Tiny Clanger

Who, me ? Surely not ! 😇 I'd not want to carry the heritage 150 dob very far either : it's not particularly heavy, but it is a bit unwieldy. I've never seen a heritage 130 in person, so couldn't comment on how easy one of those would be to carry for 15 min.s. Had you thought of a wheelbarrow or the sort of small hand truck people buy for carting camping or fishing kit around ? Or a child's buggy ! Wrap a heritage dob in a blanket and take it for a walk ... Sanity is overrated in my opinion .

Blue if you are Obi Wan or Skywalker, green for Yoda, red only if you've gone to the dark side . I seem to have joined the forces of evil .

Good, aren't they ? Make finding the dim stuff much easier. I was skeptical about if it was worth spending the money on one, but it really is. You just need to go through the same rigmarole to line it up accurately as you did with the original RDF (and will do again with the Rigel !) but it's not much of a problem, I have to tweak mine when it goes from one 'scope to the other and find it pretty quick to do. I've caught myself admiring a star cluster in the RACI for a few minutes and had to remind myself it's not the actual telescope ... Or in my case, .to attempt to improve the accuracy of the raci targeting by twiddling the sprung pin, mistaking it for one of the screws in the dark. 🤡 I was slightly surprised by the lack of instructions too, especially as my urge for orderliness was vaguely disturbed by the sighting cross not being (as far as I can see) able to be rotated . It doesn't bother me now, and I suppose it shouldn't ever have, the centre is the centre , but still ... I made mine a teeny little dew shield of its own for the front element, from a scrap of the foam I bought to make the dob shroud/dew shield from : no idea if it does any good, but it stays on permanently and certainly does no harm . The RACI has not dewed up at either end . Yet. Neither has the Rigel, which surprised me. Heather

I guess I'm sort of an intermediate member on here , not quite a beginner, but with some appreciation of the Dunning–Kruger effect, so in no way would I consider myself an expert, or give dogmatic replies on anything that is not a simple fact. Personally, my extensive reading before digging into my savings to buy a second 'scope bought me to the conclusion that every 'scope can do most things OK, but all have jobs they are particularly good at. As the OP says, "there is not one scope that does everything well" Best analogy I can come up with is hand saws : I'm a very amateur DIY er, but have , let's see , a cheap Wickes coarse tooth panel saw, a cheap tenon saw , a small decent Stanley 'toolbox' fine tooth short panel saw, a very high quality folding pruning saw , various saw blades for stanley knives, and a few mini hacksaws. Last use of a saw I made was chopping 5cm off the bottom of my xmas tree , which was a big thing with a substantial trunk. thicker than my arm. In theory any of the saws might have done the job (altho' the tenon saw and hacksaw would have had problems due to the thickness of their thick spines) So, toolbox saw, pruning saw or panel saw ? If I'd not had them all to choose from, any one would have worked OK, but for speed, ease and not getting an expensive saw gunged up with pine sap, coarse panel saw it was. Other tasks need finer toothed cuts, less space for the blade to go back and forth, different set and hardness of teeth, more precision. Most saws can do most things, but choosing a saw with the right characteristics gives better, easier results. So, as long as you look at telescopes as tools , it's not hard to justify buying one which has a specific ability you prize and will use. That's what I told myself when I bought the little narrow view, low aperture mak to work beside the little wide view, 150mm aperture dob anyway 🙂 Back to saws :I was in a situation a while back where my folding pruning saw ( a Bahco Laplander, cost about £30) got compared while doing some pruning with a friends wilco folding saw (£5). The upshot of which was they pounced on my saw and used it exclusively instead of theirs until I wrestled it back off them. Up 'till then their saw had seemed fine, but when directly compared, the Bahco was so much better ... I suppose that could be an analogy for the cheap/expensive refractor thing ! Something which seems counter intuitive about telescope buying if you haven't studied the subject is that paying more does not necessarily get you a more versatile telescope ,what it gives is either a better quality telescope and/or a bigger aperture telescope. Which makes it extra difficult when absolute beginners say (often after being prompted , because they didn't realize it was relevant) they 'want to see everything' £400- £500 to spend for visual observing ? How about a 102 mak on an altaz4 with steel tripod, and a small wide field refractor or a 130 or 150 heritage dob , any of which could be used on the nice steady altaz ? Still got enough budget left for a better EP or two and a copy of Turn Left at Orion and you are set for observing anything. But many would look at what is available in a single attractive and impressive looking package and prefer to go for something excitingly tech-y like the Celestron NexStar 130 SLT for £450 or Celestron NexStar 4SE for £500. Heather

