Sky-Watcher Classic 200 Dobsonian 8-inch Telescope – Solid-Tube – Simple, Traditional Design – Easy to Use, Perfect for Beginners, White (S11610)

Bought a 10" Dobsonian Sky-Watcher. Came in yesterday at 6:00 pm; two days ahead of schedule. Also bought a Shorty 1.25 2X Barlow lens, a 2X 2" Focal Extender, and a LaserMate Deluxe II Telescope Laser Collimator. I'm thinking about the Q70 (70 degrees) set of three eyepieces or the Explore Scientific 82 degree 2" eyepiece. I'm leaning toward the 82 Degree 2" eyepiece. So far I am pleased with my new telescope. It was easy to assemble, and everything went together perfectly. I was intending to adjust my finder scope today, but it is raining. Maybe tomorrow? This scope is quite an upgrade from my 4" I bought over 15 years ago. It came with a 1.25 wide angle 25mm lens, and a 1.25 super 10mm lens. I can't wait to get my 2" wide angle. I gave this scope 5 stars because it is so well made. After I actually use it, I will either leave it a 5 stars or downgrade it. ************************************************************************************************************************************************************ Well, after a week of rain and/or cloudy skies, I finally used my scope. I collimated it with my laser collimator and tried to focus on Venus. The best view I could get was a big unfocused white ball. I tried recollimating the scope to no avail. In fact. the only thing I could focus on were the leaves on a tree 60 meters away.. Anything beyond that was hopeless. I order a Solomark Chesire Collimating Eyepiece which will come in two days. I hope this solves the problem. I hate to think I paid $600.00 to look at leaves. I'm leaving my rating at 5 stars because I'm thinking my problem is human error and/or the laser collimator. I'll try again in a few days to collimate my scope and hopefully see a wonderful view of the stars and planets. *********************************************************************************************************************************************************** Well, I received my Solomark Chesire Collimating Eyepiece. However, again it is raining. I collimated my scope to see if I could further the distance beyond 60 meters, but it was still not focusing properly. I would say when all else fails to go to the instructions, but the instructions in the manual are lacking. One thing caught my eye in the parts list; something I didn't notice the first time. And that is: the focuser has a 2" inch adapter, not a built-in 2" lens holder. Duh! All this time I thought the focuser was one piece. I have been stacking the 1.25 adapter on top of the 2" adapter. I took out the 2" adapter, inserted the 1.25 adapter the 25mm wide angle lens, and the focus was perfect. I notice that someone else was/is having the same problem as I, and he gave this scope a bad rating. I bet he was doing the same thing; double stacking adapters. If anyone else is having a problem with focusing their Dobsonian reflector, try taking out the 2" adapter and insert the 1.25". My rating for this scope stays at five stars. *************************************************************************************************************************************************** About two weeks after receiving my scope, I finally was able to use it last night. The craters on the moon were awesome. The stars jumped out at me. I plan to view the Orion nebula and Andromeda galaxy at the end of December, when Andromeda will be directly overhead one hour after sunset. There will be less atmosphere to see through. This scope deserves 5 stars, and that is where I'm leaving it. There may be those who have larger scopes and are no longer impressed with a ten inch, but, until I can afford a bigger scope, I'm happy with this one. The problems I had, at the beginning, are no reflection on the scope itself; the problems arose from poor instructions and description. When it says the scope has a 2" focuser and a 1.25" adapter, it is understandable that you would assume the focuser is one piece and cannot be separated, and that you would insert the 1.25" adapter into the 2" focuser to use a 1.25" lens. That was why I could not focus on anything more than 60 meters away. The laser collimator wasn't part of the problem, either. So, I have nothing bad to say about it. For those who can afford this scope, it is a great buy. *********************************************************************************************************************************************************** Well, here it is; December 31, and between the rain and cloudiness, I've only viewed the moon and Jupiter, and stars. The mountains on the moon's rim are impressive against the black background of space, and the bands of Jupiter are fantastic. At 167 million miles away, Mars only looks like a red star. I'll have to wait until July 2018, when Mars is 38 million miles away. Maybe then I'll be able to see it's polar caps. Saturn will be in the night sky this June. Soon as I catch a clear night, I'm going to try and locate the Orion Nebula and Andromeda Galaxy. This scope is everything it claims to be. I built a 9 inch high portable wooden base to raise the scope at a more comfortable level. I also keep the scope in my 12X16 tool shed so it is ready for use without having to wait long for it to acclimate. I have noticed the price went up on the scope. I'm glad I bought it when I did. Still, at the current price, it is a good buy. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************* 3-13-17 The price has gone down more. Buy this scope; i.e. unless you can afford a larger primary mirror. Two weeks ago I finally bought a 2 inch SF 18mm eyepiece to use with my 2 inch SF Barlow. I viewed the Orion Nebula and Pleiades star cluster. They are fantastic. Yesterday I received a set of four Gosky (red, green, yellow, blue) planetary filters, which can be stacked. I hope they bring out more detail when viewing. I'm already yearning for a bigger scope with a tracking system so I can use a camera. Still, I am not sorry I bought this scope. It is a great telescope for the money. June 28, 2017: It is a good time to view Saturn and its rings. With my 10" (using a 2" 18mm eyepiece coupled with a 2" 2x focal extender) I can see one slight division in Saturn's ring making two large rings. Also, Titan can be seen. Jupiter's bands are clearly noticeable, and it's four largest moons are like bright stars. I watched Io pass Europa in orbit (over a period of 1.5 hours). I'm waiting for Mars to be its closest in 2018. The more I use this scope, the more I feel it is money well spent. July 31, 2018: Well, I finally took a look at Mars tonight. It is as bright as Venus, though only two-thirds as big. I could make out light grey areas in the bright red color. You need a bigger scope if you want to see any details. I'm still pleased with this scope. It is a great starter scope, but I'm ready for an upgrade.

