Calling all SkyWatcher 130P Heritage Dob Users!

[mcooke999]

How do you use yours?...With a table/stand or on the ground?

Have you ever used it to go up to higher magnifications than the standard 10mm & 25mm EP's? If so what were the results?

Is it a practical scope to use?

Seriously considering one!

[Cjg]

Hi mcooke999,

Used a beach mat on the ground, have rested it on a solid garden table too. Have used with an 8mm Celestron that FLO had on a special offer to look at Jupiter.

Is a great grab and go scope, super value for money and reasonably light / compact to take anywhere.

Highly recommend it

Chris

[Dr_Who_46]

none of the above, dont get mine till wed/thurs

[Dr_Who_46]

How do you use yours?...With a table/stand or on the ground?

Have you ever used it to go up to higher magnifications than the standard 10mm & 25mm EP's? If so what were the results?

Is it a practical scope to use?

Seriously considering one!

if your considering i found these to be cheapest

Skywatcher Dobsonian Telescopes, Best Prices At Ace Cameras At Ace Cameras - Canon, Leica, Swarovski, Bushnell, Nikon, Avian & All Top Brands

bargain me feels

[mcooke999]

Thanks for that everyone! Has anyone used it up to 150x - 200x on planets?

[Hig]

Posts about heritage flextubes are like buses.. none for ages then two come along together!!!!

none of the above, dont get mine till wed/thurs

Weather preminition for the stoke-on-trent area... it will be mainly cloudy on wed/thurs

I mainly use mine out the back on our wooden A-frame picnic table as its very sturdy, although picks up mucho vibrations when I got the kids out with me clambering all over it.

as said, its a great grab and go scope, perfect for a quickie

ie when you were not planning on a session but happen to peer outside and see good skies, and dont wanna setup for the night but really cant resist a quick butchers..

you can just lob it out and have a good old quickie...

and portability is good too as no huge tripod, taken mine over my fathers, and on holiday with us a few times...

Has anyone used it up to 150x - 200x on planets?

not yet but waiting too...

just added to the stock EPs for mine with a 2xbarlow (which should give me 130x with the 10mm) and also a 3.5mm (185x), although might be too much LP in my back garden to get anything nice from 185x, might have to be a road trip into the surrounding countryside....

but have been clouded in ever since they came so not had chance to try yet....

[Andy38416]

i own this scope and have had good views of jupiter with it. I use mine mostly on a table but also have used it on the floor (not great i admit).

i have only had mine a few months but brought a 7.5mm and 17mm EP in addition to the 10mm and 25mm it came with, oh and also a x2 barlow.

The only thing i would say at high mag you really want slow motion controls (or i do anyway) which this obviously doesnt have.

I have had no problems with mine at all and consider it one of the best things i brought in a while.

[CGolder]

I use mine on a az4, i have used it on the skwatcher az goto in the past too. The table mount is great for solar

Sent from my A101IT using Tapatalk

[mcooke999]

I'm trying to weigh up if the 'grab n go' ease of the 130P Dob is worth it compared to say a 200P Dob with its extra power!

They say the best telescope is the one you use the most and at the moment, having to cart large scopes down stairs and outside isn't appealing for a few mins viewing before the clouds come back again! I could easily see myself quickly grabbing the 130p dob and taking it outside for a quick peek at the moon or jupiter or orions nebula etc... but only if I can get a really decent view of the planets out of it (150x +)

Has anyone else had this dilema of portability vs need for power?

[Moonshane]

I think you'd regret selling your 8" dob.

if funds are tight I'd suggest buying something like a 70mm Celestron Travel scope (about £60) new or even better a Star Travel 80mm refractor (about £100 new). this may allow you two options along with the dob.

these can easily be added to a standard tripod which you may have and will give instant hits when the skies are not playing ball.

I have just bought a small refractor for wide field and quick peeks/hols and it works a treat. unless you spend a lot you are restricted to small apertures and low powers (these are not planetary scopes) but you get your fix in between clouds.

I have a 16" dob and a 6" dob and recently there's been no chance of them cooling before the clouds roll in. the small frac has been used quite a bit as you can observe the minute you go out. even the 130 would need to cool.

[todd8137]

Thanks for that everyone! Has anyone used it up to 150x - 200x on planets?

a think unless the seeing was mega x200,150 esp on jupiter and marsa think that would be a little to high but a guess some one will come along and say its not

[mcooke999]

The cost of the telescope isn't really an issue for me (within reason lol!) I just want something that will do everything I want (decent views of planets and the brighter DSO's like orions nebula's) and be dead easy to get it outside to look because at the moment the size of most scopes and mounts mean that I can't be bothered lol!

Having a big dob like my old 250PX might be OK too because it's easy to get outside and set up but even then, is the extra dia. justified given that the 130P Dob is so tiny and portable???

[Per167]

I place it on a small stool and sit on a garden chair next to it when observing. It is a little annoying having to bring this "mount" with me. Apart from that I am very happy with the scope. I agree with other users that the focuser is perhaps not that good but it sure works.

I have made a light shroud of black cardboard but one problem I have noticed is that it will always leave a small open space around the focuser as the focuser is slightly elevated from the tube. This seems to be a good place for dew (or my breath?) to get in to the secondary mirror as I cannot really use it for more than one-and-a-half to two hours.