Dew marks comes under the 'broke, needs fixing' category to my mind ! Heather

Last night was forecast clear round here on C.O. , but the BBC weather said some cloud , I looked out thinking I'd pop the mak outside (covered, to cool) and do some Moon watching if there was a decent gap , but then noticed standing water puddles on quite a lot of the 'lawn' and decided I'd better wait for the clay soil to dry out at least a little before trampling it any more 😞 . Checked the sky briefly when Her Majesty the Cat required letting in/out/in/out/in and it seemed I wasn't missing much. The coming week does not seem promising , but who can tell with the English weather ? EP dropping nightmare ! I use a repurposed little padded waist bag with compartments which hold 3 EPSs securely and keeps them warm when not in use too . As I tend to shift my small 'scopes around the garden a bit to avoid trees/shed/houses etc I'd be forever dropping or misplacing my EPs if they were not strapped to my middle ! If I had the tray under the 'scope of an astro tripod I'd probably try to find a nice little clip box ( there might even be a round one deep enough , lost of supermarkets carry ranges ) that would fit on the tray , pad the inside with foam (or corrugated card or bubble wrap if you have no foam to hand) , make some partitions or cut holes in more foam to keep the EPs safely apart . Could even drill some holes in the box and fix it on with wingnuts , or rig some elastic or velcro or something to anchor it in place. Cost under £4 , and something purposeful to do while waiting for a clear sky ! Heather

I have to admit that while I'm a tad OCD about camera lenses , which has carried over to 'scope optics , I have a somewhat ... cavalier approach to cleaning the filters that live on the front of my camera lenses . It comes I think from having seen them as work tools more than prized possessions. I never put a lens cap on a lens while it is on a camera unless it is being stored away , precious seconds lost taking it off when you need the camera in a hurry, and I habitually carry a camera with me wherever I go , so the filter can get pretty filthy. I've cleaned those sacrificial (relatively cheap) filters with a huff and a wipe of the t-shirt many times , something I'd never contemplate doing to the actual lens beneath, or any other exposed glass surface . And I'm firmly of the 'if it aint broke, don't fix it' opinion too , unnecessary tinkering too often causes more problems than when you start ... Heather

Looks good Neil, . I'd be confident FLO wouldn't sell a dodgy version of the bulb blower. Still, as a cautious person ,I'd give the new blower a few squirts away from the lens before using it. I store mine between uses in a zip seal plastic bag so it doesn't accidentally pick up any nasties. A bit neurotic perhaps, but I'd rather be extra careful than wreck a lens. Coincidentally , I ordered the Baader fluid & cloth off FLO and it arrived this morning, I've never used it before ( my previous experience has always been with camera lenses, and I always screwed a protective filter on the front the day I bought them , so didn't feel the need for expensive cleaning fluids ) The front glass of the little 127 mak is still clean at the moment, but I want to be prepared for when it isn't ! Heather

Last thing my mind needs is a vaccum cleaner ...

