope for my son (16) who wishes to read Astrophysics at university . It has been an excellent choice - I was recommended a 'Goto' type by an experienced amateur-astronomer friend but decided on the Dob. as I thought that manually locating DSO's would have the element of discovery that a GOTO type would not provide. This has definitely proved to be the case - many attempts required before finally the thrill of seeing M65 and M66 - also M67 proved challenging when we first started. Great fun and really rewarding when you first locate a new DSO after considerable patience and application.
We have had no problems with collimation at all. The base easy to assemble in an hour or so and the tube and base can be separated very quickly if you need to move the telescope say from the front to the back of the house. Additional fairly essential accessories purchased have been a 12mm Celestron X-Cel eyepiece (£59), a Celestron Barlow lens (£24) and the book 'Turn Left at Orion' (£22). Total expenditure including the Dob has been about £400. The rewards for this modest outlay have been tremendous - not least the thrill of locating DSO's for the first time and the 'father-and-son' time shared. Both endure long after the price has been forgotten..

this is a great telescope, recommend it!!

I am really happy ordered it for christmas, fast delivery and a very good telescope 10/10!

I was in a quandary if I was going for the 127 Mak or the 200 dobson, after a lot of help and advice from members of SGL the decision was made I went for the dobson, A decision I am not regretting,
ordered 12.30 am on the wed and was delivered by 9am following day I was over the moon with it and its performance. It is very quick and easy to locate objects, a lot quicker than a goto system. having a 130 az goto synscan it was like waiting for a kettle to boil. tracking i can cope very easy.
A brilliant telescope!!

After very long and arduous research, I realised this telescope was the best choice for me, and I'm overjoyed to say I made the right decision. This telescope is absolutely incredible. After a few nights of observation, I've managed to see a plethora of astronomical beauties. Observing Saturn takes your breath away. Rings were clearly visible, including a few of Saturn's moons. Also looked at the moon and the clarity of the craters was remarkable. On the shadow side of the half-moon, I used my rubbish 6mm lens (meaning I was achieving 200x magnification) and I was surprised at the fact that the telescope was still achieving exceptional clarity. I looked up the see Lyra and felt the desire to try to locate M57 for the first time ever. The Ring Nebula shines at magnitude 8.8 and even with the moon up during the relatively early summer sky, it was incredibly bright. Using averted vision, you can clearly see the ring shape, using either supplied eyepieces. Looked at M13 but that was very fuzzy; quite disappointing, in truth. The only real drawback is the size and weight of it; it makes it awkward and difficult to carry and move about, which can be discouraging, but lugging the telescope around is far worth it for the exceptional views this telescope is capable of.

In conclusion, this is a fantastic telescope and I would recommend to any beginner or intermediate.

I recently bought this telescope and I was astounded with the results I also bought the 2x Barlow which really helps when looking at stars and planets. I started off looking at jupiter which was amazing it looked so close but was so far away I started looking at other planets which also had amazing results. It is a great telescope for beginners and pros! Definitely recommend it

This telescope is exceptionally good. I have had the pleasure of using one occasionally for the past year and it is easily the best instrument I have used. I can't believe that something of this quality is so cheap.

Stop reading this and buy one.

I spent weeks making up my mind! This scope at 8" and its price sits bang in the sweet spot for best value. It is a very serious bit of kit and excellent quality.
I have used the similar eq mounted scope and the larger 10" version of this. This is the one to go for!
Delivered nice and quick and a great service from FLO.

I was in 2 minds whether to get this dobsonian with it's brilliant aperture and DSO capabilities, or get a GoTo Skywatcher with 150mm aperture.
I chose the Dob because everyone gave me good recommendations from the SGL forums, and I am so glad I purchased this scope - especially from FLO!

The scope itself is made of an excellent quality and the instructions are excellent. Got the scope setup within about 40 minutes and I was away!

The scope is easy to transport, despite it's size as the scope and base can be separated with ease. The supplied eyepieces aren't too bad, either.

Then there's FLO, who were outstanding with this delivery and scope. Their communication with me was brilliant and when the order was completed at 3PM, I received it the following day.

I would recommend this scope to anyone, I cannot see anyone not liking this brilliant product. Even a complete newbie to astronomy would love this scope, so go for it, it's absolutely brilliant - I'll never look back!

