Olli

16 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

You can carry the heritage 130p fully assembled as the mount has a carry handle though if carrying it a long time I would put some padding on the handle bit. The whole thing is a bit over 6 kilos. Plus a bag with your gubbins, red light torch, hat, eyepieces. and I guess at least something for you to sit on a camping stool as they are nice and low and a plastic bag just to sit the base on as water/damp is not good for particle board. Depending on the angle and height using the red dot finder may prove quite hard to position your head where it needs to be.

The 130PS on the other thread you could stand to observe and it is the same mirror I think just in a different housing and overall it weighs the same as the heritage looking at specs.

There was this one I was looking at  ( think the same one you’re talking about) https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-pronto/sky-watcher-explorer-130ps-az-pronto.html also  I was looking at the 6” dob in this range but the awkwardness and weight of it all slightly put me off.

9 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

I used the supplied eyepieces for a while, I have only added in dribs and drabs. I usually wait for offers or second hand to buy a good eyepiece but cheaper then full price.

I am also a fan of this telescope link here as also very within your budget and portable I suspect by having the whole lot over shoulder and walking. The heritage 130p telescope is very versatile it shows DSO (remember they are grey fuzzy patches) and planets but with no chromatic aberration. The ST80 will show CA on very bright objects and is smaller so can't show as much detail on Moon etc. but star fields look awesome in a refractor.

You do not clarify what portable to you means, and if you take the heritage away from home you may then be challenged on where to put it to observe. You may find a park bench to sit it on and sit next to it or a picnic table, or maybe you mean to walk from a flat down to a communal garden that has a table/bucket/seat etc. But in time you may get a tripod for the telescope so it is expandable and can grow with you.

 

In terms of portability I’m just looking for something lightweight and easy to carry as I’ll have to get down stairs ( main stairs in house) or if I leave it in the garage I have to go up stairs on decking for maybe better views  And something that is quick to set up. There is a field opposite me which I might use as I have a fair amount of trees in my garden restricting my view. But that may not be all the time. 

3 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

The mirror is good, I have one. It is not cheap telescope it is a good telescope cleverly packaged.

I have seen the Jupiter moon transit shadow, very small black dot but I saw it with this telescope though I would have been using one of the eyepieces I have bought since buying the telescope.

I use it either with it on the floor or on an upturned empty fat ball tub. I sit on a garden chair.

The telescope uses a standard mount so can be put on other tripods, even a decent photo tripod with an EQ clamp adaptor so very versatile and expandable.

You can make a light shroud if you have a lot of street lights.

You will need at least a collimation cap.

Thanks Happy-Kat, I have read a lot of reviews and all seem positive but wanted to hear from someone who actually uses it, have seen pictures on tripods but I think I’ll keep it how it is. Are the original eyepieces good enough to use for a while or should upgrading them be a priority. Thanks for the help  

Hello again,

After a lot of you gave me some good suggestions for what my first scope should be someone had suggested the Skywatcher a heritage 130p. I just wanted to know if anyone has had this scope and would to share your opinion/experience with it. I was looking something portable and under £200 and this seems to fit. But when scopes are usually this cheap sometimes they don’t perform that well. Also I wanted to ask is having a open tube a problem for dew etc. 

Many Thanks,

Ps (here is the original post if you have anymore suggestions) 

someone had mentioned