Calling all SkyWatcher 130P Heritage Dob Users!

[Deanosmx5]

Great advice guys. Just joined today.

I also bought the Heritage and so far I am really pleased with it although the weather is frustrating the hell out of me.

Spent my first night yesterday trying to dodge the shower clouds, but managed to catch some awesome views of Jupiter using a 10x with a 2x Barlow.

Cant wait for the moon to show its face now I can use my SLR to start taking pics.

Hopefully you will see alot of me as I am a complete virgin in Astronomy and I,ll be picking your brains for advice.

[Starhoparfa]

Great advice guys. Just joined today.

I also bought the Heritage and so far I am really pleased with it although the weather is frustrating the hell out of me.

Spent my first night yesterday trying to dodge the shower clouds, but managed to catch some awesome views of Jupiter using a 10x with a 2x Barlow.

Cant wait for the moon to show its face now I can use my SLR to start taking pics.

Hopefully you will see alot of me as I am a complete virgin in Astronomy and I,ll be picking your brains for advice.

Newbie too. The family recently got the Heritage 130P. Where did you get the barlow from? I'm struggling to get our scope to focus with our barlow. Was it part of the package from scopesnskies?

[Dodge]

These are superb scopes - I 'upgraded' to a 200P on an EQ5 but the 130P Heritage was utterly brilliant as a grab and go.

I'm almost tempted to buy another one!

[Apple Tree]

I really enjoyed reading this thread as the Heritage 130 is on my list of scopes to consider as a new comer to star gazing.

At the price it seems a baragin and every one seems pleased with them. Also I want some thing portable and easy to set up and this seems to fit the bill.

The other scope I am considering is the SkyMax 127 which is more money and needs a tripod. AlsoI do not understand the difference in the f numbers. f 11.81 for the Skymax and f5 for the Dob. What difference does this make between the two ?

Any advice gratefully received.

[Hemsy]

Newbie too. The family recently got the Heritage 130P. Where did you get the barlow from? I'm struggling to get our scope to focus with our barlow. Was it part of the package from scopesnskies?

The Barlow you get free from Scope N skies is pretty bad quality - I started a thread under "Discussions - eyepieces" a couple of days ago about the Barlow subject with some good feedback from the SGL experts. Cool to see that there are so many Heritage 130 owners. I find it a great scope, which you can set up for viewing in less than a minute...no fiddling around :A true grab and go scope.

[Deanosmx5]

Newbie too. The family recently got the Heritage 130P. Where did you get the barlow from? I'm struggling to get our scope to focus with our barlow. Was it part of the package from scopesnskies?

HI there, I got the barlow x2 in a Celestron kit along with a 6 and a 15mm lense, a moon, red and blue filter for £56.

So far had some good results even though I've only used it for a week.

Only thing I seem to be struggling with on my 130p is finding a happy medium on the pan and tilt bearings. Too tight or too slack. Suppose its all down to pratice.

Whats the best thing you,ve seen through yours? I have'nt even attempted to find any nebulas yet. Although on my Iphone app they are there.

Maybe I have too much light intrusion in my back garden???

Cant wait for the moon to come out now so I do a bit of crater hopping

[Starhoparfa]

HI there, I got the barlow x2 in a Celestron kit along with a 6 and a 15mm lense, a moon, red and blue filter for £56.

So far had some good results even though I've only used it for a week.

Only thing I seem to be struggling with on my 130p is finding a happy medium on the pan and tilt bearings. Too tight or too slack. Suppose its all down to pratice.

Whats the best thing you,ve seen through yours? I have'nt even attempted to find any nebulas yet. Although on my Iphone app they are there.

Maybe I have too much light intrusion in my back garden???

Cant wait for the moon to come out now so I do a bit of crater hopping

We've had great views of Jupiter, its bands and its moons. The orion nebula is easy and can be found in binoculars, as can he andromeda galaxy. The key, I'm finding, is to get to know the night sky through its constellations. It's amazing when you look up an no longer see a random collection of stars and, instead, see mythical creatures and characters making their regular, slow transits of the sky. This is just how people saw things in the past. Now we watch Ant & Dec while our outdoor halogen bulbs ligth up our neighbours' back gardens.

[Flying Eye]

Now we watch Ant & Dec while our outdoor halogen bulbs ligth up our neighbours' back gardens.

I vote we find a few orphan stars and decree a new constellation; call it Alt & Dec.

[Apple Tree]

Help ! Just received my Heritage 130 today and starting to assemble and try and use it.

