Yet another heritage 130p beginners thread

[ITFC_Sam]

After months of interested reading about astronomy I have settled on the Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flextube as my first scope due to its simplicity, portability and cheap price. However I still have a couple of questions about using this scope and astronomy in general.

1) Collimation is obviously important and it may need collimating out of the box, how do I go about this for a dobsonian telescope?

2) I've read when tracking planets they move across the FOV and you need (in the case of the Heritage) to manually track it, would this not be the case for every object viewed as the earth rotates?

3) Is it possible to look at the moon through the scope during the day?

4) If a scope needs time to cool down after going outside, could it be kept in a greenhouse or garage outside to speed up the process?

Sorry if any questions dont make sense, I still have a lot of learning to do, thanks in advance for any help.

[cotterless45]

Yo, super scope.

Doubt very much if it'll need collimation out of the box. You can always check by drilling a small hole right in the middle of a 35 mm film canister lid (colli cap). Everything should line up, including your eyeball ! Any problems will be down to the primary mirror , which may need tweaking. Another starter way is to get a bright star out of focus. You should get a nice view of your centrally aligned 2ndry and vanes. It's not a big deal as these scopes are bullet proof. You'll be needing a Cheshire for collimation , it'll take you under a minute when you get used to it. The 130 holds collimation well though.

Yep ,you've got to track, especially using larger magnifications. It's no hassle as the dob base and alt are simple and smooth.Best let objects drift across the field of view, then nudge to start the view again.

Yep, you can look at the daytime Moon, just be very very aware of where the Sun is and don't point anywhere in that direction. You may find contrast on the Moon not so good as at night. Eventually you won't miss sleep and will be mad as most of us on here!

Cooling down will be about 1/2 hour, I wouldn't keep anything optical in a greenhouse, the damp and temperature variations would kill it. Garage is better , if it's dry, make sure that you keep it covered for dust/ mice/ spiders etc.

Plenty of mods and tips on here for this great scope, enjoy,

Nick.

[Naemeth]

After months of interested reading about astronomy I have settled on the Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flextube as my first scope due to its simplicity, portability and cheap price. However I still have a couple of questions about using this scope and astronomy in general.

1) Collimation is obviously important and it may need collimating out of the box, how do I go about this for a dobsonian telescope?

2) I've read when tracking planets they move across the FOV and you need (in the case of the Heritage) to manually track it, would this not be the case for every object viewed as the earth rotates?

3) Is it possible to look at the moon through the scope during the day?

4) If a scope needs time to cool down after going outside, could it be kept in a greenhouse or garage outside to speed up the process?

Sorry if any questions dont make sense, I still have a lot of learning to do, thanks in advance for any help.

1) Shouldn't need a collimation out of the box, but eventually you'll need a Cheshire Collimater, one can be found here: http://www.skysthelimit.org.uk/collimators.html (Go for the cheapest long tube you can find, most are about £20-£30). You may also need a set of Allen Keys to adjust the secondary, it's a 2mm metric one you need, I got my set here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00439IKRE/

2) Yes, theoretically, but you only use higher magnifications for Planets, and at higher magnifications things appear to move faster (as the field of view is smaller). Planets also move against the background of stars, the stars all stay in the same place relative to each other .

3) Yes, you can even see it with the naked eye if you know where to look, and you can also see the Planets in the day if you know where to look (and if they are above the horizon obviously).

4) You can keep it in a garage, but the Heritage really doesn't need much cool down time, I find if you put it outside at Sunset, or just before, in 30 minutes it will be beginning to get dark and the Heritage will be at the right temperature .

[MarkMayf]

Good choice! The beauty of the heritage is you can grab it, take it outside and have a quick look. One morning last week in broad daylight, I took mine outside to gaze at the moon before going to work.

[Capricorn]

May not collimating immediatly but owing to the construction I suspect that it will need it pretty soon after. Also until you do it there will be the doubt that it is correct and therefore needs it. Basically you can only show it is in collimation by checking it and therefore doing the collimation.

Planets and stars will all drift out of view, the higher the magnification then the quicker they will disappear.

If the moon is up during the day then yes but the sunlight will wipe out a lot of detail. As I suspect the moon cannot be near the sun during the day you should not end up viewing near the sun but be careful.

Cool down time is up to you.

[lestergibson]

May not collimating immediatly but owing to the construction I suspect that it will need it pretty soon after. Also until you do it there will be the doubt that it is correct and therefore needs it. Basically you can only show it is in collimation by checking it and therefore doing the collimation.

Planets and stars will all drift out of view, the higher the magnification then the quicker they will disappear.

If the moon is up during the day then yes but the sunlight will wipe out a lot of detail. As I suspect the moon cannot be near the sun during the day you should not end up viewing near the sun but be careful.

Cool down time is up to you.

When I finally worked the melons up to check my new 200p, I found that secondary was sound but the primary well out. I then found out how just how easy it was to collimate...... after stressing buckets it and reading and watching dozens of articles and videos. The relections confused me a fair bit until I started using coloured paper. It started to make more sense then. Collimating really is fairly straightforward, especially with a Cheshire, on the 200p anyway.

