Portable scope required.

[Coastliner]

Hi All,

I have been given the opportunity to visit the West coast of Ireland in October and am really looking forward to the true dark skies. I will be flying rather than driving so I am looking for a portable scope that can be packed into standard luggage. I looked at the Skywatcher Heritage 130p but have been put off slightly by the helical focuser. My budget would be around £200.

Any suggestions?

All the best,

Neil.

[Steve Ward]

West coast of Ireland in October ... I'd put £20 aside for an umbrella ... 

The Heritage 130P is a cracking little 'scope for the money and the focuser is not that bad.

[beamer3.6m]

skywatcher virtuoso 90mm.

one in the for sale section too!

[Schorhr]

Hi,

the focuser is as small and light as it gets for a budget telescope, it can be improved but even out of the box it is not that bad (if you aren't spoiled by a very good focuser).

:-)

For planets a 4" or 5" mak might be a better and even more compact solution, but regarding the combination price+portability+size the h130p is pretty good. It shows a lot regarding deepsky, and planets are nice too, even though this is not a high-magnification expert.

Do not underestimate size though, I am currently building a box, it's inside dimensions are about 60x60x50cm.

That's a tad more bulky then a (good) camera tripod and 4" Maksutov, but that combination costs more-

And regarding deep sky, 5" shows more then 3 or 4", plus even with 1,25" eyepieces the Heritage allows nice wide field views thanks to the low focal length. A bit over two and a half degree of sky, almost double then the Mak.

Regarding the heritage's low observing position: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/217716-skywatcher-heritage-130p-flexitube-how-do-you-use-yours/

Other alternatives would be a 130pds (2" Focuser) on a diy dobsonian rockerbox for 5€ or one from Astrozoom.de, Dieter Martini or just something like a Alt-Az Mount such as the Az4 or Nexstar SLT... But getting more bulky and expensive...

Good luck finding a travel telescope :-)

[Fozzie]

Have you considered a short tube achro like the ST80 and a light weight camera tripod... I've just picked one up second hand for under £100 and in total it weighs around 4kg... Great for wide views and that, just picked up a solar white light filter too... Mines heading to Corfu in a weeks time...

[AlexB67]

Slightly over budget, but a bit similar and a bit larger aperture would the Orion StarBlast.

http://www.scsastro.co.uk/catalogue/orion-starblast-6-telescope.htm?term=starblast+6&gclid=CPmKu7ic1L4CFUfLtAodE0oAFQ

I've never used one but looks a neat scope to me. I have the Heritage and while to focuser is not the best it is perfectly functional. A least because it is helical,  eyepieces will never slip and once in focus stay well put.

I would get the largest aperture you can transport. If you got to that part of the world is all about taking advantage of the dark skies and fishing for deep sky objects.

I'll be going to the south west  myself this year to visit the Kerry dark sky reserve. Good luck with the weather

[LukeSkywatcher]

Hi Neil. The Heritage is a great scope, but as you say, the focuser is the only real let down on the scope but that issue is easily overcome. The problem is that someone thought it would be a great idea to powder coat/spray paint the threads inside the focuser.

My main concern is the weather here in Ireland in Oct. Up until about 3-4 yrs ago Ireland had great weather in sept/oct. Thats not the case these days. But hey!!!!!!!!!!! who knows.

Is bringing a set of bins an option?. Even a set of 10x50 work great in dark sky locations. 

[Coastliner]

All good stuff here guys, thanks for the replies (keep 'em coming!). I already own a NexStar 4se so am tempted my the umbrella (thanks Steve) and refractor combo. Good to hear that the 130p is still a good bet. Will I need to buy a collimator with the 130p?

[Schorhr]

Hi,

wouldn't a lighter mount for the 4" Mak be a solution? :-)

Thanks to the short tube of the h130p a collimation cap or diy-film-can collimator will do, or a cheshire-sighttube.

