Gonzo0

Jupiter was the first thing I saw through my scope. Will always hold a place in my heart!

I feel the pain. Its been cloudy here for the past week and a bit, and before that there was a full moon, so not good for DSO. Now that there's a new moon its back to being cloudy. Just got lucky last night with a break in the clouds

I hope someone managed to capture Jupiter last night at around 0.45am BST. I was observing through my dobsonian but I was just thinking to myself, "I really hope someone is capturing this right now!" They way it looked with Europa transitioning behind it with Callisto coming out from behind it was amazing. Here is an idea of what it looked like (stellarium)

Thanks Ivan. Do you reckon the heritage will sit happily enough on even grassy ground?

will look into this mike

Cheers mate, thanks for your input on this post. Oh yes, that's another can of worms ready to be opened I'm sure when the time comes 😅 As for the finder, that right angled one looks good and I can see it'd be a lot handier to use. But the problem I have with my finder isn't really anything to do with having to crouch down to get a look through it if, say, I'm trying to find something in at the zenith. It's more an issue of it being too magnified, sort of acting like it's own mini scope which can sometimes make it hard to know where exactly I'm at especially as I am trying to learn the constellations at the same time. I think something like a telrad might be better suited for me as when looking into a red dot kind of sight it doesn't black out your peripherial vision, which I think will help in aiming at the right target as I can use it just like aiming a gun or something along those lines. The circles within the telrad will also be a big help too I'm sure.

I tried for m13 last night. I think I was getting the stars within Hercules confused. I just couldn't pinpoint m13. I found the finder scope that came with the 200p to be quite awkward to use but that's probably just me

Best of both worlds Peter. What better way to travel to dark skies than in a Miata. Health to enjoy!

Just a quick update for those that are interested. I went ahead and ordered a Heritage 150p and a 2x Barlow. Very happy about the purchase. However, the best thing about it is that I am keeping my 8 inch Dob for home use as FLO offers a PayPal pay in 3 system which I didn't know about. That way, I only have to pay 1/3 of the price today and the rest over 3 months which is very managable for me being a student and only having part time work. I feel like I've got all I need now. I have the 8 inch Dob for home use and a 150p for grab and go travelling to dark skies which I will do often. I'm over the moon!! (pun intended) Last night there was an hour window with good clear skies in my bortle 5 backyard. The views were amazing I must say. It would be a shame if I were forced to get rid of the 200p, I've grown quite fond of it. Still haven't seen any DSO like nebula, galaxies, globs, but I seen a lot of double stars and the Pleiades are just amazing I could stare at it all night long, though could do with a lower power eyepiece to have it fit nicely in the FOV, but all that will come with time, and what a time it will be. Clear skies everyone and once again thanks for all your help and apologies if I didn't reply to everyone. I did read every comment and took every piece of advice on board. Sláinte!

That would be great fun! I will be staying near Mayo but I'm sure it'd be worth a journey down near you for a night's observing

I have a trip planned to the west coast of Ireland Ireland in October. The skies there are very much like the skies off the coast of Scotland. Properly dark. Bortle 2. I can't wait to bring my scope with me there. I have only looked on in wonder with my naked eye at dark sites but even that was enough to blow my mind. I had never seen the milky way the way I did that night. Trillions upon trillions of stars. Not a single cloud to be seen. I'm very glad to hear the heritage could deliver you that experience

Yeah it doesn't look bad. Not too worried if the mirrors aren't in good condition. If they aren't then it's straight onto FLO to order the heritage and send the 8 inch Dob back.

Thanks very much Stu I will have a gander!

