a little dissapointed with my telescope

[Tribal-Wolf]

What people here are getting mixed up as some have the 130P and some have the standard 130 or 130M with the motors. The focal length is quite different so what can be seen with the same eyepiece is also different a 10mm with a 2x barlow in a 130P will give x130 but in the 130 & 130M it will give x180 so it's starting to really push the scope unless seeing is very good. You should get reasonable views of Saturn and Venus with the 10mm on its own with no barlow as this is 90x mag. One other thing is focusing, you need to make sure you're focused on the object correctly which can be difficult when the scope is shaking a little but once you get near then only make tiny adjustments until its sharp.

[Csuka]

Oh yeah i forgot to say, a good way to get your findersope/red dot lined up perfectly is to look at a stationery target during the day (something like a tree) and get it bang on center of your eyepiece, then align the red dot as accurately as you can to what is in the middle of the eyepiece, this method worked for me with my finderscope.

[Beardy30]

well i can tell you the 10mm in my 130m 900FL is dreadful.may be i am unlucky but i think most 130 owners will agree

[Fandango]

Hey. I have a Skywatcher 130 and also posted about being somewhat disappointed. It does get better. I have some great views of Saturn with my 25 mil EP, although it is tiny! Used with my 2x Barlow it is good. My 10 mil EP worked well on it's own but not with the Barlow. I just get blurred images of nothing really.

I set my red dot thingy up in the daytime. Pointed it at a distant chimney pot and made sure I could see the chimney thru the EP. I'm saving up for better EP's and some filters! Hope this helps.

[richbyers]

i find that you need to go really slow with the focuser, especially the rubbish one that my heritage has- even with the barlow on a 6.3 i can get a useable image if i take my time

[Philip.]

Jupiter and 4 moons were fine with my 10mm, but I agree, the supplied Barlow is bobbins.

[iwols]

hi guys some great comments i feel like ive opened a can of worms,would a different barlows make that much diffence or do i really need something much bigger

[richbyers]

i would recommend upgrading your eps as a first step if you have the funds

[PhilC]

I too have an Explorer 130 and I saw a super crescent Venus last night at around 10pm, with the supplied 10mm EP & 2x Barlow. Venus isn't overly big in the field of view, but it was clear.

I also saw Saturn pretty clearly, although it's smaller.

I'd certainly cooled down to ambient, so I assume the scope had too.

[S1m0n]

I dont have your scope but I will put my 2cent worth in.

When I got my 200p dob I was a bit disappointed in my views for example Jupiter was just a white round pea size spot and 4 dots either side and I was like " dam I've paid this ammount and I can't even see my fave planet"

Well after reading up and getting some good advice from the guys off here everything changed.

1) I keep my scope in a cool room

2) I purchased a eye piece set with 2x Barlow from Celestron

3) while outside I done some general star gazing to allow the scopes air to cool down .

Well after that I must say things changed fast and Jupiter was amazing and I seen a lot of detail ( keeping the scope very still while focusing too).

Venus is also nice but mainly white but if you look closely certain details sort of pop out.

Anyways I also decided to purchase a cheap light pollution filter to get rid of the street lamp glare and this just made things even better.

What I also find amazing and at times draw dropping is the detail of the moon which is amazing .

My final thoughts are also about magnification, my scopes practical maximum magnification is 400x and I've managed to get it to this but detail tends to get lost and becomes blurry so high magnification is not always better.

I would say a good 2x Barlow with a 10 , 12 , 15 or 20 (I think ) eye piece should be enough for some good views.

The guys on here give excellent advice and I would suggest you intake what they say but if you think your scope is still not working properly I would send it back and get a replacement

[roymattblack]

I have the same (I think) scope - Skywatcher 130 Goto.

Saturn was crystal clear last night using the supplied 10mm and 2 x Barlow.

Maybe I was lucky and got decent ones from the budget eyepiece maker.

You should see Saturn very clearly, with the rings.

In 'laymans' terms, it looked about 7-8mm across in the eyepiece!

Small, but fantastic.

Jupiter is around the same size.

Mars is an orange 'spot' about 2-3mm across.

I know my sizing isn't technical, but hopefully it gives you an idea of what I can see with the same setup.

As someone said though, get Stellarium just to make sure you really were looking at Saturn. It's really easy to find right now after around 11.00pm.

Roy.

[Ainsley]

Hi, try this website: Field of view Calculator<script src="title2.js"></script>

You can choose your scope and EP and then see what you will get through the scope. It defaults to Camera, so switch it to Visual View.

[Astrokev]

Interesting thread which I think highlights the point that's been made about expectations.

My initial view is that this is the main issue here, though I'd agree with the points on colimation and optics quality.

The problem is that there's so many large-scale images easily available in mags and on this forum of the planets, that can quite easily lead the novice into thinking that they'll see similarly large views through the eyepiece.

The reality, of course, is that planetary diameters tend to be small (or even very small) through the eyepiece. If one is not expecting this, then it's easy to see that folks will easily be disappointed and even disillusioned.

I'd agree with others in that use of a 10mm EP with a x2 barlow will be asking a lot regarding quality of the optics, and will also require a really steady atmosphere to stand any chance of getting good views. If you've only used the scope 3 times, it's probable that part of the problem is unsteady air. The really good nights are few and far between in this country.

Looking at images of what others may have achieved will be of no value in my opinion.

Just my tuppence worth!

Hope you get better views soon. Persevere!

