What's peoples thoughts Heritage 130p 'vs' Skymax 127

[spaceboy]

Hi all

I have the 127 MAK so I already know the MAK should perform better on planets but how would the Heritage compare on DSO's. Also what's peoples views on overall build and focuser quality. I really like the self contained grab & go idea regards the Heritage but it all looks a bit on the flimsy side.

Grateful as always for any advice

SPACEBOY

[tms48]

I have the heritage the telescope itself is fine, but the focuser is sloppy especially as you screw out., I used plumbers tape to take up the slack. Unless you are at a dark sky site you will need to make some sort of a shroud.

[Cjg]

I have a Heritage 130P. Bought as my 1st telescope to see if observing would last as a hobby. Ignoring the "decoration" around the tube, it has been great fun, easy to use and an ideal introduction. The first time we saw Saturn and rings from our back garden was AWESOME.

It does have it's "faults" the helical focusing is not the smoothest, but with help from some experienced observers at the Norwich Astro Society (Seething in Norfolk) who have literally pointed me in the right direction we have seen some fabulous views of DSO.

What I have noticed is that on evenings where the sky might be less than ideal, folks with bigger scopes have looked and thought "maybe I won't bother tonight" whereas the 130 sits happily on the back seat of our car, weights very little and is a doddle to set up, so gets used.

Am still learning to star hop, and have been thinking that a go-to would help; at the end of the day, if I wanted a quick half hour of observing rather than "trying to find" the DSO's then would be ideal.

Is not as well built as my Panasonic camera, but does the job and has the same mirror fitted as the other Skywatcher 130 (Newtonian?) and I suspect built to a price. You will need a stead table or something to rest the mount on, or you will be kneeling.

Hope this helps.

Chris

[Ursa Major]

I have the heritage. It’s great. I don’t think the focuser is a problem, it just needs to be oiled and then it will work beautifully and be very smooth. The oil compensates for the slack as well.

I think that flocking is only essential if the scope is in the direct line of light of a street light or bright kitchen light.

It is also amazingly quick to set up.

Yesterday, I was looking for the dumbbell nebular for the first time. I found it with my binoculars out of my window and in under a minute I had my scope out on the floor, and with a bit of luck, got it pointing at M27 by just pointing it in the general direction.

I wouldn’t be worried at all about the "flimsiness," The flex tube bit is very ridged and I have not needed to collimate it since march.

Highly recommended.

[spaceboy]

Thanks for the replies. Out of curiosity how many of Saturn's moons can be made out ?

[Ursa Major]

Out of my Window (cant really see Saturn from anywhere else) I have been able to see Titan, Rhea, Dione, Iapetus. (Tethys is too close to Saturn and too dim to make out for me. It gets drowned out by the glare of Saturn. The reason I can see the much dimmer Iapetus is because it is far from Saturn, so no glare)

[Earl]

In all honesty I would say save the extra £60 and get a 150P you wont regret it.

[Space Cowboy]

If you are going to get a another scope its gotta be at least 8" to be a significant improvement on the skymax 127. If it were a boxing match the skymax would score a knock out in the first round over the heritage scope IMHO. Okay the heritage will have a wider field of view but thats all. I doubt you will see any difference in DSO definition. The optics are so good on the skymax and with a 32mm eyepiece on deep sky viewing.

[spaceboy]

Thanks guys but it's the ideal grab and go I'm looking for. I really like the contained unit of the heritage and for what it will end up costing to get a suitable mount for the MAK it also seems the most value for money. This said if the views aren't up to scratch or the focuser lacks giving sharpness with out endless flicker then I may as well stick with the MAK.