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Hi all, just getting started.


Starmanwaitinginthesky2015

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Just wanted to pop by and say hi. I've had a fascination with astronomy for many years, but such is life, children, life and work has always kept me from getting seriously into it. 

Today is my birthday and after a recent conversation with my wife on how much I'd love to get into it, she went and bought me a starter telescope. It's the Skywatcher Heritage 130P, I know it's just a starter model so I'm hoping it'll be great for practising. 

I'm sure I'll bother some on here with questions but I'm just really keen to get the basics. 

Any hints or tips for using this or what to look out for would be great!  :smiley:

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welcome to SGL and happy birthday :) i have the heritage 130p and it is not just a starter telescope it will give you fantastic views of the planets as well as deep sky objects for a long time to come.enjoy this great hobby and ask any questions you like the great people here are so friendly and willing to help with anything you need to know :)

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Hi mate, welcome to the wonderful (and sometime wallet emptying) world of amateur astronomy! The heritage 130p is a cracking little scope, it was also my first scope and now, 3 scopes later it's still the one id never sell. I don't know if I just got a particularly good one but the views I have through it are pin sharp just lovely to take in, and I find it almost the perfect blend of aperture and portability. Plus It's such a simple scope to modify to really get the best out of it.

The mods I (and most people) have done on this scope are:

Get a mount/tripod for it ( skywatchers AZ 4 on steel legs) not cheap but well worth the investment, after putting it on that mount I could spend much longer at the eyepiece to really study my target. Course the little son base is still fine if you have something to put it on and it's so compact to take with you on holiday or whatever.

After that I flocked the tube (stuck self adhesive black felt material around the inside of the tube to absorb stray light and improve contrast) and also made a shroud out of thin black card to cover up the open tube, this also prevents stray light getting in but also helps to prevent dew forming on the main mirror..

Next I used ptfe tape around the focuser thread to take out the slack. A bit of thick grease would also do the trick but beware getting it all over your eyepieces in the dark!

Hope you get plenty of chances to get that little scope out under nice clear skies soon!

Craig

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Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL. Please do not be afraid to ask questions. Believe me it is no bother. There are many very knowledgeable people on this site, but we all remember when like you we were just starting out in this great hobby.

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Thank you so much for the welcome. Really appreciate it.

I've set up the telescope but not sure about the alignment and red laser light yet because I need to wait until it's dark. I've had a look at the weather and it looks cloudy for the next week!

I've got an app for my phone so hopefully that can guide me in a rough direction!

Cannot wait! Really glad the telescope I've got sounds like a good one! Very happy.

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You don't need dark the rdf if bright enough for day time. Use a distant chimney or aerial but NOT the sun.

I use mine on an upturned bucket and sit on a garden chair or low stool.

PTFE tape is safe and won't ruin your eye pieces etc.

Turn left at Orion great book.

Stellarium great free software.

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You don't need dark the rdf if bright enough for day time. Use a distant chimney or aerial but NOT the sun.

I use mine on an upturned bucket and sit on a garden chair or low stool.

PTFE tape is safe and won't ruin your eye pieces etc.

Turn left at Orion great book.

Stellarium great free software.

Thank you! Just had a go, after a few tweaks it's all set! Now hoping to catch a sight of the moon!

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