Beginner Scope Advice

[Briggsy16]

Hey guys, wondering if you could help me make a decision..

I'm looking at buying a scope this week for delivery on Saturday hopefully.

I'm torn between the Heritage 130p or the 114p on the Virtuoso mount. My thoughts on the 130p is that I've read that it's a great scope but with the flextube you get some light bleed so it's preferable to wrap some card around it. I'd rather not be doing this as I want to just be able to get it out without preparation.

Which brings me to the virtuoso one, the mount seems a lot more sturdy than the heritage but the scope doesn't seem as good. Smaller diameter mirror and less focal length.

I don't really know what to expect from the 130p mount with it being made of plywood!

Having typed that out though it seems like the 130p may be the better idea, it's cheaper and the scope seems a lot better. What are your thoughts?

Secondly, I was thinking of going with the Rigel Aline Collimation Cap as it seems a cheaper way to collimate the scope than the chesire collimator one, I could be convinced on the chesire one though if people feel it is needed.. In addition I was going to get a 2x barlow too, likely this one. Would this be recommended?

Thanks for any help, it's really appreciated!

[happy-kat]

Hi

I can say the heritage mount is very sturdy and works very well.

I use a light shield on mine because I sit under a LED street light out the front, in the back garden I tend not to bother with it.

It sits on a paving slab and me on a lot garden chair or stool.

I only have a collimation cap for mine.

I bought an adaptor for my mount which means I can swap the telescope for a camera saves me buying a tripod for my use.

What the virtuoso mount gives is tracking and the option to add a skyscan handset. I have seen a heritage used on a virtuoso mount.

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi 'Briggsy16' and welcome to SGL.

The Heritage 130p will have slightly more aperture which is a good start. However if you can stretch your budget to a 150mm Dobsonin such as this one http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html that may be better. With the 130p you will need to find a stable surface to place it on or modify the base to attach it to a sturdy tripod or stool. With the Dob 150p, just place it on the ground, and that's it.

Regarding the Barlow lens. Personally I would put the money on getting another eyepiece to begin with, then see how you go.

...and the Rigel Aline Collimation cap. Cheap and effective. Good choice. Don't forget a red LED torch or rear bicycle light too, (so you don't loose your dark adapted vision)! 

[happy-kat]

Surely the Heritage needs no more a sturdy base then the 150p does?

They both have to sit on sothing be it paving slab or lawn or table.

[Briggsy16]

Thanks guys.

I think I'll go with the 130p then. I'd rather that compared to the 150p for now because of size, if I feel that I could get into this hobby more I'll look at a bigger dob!

What eyepiece would you recommend? Considering you get 10mm & 25mm with the scope.

[happy-kat]

I use my heritage with it on the floor but if someone was very tall etc. then leaning over to look down may not work for them and be uncomfortable. I also have a upturned bucket I sit it on or say a water butt stand would work too.

The 25mm is fine and works fairly well.

Something alogn the lines of an 8mm would be good, but get what ever telescope you chose first then see what you like.

[Briggsy16]

Hey guys!

Thought I'd report in. I ended up getting a 130p with a 17mm Plossl and a Barlow, couldn't resist on the barlow..

Got it this morning and after an overcast day I was a bit disappointed that I wouldn't get to use it tonight. The skies finally cleared around 7 PM so I've used it for most of the night, I'm blumming frozen!

Got some lovely views of the moon and Jupiter (and what I assume were 4 moons, 2 to the left, 2 to the right). Took me ages to find Jupiter as my red dot sight wasn't aligned to the telescope so it was a good 15 minutes of turning my telescope around until I eventually found the [removed word].

So anyway, thanks for the advice, it was really appreciated and the views I got tonight on my first time were really worth it.