jonathan

I'm a fan of Explore Scientific's 82 degree wide field eyepieces, superb crisp views but with a price to match. For planetary viewing, depending on seeing conditions in your area, I'd suggest something around 10 or 12mm should give you a decent disc to look at; sometimes lower magnification reveals more detail because the image is brighter, and is more forgiving in less than perfect seeing. 12mm is perhaps more useful than 7mm too, you might see small galaxies and nebula that would be too dim or fuzzy with higher magnification. Try something from the Celestron X-Cel range as Ricochet suggested if they are within your budget. I think the planets are up in the very early hours at the moment, rising some time after midnight or so, slowly moving towards evening skies over the next few months. With the skies very light (longest daylight hours right now) it will be tricky to view anything other than bright stars, you could look for the summer triangle stars, double stars, clusters, and interesting asterisms (latter just needs naked eye and binoculars).

I have found the Celestron X-Cel eyepieces work quite well with the 8SE (almost the same thing as C8), no need to spend a lot on high quality eyepieces for an f10 scope. If the C8 has the 2" back the same as the 8SE and you have the money to spend, then a 2" visual back / 2" dual-speed focuser and 2" diagonal should transform your C8 into a much more dynamic instrument, enabling you to quickly switch between normal 1.25" eyepieces and 2". I have a very nice PanaView 38mm eyepiece which is simply fantastic for the Orion Nebula and star clusters, although that's probably the only 2" eyepiece I use with my 8SE (I only own two 2" eyepieces at present). My refractor is also 2" at the back so I use the diagonal and eyepieces with that too, I look at those accessories as investments rather than an expense. Consider if you are ever likely to be able to afford or own another telescope that might use 2" accessories. For me the 2" dual speed focuser was well worth the upgrade on the 8SE for smoother and easier focusing alone, and the reason why I went 2" on the 8SE. Just beware though that 2" accessories will unbalance the scope unless it's on an EQ mount and your dovetail bar has enough length to compensate; my 8SE no longer fitted on the original 8SE NexStar mount with the 2" accessories fitted.

f5 should enable you to use high quality eyepieces (usually for higher magnification), and I agree on a heavier mount if you can afford it, makes all the difference to steady and enjoyable views.

200 if on a dob mount, no question. You're probably going to want to lug the dob base out separately anyway, saves any potential risk of dropping something or a back injury trying to haul it all as one. Depending on how tall Astro Alice is, might want to invest in a small set of steps too!

I'm not sure why there would be problems using a single leisure battery though, those things usually have a lot of amp hours as they are designed to run with an inverter to act as 240v in a caravan, with multiple outlets and such. Just skip the inverter and attach your 12v devices and a buck converter for 5v directly, attach as many 5v devices as you want (that the buck converter is able to handle, usually they will be limited in the amps output, add more buck converters if necessary), I really don't think it will harm or go over the battery's capabilities to provide enough amps. Have two leisure batteries if there's a chance of draining a single battery during a really long imaging session, amp hours will likely be the only limiting factor (there are some huge leisure batteries out there though!) The problems may occur if using a single mains-powered source, as that will be limited in terms of amps output. The other thing I don't like about mains is the possibility of water ingress when there's dew on the ground, waterproofing will be necessary and I'd just rather not have to worry about that sort of thing.

I just use a 12v leisure battery, it sits under the tripod and supplies all that I need, has plenty of amperes (not sure what the maximum draw is, I've never needed more than about 3 or 4 Amps). I use an auto socket splitter and a HitecAstro dew heater controller which includes a couple of auxilliary outputs, I used one of these for the mount. I don't run anything on 5v but there are converter power supplies designed for use in cars that would do the job from a 12v source.

One point I would add to this debate is setup time - with a full manual mount (with or without motorised tracking) you can be out and observing as quickly as it takes you to take the stuff outside and plug it all in, for visual you only need rough polar alignment so once you know roughly which direction the pole star or magnetic North is, just point the N leg of the EQ tripod towards it and that's your alignment done. With a GOTO you still have to do this (if it's EQ, possibly with some AZ setups too) and then go through a manual or guided star alignment process which may or may not succeed, adding time and possibly frustration while you're out there freezing your codlings off. I tried accurate polar alignment a couple of times (mostly only necessary if you want to do astrophotography or use the setting circles to find objects), I found it to be a very trying experience having to crouch / kneel down to peek through the polar scope and then try to line things up precisely, my main difficulty was in seeing the star pattern as I don't have much luck with stereo vision if there's anything closer than the thing I'm trying to look it, it throws my depth and focus right off. For the 130 you would probably be fine with an EQ3 Pro mount, but for 200P I agree that you'd need EQ5 Pro minimum for steady views (about £170 over your stated budget, but you'd be *AT* the limit of the EQ5 Pro mount so you'd experience some wobble, the HEQ5 Pro would be a better option), NEQ6 Pro with GOTO is close to £1k so more than double your budget. When it comes to mounts bigger is better, and that includes the tripod legs, however the NEQ6 Pro is a very heavy piece of equipment and it might just dissuade you from getting out if the weight could be a problem.