Excellent scope, good for the money, durable, finderscope is a little so-so.

Tube is bent, mount is shattered. Buy from the manufacturer.

Pros and Cons Assembly: It arrived intact with all the parts accounted for. I managed to assemble it easy enough with the tools provided except for the screwdriver which does not have a rubber grip and is therefore very difficult to use. Size: The scope was actually smaller than I anticipated and moving it around is not that difficult. Keep the scope's shipping box if you want to transport it in a vehicle. Quality of lenses: The lenses that came with it are of an inferior quality, especially the 25mm, which showed a blurred image along the edges. I was able to compare it to better quality lenses which I had, and with the quality lenses the image was crisp and clear. Hence the main optics of the scope is very good. As this is a fast scope with a short focal length ratio the quality of the lenses become a factor. Focuser: The focuser is solid and smooth but as it is a single speed focusing at high magnification is a challenge. One can upgrade it or use a micro focuser. Finder scope: The finder scope provides a good crisp image but at zenith is very difficult to use. One can upgrade it to a right angle finder scope (I have already ordered one) This scope has good optics for the price but you should be prepared to spend a bit on quality lenses, a quality barlow and some essential upgrades if you really want to enjoy it to its fullest.

Arrived well and set up fairly easily in about 45 minutes. Had a little trouble understanding the rotating base, so be careful when you do the silicone pieces. More probably operator error so just a note from me to you. My son is enjoyed this outside many many times in the last year since Christmas. Takes in tons of light and allows you to see deeper planets and galaxies. Not all that portable, but easy enough for my son to carry outside on the back deck, or in the front yard by himself. We’ll take some time for a week or so to get everything aligned just right. Definitely doable. But it for the functionality at the best price point. Great to learn how to follow and find stars. Next upgrade would be a motorized system, but that will cost at least another $500.

First photo is spiral galaxy M83. Second photo is Saturn with subtle division ring. Third is galaxy NGC5238 (at the left of the center). I manage to capture the M83 with my iPhone 6 and spiralCam app. It takes about a minute to see the spiral arm. Overall the telescope is great. The thing to improve on will be the sight scope. It fall off a few times and hit my feet once. It is inserted into the telescope from the bottom up so it has the tendency to drop off after several use and storage. The 2 feature-tension control handles are not necessary for my use and scratch my leg when I walk past the scope. In the end, I remove them and store away. I use the Dobsonian in a very small balcony. I have also add a planter plate with wheels which I get from Ikea for US$5. It is almost perfect for the big scope. The assembly is not as easy. It takes me about 2 hours with lots of strength to tighten the screws into the wood. It should be designed to be assembled easily like Ikea furniture. For design it is not as good looking as the Meade dobsonian. Skywatcher could have make their product look better. Most of the time, 99%, the telescope is not in use and displayed as a "furniture" in the home so it is very important on how it looks. It is definitely the most practical and accurate scope that I have.

