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Sky Watcher 130p

Craig_Billo

By Craig_Billo
in Member Equipment Reviews

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Craig_Billo

Craig_Billo

Posted
Posted

Hi just felt compelled to write a review of my new telescope as a lot of newcomers like me seem to be heading towards this scope.

I ordered the scope SW130p AZ GOTO from FLO at 2.33pm on Thursday and by 2.54 I had a confirmation email and an item dispatched email along with a FedEx tracking number so i could see where my precious cargo was. As a regular online orderer I was pleasently surprised with the information and speed at which I was updated with it. Sure enough by 3pm the next day I was eagerly unpacking my new 'scope. Thanks to FLO and FedEx for such a feat.

On unpacking the item I was pleasently surprised to find that I had a x2 barlow lense and also a moon filter that wasnt listed on the FLO site when I ordered it (these were listed on the old blue coloured models elsewhere on 'tinternet but the new colour scheme was more my cup of tea). Also included to my surprise was the serial link cable to run the scope with a PC/laptop, again another item not listed and a very pleasent surprise.

Now on to the bad bit, upon removing the OTA from its protective cocoon (its own box within the box, bubble wrap and protective tissue for paint work) I removed the end cap to reveal that a couple of the secondary mirror vanes were bent, my heart sunk as I knew I had no access to a collimator and if they were throwing the allingment off I'd have a verexpensive ornimant for a few days. Anyway I took my chances and straightened them out and blow me it seemed to be spot on when I checked it visually later that night, it really was turning out to be my lucky day.

Assembly was a breeze as no fiddling about was needed with the mount as it was as simple as screwing it to the tripod after clicking the accessory tray into place to lock the legs in the open position. The tube assembly just slid into its dovetail and a couple of turns on its fixing bolt and I was ready to go, or i would have been if it was dark! Next up was the computer synscan controller and in true, im a bloke I dont need instructions style I fumbled with it for the next hour or so untill I swallowed my pride and read the instructions:o

Connecting it to my laptop and stellarium was also as trouble free as assembly was, It was just a case of installing a driver for my usb to serial adaptor and then starting the already installed plugin within stellarium and telling it that I had a nexstar mount. Away she went first time and every time, its just a case of aligning mount first then connecting it to the laptop and highling the object you want to view then press CTRL + 1 and the scope slews to the desired position.

Now onto the actual telescope itself, I have been using a cheap 76mm newtonion for the past 12months and as it had a basic alt-az mount and cheap and nasty eye pieces I never really got anywhere fast with it and ended up frustrated, cold and miserable after a nights viewing. Not any more!! after aligning the scope with 1 star that was familiar with me and then consulting stellarium for the second (the unit needs second star to be a certain distance apart for alingment and im not too good with the northern sky as there is a football pitch with floodlights in that direction) Anyway after a few mins I was away, My first port of call was M42 the great orion nebula. I popped the 25mm ep in and got a nice haze in the image so i knew i was there, i could just make out a shape to it. I upped the ante and in went the 10mm, now I could clearly see the ghostly shape and some detail to the cloud. I then hopped over to the western skies and lined jupiter up for a gander, With the 25mm ep again I could make out the lower band reasonably clearly and 3 of her moons as pin pricks in the sky, after plopping the 10mm in I could clearly see a darker southern pole and the lower band i just mentioned with a lighter band between them as well as another slightly darker northern band. After this I continued to hop around the sky after various other objects to test my new kit out including the pin wheel and andromeda galaxy but i was fighting on 3 fronts by now with the cold, bad seeing and worse of all CLOUDS, so not a lot came from these last few mins of viewing.

All in all not a bad start to my new scopes history as I probably managed to view as much in a single quick session as i probably have in the last 12 months with my basic alt-az mounted scope. I know seeing was def not at its best last night with cloud and other things against me but atleast i got to play with my new scope the same day i got it, not many people are as lucky as me on that score. I am very pleased with the optics on the scope and look forward to seeing everyones fav saturn again when she appears at a decent hour and also the moon will def be a big target when it appears in our skies again.

My conclusion is really simple Im blown away by the quality of the glass in the eye pieces and the mirrors in the scope when compared to my old scope and the mount is truly amazing and a priceless addition to my equipment and will be to many other newbies as It helped 'hold my hand', and guide me to some of the best sights in the sky. Its easy enough to navigate the sky when you know what your doing and been doing it for years like most people on here probably have, but for a newcommer like me and the countless scores of people who will be buying this particualr scope its a real asset. Along with all the 'extra free' bits that I wasnt expecting this really has been a great deal and Its a scope I will keep for many years to come as I doubt I will out grow the 42,900 listed objects in the handset even though I might not get the best views of them with the limitations of the 130mm primary I will at lest be able to say that I have seen them.

