Test: Skywatcher Heritage Dobsonian 76/300

[dark_marc]

Good evening all

the time has come where I did seriously start looking for a decent travel scope. So thought about buying one of those Heritage scopes people were talking about as ideal starter optics.

Alright, went on eBay and did have a look around for the best price, ordered it yesterday and 22hrs later I did hold it in my hands.

I am certainly very spoiled with my 200/1200 Dobsonian, so I was even more excited to explore the differences between the two Skywatcher brothers.

<<< The Packaging >>>

The scope does come in a robust cardboard box with a thick brown outer box protecting it from accidental damage. The courier could even drop the box and the inner display box would take no harm.

The scope itself is nicely wrapped in a plastic bag fixed in the cardboard box with other cardboard parts that keep it protected from flying around in the box. The standard EPs (10mm and 25mm) are in standard Skywatcher packaging, small boxes, wrapped with clear plastic foil.

<<< Assembly >>>

The scope comes pre-assembled, almost ready for use. Main optics are already attached to Rocker. The there are two small bolts on the outer tube to attach the finderscope, just a matter of seconds and it is locked in position. To align just point scope at a target far away (neighbours chimney or antenna) and align the finderscope accordingly with the three screws provided. Certainly the EPs do need to be inserted into their holder first :-)

TOP TIP
After trying around with the scope I did realise that it does need collimation - without collimation all objects were little deformed. This is being done (assuming you do have a collimation laser) using the three little screws holding the secondary mirror. Was just a matter of seconds and the mirror was aligned. The main mirror itself cannot be moved. However, you do need to realise that - with a scope of this size - the aperture/secondary mirror ratio is little problematic. The tubes diameter is 76mm with a 20mm secondary mirror sitting in the middle - this is a little disadvantage.

<<< Build Quality >>>

The Rocker itself is made from sturdy, about 1cm thick, timber. It is swivelled around (left/right) a central axis with plastic (Teflon?) glide pads. Movement is fluid.
The main optics are attached to the rocker with an adjustment wheel allowing easy tighten of the tension.
The tube is made from robust metal, assume it is thin iron sheeting. The focuser itself is made from metal, however the eyepiece holding ring is made from plastic and sits little lose.

The finderscope is made from plastic and feels little cheap. However it does do its job and sits tight in its place.

<<< Portability >>>

The scope incl. rocker is pretty lightweight. It will fit nicely into hand luggage as well as a rucksack - its approximately the size of a standard coffee maker.

<<< Optical Quality >>>

Luckily the night is clear tonight so did start scoping around about an two hours ago…not only the change of time is working in my favour also the sky itself with all the early objects I can enjoy now.

So did have a look at the Pleiades, they do come out nicely in the scope. I did achieve best quality with my 20mm Vixen NPL at 15x magnification - of course the Pleiades were not as bright as in by 200mm dobson but all major stars were visible as well as some surrounding - more faint - objects. Next stop Aldebaran which - also with 20mm - came out nicely. What I did notice is that a very tiny touch of the focuser does change sharpness very quickly. So better 1-2 additional mm between EP and eyes to ensure the image does not get blurred.

Bring on Jupiter…and some other Eyepieces. What a great night and even better that Jupiter starts making its way up the sky from around 21:00. So a perfect object for the new scope (although I do need to say that I really do miss Saturn these days…still the best one out there) -

30mm Vixen NPL - It is very difficult to get Jupiter sharp at 10x magnification, it is more an O than a solid disc. I can only assume Ganymede

20mm Vixen NPL - Good results, however tiny 'rays' on left and right of planet at 15x magnification. Jupiter is visible as a solid little disc. Ganymede is visible, Callisto can be assumed.

15mm Vixen NPL - Almost same results as 20mm, Callisto visible but Jupiter little blur

10mm Skywatcher Kit EP - 30x magnification, Jupiter with little yellow-ish tone. Little blur compared to Vixen quality EP

6mm Vixen NPL - Impossible to get Jupiter into focus. Ganymede visible but faint, Callisto not visible (melted into unsharp Jupiter)

So best Jupiter results have really been achieved with a 20mm quality EP - so not a lot to fun with the provided KIT EPs for the stargazing Padawan.

<<< Resume >>>

A beginner scope at a beginners price, on eBay you can get it for as little as £45 with free 24h delivery.

However I am concerned that newbies may lose the excitement fairly soon as far as viewing quality is concerned. I am pretty sure you are able to get a good look on the moon with the scope and the provided 10mm and 25mm EPs. However I am little disappointed given Jupiter is one of the bigger objects out there but it is almost impossible to get good results as a starter and even advanced user with a collimated scope.

Thumbs down, unfortunately not worth taking abroad! 

WOOOOOOOOOW….just moved towards the Orion Nebula…with 15mm I did get a nice view on all the double stars. And believe it or not, with 15mm and UHC filter even some of the nebula around Ori C does become visible.

Time to get the big dobson out :-)

[dark_marc]

Orion Nebula through 200/1200 dobson.

[NGC 1502]

Thanks for the good & honest review.  I think the trick with any telescope, is to use it within its limitations.  Probably low power wide field with that scope, but never forget that a 76mm mirror will show much fainter objects than naked eye.

It's a shame the primary mirror has no adjustments ( or could they be hidden under the plate on the end of the tube ? ) because at F4, collimation is crucial, and maybe more could be coaxed out of the little fella............

Regards, Ed.

[rory]

nice review. I think for under £50 its a good set up particularly  for children, as it would be easy to use, light  and most importantly it WORKS. theres some £50 + scopes about that would put anyone off astronomy . but this seems to at least have the capacity to give some decent views.

 thanks for the review.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Good and honest review. The Heritage 76 to me does seem like a kiddies scope compared to the Heritage 130P. It (76mm) should give nice lunar views but i'd imagine that's where the fun stops.

Its a very small aperture Dob. Its not the same as say a 70mm widefield refrac such as the Celestron Travelscope70.

For an adult user, the Heritage 130P would be a better scope. It punches way above its size.

[dark_marc]

I do have my 200/1200 dobson, so was not looking for a replacement but a travel scope to take into Thailand in January. The Heritage 113 is too large for a convenient transport half way around the world.

[Andrew G]

Thanks for the review, I actually did buy one however mainly just to do some chill observing for when I am bored and at the moment I'm kind of limited to space so it should fit nicely on my desk lol. 😂

But stull thanks again for the review I'll be sure not to get my hopes up.