Hello from one of the brightest spots of the light Pollution map! ;-)

[lordwimsey]

Hello,

I would like to introduce myself.

My name is Peter, I'm 41 and located in the Ruhr area in Germany, so unfortunately rather plagued with bright night sky.

My physics teacher kindled our interest in astronomy, which he always seemed especially eager to teach with a passion. Later, a friend of mine (and luckily neighbor at that time) happened to have bought a 10" Dobson with 1250mm focal length. We enjoyed using the scope to find the easier nebulas, galaxies and planets of course. This was possible, even from our light polluted backyard. At the time, I had a strong desire for my own scope, but the price tag held me off.

But I decided to buy binoculars, figuring I could use them for other activities (hiking, and eventually/not really while sailing) if I chose a good compromise between portability and aperture. I decided for a 8x44 from a German company called Minox after fantastic service and a special discount opportunity on the phone. 

I used it a lot in the beginning, my go-to objects are M13 and M31, easy to spot. In the last years, I used it more while hiking, but the sky in the mountains made me take the opportunity for spontaneous star gazing occasionally. (I was happy to see Neowise in 2020 from the black forest, I hiked up the "Feldberg" at night for that)

My small box with the binoculars, a red torch, my sky atlas travels with me on all vacations, and I enjoy it deeply.

I still want a 8-10" Dobsonian after all these years, but I came across a cheap opportunity for a used skywatcher 130p heritage that I hope to collect on monday. I understand, that it has its shortcomings, but I will try to work around them as a step up to the binoculars. The small size makes it easy to take it out onto my roof terrace, so I hope to get much use out of it. 

Thrilled for the new scope, I am already investigating in optimization options, for which I might need a little help. After reading so much, I decided to join your splendid community, although my future contributions are going to be more on the side of questions than answers...

Thanks for this great forum and for having me,

Peter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by lordwimsey
Typos, again. The company ist named Minox, not Minos.

[Nyctimene]

Hello, Peter, and a warm welcome from another German stargazer and Heritage 130 P Flextube owner. I'm sure, that you will enjoy your scope. Clear Skies.

Stephan     

[Stu]

Welcome Peter. I’m sure you will enjoy your scope a lot, they are very capable optically although it will be worth upgrading the eyepieces at some point to get the best out of the mirror.

I’m sure you know already, but the two most useful mods are putting PTFE ‘plumbers’ tape on the focuser to tighten it up, and also making a shroud from thin hobby foam. The shroud has two benefits, firstly it reduces glare which you will likely have from your LP, and secondly it stops your breath from going across the open tube which can spoil the high power views.

I split some tight doubles with mine, and also had great views of Mars last opposition.

Finally, the scope has a dovetail already, so you can remove it from the dob base and mount it to a tripod mount such as an AZ4 or 5. I do that still with my 150P, I find it more comfortable. There are plenty of missing threads on here to help you, particularly from @Mark at Beaufort

Enjoy! 👍

[wookie1965]

A warm welcome to SGL 

[cloudsweeper]

Herzlich willkommen, Peter!

(I was interested to note your location.  When our daughter lived in Dortmund, we visited Bochum.  I recall a mining museum.  Thoroughly enjoyed our trips to Germany.)

Doug.

[lordwimsey]

7 hours ago, Nyctimene said:

Hello, Peter, and a warm welcome from another German stargazer and Heritage 130 P Flextube owner. I'm sure, that you will enjoy your scope. Clear Skies.

Stephan     

Thank you!

4 hours ago, Stu said:

Welcome Peter. I’m sure you will enjoy your scope a lot, they are very capable optically although it will be worth upgrading the eyepieces at some point to get the best out of the mirror.

I’m sure you know already, but the two most useful mods are putting PTFE ‘plumbers’ tape on the focuser to tighten it up, and also making a shroud from thin hobby foam. The shroud has two benefits, firstly it reduces glare which you will likely have from your LP, and secondly it stops your breath from going across the open tube which can spoil the high power views.

I split some tight doubles with mine, and also had great views of Mars last opposition.

Finally, the scope has a dovetail already, so you can remove it from the dob base and mount it to a tripod mount such as an AZ4 or 5. I do that still with my 150P, I find it more comfortable. There are plenty of missing threads on here to help you, particularly from @Mark at Beaufort

Enjoy! 👍

These are exactly the options, that I am exploring. I am keen to have the scope here to assess it's condition. I will have a look at the focuser, and I think the shroud is a must. I am also a bit into the so-called "maker"-scene, I own a self built CNC-Router, a laser cutter and a 3d-printer (of course). I am planning to make the shroud of thin hobby rubber sheets with the lasercutter, just for the sake of doing that. 

An observing chair is on my project list as well, that should be a nice project for my router. I am going to gift that to my former neighbor, given the size of the heritage 130p 😉  I have a rather sturdy table on my terrace which I am planning to use with the small dobson.

1 hour ago, wookie1965 said:

A warm welcome to SGL 

Thank you!

1 hour ago, cloudsweeper said:

Herzlich willkommen, Peter!

(I was interested to note your location.  When our daughter lived in Dortmund, we visited Bochum.  I recall a mining museum.  Thoroughly enjoyed our trips to Germany.)

Doug.

My hometown of Bochum is the smaller one nested between the huge cities of Dortmund and Essen. And although I am surprised that people enjoy spending their vacation here, I must admit that there is a lot so see. The mining museum (10 min. walk from my home) is very nice, if one is interested in mining (which constitutes most of the region's history here). They recently made a complete overdo of the exhibition. I recommend going for a visit, if possible. 