[RikM]

Hi, try this website: Field of view Calculator<script src="title2.js"></script>

You can choose your scope and EP and then see what you will get through the scope. It defaults to Camera, so switch it to Visual View.

Please use this site as a guide to image size only. It is a great site but these are all long exposure images and most definitely NOT what you will see in the eyepiece with any scope.

I have had four sets of standard Skywatcher 10mm, 25mm and 2x Delux barlow. I would rate them all as identical in terms of quality. I think the different opinions people have of the views through these lenses are down to differences in expectation. The 130P is a great little OTA, I have not used the longer FL version. The 25mm EP or 25mm + the barlow lens give great views most of the time. The 10mm is not as bad as people make out though it can be uncomfortable to use. The 10mm + the barlow is about the max for the 130P but possible to use sometimes. I would think it too much for the 130 / 900mm FL.

My scopes all tend to give good views up to the same magnification as the size of the mirror in mm. e.g. 150x with my 150P and 240x with my 250PX.

[Qualia]

Hi, try this website: Field of view Calculator<script src="title2.js"></script> You can choose your scope and EP and then see what you will get through the scope.

Please use this site as a guide to image size only. It is a great site but...definitely NOT what you will see in the eyepiece with any scope.

Yeah, I agree, Rik. I'm not sure how useful the site really is.

For example, take Saturn: to get anything near what I'm seeing in a 12mm eyepiece through my scope, I have to plug in on the guide a Baader Ortho 5mm, and even then it comes over as being too small and too ill-defined. In real life, if I use a 7mm or 6mm, it blows this guide out of the water.

On the other hand, I certainly do not see the DSO's as the guide seems to suggest I would. Nothing like the detail or clarity.

Be it image size or viewing potential, in my case, at least, the site is not a help.

[dav1d]

Hi Iwols,

If it's a new scope and you're getting Venus as a "small blurrish white spot" in your EP as well as a useless Saturn, I'd suggest your first course of action would be to contact the retailer.

Reflectors will need collimating eventually, but it should be fit to use at the time of purchase without needing to shell out on a specialist £30 tool.

I don't think many retailers would have a problem with taking it back or collimating it for you, because they way you describe it, the scope is clearly not fit for purpose.

Where did it you buy it from?

David

[Tribal-Wolf]

I would think after being delivered it would need collimating, especially seeing the way some delivery men chuck things around in there van. For what it takes to do I check mine every time I use it.

[dav1d]

I would think after being delivered it would need collimating

That's because you know about telescopes. Mine was well packed did not need collimating. If it had needed collimating & gave the sort of views described by the OP, I wouldn't have had a clue what to do.

The 130p is aimed at beginners who may never have seen a reflector before. I've just had a look at this range of scopes on both FLO & Scopes n' Skies. Neither mention the need for collimation (although FLO does have a Cheshire in the 'frequently bought with' section) and & while I don't know whether iwols owns an Explorer or a Heritage, both sites make a point of saying that the Heritage at least is usable straight out of the box.

For that to be a selling point and then to deliver an uncollimated scope which will require an immediate £30+ outlay to make it work as advertised is, in my opinion, completely out of order.

[Moonshane]

I agree that this scope is aimed at beginners but so would be a cheap guitar. I would think that anyone buying a guitar would quickly learn how to tune it and get the most from it. This applies equally to newtonians and most scopes. It's not a negative issue with this design, just something you need to do. it's easy and quick so no fear required.

[Lenny147]

For what it's worth I updated the supplied eps with a Vixen npl 10 and 25mm and a Tal x 2 and the scope came to life with some excellent views

[Moonshane]

virtually 100% of good branded scopes (like Skywatcher) are perfectly satisfactory and as suggested, let down by the accessories. they will give views as good as possible for the aperture.

the problem is that the telescope is only responsible for part of the image, the eyepieces being the other part. to reduce the selling prices, makers usually sell the scopes either with no eyepieces or relatively poor quality.

[Lenny147]

Exactly, I also collimated mine within the first couple of weeks and that also made a huge difference, the sooner you learn how to do it the better in my eyes

[patomlin76]

Agree with Beardy30 - just purchased a TAL 2x barlow and splashed out on a couple of EPs. The 10mm is quite poor, and I think the 10mm combined with the stock barlow means that you're just magnifying poor optics, even more so if the barlow isn't up to scratch.

First thing I did was buy an Antares 3x barlow and a 9mm plossl eyepiece. I had decent views of Venus Mars Saturn and Jupiter.

I think you need to look at the collimation of the optics - it isn't always guaranteed to be close out of the factory. Things like packing and shipping can always knock things out of alignment. After using the cloudy weather to recollimate my scope Venus looks as sharp as it ever has done.

You will see a lot through your 130p - check my sig for details, and I haven't been at this game too long!

If you don't want to try collimation yourself try a local astronomy society or your nearest telescope shop, at least you'd get secondary mirror alignment sorted (which wouldn't need to be touched again unless you severely knocked the scope)

Good luck.

[Moonshane]

I agree. Personally I collimate any of my three newts before observing as it does maximise performance although the view is still Ok for standard viewing and only looks poor at higher powers, say 100x or more. collimation will not make a scope unusable generally though

[runoffshed]

I don't know if you have an astro club nearby but they are invaluable, not only for their enthusiastic company, but also for comparing eyepieces, barlows, scope views and getting 'hands on' advice about collimating etc...

I would get along asap and get their help and advice.

The information given in all these posts has been excellent but I would have thought doing some first hand comparisons with other scopes and getting other observers to look through yours etc...might help a lot.