Loved the telescope but arrived slightly damaged and dirt on main mirror. 800 plus pounds and ut doesn't come with dust cover that would cost penny's to mass produce. I returned it and was serious disappointed. Rge telescope was a beautiful if it had arrived in good state I'd been over tge moon with it. Excuse pun.

This’s only the base, wrong website description!!!! هذا حامل التليسكوب فقط

I took the gamble and thankfully, I received both pieces (although one of them got delivered a little later). The telescope is nice and heavy duty (for beginners) and the focuser is metallic. Just a few things to keep in mind if you’re getting your first telescope: 1. The dobsonian mount is not beginner-friendly at all for finding deep sky objects! If you have a little bit more money, invest in a telescope that comes with a goto mount to begin with and save yourself the frustration of trying to find Messier objects on your own for hours on end. 2. If you’re still set on getting an 8in dob (or even a 6in), be prepared to hear your significant other, parents or roommates complain once they see it. These things are huge and take some space. Moving the mount itself is a workout if you’re petite or just not used to lifting weights. They might not even fit in a small car. So again, if you have a little bit more money and less space, you might still be better off with a Schmidt-Cassegrain. All that being said, I find dobsonians more aesthetically pleasing and the image quality of this one was quite impressive (didn't need collimation so far) + it was a good fit for my budget so I am happy with my purchase.

Este telescopio es muy bueno para alguien con interés en la astronomía. Sin saber mucho al respecto y después de investigar exhaustivamente, encontré que los telescopios Newtonianos son los que más te dan por tu dinero en términos de visibilidad en el cielo. Un telescopio con diámetro de apertura de 8" como este tiene una enorme capacidad tanto en brillo como en nitidez de imagen por la cantidad de luz que entra hacia el espejo primario, así que si te preocupa el potencial definitivamente no te va a decepcionar. El telescopio incluye un soporte de tipo Dobson que lo sostiene muy bien. Es fácil de armar e incluye unas instrucciones muy claras (en inglés). Operarlo es fácil y cómodo, el único problema es que pesa mucho así que para reubicarlo hay que arrastrarlo o desarmarlo. Por último, pese a que es un excelente telescopio, no viene sin defectos. El primero y más obvio es el tamaño. El tubo mide más de un metro de largo y tiene un diámetro superior a los 20 cms, sin incluir el espacio adicional que ocupa la mira para encontrar los astros. El tubo no pesa mucho pero es muy estorboso, y si no tienes espacio suficiente almacenarlo puede ser un problema. El soporte es sólido y con buena calidad de materiales, pero también ocupa bastante espacio y además es pesado (unos 15 kilos). Si para ti es importante que se pueda transportar el telescopio fácilmente, considéralo porque podría no ser la mejor opción. Otro problema es que los espejos se desalinean constantemente (problema común en los Newtonianos) por lo que es recomendable comprar un colimador para realinearlos, y uno decente puede costar entre 500-1,000 pesos adicionales (precios en Amazon). En general, considero que para el precio es una excelente opción. Sobretodo en México que no es fácil conseguir estos aparatos a precios accesibles. Es un producto importado así que puede tardar el envío, pero vale la pena la espera.

The product is fine. It's not really a product issue. But bad process within amazon fulfillment centers. Despite seeing the reviews of others receiving one of the boxes, I ordered anyway and thought I'll try my luck and return if I have a problem. Guess what? I was also one of the unlucky ones. These are supposed to be shipped in two boxes. One box for the base and one for the tube. The box is actually labeled by the manufacturer as 1 of 2 or 2 of 1 depending which box you get :). The ups shipping label indicated 1 piece. So I called amazon and basically they have no way to fix this whatsoever. They will offer a 10% to 20% discount which really doesn't even cover the cost of the base that's if you can even find one. So it's going back.. otherwise this is a well known very good dob with a decent price when being sold by amazon relatively speaking. To me, I can't understand the inability of their own customer service to escalate to their own fulfillment centers for very specific situations like this. Nor the inability to fix this considering the many times it seems to have happened.