Just bought my first scope

[BeerMe]

 

 

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

 

Not from FLO unfortunately, got it new for £112 on the eBay sale.

I can't wait til Wednesday for it to be delivered... just hope the clear skies continue for another couple of weeks before the seeing conditions really deteriorate

Anyone else have this model?  Is it really as portable and simple to use as the reviews suggest?  Will the EPs supplied be ok to be getting on with? 

What type of DSOs am I likely to be able to view with it?  Will I be able to see any galaxies and nebulae?

 

Apologies for so many questions..

[MattJenko]

Congratulations. I started on a 130 Newt as well, but on an EQ mount. Loved the scope, but found the EQ tough, so this is a much more sensible choice. If the EPs are the usual 10mm and 25mm super plossl type, then they will be fine to get you going. The 25mm one isn't bad at all and is better than the 10mm, but they will certainly do the job and once you have the feel for the field of view and magnification of your kit, you can get addicted to field of view calculators for your next upgrades!

http://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/

[niallk]

Congrats!

[Brasspoodle]

That looks like a lot of fun! Congrats. In regards to DSOs start with the Orion Nebula in the 25mm eyepiece. You'll see that no problem. Galaxies are tough and even through a 12" Dob its only under dark skies you can see spiral arms and other such details. In light polluted skies they are really faint fuzzy patches and only some will pop out from the background brightness. If Andromeda is about (its well below the horizon in Australia) then that would be one of the most visible and could give you an idea of what the scope can or can't do. It's not just about the scope either, its also a case of learning to see things better using averted vision or rocking the scope or deep breathing or patience! Jupiter shouldn't be missed right now either as its almost at opposition. If you don't have Stellarium (free planetarium software) then download that and you'll quickly find where things are. Hope that helps.

[Riemann]

As above, the Orion nebula (M42) is one of the finest things to see in the sky with any scope and is easily visible through a Skywatcher 130.   Star clusters are easy to see too through your scope and bright enough to deal with light pollution.   I could make out Andromeda (M31) and one of its satellite galaxies through my Skywatcher 130 but failed on all other galaxies given the light pollution my garden (and they remain tough even with my much larger replacement telescope, though some are doable).   If you have or can get to dark skies you should be able to see many more galaxies - Messier complied his list with a smaller telescope than yours    Well worth reading up the Messier list and using it in conjunction with Stellarium.

I didn't have your exact model of 130 but it should be really easy to pick up and move.    I used to carry my full 130 tube on its EQ2 mount with weights and tripod as a whole unit from the house to the garden, and could be up and running in a couple of minutes (I miss that!).   Yours will be much lighter than that.

Also as per previous comments, I would learn to use the eyepieces before rushing to replace them.  The 25mm you may not even want to replace, but I personally I would not leave it too long before replacing the 10mm.   I have had two of them and did direct comparisons with my 9mm X-cel LX and the latter blows the SW 10mm away.    The BST range is meant to be comparable to the X-cel LXs and is cheaper.    The barlow supplied is awful, so you should either replace that or get something around a 5mm or 6mm for planetary viewing in due course.

In your shoes I would start with Jupiter, Orion nebula, a few star clusters, and if your skyline allows Saturn early in the morning.

A Telrad finder will help a lot, by the way - much better than the red dot finder.   I think it will fit on your tube OK but worth a check before buying.

[BeerMe]

Thanks everyone for the great, informative answers! 

I'll definitely have to make do with the EPs supplied with the scope for now as I wasn't intending to buy even a scope right now, but this was too good a bargain to miss and ever since I took up this hobby I've been spending nights staring at bright, starlit skies and longing for a scope. I'll collect everything else I need in time but I'm happy that the EPs are decent enough to be getting on with. 

I'm also excited that I might be able to see at least a galaxy or two.  This is really my personal holy grail at the moment....the idea of being able to look out beyond all the stars in our own galaxy and be able to see something like Andromeda in its entirety is amazing, even if the detail is faint.  I think this type of viewing is what could get my wife interested, or maybe some detail on Saturn or Jupiter and its good to know that with the right conditions, that should be doable. 

I've seen some comments bemoaning the helical (?) focuser - being a total noob to scopes means it shouldn't really affect me as I'm not conditioned to a certain type, but what exactly do they entail?  Is it fairly simple to operate and easy to adjust?

Thanks once again for all the encouraging comments, clear skies to you all

[laudropb]

Congratulations on your first scope. It's a great choice for a first scope. As has been said, the eye pieces supplied are more than good enough to get you started and to learn the capabilities of your instrument. You will be better able to decide on eye pieces that suit your requirements a few months down the line.

[Brasspoodle]

Checked out a couple of galaxies last night with my ST120 f5 (slightly smaller apperture and a refractor!) but perhaps comparable? Anyway at 75x (roughly the 10mm Plössl you have) I could see, in light polluted skies with reasonably good seeing and some dark adaption, M83 (a spiral galaxy) and the Sombrero Galaxy (a lenticular or side on Galaxy). With averted vision I could get the vaguest sense of a spiral in M83 and could pick the orientation of the Sombrero, but no prominent dark lane. I'd use the 25mm to find the location then try the 10mm to eek out any possible detail. So perhaps once you've nailed andromeda try these out, although I'm sure there are other bright galaxies in the north that I've never seen from Oz.

