Skywatchers heritage130P flex tube dobsonian telescope

[Janette Phee]

Can anyone advise me on this telescope? Just beginning to take interest in astronomy and would like a light weight that can be stored away when not in use! I don't want anything to complicated as that would put me of using it!

[Cornelius Varley]

Hello and welcome to SGL. The Heritage 130P is quite light at 6.2kgs so can be carried in one hand, the base includes a handle for this purpose. The telescope, when not in use, can be stored in its box which measures 500 x 500 x 500 approx. The telescope is very simple set up and use, all you need to do is extend the telescope to its full length and place it on a suitable flat surface.

video of it being unboxed and set up

another of the Celestron branded version

 

[Nyctimene]

I bought this scope this summer, and it's a joy to use! Lightweight, compact, intuitively to handle - and it gives suprisingly crisp and bright views. Together with a 26 mmf/62° ES eyepiece, I get a field of 2,5°; the Seben 8-24 zoom works quite well with it, and a small Baader 2,25x Barlow allows magnifications of 182x. With a 6 mmf eyepiece, you can push up the mag to 243x - still very usable for the moon,  planets, double stars, globular clusters...

Add a UHC filter, the Pocket Sky Atlas,  the app SkySafari Plus with your smartphone  or tablet, a redlight torch, and a stool, and you are prepared for many enjoyable nights (BTW, that's my actual grab-and-go set for this evening!).

Here's the link to the huge thread on the CloudyNights forum:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/463109-onesky-newtonian-astronomers-without-borders/

Neil English's review:

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

and the SGL review:

Hope this helps - and a warm welcome to this friendly forum. Keep asking, enjoy your way to the stars - and start an astro diary!

Stephan

[Janette Phee]

Very helpful to a novice like myself and I have now ordered the heritage130 and am looking forward to using it. Thanks again

[happy-kat]

That's great. It is a little cracker. I use mine when I'm sat on a garden chair and depending on what I'm looking at sit the telescope on an upturned bucket.

[LukeSkywatcher]

3 hours ago, Janette Phee said:

Very helpful to a novice like myself and I have now ordered the heritage130 and am looking forward to using it. Thanks again

Good choice (very good choice). Not very expensive for a 1st scope and it really does deliver. The one and only issue (i say issue rather than a problem) is the focuser (where the eyepiece goes in). It can be rather stiff when twisting it to focus. This can be very easily solved though with a bit of grease or in my case............i turned it backwards and forwards a gazillion times so that the paint on the threads inside the focuser wore off.

For the time you open the box til you are observing is about 3-4 minutes and most of that time is spent wondering which eyepiece to try first.

Enjoy it. I know you will.

Depending on light pollution in your area, you may want to consider making a shroud to enclose the open truss part of the scope to keep out any stray light from your surrounding. This is easily done using a camping mat and double sided velcro. Do a search here on SGL for "shroud for Heritage 130P" and you should see plenty of examples and how to make one. Here's a typical example of what i mean:

 

[happy-kat]

4A fast improvement if there is a lot of local stray light throw a towel over your head, I find the biggest issue with stray light is it effecting the eyepiece or my eye by reflecting light at that point. The focuser is much more likely to be a bit loose and this can be adjusted by just a wind or two of ptfe plumbers tape. 

[Adam J]

This is my default scope when people with young children ask me for recommendation, although its great for the more serious adults too. Its great quality at the price, sufficient aperture to get started, easy to store, easy to lift and dobs are so simple to use. 

My only thing would be that if you have the cash, storage space and you live at a dark ish location then the SW200p Dob is a vastly superior scope...but its not superior if its size means you never use it.