Hyperion Zoom and Heritage 130p

[ulfp]

The weather here in Denmark has been abysmal, and I haven't had a chance to test my new Hyperion 8-24 zoom eyepiece.

Last night I finally had exactly 57 minutes of clear skies (well, semi-clear, at least), between the wind, clouds, and incessant bursts of rain. No DSO's (apart from a couple of binaries here and there, the Moon completely obliterated most of them). So how did it perform?

I've read positive reviews here and elsewhere, but they truly don't do this little(?) gem justice. It's a truly nice piece of kit.

First of all, it works very nicely with the Heritage. A little adjustment on the dovetail, and everything balanced nicely.

I'll echo what others have said re FOV at 24mm--it's a bit narrow, but useable. I grabbed a look at the Moon (nicely destroying my night vision in the process (newbie!)), but given that it's almost full, no real shadows to bring out details. However, everything floated nice and clear in the eyepiece.

And then comes the luxury. Clicking all the way in to 8mm. OK, it's not parfocal, which means that focus has to be adjusted as soon as you hit 12mm, but only a little (at least in this scope). But the sheer luxury of not changing eyepieces is fantastic, coupled with the fact that operation is buttery smooth so that you actually don't have to hunt and peck for your target as you zoom. It's quite easy to keep in view.

With that success under the belt, I attempted Venus. Very nice, but very bright, so not much to see there. Saturn, on the other hand, Wow! I could see striations in the ring, which was fantastic! I got ambitious, and slapped an Astro 2.5x Barlow on the scope. It works well, but you have to shorten the focal length of the scope in order to focus. And at this level, 3.2mm, your breathing introduces shakes. But in the milliseconds I could catch it it was breathtaking.

I decided to shut down before the rain came back by looking at Jupiter (without the Barlow). At 8mm striations and moons were very clearly visible.

All in all, a good 57 minutes. A bit rushed, but at least I finally got to try it out. Wonderful eyepiece, I can't say enough good about it.

The forecast looks a bit better on Wednesday, so hopefully I can try it out on M13 and M92.

BTW: ptfe tape on the Heritage focuser is an absolute godsend, has really made this little scope a pleasure to use.

[mikeskor]

The Hyperion zoom is one of my favorite eyepieces. I've read reviews that have compared it favorably to single Televue eyepieces. It is certainly worth the money.

[NGC 1502]

Nice report. The Heritage 130p is a great piece of kit. Anyone reading this should not just think of it as a beginner only scope. A senior member of my local club owns one as it's a very portable no hassle scope capable of a lot.

Last January 26th, 8 club members met to attempt to see the close pass asteroid. The 130p (with our senior member using it) bagged the asteroid.........

+1 for the PTFE tape on the focuser threads.

Regards, Ed.

[ulfp]

Nice report. The Heritage 130p is a great piece of kit. Anyone reading this should not just think of it as a beginner only scope. A senior member of my local club owns one as it's a very portable no hassle scope capable of a lot.

Last January 26th, 8 club members met to attempt to see the close pass asteroid. The 130p (with our senior member using it) bagged the asteroid.........

+1 for the PTFE tape on the focuser threads.

Regards, Ed.

I agree. I've read others' disappointments with their first telescopes. The Heritage is my first, and it's definitely a keeper. The light-gathering quality compared with portability just cannot be beat. 

Bonus: since it's so small, I can put it on a shelf, out of reach of my 2-year old daughter's inquisitive hands 

[LukeSkywatcher]

Great scope,great eyepiece. They work well together.

[Sonicfishcake42]

Fantastic bit of kit for the prise, I would not hesitate to recommend. I thought of zooms of inferior and assumed they wouldn't be adequate. However reading good reviews I took the plunge. 

Good review! 

[LukeSkywatcher]

Fantastic bit of kit for the prise, I would not hesitate to recommend. I thought of zooms of inferior and assumed they wouldn't be adequate. However reading good reviews I took the plunge. 

Good review! 

I was always a sceptic when it came to zooms. I had always wanted to try one just to see what they were like but had no means of trying before i buy. I really didnt want to spend too much on one because if they were naff, it would have been a waste. So when i bought mine i had a birthday coming up and i asked family (that's me mammy) for cash instead of presents and i basically has to pay half myself. 

Now i basically use my Hyperion zoom with every scope i own. I'm ALL about portability and the 8-24mm gives me this. 

[Pondus]

Nice report.

I got the same combo as you; Heritage + hyperion zoom incl baader 2.25 barlow.

I also have to move the secondary slightly (~1cm ) towards the primary to achieve focus, both with and without the barlow,

not sure if this really changes the focal point (and then again focal length) of the scope?

As you say; the heritage is portable, a genuine grab and go, and I often use this instead of my slightly bigger scope when observing.

Rune

[Golfey]

As a beginner I am pleased with my Heritage 130p - bought after much positive feedback on SGL.

I have tried the ptfe tape on the focuser but it just chews it up into a small ball, need to try again.

Interesting report on the zoom, not something I had considered, and if (or rather when) I get into this stargazing it will be on my shopping list I think.

[avtaram]

Nice report, the Baader Zoom is my most used eyepiece in all my scopes, it's an excellent eyepiece.

Avtar

[John]

Nice report.

I got the same combo as you; Heritage + hyperion zoom incl baader 2.25 barlow.

I also have to move the secondary slightly (~1cm ) towards the primary to achieve focus, both with and without the barlow,

not sure if this really changes the focal point (and then again focal length) of the scope?

As you say; the heritage is portable, a genuine grab and go, and I often use this instead of my slightly bigger scope when observing.

Rune

This does not change the focal length of the scope but it does push the focal plane of the scope outwards a bit which helps the eyepiece / barlow combination reach focus.

I've owned a couple of the Baader zooms (a Mk II and a Mk III) and agree that they are very nice eyepieces. I did find that good quality fixed focal length alternatives present a little less light scatter and ghosting on bright objects such as Jupiter and a little better light transmission on faint deep sky objects but there is not a lot in it given the flexibility that the zoom offers.

[YKSE]

Very nice first light   glad to know balancing is not an issue in that little dob.

I reckon Baader Zoom is of excellent performance/cost, I've considered it at the first natural upgrade of stock eyepieces, costs less than budget wide angle eyepieces and better optical performance.

Surely the on axis and off axis performance is not as good as some wider angle fix focal eyepieces, but then we are talking about eyepices which a single one costs more than the zoom. The flexibity and coverage of a zoom is of more advantage than fix focal length eyepieces despite some compromise, IMHO.

[AndyWB]

I have tried the ptfe tape on the focuser but it just chews it up into a small ball, need to try again.

I think you might need to lay the tape the other way over the threads - there is supposed to be a 'correct' way to do it, though I can't remember what it is.

Personally, though, I used teflon based mountain bike hub lubricant. It seems to work well enough too (though not too much!)

[brantuk]

The Hyperion zoom is the most flexible and useful eyepiece in my kit. Ive always lauded it's praises (just query my content on this). It's great quality for the price and has so many different uses it's indispensible. Everyone should have one (wish I had shares in Baader lol).

[LukeSkywatcher]

The Seben 8-24mm zoom gets good reports. Off hand i think it retails for about 50 quid. It seems to be the one thing Seben got right. Most people avoid Seben products like the plague.