Skywatcher Heritage kit.

[25585]

I have decided on a Skywatcher Heritage as a travel scope, along with a pair of 7x42 bins. For the Heritage I have a Celestron Barlow 2x, 27mm Cassini Erfle, 9mm Vixen LV. 

I am going to put a tripod socket into the dob mount base.

Need suggestions for a carrying case for the Heritage kit, and also what collimation tools. Would the Bob's Knobs for SW Newtonians be suitable for a Heritage? 

[happy-kat]

I don't believe the bobs knobs are reading the page on FLO.

I use just a collimation cap.

Are you taking a tripod traveling?

[billyharris72]

Agree that a collimation cap is the best way to go. No need to change the knobs on the Heritage. The small secondary holder does not move at all (in the couple of years I had mine I never had to adjust it once - including after I dropped the OTA) while the primary has easy to adjust knobs already in place. Being able to look into the collimation cap as you make the adjustments is a godsend, and makes collimation completely trivial.

Don't know about a case, but it sounds like a great grab and go kit.

Billy.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Well I did replace the secondary screws - not with Bobs Knobs but with screws that I bought from WDS Ltd. OK I have never really needed to adjust them but having adjustable knobs is much easier if I am in a dark site and can't find a screwdriver. I use a collimation cap but sometimes a cheshire as well.

As regards a case I just place the Heritage in a standard bag.

Since taking this photo I have 'flocked' the whole scope including the plate opposite the eyepiece. I have also made a shroud out of neoprene.

[Geoff Lister]

I agree with Billy. The single spine holding the secondary boss looks flimsy, but is a lot more rigid than it looks. A collimation cap is all you need, but a Cheshire is worth using, if available. The OTA seems to hold collimation well over many sessions. The overall assembly does not lend itself to a "standard" bag shape, although it may fit a deep backpack.

The central bolt, forming the azimuth axis shaft, has its head protruding on the underside of the base, just where you would want to attach to a tripod. With care, it should be possible to drill and tap a female 1/4" - 20 UNC tripod thread in the head.

These are the additions that I have made to mine:-

Geoff

[jetstream]

Our sec has never needed adjustment, this works very well for the primary. A Skywatcher refractor collimator- this little tool has been checked against my Catseye and Glatter tools.... it is very accurate.

 

[happy-kat]

The telescope directly can be fitted to a tripod it uses a standard shaped bar so an eqclamp works. Eqclamp onto ball head on tripod even better I think.

[Mark at Beaufort]

I should have clarified the 'standard' bag. I don't use the Dob base on travel trips but I carry a lightweight alt/az mount.

By the way I copied @Geoff Lister alt scale when I use the little Dob base on a table for extremely quick grab and go.

[happy-kat]

Member Rod uses it on an even lighter photo tripod. Though doesn't get those slomo controls on the az5.

link here

[Geoff Lister]

The dovetail bar has a 1/4" female thread for tripod mounting, but at the end, nowhere near the balance point of the OTA. I found the balance point of the extended OTA (including a typical EP), marked the dovetail clamp, unbolted it, and then drilled and tapped a couple of extra tripod threads; one at the balance point, and one a little further back (in case I want to use a T-mounted DSLR). I found that, to achieve DSLR/binoviewer focus, with the helical threads well engaged, I needed to retract the slide tubes by about an inch.

The OTA works well on my Skymax mount, provided that I do not extend the tripod's legs too far. This gives me full GOTO, with a similar aperture, but wider FOV, compared with the Skymax's 127mm Mak. The 127mm Mak will fit on the Heritage mount, but at higher magnifications, where the Mak scores, the mount needs a lot of nudging to keep the object in the FOV.

This is my Skymax setup for portability. It should be possible to substitute the Heritage's OTA for the Mak.

Overall weight just over 10kg. It is possible to attach the tripod to one side of the backpack, and a folding camping stool to the other.

Geoff

 

[happy-kat]

If you use an eqclamp there is no need to drill holes in the dove tail bar as you can slide the clamp up or down to find where ever the balance point is. Admittedly the clamps aren't cheap but I bought mine second hand.

Assume your 10 kilo includes the weight of the tripod legs?

[happy-kat]

This is an eqclamp. There is a photo tripod thread in the middle.

If you fix that to a ball head then you can use the ball head in such a way to mimic nudging a dob as described by Rod. I'll add a link later.

[Geoff Lister]

7 hours ago, happy-kat said:

Assume your 10 kilo includes the weight of the tripod legs?

Yes.

I tried the Heritage 130P, with mount, in the backpack, but it was too wide to close the zip.

 

However, with the Skymax mount, the Heritage OTA seems to fit OK.

Also on AZ3 with dovetail clamp, similar to happy-kat's, above (RDF is a bit low, but useable).