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Skywatcher f/5 130mm tabletop


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Hello stargazers

you may have read my previous post about a Dobson 76/350 telescope that I bought which turned out to be a waste of time. So now I'm looking into buying another one from a more trustworthy company. I found a company called skywatcher and they have a 130mm f/5 dobsonian telescope at http://www.skywatcheraustralia.com.au/product/heritage-p130-d-130mm-f-650mm/ and I don't really know whether to buy it or not. Even if I do decide to buy it, I'm not going to buy it just yet. So I need your advice on what telescope to choose. Can someone please help me select my telescope.

Eucalyptus

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This is a very well regarded starter scope, which may not even be a starter-only scope, but you may find that you will keep it for life. The same telescope is also sold rebranded as "AWB OneSky".

Very portable, easy to use and providing decent, entertaining views. At f/5, it may be a little rougher on eyepieces, but that is nothing to be concerned about in the beginning.
You may require something (like a stool, overturned flower pot, etc) to put it on in order to reach comfortable position during observing.
As to whether to buy it or not, that decision is yours only.

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Skywatcher is a very well known outfit for many years, and is highly regarded. Have no qualms - you'd do well to buy their instruments. And their 130mm F/5 is a very good scope. Perhaps even the most popular one in these forums - or close to it!

So good going in finding one yourself. I'd keep on saving - it will be worth it. About the only criticism would be to get a 150mm instead. Or 200mm. Or 10,000mm - or...etc. This phenomena is known as "Aperture-Fever," and can be incurable! Most all astronomer's have suffered from it as some point! :D 'Aperture-Fever' aside - the 130mm F/5 is a definite winner.

Well worth saving-up for,

Dave

 

TableTop-130mm.jpg

 

 

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They are a nice small scope and many start out with one. They do need a table to be used on, so unless observing from home take that into account. I am not sure how "fast" they are (= focal length / diameter) and that design aspect has an influence on collimation and eyepieces.

One "concern" is that you are going from one starter scope to another. So both are a bit of a temporary step before you move on.

Have you looked at this lot: http://www.sydneycityskywatchers.asn.au/about-us

Others: http://www.clubsofaustralia.com.au/search2.php

May be my browser but the last bit on SSW saying "Click here" has nothing to click on. :rolleyes2:

Who is the source of the 130 table top? Useful to be able to reads the website. I would likely follow Dave and suggest waiting a bit and if it all fits in with life then getting one of the Skywatcher 150P dobsonians. Fitting in mainly means moving it around and transporting. Sydney is a bit light polluted.

If you can wait until May then on May 1st the SSW have a Telescope Viewing Night, guessing it may be open to public, but even if not you should be able to go along to whereever it is held and have a look at the equipment they use. The other clubs in NSW are also likely to have viewing nights and if reachable then visit one or two. With clubs you can find that for some reason one justs fits you right.

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There are a lot of fans of this " little" scope. Little, only  in so far as it so easy to deploy  packs away into a very small package. When I first got mine I was a bit unsure, mainly because the  helical focuser, just seemed so unbelievably simple, that I thought it let the scope down and in truth mine, like a few, was a bit slack. However this is easily remedied with some plumbers PTFE tape wrapped around the threads, and lo you have a perfectly functional focuser, despite its simplicity. Most importantly, the views through scope are very good and certainly better than the Celestron 130EQ that I was using before. One useful aspect of the mini-dob mount is that you can mount a small refractor (my 80mm/f5)  on it if you have a yen for such things, making for an even more compact grab 'n' go. There are a few reviews around of this scope in its various guises, but Peter English is a particular fan.

http://neilenglish.net/a-newtonian-travel-scope/

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17 minutes ago, Eucalyptus said:

thanks

You're welcome!

I don't own one (too many other scopes), but I think it's an excellent grab-and-go scope, easy to handle, that could you serve even later on, when you will have upgraded to a bigger dob or gone over to astrophotography. In your continent with it's excellent dark skies, you could take it easily as a travel scope on board of a plane as well. The Southern skies are marvellous; enjoy their wonders (-and add a pair of good 8x40 or 10x50 bins for that!).

Stephan

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13 hours ago, Alfian said:

Thats a really good link. Very interesting.

Hi Ian -

I really think your previous posts are excellent! A wealth of spot-on reporting and knowledge on this 'little' scope. I was trying to find a few good user-reports, and you found supplied all I needed. Perfect!

So 'thank you' is quite in order -

Dave

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On 27/02/2017 at 01:02, Dave In Vermont said:

Hi Ian -

I really think your previous posts are excellent! A wealth of spot-on reporting and knowledge on this 'little' scope. I was trying to find a few good user-reports, and you found supplied all I needed. Perfect!

So 'thank you' is quite in order -

Dave

Thats very kind of you Dave. I've recently "retired" but remain quite busy, however, it does give me a bit more down time to hunt around the net  for stuff of interest. The only problem is that I either swamp my browser with bookmarks or find myself trying to remember where I've seen things. The Heritage 130P is an interesting scope which despite its basic, but well thought out design, works well. I've sometimes wished they'd spent just a tad more here and there, but that would have lifted out of its target zone I suppose. It would be interesting to see the 150P/F8 given a similar flextube design tweak.

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