Orion StarBlast 6 or Zhumell Z130

[GMFoods]

I got a telescope some time ago, but found that getting it setup with the mount, weights etc too much of a hassle for regular use and soon enough it got boxed up and packed away. 

That was about 15 years or so ago, and it's still in the box gathering dust.

So now I'm looking to buy something that I can get set up quickly and hopefully get more use out of, and the tabletop models are appealing in that regard.

I was thinking of getting either a starblast 6 or a Zhumell z130.  Just wanted to get opinions on these two, both I think are F5 scopes, and I wanted to know if one was the more obvious choice than the other.

Is the extra apperture going to make a lot of difference?  Is the zhumell as easy to store as the starblast seems?

One thing that's putting me off the starblast is that it'll be sent out from America, and that's a long way for it to come and also a long way to send it back if there's anything wrong with it.

Not too worried about the cost difference, or having to buy new eyepieces if the kit versions aren't great.

That's a lot of words, but I think my main question is what performance difference can I expect between the two?

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @GMFoods and welcome to SGL.

What is your current ‘scope? - and have you thought about changing only the mount?

I myself like alt-mounts…

    

as I found that setting up an EQ mount to much hassle.

Edited June 25, 2021 by Philip R

[GMFoods]

Couldn't say what it is without getting it down from the attic.

I think it's a skywatcher, it needed weights to counter-balance the scope, and from what I remember it looks like a 650 mm x 130 mm reflector.

Yeah I should probably get it down and set it up again, but I think ultimately it would just end up in the same place after a few weeks, so wanting something that's an all in one unit that's easy to get out and use, and just as easy to put away.

[RT65CB-SWL]

From your brief description, it sounds like your current mount is a 'basic' EQ one. One of a few  reasons I like alt-az mounts is place tripod on 'levelish'
ground and I don't have to worry about polar alignment, etc. That said, the only EQ mount that I enjoyed using and now regret selling was a Vixen GP.

    

[GMFoods]

Not sure your addressing the Question I had in mind, but appreciate you're trying to help.

From my point of view, just want some opinion of the benefits of choosing the Starblast 6 over the Zhumell z130, or vice versa 

[John]

Looking at those 2 scopes (I've not used either I ought to say) I think they will be optically and mechanically of very similar quality.

So the question is what does the additional 20mm of aperture give you in return for the additional size and weight ?

The answer is that the 150mm gathers around 45% more light than the 130mm. In practice this will mean slightly better views of deep sky objects, eg: nebulae, clusters, galaxies etc. In principle the larger aperture should resolve a little more detail on the moon and planets but in practice that might not be too apparent. The 150mm will show a slightly narrower field of view because of it's longer focal length.

According to the specs published, the 150mm weighs around 11 kg against the 9.5 kg of the 130.

While these particular scopes are not that common on this forum, there are a number of folks who have owned / used both the Skywatcher Heritage 130mm and the 150mm which are very similar scopes so perhaps they might chime in regarding the real world differences in use ?

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by John

[GMFoods]

Thanks John.

I think I'll get the Zhumell in that case.

Performance doesn't sound like a lot of difference, and with it being lighter and being able to get it next week from amazon it just makes more sense.

[PeterStudz]

Personally I’d go for the Sky-Watcher Heritage-130P Flextube or the Sky-Watcher Heritage-150P Flextube Dobsonian Telescope form FLO rather than buying something from Amazon. Both are highly regarded. If you have any problems I’ve found that the service from FLO is second to none. The Heritage-150P is slightly cheaper at £199 and is more portable. Sure it’s out of stock but the website says it’s due in 10-15 days. You can always check with FLO. And with the summer  night sky’s so bright at the moment you really won’t miss much by waiting. The Heritage-150P costs a little more but is in stock now. Of course it’s your decision!

[Shimrod]

1 hour ago, GMFoods said:

Thanks John.

I think I'll get the Zhumell in that case.

Performance doesn't sound like a lot of difference, and with it being lighter and being able to get it next week from amazon it just makes more sense.

Orion ship most of their UK telescopes from the Netherlands, not from the US (Orion shipping). Returns go back to the Netherlands as well, although that would still not be cheap to ship. You can get 8% cashback (ex-VAT price) on Orion if you use Topcashback if you do fancy the larger aperture. Can't give you any advice on which scope to choose though, as I have no experience of either.

[GMFoods]

Thanks for the comments.

I'm not overly keen on the Heritage scopes as they just look very flimsy to me.  On the other hand they do tick a lot of boxes in terms of being lightweight, portable and easy to store away.

I'll do some thinking on it, as you pointed out, might be a while before we get dark skies back, so no rush.

[Tiny Clanger]

5 minutes ago, GMFoods said:

Thanks for the comments.

I'm not overly keen on the Heritage scopes as they just look very flimsy to me.  On the other hand they do tick a lot of boxes in terms of being lightweight, portable and easy to store away.