I am a bit foxed as the Instruction Book refers to a focus wheel. Are they referring to the 46mm large black 6 sided nut that the eye piece goes in to and through which two screws go that tighten on to the eye piece ? In my scope it is absolutely locked solid and will require a large spanner on it to loosen which makes me wonder whether it is intended to move. Am i missing some other piece ? The only other option is to screw out the eye piece lens from its bright metal holder but the thread is so a coarse I find it hard to believe it is that.

Advice from existing users please before I damage the thing !

[bombassa]

Help ! Just received my Heritage 130 today and starting to assemble and try and use it.

I am a bit foxed as the Instruction Book refers to a focus wheel. Are they referring to the 46mm large black 6 sided nut that the eye piece goes in to and through which two screws go that tighten on to the eye piece ? In my scope it is absolutely locked solid and will require a large spanner on it to loosen which makes me wonder whether it is intended to move. Am i missing some other piece ? The only other option is to screw out the eye piece lens from its bright metal holder but the thread is so a coarse I find it hard to believe it is that.

Advice from existing users please before I damage the thing !

Oh yes it's intended to move. It's what you use to make the eyepieces come to focus. It's stange how it got stuck though. To move it outwards be sure to turn it anti-clockwise. And be careful. The entire focuser-construction is imo somewhat flimsy on this scope.

[Deanosmx5]

I found the focuser the only downside to this scope. Mine was a bit tight but not spanner tight ?? Hopefully it has'nt been cross threaded while being assembled at the factory

Dont know about other 130p users but trying to locate the focusing nut while using my Barlow x2 is a bit hit and miss. I've only had the scope a week now and with a bit more paractice it may become easier. Thats if this Yorkshire smog dissapears and I actually get a chance to look at the skys this week!!

I got all excited last night. Set my scope up and left to cool for half an hour. Came out the blumming clouds had rolled in

[Apple Tree]

Thanks Bombassa. You gave me the confidence to really apply some muscle to the focuser nut and very, very slowly I managed to get it to undo. Not sure why so tight. Crossed thread as Deanosmx5 suggests or paint in the threads ? A not very inspiring cobination of a metal threaded part into plastic threads. Anyway a bit of WD40 on the threads and a few ccomplete cycles of turns in and out and it seems Ok now.

Now to do battle with the Red Dot Finder !

[Deanosmx5]

Ah the red dot finder!! Forgot about that. I'm not a whinger HONEST! but when I set mine up I could'nt seem to get it to go low enough. Did'nt want to force the back adjusting nut. Next good night I'm going slide the whole unit forward and see if I can get more adjustment.

Let me know how you get on. I hope you find it easier to set than I did

[bombassa]

Ah the red dot finder!! Forgot about that. I'm not a whinger HONEST! but when I set mine up I could'nt seem to get it to go low enough. Did'nt want to force the back adjusting nut. Next good night I'm going slide the whole unit forward and see if I can get more adjustment.

Let me know how you get on. I hope you find it easier to set than I did

I recall having the same problem when I set it up a couple of years ago. Mine wouldn't turn far left enough. Sliding it forward was the solution, yes.

Good luck!

[Per167]

Starhoparfa, about the barlow problem: I couldn't get the scope to focus with the first barlow I bought (2,5X from TS in Germany). The second (2X worked better). I think there is a work-around for this even if it's not a perfect solution. When you "extend" the scope, don't let it travel all the way up but lock it 5-10mm before you hear the "click" sound. In this way the optical path from the primary mirror to the barlow will be shorter and you might be able to achieve focus. Provided the problem is not enough focus travel inwards of course..

[StevePeg]

Hi all,

Got clear skys on Saturday, so decided to have a go with my web cam.

I am using a Heriitage 130P, a Phillips SPC900 and Sharpcap. I have had problems focusing the camera. The general advice seems to be to use a x2 Barlow, but i just couldnt get the webcam closer enough to the secondary, even moving the flexitube in slightly. I am guessing that its the Barlow. It was the freeby one given when i bought the scope from scope'n'skies.

However, if i just connect the webcam straight into the eyepiece holder, and move the flexitube in about 10mm it focuses fine.

I took several, slightly wobbly vids of Jupiter and the Moon, and had many happy hours using Registax. The conditions were far from perfect.(Thats my excuse!).

I will post if anybodys interested.

(I have upload one to Youtube that appears to have a Satellite passing through on the LHS).

Moon and UFO 28_01_2012 16_34_52..avi - YouTube

Steve

[Starhoparfa]

Thanks Bombassa. You gave me the confidence to really apply some muscle to the focuser nut and very, very slowly I managed to get it to undo. Not sure why so tight. Crossed thread as Deanosmx5 suggests or paint in the threads ? A not very inspiring cobination of a metal threaded part into plastic threads. Anyway a bit of WD40 on the threads and a few ccomplete cycles of turns in and out and it seems Ok now.