Just looking at the 15x50 or 12x36 aspect of the two binoculars in question, they are certainly unusual in terms of common binocular specs for astronomy use. In Astronomy aperture is very important unless you're only interested in the brightest objects (e.g. planets, bright stars). It's the IS component of the binoculars that appears to be adding about £500, an expensive luxury considering that a basic telescope could be had for half that cost and would show a heck of a lot more than either of those binoculars could. However, if binoculars are your thing and you are willing to spend the money... I'm just not sure that 15x magnification would be that useful for astronomy without the 70 aperture to match (e.g. from 15x70 binoculars). It may work fine for daytime viewing as there's the light available to pick out the details, different kettle of fish in the dark. A cheaper option? Rest the 15x70 binoculars on an upturned broom. Or how about this for steady binocular use? http://www.astro-tom.com/projects/binomount/binocular_mount.htm

For a case you could look at either the Pelican style foam-filled cases (rather expensive, but I hear they are very good) or try to use the packing the mount / OTA came in and place it inside something like a Curver or Really Useful Box (I prefer the Curver as the lid can be hinged and the latches feel more secure). The HEQ5 mount (minus the tripod) will be quite heavy and tricky to handle, you'd probably want stiff foam to keep it in place. When I've taken my NEQ6 Pro to a dark site I just placed it in the footwell, it can't go anywhere then. Tripod in the boot along with the OTA in its plastic Curver box, eyepiece and other flight cases fill in the gaps in the boot. It's amazing just how much stuff one needs to set up a scope! Don't forget the power pack / leisure battery, finder scope, controller, counterweights, extension bar, etc. It would be useful to do some trial runs, get all of the equipment out in daylight and break it down into what needs to (or could) be in cases and what does not. For the tripod you could look at a snowboard bag, personally I never bothered for the tripod, just remove the accessory tray (keep the nut and washer in a safe place) and wrap it in a thick blanket if necessary.

Great to know that the 1.75" steel tripod is still availble to buy, I wonder why the CG-4 disappeared though. I own the CG-4 and NEQ6 Pro, the latter comes with (I assume) the 2" version of the same tripod, it's certainly a very stable tripod, as is the 1.75" with CG-4 (EQ3-2) mount fitted. I might just see if I can buy a Sky-Tee 2 or similar to try out instead of EQ.

That is a top grab and go scope, however it has its limits as John says. Planets are one of those things that demand ever more expensive scopes and eyepieces to get those super high magnifications and detailed views, so tantalisingly close yet not close enough!

If it is just dust or sand then you could first try a can of compressed air (DO NOT SHAKE IT) or a camera 'bulb' blower (without touching the mirror surface at all), see how much of the dust it removes. You will need to remove the mirror from the OTA in order to do this properly. Cleaning the mirror shouldn't be difficult or scary, it's just requires a very gentle touch and some distilled or de-ionised water to rinse off the soap, then leave to air dry in a warm place (preferably not outside when there is a south westerly breeze!)

A couple of things that I would add... The 9x50 finder scope that comes with the Skywatcher could prove difficult to use for the beginner, it will show things upside-down and back to front, and also at 9x magnification it will be difficult to know exactly which part of the sky you're pointing at, and the 50 will show many more stars than you can see with the naked eye. An additional finder will be a huge bonus here, a simple red dot finder or similar with no or very little magnification. The Bresser comes with a much more manageable 6x30 finder, you'll be able to recognise the stars you can see through it more easily and it won't show as many that you can't see with the naked eye. It looks like there is a spare bracket already in place for a red dot finder on this scope too. Also the Bresser comes with a solar filter, whether this interests you or not it's definitely not to be sniffed at as that solar film is expensive, I'm guessing from the picture that it is designed to fit in the end of the tube but my advice would be to also tape it in position at either side while in use. Overall I would choose the Bresser over the Skywatcher, it just looks more geared towards the beginner with an eye to easily upgrade as the owner grows in the hobby. Spend some extra money on a mid-range eyepiece (12-14mm) and later another closer to 10mm, but make sure it is suitable for the scope you buy (they often say what f or speed of scope it will work best with). BST are popular budget eyepieces, I have had good experiences with Celestron and Explore Scientific eyepieces too.