I'll do some thinking on it, as you pointed out, might be a while before we get dark skies back, so no rush.

I can promise you that the heritage 150 is not flimsy. The extending section locks securely and is stiff and strong. I've used mine in the course of 43 observing sessions during the year (and a few days) since I bought it, also had it apart to flock the interior, and later to drill holes for an extra finder shoe.

It holds collimation really well, and I can't fault it on robustness. The focuser though, I don't much like that !

Heather

[CraigT82]

The skywatcher heritage scopes (130 and 150) are very well regarded, even amongst veteren observers who own many thousands of pounds worth of other exotic scopes.  The only real downside to both of these is the unorthodox focuser, but it is very simple and can be fetteld to work well. For the money they are tough to beat. 

[GMFoods]

I've done a little more reading around the skywatcher heritage 150, and I think you've convinced me it's exactly what I'm looking for.

Not really into handicrafts, but hopefully I can get one and do the flocking / light shroud etc.

Is there something I need to do with the focuser or is it just a case of getting used to it?

Also wanted to ask about the eyepieces.  I already have a 5mm Antares plossl eyepiece and a 20mm Meade eyepiece, plus a 10mm super and 25mm super wide eyepieces that came with the old skywatcher scope.  Other than a x2 barlow, would you recommend any other eyepieces?

Just not sure if there are any holes I should fill in, or maybe the 10mm and 25mm aren't very good quality and should be replaced.

[Tiny Clanger]

20 minutes ago, GMFoods said:

I've done a little more reading around the skywatcher heritage 150, and I think you've convinced me it's exactly what I'm looking for.

Not really into handicrafts, but hopefully I can get one and do the flocking / light shroud etc.

Is there something I need to do with the focuser or is it just a case of getting used to it?

Also wanted to ask about the eyepieces.  I already have a 5mm Antares plossl eyepiece and a 20mm Meade eyepiece, plus a 10mm super and 25mm super wide eyepieces that came with the old skywatcher scope.  Other than a x2 barlow, would you recommend any other eyepieces?

Just not sure if there are any holes I should fill in, or maybe the 10mm and 25mm aren't very good quality and should be replaced.

This is a good guide to the shroud and focus mod.s, neither are difficult or expensive, I got some 3mm closed cell foam for about £10 and a roll of PFTE tape is very cheap, I got two for a couple of pounds.

 

[Tiny Clanger]

As for eyepieces , I'd say hold off buying anything straight away, you will get another pair of skywatcher 10 and 25mm 'super wide' eyepieces with most skywatcher 'scopes, see how the other EPs you already have do in the new 'scope before buying more.

Everyone will suggest BST starguiders as cost effective purchases at a little under £50 each, and I really like mine, all the range from 8mm up, except for the 25mm in the Heritage 'scope, where I find some edge of field distortions annoying  (it is good in the maksotov 'scope I own though)

I actually prefer a 32mm plossl to the 25mm BST as the wide field eyepiece in the dob. something like this for £30 would work fine :

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astro-essentials-eyepieces/astro-essentials-super-plossl-eyepiece.html

Note the same range has a 2x barlow very similar (OK, identical ... ) to the Skywatcher 2x barlow.

Heather

[GMFoods]

For the barlow, is it worth spending more on a televue powermate, or will this only benefit if I then spend a lot of money on every eyepiece?

I was thinking of getting a 2.5x and 5x powermate eventually, but didnt necessarily want to spend a couple of hundred pounds on each eyepiece.

 

 

 

 

[John]

I can't see that a 5x amplifier (Powermate or otherwise) will be much use for visual observing - too much magnification !

 

[GMFoods]

Thanks John.

Is that a limitation of the telescope - is the 5x only useful for larger aperture telescopes?

Or is the 5x just for astrophotograpy?

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2021 by GMFoods
Adding to question

[Cosmic Geoff]

On 25/06/2021 at 19:23, GMFoods said:

Couldn't say what it is without getting it down from the attic.

I think it's a skywatcher, it needed weights to counter-balance the scope, and from what I remember it looks like a 650 mm x 130 mm reflector.

Yeah I should probably get it down and set it up again, but I think ultimately it would just end up in the same place after a few weeks, so wanting something that's an all in one unit that's easy to get out and use, and just as easy to put away.

Why not get it down and check it out? For the cost of  the Orion or Zhumell, you could buy a decent alt-azimuth grab'n go mount for your existing scope and maybe end up with a better outfit than if you had bought anew?  If you don't want the usual metal tripod etc you can IIRC buy a table-top Dob mount on its own for not much money.

And a 5x Powermate is just for astrophotography - and in good seeing at that.

[John]

1 hour ago, GMFoods said:

Thanks John.

Is that a limitation of the telescope - is the 5x only useful for larger aperture telescopes?

Or is the 5x just for astrophotograpy?

 

 

 

5x is generally used for planetary imaging where you need a large image scale.

It produces too much magnification for visual use in most scopes.