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Skywatcher Heritage 130P Eyepiece Advice

skyatnightfan

By skyatnightfan
in Discussions - Eyepieces

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Solar_observer

Solar_observer

Posted
Posted

Well the scope came yesterday in a large box which inside was another box,it was a presentation box with nice pictures of the scope (nice touch)

The scope was packaged ok,it had a really thick piece of cardboard which the base of the scope was stood in. It was all wrapped in a plastic bag,on top underneath the lid was an inch layer of Polly (I thought it wasn't enough but hey.

A little box was inside too with the red dot finder and the 10mm &25mm eyepieces.

There is no assembly needed for the scope itself,just need to pop the red dot finder on (alignment with the scope is straightforward) and insert the ep in.

I checked beforehand the collimation and it's spot on (sigh of relief)

So the sky was reasonably clear (transparency wasn't great) so I was really chuffed cos it allowed me a small amount of first light with my new scope,on the same day I received it.

I pulled up the flex part of the tube till it clicked into place,popped the 25mm ep in and took the ota cover off. Now normally when I had the 8 inch dob,I would have to have opened the 2 back doors to get it out into the back garden. No such problem with this little gem,opened the 1 door lifted the scope and walked out.....EASY :-)

I placed it down onto a garden table we have,this was just the correct height for me as it turned out (for the eyepiece height) turned the red dot on and away I went. Oh just another thing,this scope comes with 3 fairly large rubber feet and believe me,they stop this scope slipping. My table is glass and it was sitting solid...There was no way this thing was going to slip around considering your going to be moving the tube around,so this was a good point.

This is where the weather put a dampner on things,the cloud suddenly started to roll in,so I felt rushed and only looked at a few objects...these were the ring nebulae,andromeda galaxy,alberio double and the double cluster in Pegasus. The cluster and the double were superb,colours were there and we're pin sharp. Galaxy was easily seen and the ring was easy too but with averted even better. This was all with the standard 25mm. Not going to bother with the 10mm,I've got the 5mm bst coming and I'm going to get a few others.....so I imagine the views will be ALOT better with those.

I'm REALLY impressed with the views and the scope itself,considering the scope costs £130,I was slightly expected a bit more than a toy scope (HOW WRONG WAS I) this modest size scope (in my opinion) IS NOT A TOY....ITS A SERIOUS starter instrument and it's a keeper for sure.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

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Solar_observer

Solar_observer

Posted
Posted

Oh I would just like too add that as you can see from one of the pictures that there is no reason for bobs knobs,there are no fiddly grubs screws,so collimating this scope is made a lot easier,with the large adjustment knobs ....another plus for this little dob :-)

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

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Schorhr

Schorhr

Posted
Posted

Great to hear you had your first light with the Heritage!

Agreed, many tend to smile when they hear about the 130p.

It's a great and portable little telescope despite all the downsides, and the solid rockerbox is a plus.

It just fills the gap between binoculars and the larger dobsonian telescopes.

With your BST you'll have nice views of the planets and smaller DSO (depending on the conditions of course) ;-) But for kit eyepieces, the set is not half bad...

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AlexB67

AlexB67

Posted
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Glad you like it and that you may have lots of fun with it.

I'll do the Clarkson by saying

Some say the 8 inch may be the most popular for its price and delivering performance, but for its size,  given it is 5 inch aperture, and certainly not 5/8 in size and weight, it is a lot smaller, lighter, and a lot can be seen with it under good skies. It is the best reasonably priced Dob in the business. :0)

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Solar_observer

Solar_observer

Posted
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Still not really had chance to use the scope properly as I work nights, last night would have been ideal as it was very clear. Come Monday/Tuesday you can bet your life it will be cloudy when I'm off. Anyway I've got a new 5mm bst ep for high mag and was just wondering what bst ep would be best for dso ....12,15 or 18? Thanks

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rory

rory

Posted
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id say the vast majority of dso's take medium magnification to view.  most galaxies wont need high mags. of course some dso's do take magnification well , large globulars and some planetary nebula  for instance.   id guess at an e/p that would give you about x40 to x50 would be somewhere in the area for a good amount of dso's with your aperture and focal length.

12mm e/p= X54  (2.4 exit pupil) 

15mm e/p = x43 ( 3.0  )

16mm      = x40 ( 3.25)

18mm =  x36  ( 3.6)

that would be the area id plump for. I certainly wouldn't go below 12mm for general dso viewing  with this particular scope.and if anything id go toward the lower end of examples 16 to 18mm .

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  • 2 weeks later...
Solar_observer

Solar_observer

Posted
Posted

I've only had a few occasions too use it so far. One of the first was too try the 5mm bst on the moon. I was disappointed too be honest as I could not get pin sharp image. My thoughts on this are that I did not properly cool down the scope and I was also viewing the moon,just over the roof of my house. The image was going in and out of focus,assuming this was thermal currents,I need to observe it from well away of any heat sources. I don't think 130x is too much for this scope so I also bought a Cheshire too properly check collimation. I stopped the slop on the focuser with ptfe tape and checked,I think it was a little out. Got it close as dammit and tried again on the moon and Jupiter and there is a big improvement :-) but still a little heat left in my scope. How long does everyone else leave there scopes,too cool down? If I leave a cloth cover over the scope outside whilst it cools,will this stop the fogging up of the mirrors? It did this the other night,it was really annoying. Anyway I also tried my new 18mm bst.......fantastic. lovely pin sharp stars and a great eyepiece for dso`s. All in all I'm well pleased with this scope,I really just want more time at the eyepiece too give it a proper run.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

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rory

rory

Posted
Posted

id imagine skemobserver that scope wouldn't need long to cool when extended. 10 -15 mins  . but youll always notice more thermals ect when using high powers. so while its cooling stick with the low end powers . im glad you like the bst's . I found the 18 mm a great little eyepiece.

  I hear good things about the heritage dob .

clear skies.

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  • 2 weeks later...
AndyWB

AndyWB

Posted
Posted

Could be conditions, and check your secondary doesn't have dew forming on it - I've found that blurry views when observing the moon were quite often because of that. You don't really notice it as much on the DSOs - until they vanish.

FWIW, I find the 5mm BST as high as I normally go with magnification in mine. On a couple of nights I've x2 barlowed the 8mm and it's been worth it, but sometimes even the 5mm is a bit much for the seeing.

If you're observing over your house, that could be part of the problem - you get a lot of heat currents off buildings...

I don't normally cool my scope - rather I start with big, low magnification targets (and leave being dazzled to the end). If I did leave it to cool, I'd try to do this not extended, to be honest. You might want to consider making a shroud if dew is a problem - it seems to help a little (and it stops me breathing on the secondary, like a fool)

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/188929-thoughts-on-a-heritage-130p-light-shroud/

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  • 2 weeks later...
skyatnightfan

skyatnightfan

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Sorry for the late reply Skemobserver.

the first time i took the 5mm bst out i had the same problem and it was down to two things.

I didn't let the scope or eyepiece cool down.  I came back around 45 minutes later and the view was much clearer of jupiter and the orion neubula.

Also my collimation was slightly off.  After fixing this it is now much clearer.  I am able to get crystal clear views of the moon with this eyepeice and i even used a 2x barlow with it with good results.

Don't give up! It is a great eyepiece and a great telescope.

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