“The Explorer 200p passed all our tests with flying colours and was adelight to use optically and mechanically ... The overall stability ofthe system impressed us: it had a rock-solid mount with the least amountof play in the slow-motion controls. The quality of its views just pushed it ahead of the [Orion Optics - DeLuxe] Europa, giving us a veryenjoyable look at all of our test objects. For us, these tipped thebalance to bring the Explorer-200P out on top.”  BBC Sky at Nightmagazine July 09 

Our view

The most economic way of owning a higher performance telescope for observing. At the same price of some small GOTO telescopes, this 8" mounted Newtonian will show resolved globular clusters, obvious colour on the gas giant planets, structure in many galaxies, has enough aperture to make effective use of UHC and OIII filters for breathtaking views of emission and planetary nebulae, and enough aperture for higher magnifications to be used for detailed views of lunar and planetary features. At this price, it knocks the deep-sky performance of smaller GOTO telescopes into a cocked hat. 

Tips

Make use of the good quality 2" eyepieces available for lower power widefield images. Try the 35mm 2" Skywatcher Aero ED eyepiece and just mosey through Cygnus and down into Perseus. Breathtaking bright star fields. Keep this telescope collimated correctly for sharp star images. Construct a dew shield for the front end, then remove the thin metal plate at the bottom of the telescope to allow cool air to chimney up. The dewshield helps to encourage the warmer air in the tube to exit. Try a binoviewer plus Newtonian binoviewer glass path corrector for stunning lunar images.