[ITFC_Sam]

Wow I forgot I made this post

I've managed to take it out twice so far with generally good results. Had nice views of the moon, M45, M31 and Jupiter in between some pesky clouds. Collimation seems to be fine as I get the ring effect on a unfocused star, nonetheless i have ordered a collimator.

My one major concern is with the 2x barlow, which when viewing Jupiter wasn't focusing at all. I could just about make out the banding with the 10mm eyepiece but the barlow reduced it to a fuzzy yellow ball. It was fairly low down on the horizon so could this be due to poor atmospheric conditions?

I have been viewing from my back garden which faces southeast towards Pegasus/Cassiopeia which limits what I can see. I plan to venture to a field to get a view of the entire sky friday/saturday (If the forecast holds true) and other than M13 have little idea what objects a beginner should be looking for, any suggestions greatly welcomed!

[LukeSkywatcher]

Ive had mine for about 3 yrs now and its never lost its collimation since it came out of the box.

My one major concern is with the 2x barlow, which when viewing Jupiter wasn't focusing at all. I could just about make out the banding with the 10mm eyepiece but the barlow reduced it to a fuzzy yellow ball. It was fairly low down on the horizon so could this be due to poor atmospheric conditions?

In my experience with the scope and a 2x barlow and a 10mm EP, this is pushing the scope to its limits and maybe a bit too far. 10mm alone is fine for observing planets.

On really good nights of "seeing", the scope would handle this much magnification pretty well. Most nights though it really wont do it any favours.

I should add that viewing the moon with a 10mm EP and a 2x barlow will give amazing close up views.

[ITFC_Sam]

Ive had mine for about 3 yrs now and its never lost its collimation since it came out of the box.

My one major concern is with the 2x barlow, which when viewing Jupiter wasn't focusing at all. I could just about make out the banding with the 10mm eyepiece but the barlow reduced it to a fuzzy yellow ball. It was fairly low down on the horizon so could this be due to poor atmospheric conditions?

In my experience with the scope and a 2x barlow and a 10mm EP, this is pushing the scope to its limits and maybe a bit too far. 10mm alone is fine for observing planets.

On really good nights of "seeing", the scope would handle this much magnification pretty well. Most nights though it really wont do it any favours.

I should add that viewing the moon with a 10mm EP and a 2x barlow will give amazing close up views.

Yes the barlow was absolutely great for the moon, showed the craters in amazing detail far beyond that of my old binos. Would any more detail come out of Jupiter if it were to be viewed at about 6pm when it's higher in the sky?

[Naemeth]

Yes the barlow was absolutely great for the moon, showed the craters in amazing detail far beyond that of my old binos. Would any more detail come out of Jupiter if it were to be viewed at about 6pm when it's higher in the sky?

Most certainly, if you wait until it's about 30 or 40 degrees up, the views are much clearer. At that height, you are looking through far less atmosphere than at the horizon. Consider sunrise and sunset, normally the sky is blue during the day, but when the Sun nears the horizon, everything turns orange/pink/purple. Similarly, stars or planets due to the same process will change colour, very obvious on the Moon though, when it turns yellow. 5mm should be fine, it's only 130x, or 25x per inch, which is fine on most nights .

[LukeSkywatcher]

In a word: YES.

The higher up an object is, the less atmosphere there is for the light to get through. Ideally when objects are as far overhead as they can get before they start setting, is the best time to observe then.

[Stu]

Hi

Don't worry about collimation for the moment, I think people tend to be overly concerned about it, particularly to start off with. There is enough to get sorted finding your way around the sky, getting the finder aligned before that.

Some suggested objects

M13, M92 & M15, all nice globulars

Perseus Double Cluster, nuff said

M81/M82, galaxies in Ursa Major

Brocchi's cluster, or the Coathanger near Cygnus

Alberio in Cygnus, lovely double

Almach in Andromeda, ditto

Mizar/Alcor in Ursa Major, nice triple system

M57 in Lyra, planetary nebula, the Ring

M27, another nice planetary nebula

Obviously the darker the sky the better, particularly for the galaxies and, nebulae.

Stay up late enough, or get up early for a look at M42, the Orion nebula which should knock your socks off

Cheers

Stu

[bigrbuk]

Yay Heritage! I bought one of these a few weeks ago now, I've just completed my own shroud/dew shield and am hoping to give it it's first run out tonight, although the forecast has already changed from clear skies to partial clouds

Tempted to see if I can find Uranus, although not expecting to see much.

[Scott]

i've got the heritage and love it though after reading this thread i must have a dud . i find i have to collimate it fairly often (probably every 6-8 times i use it and it was way out of collimation out of the box. thiis however is not a problem coz it takes no more than a minute or two. i think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who is not happy with theirs.

Scott

[MarkMayf]

The barlow supplied with mine is terrible in my opinion. I have nothing to compare it against but you may as well be looking through dirty sunglasses when you use it.

Regarding viewing at different times, I got up at 5am the other day to try and image Jupiter, and the difference in image quality when high up is huge.

Also, one morning last week taking the wife to work around 7am, daylight obviously, I saw the moon and a point of light which I assumed to be Venus. When I got home about 7:30 I grabbed the scope and had a look. Turned out it was Jupiter and I have never seen the banding so clear. In daylight, with a warm scope straight out of the house.