better to buy heritage 130p?

[dreaming]

Morning everyone,

First of, I would like to say what an amazing forum this is!

Such a huge amount of advise and info.

I think I've settled on the heritage 130p, but, would it be best to upgrade with a x 2 barlow? Or would the extra money be better spent on a 150p?

My budget really is around £150, so the 150p is slightly over that.

We will be using it as a family scope, looking at the moon, Saturn, jupiter and some dso too Hopefully.

We own a sony nex c3 camera which I believe will connect using the additional T rings.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

Or other scope suggestions too within that budget.

thanks

[Peter Drew]

Welcome to SGL. The 150 would be a better upgrade than a 2X Barlow IMO. 

[glynnlondon]

The 150p will give you more aperture and the supplied eyepieces will be fine to begin with.

As long as your main viewing point is nearby , back garden eg , that's the one I would go for.

[Skipper Billy]

Despite the thousands of pounds I have spent on sophisticated equipment - the most used scope I have is the humble Heritage 130.

As a grab and go scope its fantastic and delivers well above its price point.

Suggested mods - wrap a few turns of plumbers tape (PTFE) round the thread of the focuser - it makes it much smoother and more accurate.

Make a light shield from a foam camping mat to cover the open part - it keep stray light and dew out.

Cracking wee scope for visual use - not sure its up to imaging - haven't tried it.

Its supplied with two eyepieces a 10mm and a 25mm - the 25mm was OK but the 10mm was dire - maybe I was unlucky.

Any left over funds would perhaps be wisely spent on a decent eyepiece.

[dreaming]

Thanks for the great replies, really helpful.

So if I kept with the 130p could any one suggest a good eye piece upgrade?

[dreaming]

Thanks for the great replies, really helpful.

So if I kept with the 130p could any one suggest a good eye piece upgrade?

[Skipper Billy]

I went with these - for me they have been a good balance between price and performance.

The 25mm particularly is a gem.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-eyepieces/celestron-x-cel-lx-eyepiece.html

[alexbb]

Hi,

I owned a heritage 130p and although it was a very nice scope and very portable and I miss it sometimes, I would not recommend it at all for any kind of photography.

I wondered if the flex type would keep collimation well and it was better than I expected. However, when you attach a heavier eyepiece or a camera, it tends to bend a little. Plus, focusing with the helicoidal focuser is not helping at all for camera usage.

For a focal length of 650, in order to achieve a 130x magnification (theoretically you could go up with the magnification until twice the aperture size in mm - 260x for a 130mm but in very good sky conditions), you need a 5mm eyepiece which would be achieved if you barlow 2x a 10mm eyepiece.

The 150p would gather 33% more light than the 130p heritage, but it's going to be much longer due to the focal length of 1200 and the mount is a full dobsonian rather than a mini dob (a single arm). It's going to be heavier, but you could still fit in a car.

The views in the 150p with 1200mm focal length will be narrower than in the 130p and the magnifications with the same eyepieces would give about twice the magnification (1200/650).

There's a nice tool to simulate what you can see with given parameters - aperture, scope's focal length, eyepiece's focal length, eyepiece's fov and, of course, the object you want to observe.

Best regards,

Alex

[alexbb]

mmm... and the link for the tool: http://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/

[cjdawson]

This is probably going to sound crazy since you are looking for extras.... however....

The 130p comes with 10mm and 25mm lenses, also a 2x barlow is included.  (I believe this is a standard kit that SkyWatcher include with all their scopes)

So, rather than spend extra money on more eyepieces.  How about getting something like the book "Turn left at orion".  With a 130p and the book, you'll be under £160, and you'll get far more use from the scope by having a guide to show you where to look.

You'll also get some scope time in and be able to make a better decision later about if you think more eyepieces are worthwhile.

[Charic]

Thanks for the great replies, really helpful.

So if I kept with the 130p could any one suggest a good eye piece upgrade?

A better eyepiece alone will not improve your telescopes ability, it will just make it comfortable to use if you choose the right eyepiece?

The supplied 10mm you'll get is the same as the one I recieved with my 200P, it still works, but my replacement the 8mm BST is much more comfortable to use. The Excels will be fine too, but I would advise like the others, wait a little longer, save a little more and go for the 150mm apertured scope.

[dreaming]

Moise - what a fantastic link! I am pretty amazed by what can be seen!

This is pretty novice question (so sorry in advance) but will all eye pieces fit all telescopes or is best to stay with same makes?

[Charic]

Most telescopes have as standard, a 1.25" focuser, so any brand of eyepiece with 1.25" will fit.

My own collection has the 32mm Panaview, this eyepiece has a 2" fitting, and using glassless adaptors, I can use either fitting on this scope.

[alexbb]

The 6" dob has a 2" focuser and an adapter to 1.25". All 1.25" eyepieces will fit into both.

Also, keep in mind that both scopes will need collimation. Using a laser collimator is nice, but the laser collimators might be misscollimated and collimating such one is a little difficult. I prefer using a laser collimator though.