Possibly stupid question ... is there any reason to use a 3d sphere, or would a flat, printed picture do ? Thing is, I have this image (which I used to use in school ) in mind ... , print out, cut out, laminate ( for rain proofing) then a quick foray under cover of darkness with a step ladder, stapler and duct tape to stick them high on some fences and lamp posts I can see from my upstairs window ... The cloud situation looks really bad for the coming week round here, I may be that desperate for a viewing fix Heather

As own a 150 heritage dob, a 127 mak and am currently obliged to observe from my light polluted suburban garden I can say with absolute certainty that the dob is better for the majority of DSOs. exactly as pretty much every website and discussion thread will tell you.

You probably know this already, but just in case ... Whatever you do, before going anywhere near a lens with a cloth and wiping it, use a blower to be absolutely sure you have any tiny bits of loose dust and grit removed, you don't want to drag them across the lens . Best method is to have the lens pointing down so the debris falls away, and use something decent quality like a 'rocket blower' with a soft tip in case of accidental contact . Giottos are the classic ones, but Lenspen are a reliable brand and about half the price , beware very cheap ones which might have dust inside from the factory . Heather

Be very quick , go to this page, click on the link there ... https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/371156-sky-watcher-classic-150p-dobsonian/ If you get page 404 , you were too slow. Heather

Visual and easy to use & portable = alt az mount rather than EQ mount. (Or a dobsonian ...) Which mount ( and tripod) depends on the weight of the telescope that goes on it. Which telescope depends on what sort of storage space you have , how easy you would find it to move a slightly awkward thing from storage to your viewing location, if you live in a brightly lit city, somewhat light polluted suburb , or the depths of the countryside . Also what sort of astronomical objects you are most interested in seeing .

Better read this https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad 20% VAT added on top of that by customs will make it considerably less of a bargain.

The display when backlit is a very bright and vivid green, but you don't have to have the backlight switched on, my intention is to look at the not-lit-up led display with my red torch. However, I keep accidentally fumbling the button which lights up the display by accident when I switch the thing on. Ideally I should switch it on indoors and then leave it turned on through the session, but it has an auto off , battery saving 'facility' after about five minutes. The instructions might include a way to disable auto off, but they are of the comedy google translate type, so it's hard to tell. 🙂 Think I'll add a little bit of glow in the dark tape by the 'on' button and see if that helps.

You could let your father in law loose on this https://www.eyesonthesky.com/tutorials/1x3-tripod/ or check the other tripod on that site which is heftier and intended to have a platform on top for a tabletop 'scope to fit on . I bet there are plenty of other wood tripod plans around on the www I know back when I was doing a lot of reading around the whole 'what to buy' topic I saw some tripods made of metal plumbing pipe parts if you want some weird modern art parked in the garden ... I didn't save those links ... Heather

Ah. my mistake, sorry : I thought I recalled seeing they had identical optics, but what it actually says on the FLO heritage page is "The Heritage-150p is easy to use and has the same Parabolic Primary Mirror as the highly acclaimed Explorer-150P so provides wonderful views of the Moon, planets and the brighter Deep-Sky Objects. " https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150p-az4-mount.html

