Skywatcher Heritage 130P accessories

[Sky-searcher]

2 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

I did this mod to mine, works well. The tube is still collapsible but it's now a bit of a longer process to collapse it. 

 

That looks great Craig! Some good thinking gone behind that! Have you done anymore to the mod since the thread & how is working? Thanks Andy 

[CraigT82]

I've not really done anything else to it since then, it works absolutely fine. With a 32mm 70 degree eyepicee it is stunning to just cruise up and down the milky way under a dark sky, picking off globs left right and centre! Since then I have spent a fair bit of time making sure the focuser was square to the tube using washers, but other than that haven't done anything else!

I think one day I might send the mirrors off to get new Hilux coatings to squeeze every last drop of light throughput available but not just yet as the original coatings are fine.

[Sky-searcher]

12 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

I've not really done anything else to it since then, it works absolutely fine. With a 32mm 70 degree eyepicee it is stunning to just cruise up and down the milky way under a dark sky, picking off globs left right and centre! Since then I have spent a fair bit of time making sure the focuser was square to the tube using washers, but other than that haven't done anything else!

I think one day I might send the mirrors off to get new Hilux coatings to squeeze every last drop of light throughput available but not just yet as the original coatings are fine.

Thanks Craig, Fitting a Crawford Focuser has got to be the best upgrade for the scope. Will have to take a look at doing that some day. Did see a helical Focuser with around 30mm of movement that has T2 threads at base. Did think of trying it to see if I could get it to work with the heritage as wasn’t too expensive. Will definitely revisit this mod someday. 

[Nyctimene]

The Heritage 130 P Flextube is an excellent and very pleasing scope; I'm using a completely different set of eyepieces with it:

- ES 26 mmf/62° LER as a widefield eyepiece, giving 2.5° true field of view (TFoV);

- Seben Zoom 8-24 mmf  (avoid the 7-21 mmf!);

-Baader Barlow 2,25x (a shorty one, from the "turret" set of eyepieces);

giving mags from 25x to 183x.

Just some other options to consider.

Stephan

[jetstream]

In addition to Stephans great choice of the 26mm, another worthy option is the 24mm ES 68, which we use. For lunar/planetary the Nagler 3-6mm works very well even at 216x+. These scopes have good optics.

[Sky-searcher]

22 hours ago, steve wiz said:

Hey Andy, I've also gone with your Barlow and your Starguider  laser, just spotted the on Ebay, cheers mate, bit cheaper than the ones I was going to get so all good!

I'll now look for that great little flight case! 

Steve, had an hour this evening before dusk as the moon has been visible since this afternoon. Took a couple of pics with my iPhone 6 up against the lenses. Used BST 18,15 & 8mm with the 2x Barlow ( 72x, 87x & 162x) so you could see what to expect with them. The quality on the pics is not as good as by eye though. Cheers Andy.

[steve wiz]

Andy, those pictures are incredible!!😮 

I'm itching to get the 130P...feeling like a exited kid!....So fascinating and beautiful.

Thank you, I cant wait!

[Ignoro]

I got the same scope last summer as a complete newbie.

I think for starters you can use stock eyepieces as they are not that bad, after some time you'll know better what you need. I was very happy with the views last summer with just stock EPs. Also beginners eye is not the same as the experienced observers eye. 

If you buy all EPs now, what will you do later...? 🤨

Heritage is a great scope, very light and fast to setup...

Edited May 13, 2019 by Ignoro

[steve wiz]

 Hey Guys, Just ordered the Heritage 130P, BST Starguider 8mm, 15mm, and 25mm...over the Moon! Pardon the pun!