You could use Stellarium to virtually experiment with different eyepieces (you can manually enter your scope's stats and then add the same for individual eyepieces and also finders), and I'm sure there are online resources that will show you how various eyepiece and scope configurations will show certain star regions etc.

I think perhaps one of the most important features of the Omni CG-4 mount is the 1.75" tripod with its tubular steel legs, it looks to be the same tripd that's supplied with the HEQ5 Pro. I would avoid anything that comes with the square aluminium legs. The actual CG-4 mount is probably the same as the Skywatcher EQ3-2, but the EQ3-2 comes supplied with square aluminium tripod legs. The stability of the mount starts with the ground you place it on (I find that grass is best).

£600 could be tricky as you stipulated GOTO as a requirement, and for GOTO plus a 150mm OTA minimum, I'd say that leaves you with an EQ5 Pro as a minimum mount too. The £££ are already racking up. Personally I have found no problems at all for visual (I haven't done imaging with this setup but it should be possible) with a Skywatcher 150P (newtonian) on Celestron Omni CG-4 mount (which comes with the 1.75" tubular tripod legs - very steady and solid). Alas, I don't know if the Omni CG-4 is still available separately or even as part of a bundle, it seems to have dropped off the radar, but if you can acquire one with dual axis motor drive upgrade then perhaps, just perhaps you can also plug in a GOTO handset or connect to a laptop to drive those motors (might require some modification, maybe EQ-MOD, but I don't know anything about that). The CG-4 mount and tripod cost me about £260 with dual axis motors if memory serves, although I only have the RA motor fitted for visual tracking purposes, it's a long time since I bought it. Failing the CG-4, I'd say go for the EQ5 Pro or HEQ5 Pro, that mount should serve you well for many years. The basic EQ5 has only crude gearing from what I've read, not so good and possibly not upgradable to GOTO, not even sure if they still sell it as the trend seems to be for GOTO now. One other thing I would say, even with GOTO you'll need to know what's good to look at - it's all very well looking through the catalogue of visbile objects on any given night from your location, but you need to keep in mind that through a 150 or 200mm scope a lot of the objects will be quite underwhelming, they might just be a tiny faint dot, or a faint grey patch, nothing much to get excited about (if you can even tell which white dot it is among the unknown background stars). Also, GOTO systems don't always work correctly, even when you've gone through the full alignment procedure, so it may end up pointing at an empty patch of space or the wrong patch of sky and if you're not at least a bit clued up on what the object should look like or where in the sky it should be, you might end up admiring a random star for what it isn't. Knowing the night sky is an important part of astronomy, you don't need to know a lot and it may take a while to learn the main brightest or most interesting stars, but it'll be time well spent on a lounger with a pair of binoculars and a star chart or guide book. Swatting up on what to look for in a small guide book before you go out can be a very useful thing! Sometimes the easiest objects are also the best.

Caveat: I don't own a Heritage 130, but I do own a Skywatcher 150. I quite enjoy the 82 degree Explore Scientific 14mm eyepiece I have, you could look at that product line but they jump from 1.25" to 2" after the 14mm; for the Ultimate Widefield View nothing I've tried quite compares to the PanaView 38mm SWA 70 degree 2" eyepiece! I'm sure there are better (more expensive) eyepieces out there, but this one is superb for wide starfield views. It's a large, heavy eyepiece with a wide piece of glass to look at, however I'm not sure if it will fit your Heritage 130, perhaps there is a 1.25" similar eyepiece but I don't know of one. I think whichever way you go, for the best widefield views you're probably going to be looking at a 2" eyepiece with a lot of glass / weight. I'm not sure if a 2" -> 1.25" adapter is really the best way to go as you'll be losing a good portion of the eyepiece's capability, perhaps an OTA upgrade to one with a 2" focuser could be on the cards if widefield is really your bag?

De-ionised water is the same thing, AFAIK. It's used for car radiators so likewise they won't want to be adding any minerals otherwise limescale would eventually destroy the engine. I've used De-ionised water to rinse a primary before, works fine. Just use it for the final rinse, allow as much water to run off as possible and then leave to air dry, shouldn't be any problems. Most garages or auto shops should sell it, you won't need much so 1 litre or so should be fine.

