Телескоп SkyWatcher 305/1500 Flex 12" GoTo

A large aperture for a little money - that was always the main idea when acquiring a Dobsonian telescope. With their BlackDiamond Dobsonian, Sky-Watcher have created a classic with a new slant. The new, patented, a novel patented sliding rod design makes it is particularly easy to transport. Another advantage of this is that it allows the focus point to be flexibly shifted by sliding the rods further in or out.

Not being able to track objects has always been a problem. Hardly was an object positioned, than it was already drifting out of the eyepiece's field of view. Dobsonians were therefore preferentially used for deep sky observing at low magnifications. With BlackDiamond Autotracking and BlackDiamond GoTo Dobsonians, Sky-Watcher has now created a new option: a series featuring automatic tracking. Tiresome guiding by hand is no longer necessary. The device is fully capable, even when planetary observing at high magnification.

The telescope and mount:

This BlackDiamond truss tube Dobsonian is equipped with a 12-inch parabolic mirror. 12 inch optics offers an optimal compromise between light-gathering capacity and transportability. The 12 incher provides 44% more light than a 10 incher. This is immediately noticeable when looking through the eyepiece. Such an instrument will show interesting things beyond the usual standard astronomical objects. Almost all the NGC catalogue objects are visible in good seeing conditions. With an aperture ratio of f4.9 and a finely adjustable 2 inch focuser, the telescope can be used to photograph the brighter astronomical objects. An abundance of detail can be seen on some planets under good seeing conditions. Saturn shows half-dozen of its moons as well as the gaps in its rings.

The telescope is equipped with a smoothly operating Crayford focuser, which allows precise focusing adjustment. A T2 camera connector is included with the focuser. A camera-specific T2 adapter, which is included in our product range, is additionally required for using a DSLR camera.

Truss tube Dobsonians are particularly popular with committed observers due to their excellent portability. Skywatcher offers an especially easy to manage system with its new FlexTube Dobsonians. Only having 3 tubes, they can be quickly collapsed. On arriving at the observing site you simply need to extend the tubes again and you have a fully operational and aligned instrument within seconds. The telescope is still very rigid even in its fully extended configuration. The manufacturer promises very stable collimation despite the simple design.

Included in delivery:

• optics with a collapsible tube
• reinforced rocker box
• 10mm and 25mm eyepieces (1.25")
• 2 inch Crayford focuser with 1.25 inch adapter and T2 camera connector
• 9x50 quick-release finder for easy location of objects in the night sky
• primary mirror with central marker for a easier collimation
• user manual in German

The built-in tracking capability allows the photography of brighter objects. Unlike many standard Newtonians, there is no problem with the focus position with Sky-Watcher truss tube Dobsonians. The position of focus can be flexibly adapted. The large light gathering power opens up interesting options at lunar eclipses and for planetary astrophotography. The powerful servo-motors on both axes can be controlled is via the hand box and can move the telescope at a range of different speeds.

The GoTo version of the Sky-Watcher Dobsonian comes with a SynScan control. The hand box is used to select any object from the pre-programmed database of 42,900 objects and the telescope then slews to this fully automatically.