Btw... why don't you get the 130p heritage and later a larger dob? An 8" or a 10" maybe? And several fracs? And some catadioptric tubes? I already gave 3 scopes away and I still own 4. And I started with a celestron travel scope 60 less than a year ago.

[happy-kat]

I collimate my 130p with a collimation cap cost £5.

The focuser is difficult to focus if you are trying to hang a camera of it. A webcam is lighter and much better for planets and the Moon.

Don't chase magnification you get bigger blurry images this is not just for the heritage. A smaller sharper image is much more pleasing to look at, my 16mm gets the most use.

Turn Left at Orion is great book to get you started.

Stellarium software is excellent and free too.

[dreaming]

Brilliant

Thanks for all your help,

I will take it all on board before making my purchase

[cjdawson]

Moise - what a fantastic link! I am pretty amazed by what can be seen!

This is pretty novice question (so sorry in advance) but will all eye pieces fit all telescopes or is best to stay with same makes?

There are three sizes of eyepieces that I know of.

0.925" these tend to be old eyepieces, and I've not seen them for sale anywhere.

1.25" this is a very popular standard that most people use.

2" these are larger, and tend to be for more wide field applications - but some people prefer these.

I think the vast majority of people use the 1.25" eyepiece size, as these seems to have been taken as the norm for the last 50 years or more.  Interestingly, you can also use these eyepieces in lab quality microscopes too.

The quality of an eyepiece is a description of the quality of the optics, this is what seperates them.  A Cheaper eyepiece tends to be made from lower quality glass, or the light path through doesn't help to account for things like aberations.  Higher quality eyepieces tend to cost more.  They'll have better quality glass used in their construction, and will have been designed to help get the most from the available light.  They can also do things like improve eye relief - the distance that your eye should be from the lens, this can help people who wear glasses as it means we can place our glasses lens to the eyepiece and take advantage of any stigmatism corrections etc.

[rockystar]

I assume you are looking at the skywatcher exporer 150p - just be aware that when is says OTA, you are only getting the scope for that, and no tripod\mount. From what I can see, the 150P tends to come with an equatorial mount (priced about £250), which is a bit of a different beast that a dobsonian mount and takes some getting used to

[Moonshane]

how old/tall are your children currently?

if they are very young (e.g. 3-5 years old) they will struggle to reach the eyepiece of the 150mm dob unaided (although this is a far better scope in every way). If they are older (say 6-12 years old) they will find the lower eyepiece of the 130 Heritage too low unless it is mounted on something solid - a table might do but a lot of vibrations are likely).

On balance I'd go for the 150 every time.

[alexbb]

I was using a workbench like this one: http://www.yahutools.com/en/ProductShow.asp?ID=255and it was very sturdy, not really an issue even if you stepped on it during observations.

[Chris]

I would go with the 150p Dobsonian At f/8 it will hold collimation better, plus cheap eyepieces will perform better in it. Also it has a better 2" focuser, and it's solid tube so won't flex if you wanted to attach a DSLR to take Moon pics etc.

Also wont need a light shroud like the 130p Heritage. 

Nothing against the 130p its a lovely little scope, but unless I lived in a 2nd floor flat I'd choose the 150p Dob

[rockystar]

I assume you are looking at the skywatcher exporer 150p - just be aware that when is says OTA, you are only getting the scope for that, and no tripod\mount. From what I can see, the 150P tends to come with an equatorial mount (priced about £250), which is a bit of a different beast that a dobsonian mount and takes some getting used to

Having said this, and read moonshane's comments, it may come down to the age of your kids.

And if you want to attach your camera then definitely go for the 150.

I have the 200p version, I think it is a great piece of kit, but the EQ mount is still taking some getting used to and in some positions I need to stand on a step to reach the eyepiece, and I'm nearly 6 foot tall.

[rockystar]

Oops - missed the Skyliner dob, forget all my previous comments and go for that one

[Charic]

I have the 200p version, I think it is a great piece of kit, but the EQ mount is still taking some getting used to and in some positions I need to stand on a step to reach the eyepiece, and I'm nearly 6 foot tall.

For this reason, I have the 200P f/6 Skyliner Dobsonian. I too have experienced a basic EQ mount, and for one person alone, its just too much to faff around with.

Dreaming........Another problem you may encounter with high magnifications on my scope is sharing? By the time I focus on a target like Jupiter, and your next to view, the time it takes to sit and get comfortable, get your eye to the eyepiece, Jupiter will almost have gone out of view, and so who ever is next on the scope needs to push the scope to remain on target. Dont let this put you off, we all have to do it with a Dobsonian on a friction base, and yet so simple and easy to use once accustomed to it.

[dreaming]

Thankyou again for all your info, it really is so helpful.

I was impressed with the difference that a planetary 2.5mm eye piece made to viewing along side a 2x barlow.

But of course it's all additional costs and with one of those it's near £200 all in for £130p

Lots to think about.