I had corrosion on my blue glass element (I think this is just another name for the ITF) in my Lunt, the problem has been solved on new blue glass elements so if you purchase one (Lunt sell them on their website) it should not happen again. Simple way to check this is to look at your blue glass element (it will be blue in colour, not red or anything else) to see if you can see any surface corrosion, it might be on the inside or outside surface (or both). In some cases the corrosion can be removed fully using alcohol and a microfibres cloth / normal glasses or camera lens cloth, in my case it left a stain which still affected the views. I've never dismantled a PST however I might be doing so soon as I'll need to check the society's PST for just this issue after going through the process with my own solar scope. I'm sure there will be instructions online for this somewhere, it shouldn't be difficult or dangerous to do.

Total cloud just coming across here too now, glad I decided to get out for a look. Tried my hand at solar photography (through my Lunt) but just got a flat red disc, I'm sure I've missed a few steps there then!

Just been looking at this now, really nice active area there with the sun spot and wiggly filament, also another shorter filament nearby. So pleased that I was able to sort out the blue glass element on my Lunt, I can literally tune from one end of the filament to the other.

As far as a power tank goes, I would steer clear of those jump start things as they're designed to deliver very high amps for short bursts (for starting a typical family car), they are not ideal for running a telescope mount over several hours. Typically a lead acid car battery or jump start battery will degrade quickly if discharged below 50%, they are designed to be kept charged at all times. You can use a 12v lead acid battery with a mount so long as you are careful not to discharge it below 50% and charge it as soon as possible after use, and remember to charge it periodically when not in use (any car battery charger should do the job, but a smart charger will help maintain the battery better). A much better and more robust battery for the job is what's commonly called a leisure battery, or one that would typically be found inside a caravan or motorhome for running the electrics (not the one for running the engine), they are designed to give power through their entire capacity so it's safe to discharge them well below 50% without any harm coming to the battery. You can get large or small versions, so long as it's designated as a leisure battery it should be fine. Then all you need is the appropriate cable (assuming you have the original power cable that goes to a cigar type plug) - buy or make a small adaptor cable to go from the battery with an auto / cigar socket on the end, an inline fuse on one of the wires is required for safety (otherwise, if there's a short circuit then your wiring could heat up very quickly and catch fire, cause burns, etc). All the parts for this should be available from an auto parts shop, be sure to use 3A wiring too. The cigar type auto plugs usually have a fuse inside them, this covers the cable it's attached to but it wouldn't necessarily cover the battery adaptor cable it plugs into. I've built various cables for my Skywatcher mounts which are all powered by lead acid or leisure batteries. I have a Yuasa 6v lead acid battery which works very well with my CG-4 mount, and a Yuasa 12v which does a fine job with my NEQ6 Pro mount. Note that these Yuasa batteries are more typically designed for embedded applications (e.g. UPS or alarm systems) so they have spade terminals rather than standard round terminals as found on a car battery, if soldering and making stuff is not your bag then perhaps stick to the bigger (heavier) lead acid / leisure battery with pre-made adaptor cable.

Perhaps this is an opportunity for you!

A couple of things stand out for me about that mount... It relies on a tablet or computer to operate the GOTO system, meaning that you'll have to look at said screen while using the scope. For me, screens are a no-no if I'm out observing in a dark site, even if they have a red filter or 'night mode' activated they'll still put out a lot of light which can (and most likely will) affect your night vision, not to mention disturb others if you're with a group. Good for imagers though who normally do use a computer for guiding and such. It uses a relatively small battery pack that will go through batteries probably quite quickly, my simple tracking mount came with a very similar battery pack but I quickly replaced it with a small 6v lead acid battery and some custom power cables, much easier to handle and charge. Otherwise I have no experience of Explore Scientific mounts, however if it's made to the same standards as their eyepieces it should work well (I have their 14mm 82 degree eyepiece, very good indeed).

For eyepieces it's good to have a selection, the usual is about three - 28mm is the low mag one you'll probably use when finding your target or for observing larger objects such as the moon, clusters or large nebula, something around the 14-16mm range for a slightly closer look, then probably 9-11mm or so for high mag. You could probably use higher mag than 9mm but for a high quality eyepiece that'll really make the difference you'll be paying £££, e.g. one of the Pentax range. As to which are going to be best for the 130pds, it is an f5 scope so should be good with high quality eyepieces, but you don't want to go spending the earth on specialist ones to start off with so I'd recommend looking at the Celestron X-Cel LX range or maybe one of the Skywatcher UWA Planetary Eyepieces, these are close to your £50 budget and should serve you well.