Now to do battle with the Red Dot Finder !

I have a small tub of Tri-Flow Teflon Grease that I use for my Mountain Bike (bought from a bike shop.) It's like a thin version of vaseline but brown in colour. This works like a dream- the focusser nut spins with very little effort and, being more greasy, will not need applying again for a good while. You just have to be careful not to apply it too liberally and extensively to avoid getting greasy mits (which would be no good if you accidentally touched any of your optics.)

[Newbe]

Hi

I am new to astronomy and bought a 130p which I absolutely love. I have bought a 32mm plossl which gives me great view of orion nebula but would like advice whether to upgrade the eyepieces that came with the telescope. Any advice gratefully received.

Newbe

[SplintUK]

In short yes. The SW standard super 10 and 25 EPs are very basic cheapies.

A set of plossls such as the revelation set at FLO are a step up and for a full set including filters, a Barlow and case are a bit of a bargain. I have them and a heritage 130p and they work well together.

I doubt a little h130p is going to get the best out of a televue ethos, but it still deserves better than the 'supers' it comes with ;-)

[Russe]

Just bought one of these for my brother's b-day, since he couldn't go all the way for an 8' Meade LS, due to monetary constraint.

Which EP's can you recommend? Which make?

Do you need a shroud to improve seeing?

Which collimating tool is best? Cheshire or Laser?

Cheers.

[SplintUK]

For eps see above - revelation astro plossls are a good start. Others like Celestron omnis are good, but the revelations are good value, especially for the kit I mention above.

For shroud, I bought a black foam exercise mat from Decathlon for about £3, that will do the job nicely. Or to make a dew shield for that matter.

For collimation I use both, but if pushed would go Cheshire if only 1 was in my budget. Why? Many budget lasers seem to need collimating themselves, a Cheshire just works.

I use my laser for adjusting the secondary as that is simpler with that tool, then I use a Cheshire to get the primary right, but you can do it all with a Cheshire.

[Albenn]

Ah the red dot finder!! Forgot about that. I'm not a whinger HONEST! but when I set mine up I could'nt seem to get it to go low enough. Did'nt want to force the back adjusting nut. Next good night I'm going slide the whole unit forward and see if I can get more adjustment.

Let me know how you get on. I hope you find it easier to set than I did

I recall having the same problem when I set it up a couple of years ago. Mine wouldn't turn far left enough. Sliding it forward was the solution, yes.

Good luck!

Don't know if you guys have sorted the RDF. I had the same problem and did this http://stargazerslounge.com/showthread.php?t=185743 go to the 4th post back from the last post where I added solved to the title. It worked a treat for me. I can still adjust the front end to go lower if required. HTH

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

Maybe worth a look for the heritage 130 users.

i have the 76mm heritage and also found the 10mm a pain in the rear. i also found the SW barlow that comes with the scopes a bit rubbish.

fast forward a month or so, i found a very cheap (£8) meade 17mm MA ( it had no rubber eye cup so cheap). i though well it has to be better than the 10mm and cheaper to the point.

well i can true to word say the meade 17MM MA eyepiece has done proud. today i had the chance to test it on some solar observing ( solar filter film used), at first on its own, Very good views, crisp and sharp focus and a dream to look through.

the next test, that nasty 2x barlow that comes with the sw scopes. well blow me down the barlow has been given some kind of superpower, it was a joy to use focus was a dream and no problems at all. infact the barlow kinda works well dare i say with this eyepiece.

well i can say the 17mm was a perfect replacement for the 10mm milk bottle lens.

25mm x2 = 12mm

17mm x2 = 8.5mm

ok it is not a 10mm but by jove is worth the view. i think the 10mm and barlow is pushing the scope somewhat but with a 17mm my baby heritage is behaving very nicely.

i would post some DSLR a-focal images using the 17mm, but sadly the baby heritage just does not allow enough in-focuser

[TK421]

Hi all very new here, I have just order one of these as my first scope, so I'm finding all this info is great thanks.

[andyb505]

TK421, Welcome, we are a very friendly bunch here.

I have had a 130p since January and am loving it. A couple of tips in addition to the above (there are a few other threads on here related to the 130p so have a search around).

If you find the focuser a bit stiff wrap some PTFE (plumbers) tape around the thread, it makes the focuser movement smoother.

If you have a Barlow or find difficulty focusing the 10mm eye piece try not extending the scope all the way but stop about a centimetre or less from the "click".

I have already had some great views from my scope so let us know how you get on with yours.

Andrew