[happy-kat]

It is a great telescope.

What you need to do either buy a collimation cap or make one from an old 35mm film canister. As a minimum this helps you keep the primary aligned. My secondary was fine out of the box.

Wrap a couple winds of ptfe tape on the focuser if your one has a lot of lateral movement.

For best viewing with the 10mm wait half an hour use the 25mm first while the telescope cools.

Split double stars, Gemini easy to find could start there.

I sit on a garden chair to use mine and sometimes raise it by putting on an upturned bucket.

Enjoy.

[BeerMe]

Thanks Kat, I had actually been wondering about collimation.  If it needs done, they should really provide the tools to do it eh?

I guess I'll have to look it up before Wednesday and hopefully find something suitable around the house that I can use to do it, as I don't want to have to wait for a cap to arrive before I can start to use it!

I assume you either have, or have used this model before?  If you know that you won't have any outside light interfering, is it best not to put a cover over the exposed part of the tube?  I would have thought this allowed it to gather even a little more light than a conventional Newtonian telescope with a fully enclosed tube?

Also, at what distance should an object be for you to align the finderscope?  I read somewhere that you should use objects around 1 mile away, but for me to get a mile of open plain I'd have to travel about 5 miles lol.  Should you insert one of the EPs when aligning the finderscope?  Sorry for the noob questions, I just want to get as much info as possible before it arrives.  Forewarned is forearmed and all that

 

Edit:  I see in your sig that you do have the same scope

[Dave In Vermont]

To your questionon the helical-focuser, one reviewer said it had some 'slop' to it. But I'd imagine this could be managed by using care. I have an add-on Borg two-part helical-focuser. These sell here for around $80US. The drop-in to the focuser and are very smooth and precise - which can be quite useful for some applications involving cameras and high-power eyepieces to achieve the most exacting focus without causing vibration from turning the knobs on the main focuser. But I've never had the chance to see what yours can do. I should think it works alright.

Enjoy the scope!

Dave

[happy-kat]

Look around the house for a 35mm film canister they do the job perfect.

I have made a shroud for mine because I sit within 20 foot of a led lamp post, but on Jupiter and the Moon I don't bother using the shroud. Throwing a towel over your head creates a shrouded area and is effective.

You can align the finder using the Moon when it is back round, start with 25mm and adjust rdf then put the 10mm in and fine tune the finder.

The focuser works. 

Astrobaby has a collimation guide and member moonshane wrote a good pdf on it on this site.

[Jimtheslim]

9 hours ago, BeerMe said:

 

Also, at what distance should an object be for you to align the finderscope?  I read somewhere that you should use objects around 1 mile away, but for me to get a mile of open plain I'd have to travel about 5 miles lol.  Should you insert one of the EPs when aligning the finderscope?  Sorry for the noob questions, I just want to get as much info as possible before it arrives.  Forewarned is forearmed and all that

 

Edit:  I see in your sig that you do have the same scope

Something about a quarter mile away is fine. I use a gatepost about 400 yards away to line mine up when I have the scope out early to cool down. Just make sure you're using your 25mm eyepiece. If you've nothing like that you can see from your garden once the scope is out where you want to observe from then use the moon if it's about. Jupiter is unmistakable (and beautiful) at the moment and I quite often use that as it's the first target I look at at the moment. Don't stress about it too much, it becomes very quick and easy after a while. 

Depending how much light pollution you have, a drive with your scope may not be a bad thing once in a while. I take mine a few miles down the road to a dark site and the difference is unbelievable. 

45 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

 

I have made a shroud for mine because I sit within 20 foot of a led lamp post, but on Jupiter and the Moon I don't bother using the shroud. Throwing a towel over your head creates a shrouded area and is effective.

 

On a side note that's an interesting technique! I have a fleece lined hoodie which holds it's shape, so I pull that forward and to the side closest to the scope. This was especially effective when viewing Jupiter with a full moon glaring away just next to it and blinding me with light bouncing off the tube.

[Jimtheslim]

Also re eyepieces. You will certainly get some use out the ones supplied, but soon you'll be wondering if you can get a bit more by buying something different. I took the age old advice about buying some used plossls off ebay. I bought a 32mm, 12.4mm and 6.4mm Meade plossl off ebay for about £20 each and these have served me very well. The 10mm supplied with the scope coupled with the Barlow will effectively give you a 5mm, but it's unlikely the quality of these two items put together along with the seeing conditions will give you anything useful. So have a look for something in the 6mm to 10mm range in a used plossl like a Meade or Celestron etc. I would certainly do this before buying a new Barlow. Some people love Barlows, others like myself just don't really bother with them. Time will tell as to whether you feel you need to upgrade this.

[happy-kat]

Generally the only time I use my 1.6 barlow is with my webcam as it will mean I achieve focus without dropping the trusses. Though I did use it Friday on Jupiter getting x173 but I don't normally favour using it.