The maximum magnification I have used is about 140x which was quite ok on Jupiter and the moon. As this is my first scope I do not have that much to compare to but again, I have found it quite useful and definitely worth the money I paid for it.

[Hig]

I have made a light shroud of black cardboard but one problem I have noticed is that it will always leave a small open space around the focuser as the focuser is slightly elevated from the tube. This seems to be a good place for dew (or my breath?) to get in to the secondary mirror as I cannot really use it for more than one-and-a-half to two hours.

Have you tried making one out of the 3mm foam??

The difference between micro-mms thick for card and 3mm for foam must be many hundred percent, and i see no noticable gaps when my foam shield is in place, there may be one but it is so tiny enough as not to see it and the foam fills the gap much better than card would....

I did try 5mm foam but it doeant curve around the circumference properly, and more folds than bends...

[bombassa]

I use a cheapo 8 mm vixen plossl with a Tal x2 Barlow which gives about 160x. This has worked fine with both Saturn and Jupiter. I've also tried a 5mm ortho. Views were nice but the hole is just too small for my taste.

BTW I don't use the dob foot anymore.

[mcooke999]

I use a cheapo 8 mm vixen plossl with a Tal x2 Barlow which gives about 160x. This has worked fine with both Saturn and Jupiter. I've also tried a 5mm ortho. Views were nice but the hole is just too small for my taste.

BTW I don't use the dob foot anymore.

yer 160x would be fine, have you ever taken it past that?

What mount do you use?

[bombassa]

yer 160x would be fine, have you ever taken it past that?

What mount do you use?

I use an az3.

I tried 260x on the moon but it really wasn't good. This could be the atmosphere that particular night. Or terrible tracking due to the dob foot. Or both - I dunno.

I thought about trying with some sort of 7mm plus barlow but really don't want to buy more eyepieces specifically for use with this scope as I hope to upgrade at some point.

My experience with the 5 mm ortho is that it's nice on solar system objects but the view gets too dim for anything else really.

[Hig]

re the higher mags....

nice and clear tonight but a mega bright full moon so its more or less the only thing I can look at for now as my back faces SE...

so gave my new EP a try..

started with the 25, then barlowed it, still nice, then onto the 10, then barlowed that, still good but very bright, then tried the new 3.5 I bought (which is about 185x on the flextube...)

at 185 due to the full moon brightness there was no contrast across the surface to view easily, so I could only view along the outer edges really using the sky behind as contrast, but doing that did give great views of some craters running along the outer edges...

looking forward now to a darker night with better seeing and less moonage, and trying it on Jupiter at 185x..

[Dr_Who_46]

still waiting for mine to arrive

its cracking out there now as well, ah well, good things come to those that wait

[Hig]

cloud rolled in badly so gave up just after posting above..

popped to the loo about 11 and thru the frosted glass window I happened to see a crystal sky again and what I thought was jupiter staring down at me due to the magnitude..

went out the back and it sure was, so dragged everything back out again...

the 25&10 gave great views as usual, could clearly see 3 (maybe 4) moons with both...

barlowed the 10 and also gave the 3.5 a try but was unable to bring into any focus, just a bright blurry disc.

would need better seeing for 150+ i think.....

best view was prob with the 10.... looked great last night...

bring on the cool, crisp, clear autumn and winter nights I say...

[Andy38416]

Just a little tip (not sure if its not advised but seems fine to me) is to unscrew the two base plates and also the one which holds the main scope to the stand and use a little light polish on both plates (opposite to the teflon pads) as this really makes tracking very smooth.

i have done this a few times now and does make a big difference i thought, just thought i would share.

[Per167]

Have you tried making one out of the 3mm foam??

I actually got the inspiration to the light shroud from the pictures you posted previously here on the forum. The problem is that I don't have any suitable 3mm foam neither any ideas about where to get it from. I think the cardboard works ok apart from the dew issue that would probably work out a lot better with a thicker material. There is always some work when trying to attach the "shroud" though so if I ever upgrade I guess I will go for a solid tube.

[Andy38416]

I just went to hobbycraft and brought some black foam (300mm X 450mm by 2mm W,L,H) for 79p and also magnetic tape (30 inches) for a £1 (so I can remove it easy). £1.79 aint bad for a light shroud.

Will work out the measurements of scope and EP when i get home and cut to size.

Just thought i would share as seems very simple and cheap.

[Hig]

Cut it to size??? Andy, 300x450 wont be big enough mate... the scope is about 580mm circum and allowing for an overlap for affixing I rounded it to 600mm...

so mine is 300x600x3mm

i got my foam from here , worked out £4.80 with free p&P for a sheet 600x300x3mm, obviously more than andy just quoted but its a larger and thicker sheet and may be better quality or higher density foam with better light absorbtion properties??

But magnetic tape sounds easier to use than velcro so I may get some of that and remove the velcro...

[Andy38416]

Hig was right it was slighty too short in length, though i had 2 bits of foam and joined them together so fits fine now.

It probably covers up around 95% on the gaps and with small adjustments could probably cover it all, i was in a rush yesterday when i was doing it. the magnetic tape is really helpful though.