Using a Heritage in travel mode to view DSOs

[Mark at Beaufort]

There has been an enjoyable thread discussing the best travel scope. I decided to put my Heritage on a tripod to see how good it was finding DSOs if I took it on holiday - home or abroad.

Last night the sky was really transparent so I picked the following EPs - ES68 24mm, ES68 16mm, Teleview 8-24 zoom and a Baader 2.25X barlow.

These are the objects that I observed - M42, M43, M1, M38, M36, M37, Double Cluster, M35 + NGC2158, Christmas Tree Cluster, NGC 2244 + Rosette Neb using Astronomik O-III filter, M93, M47, M46 + NGC 2438 (PN) using O-III, NGC 3242 (Ghost of Jupiter), NGC 3115 (Spindle Galaxy), M44, M67,  NGC 2903, M95, M96, M105, (M66, M65, NGC 3628 - triplets in 16mm ES68), M81, M82, M63, M51 and finally NGC 4490  in Canes Venatici

OK this is a lot of DSOs in a few hours but my main purpose was to test the system. It shows that the Skywatcher Heritage 130P weighing about 3 kgs is a very capable travel set up

 

 

[Davesellars]

Well done!  That's a really good list and cross section of objects for a session and good to see that 5" reflector performs nicely.  Goes to show that a transparent and dark enough sky works wonders.  Must have been good to see NGC 3628 which very easily gets washed out as it's so diffuse.  Many thanks for the report!

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks Dave I am lucky that my house is on the edge of the City and my East to West horizon has no light pollution. With regard to NGC 3628 I used my ES68 16mm which covers all the 3 galaxies and it helps that I knew the position of the fainter galaxy having seen it many times in the 12" Dob.

[Littleguy80]

Excellent report, Mark. The Heritage 130P once again proves itself a very capable scope, even it travel mode. I quite agree with your point on picking up fainter galaxies based on past experience. Last night I was also able to observe NGC 3628 from home, under less than ideal conditions, because I knew what I was looking for.

[Eastman]

Great report Mark, Heritage 130P is a great travelscope indeed. That's a nice finderscope!

[Ceramus]

Nice report and a great little scope! Will be taking mine on the AZ-GTi in June tArgentina and Chile for the solar eclipse and dark skies, reports after...

[Mark at Beaufort]

4 minutes ago, Ceramus said:

 Will be taking mine on the AZ-GTi in June tArgentina and Chile for the solar eclipse and dark skies, reports after...

I will be interested in how the AZ-GTi works with the Heritage 130P. I have not used a goto mount for about 15 years and I was thinking of buying one of these mounts for general grab and go.

[Stu]

10 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

I will be interested in how the AZ-GTi works with the Heritage 130P. I have not used a goto mount for about 15 years and I was thinking of buying one of these mounts for general grab and go.

I can give this a go sometime soon Mark and see how it goes.

[Mark at Beaufort]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

I can give this a go sometime soon Mark and see how it goes.

Thanks Stu perhaps we can chat tomorrow. I am playing squash at lunchtime then coming over.

[Owmuchonomy]

2 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

I will be interested in how the AZ-GTi works with the Heritage 130P. I have not used a goto mount for about 15 years and I was thinking of buying one of these mounts for general grab and go.

I purchased an AZ-GTi purposely to cover the last two weeks of the North Yorkshire Dark Skies festival.  I used it five times and each time it worked faultlessly.  The youngsters in the crowds loved the Synscan App and finding objects for themselves.  I used my ED 80 on it and am very interested too in using the 130 as an option.  However, I did use my spare EQ6 tripod with the mount which is significantly more stable than the kit version.  Channel 4 even filmed it in action!

[Stu]

58 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Thanks Stu perhaps we can chat tomorrow. I am playing squash at lunchtime then coming over.

Of course! Could even bring the AZGTi

[AlexB67]

Nice. Mine is still going strong. Over the years  it got more use than my 10 inch. 

I got some really good planetary views with it too , it got to another level when I added an orthoscopic, like my 5mm BGO  instead of something like a multi element 5mm BST, I was able to eek out some extra contrast on Jupiter, and Saturn in particular it really helped. The focuser does not take too kindly to big heavy whoppers without going off-axis mind.  My 14mm Delos is a good example, with large star clusters it is easily noticeable, my only long term objection.

One of the nicest views for the money I enjoy would be something like M81,M82 in the same field of view,  such as a  25mm.  To get the same field of view in my 10 inch Dob comes with a hefty price tag !

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks Alex - I often felt I should buy an orthoscopic EP to use with the Heritage. I might look around for a S/H EP although the Vixen SLV looks to have some good reviews.

[Eastman]

On ‎05‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 11:29, Mark at Beaufort said:

It shows that the Skywatcher Heritage 130P weighing about 3 kgs is a very capable travel set up

Hello Mark, I really like my Heritage 130p too. I want to update mine with a tripod with AZ mount and finderscope. I just wonder, how did you install that finderscope?