Thank you all so much for your replies. There has been a lot for me to pick through and the help you have all given me has left me with a much better idea of what to get. I was set on the heritage 150p, and still am actually, however... an Orion Starblast 6/6i has came up for sale in my area. It seems to have everything the heritage does. Tabletop Dob design, small enough to fit in the passenger seat with base attached, doesn't way a ton, quite portable and no need to lower the roof! From what I've seen online too it seems pretty capable. Not sure on the intelliscope feature though. I know it's a "push-to" feature and I'm sure it'd be useful, but that's not why I'm interested in it. It seems to be a great price too at only £200, and no need to fashion a shroud. If someone has a good reason for me not to buy this scope I'm all ears. The heritage is still looking like a great deal and I'm sure it's just as capable. I should d mention also, the dark site that I use has multiple picnic benches that I plan to place the tabletop scope on. I hope that'd be good enough. For home use I am thinking just a sturdy barstool as others have suggested!

Sound advice. Thank you very much. I have an 8mm BST that I will be using with the heritage. I know the shorter focal length will affect how much magnification that will give me compared to the larger 8". Would you recommend a barlow with this scope to use with the already heavy BST? Or just invest in another eyepiece like a 5mm if I wanted more zoom?

That is amazing! I don't even know half of what you have mentioned. There's just so much to see and learn I can't wait to get stuck in. I already own a copy of turn left at orion, enjoying the read so far! I have been using skymaps when observing and find it's a great tool, but I haven't be able to locate anything other than Jupiter and Saturn thus far due to cloudy skies. I think I will go ahead and get the 150p. It just seem's to fit my current lifestyle a bit more.

I'm glad you get it. A lot of ignorance surrounding the MX5 and similar cars but you..... you get it. A decent boot rack, cover, straps would probably end up costing as much as the heritage, though, which at that point I'd rather just buy it as a second scope.

Sadly no club nearby, which is strange considering my town has a planetarium. I can imagine looking through a 10" to be much better than a 6". But I am sure the Heritage is great for grab and go sessions! What have you seen in the Heritage? Anything that you can see in the 10" that you can't in the 6?

Good to see you here man 😄 Yes, I think it has! Although, I'm feeling much better about the 150p's capabilities, especially in a dark sky. Although in saying that.. I just seen Saturn pretty well in my backyard with the 8 inch Dob, in poor seeing conditions too. It still looked great until the clouds consumed it. Arghhhh. I'm all over the place. Colimation has gotten lots easier like you had promised though! At the moment, I am leaning more towards the 150p. I think it'd be a whole other ballgame to just grab it and go to a dark site rather than put in a shift taking apart and reassembling the base every time I want to go out.

Yes, but the MX5 is a cheap car, lol. And, my only car. So yes, I am not made of money. 😂 I just feel I will see more with a 6" telescope in bortle 2 and 3 than I will with an 8" in bortle 5 and 6

Is a 6" scope really that much worse than an 8" to warrant spending a few hundred to get a trailer just to transport an 8" Dob to dark skies though? Unfortunately I'm not made of money lol

Thank you for the detailed response. You have a nice setup there! That would be so much more convieniant for me. To be able to just grab and go anywhere I want with my scope with minimal set-up on a crisp clear night is what I envision. My only concern as mentioned above would be the drop in quality from the 8", but it still seems very capable. That view of Mars looks great, even through a smartphone. I can image how much better it would be viewing with the naked eye. I can't wait for opposition in December. Hopefully get a glimpse of the ice caps. I know I will have to fashion shroud like you said. I wonder if you could point me in the right direction, if you don't mind of course.

I'd probably go the route of getting barlow to use with my existing eye pieces. But it doesn't seem as though a 6" is all that bad. It may be worth the trade down in size. I'm still not sure. Will need to think over it. When out and about with your 150p, what do you use to place the scope on?

The car I drive is also an MX5, so you understand the struggle!! 😂 Can I ask what model of the mx5 you drove? And how exactly did you manage to fit a 10 inch newtonian in there lol

I would love to be able to buy both I really would, but I just don't have that kind of money being a student. You are in quite a unique position as you have both which I think will be a great help to me. Can I ask, side by side, how they compare? Are planets blurry in the 150p as opposed to the 8inch dob? And what about DSO like nebula, andromeda, messier catalog. Does the heritage perform well in these areas?