Sky-Watcher SK8035
The new toy Sky-Watcher SK8035
(350mm f/4.4) does a really nice job, especially in terms of being "low
ohmic" for the wallet (€218.-).... The scope came with itself, a 20mm
and a 10mm eyepiece, a 2x barlow lens, a 90°diagonal, a
red-dot-finder, a Phillips type screwdriver, the EQ1 mount with a
tabletop tripod and a nice bag which can house all the above mentioned
articles.
Optics: Tested on M44, for
rich-field, the supplied 20mm "Super" eyepiece (not sure what design
type that refers to as Sky-Watcher mentions this to be some king of
Meade's "modified achromat", a modified Kellner design), gave a nice
flat image w/o obvious aberrations. Next test: Jupiter, 10mm "Super" +
2x Barlow, and two rings were nicely visible, not too bad for such an
instrument, I guess. Intra- and extra-focal collimation tests passed,
when holding the diagonal "into place" (see below), otherwhise failed.
Mechanics: Plastic all over
the place. It is tricky to mount the mandantory 90° diagonal. If
the adaptor is not tightly secured to the diagonal's body it might do
some weird turns; a drop of glue at the right spot fixes this. The
diagonal can not be turned in a full circle when loosend a little bit
as the
focusing knob is in it's way. Speaking about the internal focuser: soft
focusing, smooth reaction, well done.
The EQ1 does not quiet fit
itself, sort of: short handles getting in the way of the
counter-weight, the counter-weight also interfers with the fixation
screw of the RA-handle when the mount is properly balanced.
Slightly shifting the balance
did a first minute work-around... I will need a screw with lower
profile. The DEC-handle appears to really like the telescope, no
work-around in sight here, I guess...
Accessories: The
red-dot-finder is too bright, a couple of Ohms are required to bring
the LED's intensity down. Finally, I am unable to see a real good
reason for supplying a 10mm eyepiece together with a 20mm eyepiece and
a 2x barlow-lens... The screwdriver is a clever add-on however. ;-)
Conclusion: If one is able to
do some fixes, this scope is really nice and can be recommended. If
there is not appropriate collection of tools and materials to be found
in your workshop, rather leave it in the
store's shelf.
Last modified Apr. 5th 2004