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

1 minute ago, Eastman said:

Hello Mark, I really like my Heritage 130p too. I want to update mine with a tripod with AZ mount and finderscope. I just wonder, how did you install that finderscope?

 

Gert I experimented for the best position and the photo shows IMHO the best place. It a standard finderscope bracket and I simply marked and drilled the tube and connected with small nuts and bolts. With the RDF and the finderscope its easy to find objects. The shroud which improves contrast is made from neoprene.

Hope that helps.

[Eastman]

9 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Hope that helps.

Sure did

Thanks Mark

[RobertI]

Nice report Mark, shows the capabilities of this size of scope in experienced hands. Did you find the OIII filter worked well in this scope? The OIII has been on my list for a while. I mostly use my Heritage 130P on my SkyProdigy (effectively the same as the Celestron SLT or Skywatcher Star Discovery) and it is a superb match as it is so light - I would have thought the GTi would easily carry it as it seems to have a similar capacity. I have been really enjoying using this size Newt, and I have actually been considering trying a 130PDS or even a 150P just to get the better focuser, although both are heavier than the Heritage and might tax the Skyprodigy a bit too much, I need to handle one really. Hoping the wind will die doown soon so I can get out again!

[Littleguy80]

9 minutes ago, RobertI said:

Did you find the OIII filter worked well in this scope? The OIII has been on my list for a while

I hope you don’t mind me jumping in with an answer to this. I had a SkyWatcher 130M which didn’t have the parabolic mirror and was a longer focal length than the Heritage but was the same aperture. I picked up a secondhand Astronomik OIII and using an ES68 24mm regularly observed the Veil with it. It definitely needed good transparency but the OIII filter worked well with the smaller aperture. 

[Mark at Beaufort]

10 hours ago, RobertI said:

Nice report Mark, shows the capabilities of this size of scope in experienced hands. Did you find the OIII filter worked well in this scope? The OIII has been on my list for a while. I mostly use my Heritage 130P on my SkyProdigy (effectively the same as the Celestron SLT or Skywatcher Star Discovery) and it is a superb match as it is so light - I would have thought the GTi would easily carry it as it seems to have a similar capacity. I have been really enjoying using this size Newt, and I have actually been considering trying a 130PDS or even a 150P just to get the better focuser, although both are heavier than the Heritage and might tax the Skyprodigy a bit too much, I need to handle one really. Hoping the wind will die doown soon so I can get out again!

Robert - I agree with Neil's answer re your question on an O-III  filter. Like Neil I use an Astronomik O-III which is expensive when compared to the cost of the Heritage. There are many different O-III filters on the market at various costs. I believe that the Castell O-III is one of the better filters for the money if you don't want to buy an Astronomik. By the way I have a 2" Castell for use in my 6" Newt and 12" Dob. https://www.365astronomy.com/Castell-OIII-Deepsky-Filter-for-1.25-Inch-Eyepieces.html

[jetstream]

Just a quick note, the cost effective DGM NPB, tight UHC type of filter works well in the H130 as does the Astronomik Hb, IC 434 easily visible. Actually any good filter works in it... I often wondered how a DGM OIII would work but I have seen no test specs which are needed.

[jonoschen]

Hi Mark,

Can you tell me what tripod and mount you have in the photo in starting post on this thread?

It looks ideal for my heritage dob.

Thanks,

Adam

[Mark at Beaufort]

Hello Adam

The tripod is a photo tripod made by Cullmann (German) - its quite a few years old. It has 3 sections. I guess any reasonable photo tripod will work.

The mount is an Andoer video tripod ball head from eBay and cost me about £21 about a year ago.

The saddle is from my old SkyTee 2 mount which I changed to ADM saddles.

The Heritage with an eyepiece + 9x50 finder weighs between 3-4 kgs and the system just about works. However, something like this mount would work better - https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/starwave-mini-az-mount.html#SID=568 - but it costs.

Hope that answers the question.

 

[jonoschen]

Thanks for the info Mark, much appreciated!

I'm looking into different tripods with ball heads. I'm just trying to figure out how the scope will rotate securly in alt motion. I guess the ball head will allow that if it has a notch in its 'collar'. I like that you have the right angle locked down, I guess that's the saddle?

I'll have to dream of raiding the piggy bank for the starwave!!

Cheers,

Adam

[happy-kat]

You can do this with the ball head in the notch. Sorry sketch was for ST80 but same idea. Then azimuth is made by the rotation of the base of the ball head adaptor and altitude by raising lowering the telescope angle using the ball staying in the notch. I've used a ball head like this but not yet with the heritage specifically.

[niallk]

Nice report Mark - I've been considering getting one of these as a travel scope in Ireland- can't fit all the family if I attempt to bring my 15", and it causes such awkwardness deciding which of the kids to leave behind to mind the house

I plan to attach to my AltAz4 which I use with my LS50DS.  I briefly toyed with the idea of a 2nd hand ed80 or ed100, but I think the Heritage 130p is worth a punt given the price, with the benefit of aperture for my primary targets of interest - DSOs.  It's also not so expensive to be too precious about it if there's an unfortunate accident camping with the kids.