Skywatcher Heritage-90 Virtuoso

[milkyjoe]

Hello to all,

I am a returning member to this forum after a few years of absense.  I am in the market for a new scope and I have just come across the Skywatcher Heritage-90 Virtuoso and I can honestly say I was very impressed with the video review (link here:

)

Has anyone purchased this little scope, if so, what are your thoughts?  Obviously with it's pretty small aperture, I'm not expecting to too much from it (or am I?), but I am more interested in the tracking capabilities which seem extremely good for the money!

Has anyone got any images taken with this scope?

Many thanks,

Rick.

[Charic]

Hello to all,

..............Obviously with it's pretty small aperture  everything?  edited!

Another £30 gets you into a  6" telescope, the Skyliner -150P.  Not having tried the smaller scopes, or wishing too, I would suggest at least have a look into what you get in real terms for your money. GOTO's take some setting up, and the small aperture wont help you any time!  All just opinions   

[rolpol]

I have the 114 Virtuoso and, although I don't have much experience to compare with, I find the mount easy to use. I just centre on Polaris with my highest mag EP and switch the mount on, and this tracks accurately for many a minute (certainly compared to when I didn't centre on Polaris properly one time!). I haven't attached my Canon onto the mount yet, (I'm keen to do some wide field shots in the near future), but I got some great Moon shots through the telescope.

I use a Halfords 12v power pack rather than batteries, but even with this extra bit of kit I can set up in 5 minutes flat. I haven't bothered with the handset and probably don't intend to, after upgrading the EPs to Meade 5000 9 and 25mm I don't have any problem finding DSOs.

The main thing for me is that it's fairly wife-friendly, it sits in the bedroom with minimum grumbling from the missus, and I can get it out twice a week without too much tutting or rolling of eyes. I plan to wallow in aperture fever in the future, going as big as 250 or 300, but I don't feel like I've been short changed by not getting a 150 to begin with. When I was able to show the conjunction of the Moon and Saturn to the kids last month, during a brief break in the clouds, I was very happy indeed!

[Charic]

.........i'm sure you setup by aligning with Polaris,  But I read    "   tracks accurately  for many a minute  "  What are you tracking  -  Polaris ?  My Dobsonian is good at that!?  but I feel  your comments  in parenthesis gives us a clue that your really tracking other subjects.  It tickled my sense of humour 

[milkyjoe]

Thanks for your input rolpol.

The problem I have is that I already own a Skywatcher Startravel 102mm F5 scope so I probably wouldn't need the 114p Heritage being an F4 (unless it is better than the Startravel?), but I don't think I would see that much with the 90 Mak either; I was surprised at how good the tracking seemed on the table-top mount though, I thought it might be a cheap was of getting into astrophotography.

I've been looking at a 6" dob as suggested by Charic and it seems like a good option, but like you, it has to be wife-friendly!  It also seems pretty big and I don't currently have the spare space for it hence I was looking at a Heritage as a quick grab-and-go option.

I like the idea of tracking and/or having a full goto, but scopes of a bigger size can be expensive as, essentially most of your money is paying for the fancy electronics rather than the scope!

Rick.

[bomberbaz]

The footprint of a 6" dob will not be very big. My 300p have a footprint of 2 foot square by 4 foot high. I would imagine the 150 will be around 18" square by a similar height although even Skywatcher dont give dimaNSIONS http://www.skywatcher.com/product.php?cat=6&id=58 

[Charic]

miklyjoe........fully assembled, my Skyliner needs 52cm (squared) of floor space, about the same space a kitchen chair would take, and Its covered with a sheet and double wrapped in a heavy duty polly bag. In the kitchen. Its wife friendly in this house. The 6" would be the lowest Newtonian I would look at, The 8" is better still and so it goes, as you go bigger. This may seem starnge, but if the wife said, " go get what you want, and you could afford it, I would have the 12" over the 10", but I`m very happy with this one.

[milkyjoe]

Thanks Charic.

I have a 2 year old so keeping a scope in my kitchen is out of the question!

Realistically, what can I expect from a 6" dob?  Are there any other alternative scopes; is there a good allrounder for dso's and the moon and planets?

Thanks.

[Charic]

sorry........no all-rounders, otherwise we may all be using them. Its like a tool box, technically one tool, one job.  I've never used a 6", but I would suggest that its a minimum to look at if wanting something just for visual use. Forget photography for now. then there's the 8" even better, 10" better still except for the focal ratio? then the 12", would be my next telescope of choice. They say the 8" 200P is the UK's best selling telescope.  I have only ever used one other telescope, still have it in the shed, Celestron 127EQ Powerseeker.  No contest!

There are other telescopes. The Dobsonian is a Newtonian reflector telescope (uses mirrors) on  an alt-az mount. just place it where you want and start viewing. Then there's the newtonian's on the EQ (equatorial mounts)  (mirror again) a lot more setting up is required. Then there are 'normal telescopes'? Refractors! ( these use lenses) the ones with the eyepieces at the  right end (lol). Then there is a bit of both, Catadioptrics ( mirrors & lenses)  They all have their purpose, and they all have their  own unique problems .  which is really a users unique problem. 

My problem is I dont like EQ mounts, I am short sighted, my sky is not trully dark here, with the street lights blazing, ect. ect.

Everyone is different, and ever telescope accordingly.

[happy-kat]

There are several threads on this forum for this virtuosa mount.

With careful alignment it can track for an extended period of time such as 30+ minutes but this means the object will be in the eyepeice if you return to it later but the mount can not track for the earth's rotation so imaging is more aimed at planets where you would use a movie clip from my reading.

One member has mounted their heritage 130p on this mount. The 130p is a lot lighter I think than your startravel.

[rolpol]

A word on the "Wife-friendly" bit; my wife assumed I'd ordered something similar to what Nelson would have used to spot enemy ships on the horizon, and considered the 114 to be something of a monster at first...