Ordered tues eve, delivered thurs afternoon, brought it home at 6, was ready to stargaze at 6.30. Excellent service. Yet to check collimation (only very minor bug, no collimation cap, but does tell you how to easily make one), but at first try the moon was awesome even saw detail on the side in shadow. Missed jupiter , but saw venus as a half moon, could just make out ice cap on mars . Saw my first nebula in orion. Had a veiw of saturn incl. the rings & one visible moon. Sirius looked like a diamond jewel & to finish had a waggle around & found a globular star cluster that turned out to be m5.
Very cool.

What a great scope for the money.

Went with the 200p Dob after lots of recommendations from Stargazerslounge. The build quality is high for the price and FLO's customer service and delivery speed is excellent.

Word of warning this scope is BIG!

Paul

Had to wait a week before i got a chance to take a peak but it was worth the wait.

I know nothing about telescopes or the stars but after 2 weeks searching reviews and forums on the net this was the budget one to get.

FLO price was the best and I was very pleased to receive before christmas (2 days turnaround).

Still have to collminate etc but my first night got a fantastic view of a quarter moon.

This 8 inch dob is surprisingly good quality, because you’d imagine there to be some faults with such a mass market, low cost telescope.

Yet the primary looked impressive with a star-test: no astigmatism, no major turned down edge, very similar rings inside and out of focus. I looked for a reason to have the primary sent off for testing and possible re-grinding, but couldn’t find a justification. The secondary did have a 1mm edge shaved off it, but is otherwise fine.

Indeed, the overall optical train showed features of Saturn that you’d expect from a good 8 inch: the Cassini division, colour difference between A and B rings, 4 moons and a definite belt on the planet.

What I particularly like with this Skywatcher 200 is that the optics and hardware are good enough to justify modifications to the 3 key areas:
-Cooling with a big 12cm fan to really blow out tube currents and clear the boundary layer off the mirror,
-Decent collimation with a sight tube and Cheshire/ laser. A laser alone isn’t sufficient as it indicated correct collimation when in fact a sight tube revealed the secondary to be slightly elliptical and too low in the OTA. This factory setting wouldn’t harm images, but they can be improved.
-Flocking with self-adhesive flocking paper and a home-made lightshield; important if you live under a little light pollution of a town/ city.

Following these modifications, M82 at zenith was beautiful on a good night with a Pentax XW 10mm eyepiece and averted vision: two dark bands through the cigar-shaped galaxy, one end gently phasing out into the night and the other slightly cupped, mottling across one side and occasional stellar brightness.

Experienced astronomers say you notice greater detail in any object the more minutes you observe- 10 mins is a good start. Based on that, the height of the 200 and 250 Skywatchers are ideal for relaxing in a comfortable chair after a day at work and picking out details. No crouching, tiptoes, stepladders, bending the neck. Just sit and enjoy.

But to really get the most out of this scope, search on cloudynights.com forum about putting setting circles on a Dob and buying a cheap PDA with free astronomy software to convert RA/Dec into Alt/Azi, then take the 200 into the dark countryside with a copy of Luginbuhl and Skiff’s deep sky objects and be awestruck.
1000s of things to see.

This Dobsonian telescope arrived in two boxes and was easy to assemble using the tools provided and following the assembly instructions. The OTA and mirror are already assembled.
It is one of those telescopes that you simply cannot part with - due to its portability, and generous light grasp - I have seen many objects through this telescope, from the stunning Veil Nebula to globular clusters. M13's stars are resolved to the core, double stars are split with ease; Alberio looks lovely through this telescope, as it renders the blue and yellow star components easily. The Orion Nebula is stunning too - I have been able to observe the E and F stars in the Trapezium on still, transparent winter nights (a rare thing in these parts!)

Planets look great too - I have seen Mars' polar ice caps and its storms when atmospheric seeing is ideal. Jupiter resolves well, with good views of the equatorial bands. I have glimpsed the Cassini Division on a few occasions whilst viewing Saturn.

The reason I give this telescope four stars instead of five is due to some slight problems I have had with the initially smooth azimuthal movements of the scope - however this can be rectified with a little modification.

Whenever someone enquires about which scope to buy, I always recommend this one due to its grab-and-go capabilities. Collimation holds well too - but always check it before each observing session to get the very best out of this telescope.