Seeking kind advice about my first Reflector

[Sidd]

One more thing. Te guy on that forum explains culmination of this scope. There are adjustment knobs on the outside of the primary and on the inside of the primary there is a dot in the center. He explains he did his alignment simply by looking through the eyepiece and aligning both dots - primary through secondary- by the adjustment knobs. That is so simple no Cheshire etc required. 

Is this true or is it that when the problems start when the secondary  goes out. 

Is that so? If yes, culmination seems easy on this scope. 

[Ricochet]

Assuming you mean the second post on the thread it is not through an eyepiece, but through a collimation cap or similar. Without the hole in the cap creating the second dot you have nothing to align the ring on the primary mirror. Also, to my eye, the secondary position looks a bit out so I don't think collimation went as well as the user thought it had.. I would get a Cheshire/sight tube to align the secondary correctly and then a collimation cap for the primary (the crosshairs at the bottom of the cheshire/sight tube obscure the central dot a bit).

[happy-kat]

The quickest light shroud is put a towel over your head I find the biggest light ingress is from side light into my eyes at the eyepiece and not light spill onto the secondary mirror.

[Sidd]

Someone told me just yesterday that reflectors in the 500-600 focal length cant dive deep enough and hence focal lengths in the 900-1000 range should be purchased. Is this correct because the scope I am trying to get falls near the 650 range... please suggest !

[jetstream]

The Heritage 130 will show the the Rosette neb, Monkeyhead ,M42,M43, North American neb, the Veil, M81/M82, many UMA galaxies, Markarians Chain etc- of course from dark skies.

There is no end to telescope choice and once experienced these choices become easier. Many recommend the SW200 f6 dob-great scope- but portability starts to become an issue.

[Ricochet]

11 hours ago, Sidd said:

Someone told me just yesterday that reflectors in the 500-600 focal length cant dive deep enough and hence focal lengths in the 900-1000 range should be purchased. Is this correct because the scope I am trying to get falls near the 650 range... please suggest !

Aperture, not focal length, is the important attribute. All focal length does is determine which focal length eyepieces will give you the required exit pupils. 

Given the first requirement that the telescope must be bought in the UK and then packed with all the other luggage to be taken to Pakistan, the Heritage 130p is probably not only the best choice, but the only choice. If possible it should be taken as hand luggage, otherwise it needs to be well packed to protect it against impacts during baggage handling. 

[Sidd]

1 hour ago, Ricochet said:

Aperture, not focal length, is the important attribute. All focal length does is determine which focal length eyepieces will give you the required exit pupils. 

Given the first requirement that the telescope must be bought in the UK and then packed with all the other luggage to be taken to Pakistan, the Heritage 130p is probably not only the best choice, but the only choice. If possible it should be taken as hand luggage, otherwise it needs to be well packed to protect it against impacts during baggage handling. 

My Dear Ricochet, 

Thank you for your prompt response. My query or confusion for that matter is resolved and I shall get the heritage for sure. I shall dig out a bit on focal lengths and ratios out of personal interest later on but my decision has matured. Yes you are right about transportation too. I do not want to pain my old lad who has been a sport in bringing me my favourite pipe tobaccos on every visit so I can't bother him and risk discontinuation of my otherwise regular supply  he even brought me a snooker cue once and had a bit of a trouble in hand carrying it. Imagine a Pakistani traveling on a plane carrying a large circular tube  I'm glad it was a pre 9/11 thingie  

Anyway I shall be confirming my order to him today. Besides this is the only grab and go scope that is of high quality like a parabolic mirror etc and would suit me best as I plan to use it from three locations. I shall think about the shroud and tripod later on. 

Kind regards,

Sidd 

[Ricochet]

I am sure that it will prove to be a good choice.

 

[Pondus]

It is at least possible to take the tube only as hand luggage, its  slightly less than 40cm long With a diameter ~20cm.

[Sidd]

12 hours ago, Ricochet said:

I am sure that it will prove to be a good choice.

 

So you suggest I get a Cheshire cullimator withh it too or would I be able to do it without tools when the need be ? Also if I would need a 2x Barlow with it ? 

I just don't want to ask for too many things from my friend so just wondering if I should ask for these now or maybe get a hand of the scope first and then worry about other accessories  

please suggest. 

[Ricochet]

I would be inclined to get a Cheshire just so that you can be certain that the collimation is right, especially with the scope having a long plane journey to shake it around. A 2x Barlow is an optional extra and it is really up to you whether you get one or not. If you wanted to do planetary observations then I would suggest either a 5mm eyepiece or a 10mm in a 2x barlow. As you think that you are going to be most interested in DSOs then it is less of an issue because you won't have as much use for the higher magnifications that a barlow gives. If you were in the UK I would say to just try the telescope as it is first and take it from there, but with you buying in the UK and getting stuff delivered to Pakistan the time between visits might warrant getting more items now. However, you might find that smaller items like barlows and eyepieces are easier to source/more reasonably priced locally than telescopes.

[Sidd]

Thanks for the response. I shall ask him to get me a Cheshire then. You are right Barlow isn't a big thing and I might be able to locate it locally or get it ordered online later on  thanks mate !

beaides, I'm going for the DSO observation and not really interested in planets as such. 

Regards 

[Sidd]

One last thing on accessories. Since I'm new so I have no idea. Would any given Cheshire and any given Barlow or filter etc fit on the skywatcher heritage 130 ??? Do we have to get specific accessories or are the eye pieces and cheshires etc made of a generic diameter that fits all telescopes ???

[Ricochet]

Astronomical focusers/eyepieces use standard sizes so you don't have to worry about brand matching. The sizes you will see are:

• 0.985" - The smallest size and not really used any more. Only seen on old equipment or the cheapest, nastiest new stuff (which you should avoid). Can be used in the 130p with a 0.985"-1.25" adaptor.
• 1.25" - This is the size of the focuser on the Heritage 130p and the barrel size of most eyepieces. All the Cheshires I've seen for sale have been this size.
• 2" - Used for eyepieces that have a wider field of view than can be used in a 1.25" barrel. Some heavy eyepieces have 2" modes for extra stability even though they are really 1.25" 2"-1.25" adaptors are available but the image will be vignetted and the eyepieces will be heavier and so I suggest not trying this on the 130p focuser.
• 3" - Even bigger and heavier than 2", not a lot of options available in this size.

[Sidd]

Many thanks sir.  Got it !!!