The little telescope holds collimation astonishingly well but it is necessary to check it after transports.

[Coastliner]

Hi,

wouldn't a lighter mount for the 4" Mak be a solution? :-)

Thanks to the short tube of the h130p a collimation cap or diy-film-can collimator will do, or a cheshire-sighttube.

The little telescope holds collimation astonishingly well but it is necessary to check it after transports.

I'm thinking that the Mak is a bit too heavy to carry over, I would imagine the 130p is a goo deal lighter?

I'm off to goolgle "collimation cap" and "film can collimator now!

[LukeSkywatcher]

I'm thinking that the Mak is a bit too heavy to carry over, I would imagine the 130p is a goo deal lighter?

I'm off to goolgle "collimation cap" and "film can collimator now!

Thats all you need. A 35mm film canister cut down to size with a 2mm hole drilled perfectly centred.

[Schorhr]

Hi,

Celestron germany states

5kg for telescope and mount, 4,5kg for the tripod.

If the Mak's weight is similar, it's around 2.2 Kilogram.

My camera tripod weighs about the same, so both less then 5kg.

My nexstar SLT mount weighs 4kg, so with the 4" Mak 6.something kg, with the Heritage OTA 7kg.

The Heritage weighs 6.2kg, just the OTA about 3kg.

The Heritage will show a bit more regarding deep sky, I do not mean to tell you not to get one, I love mine to bits, but the Mak fotd imto my backpack easily, and the 130p is a bit more bulky.

The 150/750 is neat but for me the Heritage is my limit regarding portability (Well, okey, my 10" weighs less then 10kg, but that's not comfortable on long trips anymore...).

Collimation cap (cheaper at TS) http://www.firstlightoptics.com/other-collimation-tools/rigel-aline-collimation-cap.html

Film can tool

http://www.lymax.com/cosmicone/collimator/

http://flylib.com/books/en/3.311.1.55/1/

http://www.ozscopes.com.au/guides/telescopes-guide/caring-and-collimating-your-telescope.html

[Skipper Billy]

The Heritage focusser is transformed from notchy, stiff and clunky to smooth as silk with a few turns of PTFE tape round the threads.

Great wee scope.

[Coastliner]

The Heritage focusser is transformed from notchy, stiff and clunky to smooth as silk with a few turns of PTFE tape round the threads.

Great wee scope.

Nice idea Skipper.

[Coastliner]

Ok, how about this - I take my Nexstar 4se OTA and a light tripod. Is there an adapter that would attach the OTA to a standard camera mount?

[Schorhr]

As I do not own the exact scope, doesn't it have regular threading as well?

Looked like it at http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10445

Otherwise I am sure there are some adapters from dovetail to threading.

Or, an awesome travel mount http://forum.astronomie.de/phpapps/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1034470/Die_ultimative_Reisemontierung

Something short like that for the celestron mount heads would be nice...

[Coastliner]

Thanks Schorhr - D'oh! I had never had the OTA off its mount until 30 seconds after reading your post, and yes, it does have standard threading, at two locations in fact, to aid balancing with a camera attached I guess. I will be experimenting at the earliest opportunity with my lightweight tripod. That mount looks really nice as well!

[Schorhr]

Good luck :-)

I have two camera tripods, one is plastic and aluminum and was way too weak, the other one is an old sturdy one...

But if you considered the low Heritage anyway you can just try not fully extending the tripod and sit on a camping chair :-)

[trynda1701]

The Heritage focusser is transformed from notchy, stiff and clunky to smooth as silk with a few turns of PTFE tape round the threads.

Great wee scope.

Ordered a Heritage 130P yesterday from FLO. I take it this is easy enough to do if I find the helical focuser is a bit finicky?

Mark

[AndyWB]

Ordered a Heritage 130P yesterday from FLO. I take it this is easy enough to do if I find the helical focuser is a bit finicky?

Yes, it is. I used some teflon bike hub grease to achieve the same.