If your considering getting a first scope and this is the realistic starting point for any observer, If you can afford to get the GOTO mounted version I highly reccomend it but if your on a tighter budget then the same scope is available on EQ type mounts for a fair bit less than the £250 I paid.

Thanks, Craig.;)

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PARTY MARTY

PARTY MARTY

Posted
Posted

This is an excellent review Well done mate!!!!

I've had excellent views from this scope from my mate John Stowe! I would highly recomend any beginner to buy this scope. This is seriously an excellent buy for the money and the Synscan is so easy to use as well! If anyone is intrested and would like to see a review, then I would suggest to check out youtube and check out the the review by Astronomy and Nature Centre of Skywatcher AZ Synscan GOTO telescopes!!

The Sky Watcher AZ SynScan GOTO Series of Telescopes (A buyer's guide)

Demonstrating the Sky Watcher AZ SynScan GOTO System ;)

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great_bear

great_bear

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Posted
If you can afford to get the GOTO mounted version I highly reccomend it but if your on a tighter budget then the same scope is available on EQ type mounts for a fair bit less than the £250 I paid.

There is also the non-goto, tracking-only version - the SupaTrak - which is also good.

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Craig_Billo

Craig_Billo

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Thanks for the feedback guys, looking forward to reporting my findings but due to clouds I have really only had about 2 hours use from the scope and most of that was the first night. I do have a few updates but I will probably just edit the orig post so all the info is together.

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deepview

deepview

Posted
Posted

Hi,

Great review and instructions, Just a quick question about USB serial for laptops.

Which USB serial devices do you have or ones you know work with stellarium and a SynScan AZ.

Could you email me a Make or better still a link where i could order one from.

I have an event in 5 weeks where i hope to use the telescope with my laptop and do some great images.

Thanks.

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Craig_Billo

Craig_Billo

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re: Deepview questions, I used a generic usb to serial converter off fleabay and I have posted the link to the drivers i used. The rest of the config was done in the settings within the software, stellarium in my case. One thing to note is that the telescope does need to be alingned manually with the synscan before connecting the serial cable.

http://www.usbfirewire.com/manualsdrivers/usb-to-serial-windows-7.zip

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deepview

deepview

Posted
Posted

Hi,

Thanks for the USB details.

I have the telescope working great with the computer serial port.

Im hoping to use it with my laptop out side in a few weeks at an event.

Ill let you know how i get on when i test it all.

Thank you.

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  • 1 month later...
deepview

deepview

Posted
Posted

Hi,

I got the USB serial port and it worked great.

I took the laptop to the event but as normal for the UK it was cloudy but i got some great images the nights before and showed them to people with the telescope and camera.

They loved the images and i made some animations that got people attention.

Thanks for the help on the USB.

I got more advice about tracking and hope to get better images soon as the skys clear. :-)

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  • 3 years later...
pluton

pluton

Posted
Posted

I bought the Celestron nexstar 130 slt it sounds pretty similar to yours wish i could see jupiter closer up though. Will have to buy a bigger scope for next year hopefully

Hello,

 It is godd for to observe DSO like Messier objects and planets , Jupiter and Saturn ?

again thanks

Paul

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  • 2 weeks later...
Digger1895

Digger1895

Posted
Posted

I think you may have answered a question I've been thinking of but would appreciate conformation as I'm considering goto for my next scope.

I do most of my observing from home which has limited views. My question is can you tell synscan or celestron which stars to align to as my southern view is virtually non existent, so could I just choose for example one star in the north-east and one in the north-west?

Sorry for the noob question but I am a noob!

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

Posted
Posted

I think you may have answered a question I've been thinking of but would appreciate conformation as I'm considering goto for my next scope.

I do most of my observing from home which has limited views. My question is can you tell synscan or celestron which stars to align to as my southern view is virtually non existent, so could I just choose for example one star in the north-east and one in the north-west?

Sorry for the noob question but I am a noob!

You can align with any stars you choose. Its best to pick stars that are far enough away in opposite directions from each other so the Go-To can triangulate their positions to find out where you are viewing from.

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  • 1 year later...

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