OK, sensible reply ! Like Orange Smartie loves theirs, I love my little 150 heritage dob. Fast to cool, easy to store , easy to move, simple to set up, pretty robust , easy to use, £200 for a 150mm aperture , what's not to like ?! If you are thinking of the solid tube dob, do take the time to find out how big the things are, I decided against the solid tube due to not having much storage space, but the heritage closes down to about half length. Some folk want to spend more, or have something more suited to taking photos through, or have guidance systems to steer the 'scope for them, but if you like simple stuff and a bargain , the answer is dob. The heritage may need a table or box or stand of some sort to get it to a usable level for you, but it is a brilliant little thing. Obviously it has limitations, but the opportunities it gives greatly outweigh them for the price. Having said that, there are folk on here who use the 130 newt. , who may have different perspectives to offer. I've used a 114 on a cheap EQ and flimsy bundled tripod and found the thing horribly wobbly and awkward. Unless you think you might want to go down the photo rabbit hole and want to spend hundreds on a really good EQ, I'd suggest if you don't go for a dob, at least choose an alt az mount which is simpler, cheaper and easier to use . Every relatively cheap telescope package seems to come with some less than wonderful bits , quality skimped to get down to a price point, so skywatcher 'scopes come with a pair of eyepieces which can be , um, easily improved on , most folk reckon the included 25mm is OK, but the 10mm is not, and I'd agree with them. Also most folk on here say the BST starguiders are a good basic upgrade (at £42 each plus P&P if you go direct to Alan's website at Sky's the Limit , where he promises to be cheaper than his ebay shop of the same name) . I'd agree , either the 8mm or 12mm would be good replavcements for the stock 10mm .I also have the 25mm BST which is an improvement over the stock EP, but shows some flaws because of the focal ratio of this little telescope. (it is pretty good in my other 'scope though ) If I was going to use just the heritage 150 (or the 150 solid tube, which has the same optics) I'd suggest you might consider buying a BST 12mm, a 32mm plossl ( skywatcher ones are about £30) and a 2x barlow (for around £25 last time I looked.) That would give you a 32mm, 32mm plus barlow = 17mm ,12mm BST and 12mm BST + barlow = 6mm which would probably be the greatest useful magnification in most UK sky conditions (I'm assuming you are in the UK ... ) The other less than adequate accessory in most 'scope packages is the finder , but I think it is best to worry about that when the shortcomings of the supplied red dot finder become apparent to you. Heather

Getting Started advice...should I get a Dob? Yes.

Would one of the extremely cheap (and horrid) far eastern barlows do the job, or at least, part of the job ? Maybe put an ad. in the 'wanted 'section to see if anyone would part with an embarrassing starter barlow , or one where the lens was damaged/lost.

Arizona, when I stayed there with friends near Phoenix in the summer years ago they had very regular thunderstorms on summer nights, with torrential rain (en route to somewhere or other I saw a roadside memorial and stopped to investigate : it marked a spot where an actor in cowboy films had drowned in the desert nearby when a flash flood filled the gulch he was in. The thing that stuck in my mind was that his horse drowned too ...). Also there are scorpions ...

Which reminds me of a very cost effective upgrade I made to my object finding ability (which is pants BTW, and needs all the help it can get ...) One of the little electronic levels that cost around £10 from the far east - there are hundreds on offer via Amaz. Tiny box, 2 AAA cells , surprisingly accurate, magnetic base . I've set stellarium to tell me the az/alt of an object I click on, and plonk the level on the 'scope tube (the dob is magnetic, the mak isn't, so the level gets balanced in front of the RACI on that ) turn the level on, am dazzled by the bright green display , tilt the tube to the required angle, and (in this cold weather) whip the thing off and stick it in my jacket pocket to keep the AAAs warm. It's increased my chances of finding feint stuff by having one dimension sorted very effectively. I'm waiting for local printshops (and friends offices) to be back at work to get an az circle printed and laminated for the dob base , but while that is a dob sort of thing, the little level (sometimes referred to online as a 'wixey' ) would work for any 'scope. I'm trying to get in in the habit of closing my 'viewing eye' and using the other one only to look at the level's display, but I keep forgetting or start sniggering at myself winking madly in the dark .... Heather

I'm a relative newbie, so can only provide a very limited sample : I got my first proper 'scope in the early summer last year, and once I'd spent some nights finding out how to use it, the first actual written log I made of what I saw was on July 30th 2020 . Since then I have had one or the other (seldom both, I'm too lazy) 'scope out a total of 39 times, so over 6 months that's 6.5 sessions per month on average. Because my body clock seems jammed on 'teenage/nocturnal' setting many of those sessions were long into the small hours when conditions overhead were good, and the most recent 3 involved standing out in the snow, so you can safely assume stupid levels of enthusiasm behind the numbers. I don't think . 'Bah, the Moon is washing everything out, no point setting up', but 'Ah, the Moon is washing everything out , look at the Moon ' Heather