First timer

[Nyctimene]

Welcome to this friendly forum; and congrats to your scope, as well as to your observing conditions (free views to the E/SE;W and N will give you many options).

Your 130 P Flextube looks indeed unused. I own the same, and it's an incredible "mighty" little scope, my most used grab-and-go scope. You will need years to exhaust it's capabilities, so no need to think of a bigger dob now (the law of diminishing returns...).

Just in case you shouldn't know - the huge CloudyNights thread (246 pages!!) about the OneSky Newtonian (the same scope, US-version); many experiences and hints:

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

I'm very happy with this not too expensive eyepiece combination:

Explore Scientific 26 mmf/62° LER; Seben Zoom 8-24 mmf (various clones existing); Baader Turret Barlow 2.25x. Magnifications from 25x up to 183x. Covers 90% of my observations.

Enjoy your scope, and Clear Skies!

Stephan

 

[tbones147]

Saturn, picture does not do what I saw in the scope justice. Hard trying to hold my S8 phone to the eyepiece to get a picture. Was a bit of a wow moment I have to say.

[wookie1965]

A warm welcome to SGL

[bosun21]

On 29/08/2022 at 16:56, Orange Smartie said:

. It looks from your picture that you've also got a collimating cap there (the thingy in the plastic bag). It's probably got a shiny underside.

It’s a moon filter 

[bosun21]

A warm welcome to SGL 👋

[Scoobyroo]

14 hours ago, tbones147 said:

Saturn, picture does not do what I saw in the scope justice. Hard trying to hold my S8 phone to the eyepiece to get a picture. Was a bit of a wow moment I have to say.

Nice!...  had my first wow moment looking at Saturn last Friday with my Heritage (150P)...  I'm guessing you were using your x2 barlow and 10mm?  When you do free up some extra cash, I'd also recommend the BST StarGuider eye pieces.  Still pretty budget friendly, but a marked step up in quality over the packed EP's.  If you want a bit more diversity whilst keeping a pretty reasonable step up in optics (for only about £10 more), I've found the SVBony Zoom 21-7mm (sv135) pretty good (was recommended to me).

FLO don't seem to stock them, but you can pick them up from their official store on Amazon... or maybe a second hand one on Ebay.

Edited August 31, 2022 by Scoobyroo

[tbones147]

2 hours ago, Scoobyroo said:

Nice!...  had my first wow moment looking at Saturn last Friday with my Heritage (150P)...  I'm guessing you were using your x2 barlow and 10mm?  When you do free up some extra cash, I'd also recommend the BST StarGuider eye pieces.  Still pretty budget friendly, but a marked step up in quality over the packed EP's.  If you want a bit more diversity whilst keeping a pretty reasonable step up in optics (for only about £10 more), I've found the SVBony Zoom 21-7mm (sv135) pretty good (was recommended to me).

FLO don't seem to stock them, but you can pick them up from their official store on Amazon... or maybe a second hand one on Ebay.

Yes, 10mm with 2 x Barlow. Think I've made my first error in buying this phone adaptor.  The adaptor attaches to the eyepiece. But we have to turn the eyepiece to focus, only just thought about that, doh !, we shall see how it works out.

Thanks for the info, I most probably will have to upgrade stuff in the future, The Mrs was wowed at seeing Saturn in the scope. That bodes well for future upgrades

Edited August 31, 2022 by tbones147

[tbones147]

Skywatcher Heritage 130p FlexTube, 25mm basic eyepiece, 2x Barlow, Moon filter, holding my Samsung S8 phone up to the eyepiece for the picture. Slightly cleaned up using phone software.

First time I’ve had a clear view of the Moon. Tried the 10mm eyepiece, but was way too zoomed in.

[tbones147]

Finally got round to making a foam shroud, £1 from Hobbycraft, as well as the plumbers tape on the focuser, should get clear skies tonight where I am, first time for a while.

[wookie1965]

A warm welcome to SGL 

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire 🙂