The night sky on the other hand is very bright due to light pollution. The closest "darker" places are in the Sauerland, which is about a 1.5hour drive from here. I would very much enjoy hints for good locations... 🙂

 

Peter

[Stu]

@lordwimsey, have you checked out some of the light pollution apps to find better sites?

There is LPM on iOS, plenty of others I’m sure. Looks like going east or possibly south is best for you?

[lordwimsey]

42 minutes ago, Stu said:

@lordwimsey, have you checked out some of the light pollution apps to find better sites?

There is LPM on iOS, plenty of others I’m sure. Looks like going east or possibly south is best for you?

Hi, thanks for the image.

I used www.lightpollutionmap.info for this. As I said, I just live with the conditions here for spontaneous sessions on my terrace. Any blue spots on your map require ~5h driving, that needs to be planned long in advance. I could definetly see me doing that one day. I think this is about where I  would look for a spot for a "normal" session. That is ca. 1 to 1.5h to drive from Bochum. (I hope the pasted picture shows) 

The challenge remains to find an actual spot to set up.

[Floater]

Welcome. Hope you have lots of fun. 🙂

[Nyctimene]

4 hours ago, lordwimsey said:

I will have a look at the focuser, and I think the shroud is a must. I am also a bit into the so-called "maker"-scene, I own a self built CNC-Router, a laser cutter and a 3d-printer (of course). I am planning to make the shroud of thin hobby rubber sheets with the lasercutter, just for the sake of doing that. 

Maybe this would make improving a bit easier - some work for your 3 D printer (no own experience with that):

https://www.yeggi.com/q/heritage+130p/

Hth.

Stephan

 

[Ceramus]

Welcome Peter. I have been to Bochum several times and enjoyed your local planetarium shows and also  the Bochum Museum. But I know how light-polluted the Ruhr area is...

Enjoy your 130 Heritage, I have one and it's a nice little scope and specially on a AZGTi mount.

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi Peter, welcome. 

[apaulo]

hi peter, welcome to sgl,  looking forward to seeing some of your diy astro work.  enjoy the hobby.

[lordwimsey]

22 hours ago, Floater said:

Welcome. Hope you have lots of fun. 🙂

 

Thank you!

 

21 hours ago, Nyctimene said:

Maybe this would make improving a bit easier - some work for your 3 D printer (no own experience with that):

https://www.yeggi.com/q/heritage+130p/

Hth.

Stephan

 

Wow! What a plethora of resources! I will definitely come back to that, thanks for the link!

 

 

21 hours ago, Ceramus said:

Welcome Peter. I have been to Bochum several times and enjoyed your local planetarium shows and also  the Bochum Museum. But I know how light-polluted the Ruhr area is...

Enjoy your 130 Heritage, I have one and it's a nice little scope and specially on a AZGTi mount.

 

Thank you! The planetarium is nice! Prof. Dr. Susanne Hüttemeister offers an astronomy course (2h once a week) that is supposed to be aimed at the general public with an interest in astrophysics. I felt quite confident going there, but was immediately humbled by the niveau there. The class seemed to be constituted from mainly retired physics teachers (that was my impression, probably false), already bringing immense knowledge to the table. I enjoyed it very much, Prof. Hüttemeister is a splendid talker, so while the lessons lasted, I felt like I could follow easily, but once out the door, I was utterly confused. 😉

There is also an observatory in Bochum, which I only visited once for a "day of open doors". I am not sure, if they offer regular events for the public, but now I am going to find out.

Edit: they do very much! I am shocked to have missed that for so long!

https://www.sternwarte-bochum.de/2-1-observatorium

 

15 hours ago, Dave Lloyd said:

Hi Peter, welcome. 

Thanks!

 

4 hours ago, apaulo said:

hi peter, welcome to sgl,  looking forward to seeing some of your diy astro work.  enjoy the hobby.

Thank you. Let's see how the two hobbies will intertwine. 🙂

 

 

Edited September 4, 2022 by lordwimsey

[lordwimsey]

Due to a change in schedule, I was able to get the telescope home today already. 

I'm stoked to try it, but today appears to be the first cloudy night in what feels like weeks. Let's see how it will be when darkness sets in. Just wanted to report progress on the first steps and share my happiness. 🙂

[lordwimsey]

Just a quick update, I used the scope in the night from Sunday to Monday. Besides the moon, I was able to spot M31, but no luck with M13. With binoculars yes, but not with the dobson, I just couldn't find it.

The other nights were too cloudy. 

Today, the replacement for the missing red dot finder arrived. It fits the strange mount I have there.

I hope this is no bad omen 🤣:

I also received a Svbony 68° "red line" eye piece 15mm, a collimation laser (by "Seben"?) and a Svbony cheshire, as well, because I would like to try both.

Eying the cloudy forecast, I also bought black velours sticky-foil and craft foam mats in 2mm and 3mm. Not sure which to use for the shroud, yet. There is a bin of black board laquer, which I could use for the edges of the secondary mirror. So I am prepared for the rainy nights.

 

Peter

[Scoobyroo]

Glad to see that you’ve got it. Let us know how you find the new 15mm eyepiece compared to the packaged ones (10mm and 25mm I assume). 👍

[lordwimsey]

I should clarify, I bought the telescope used, the finder was missing. Therefore i ordered one new, that is hopefully not a "Red NOT Finderscope" 😉

I tried the new eyepiece (Svbony 68° Ultra-Wide 15mm "Red Line") on a very cloudy moon and a tree (200m distance) at daytime. I am not experienced in this matter, but I can say, that this very cheap eyepiece is easily my favourite among the three. (Yes, 25mm and 10mm were the kit lenses that came with the telescope)

The image is brighter, the wide angle is very comfortable. I thought it is clearer than the others, but it does not give the impression of a high quality image, due to a slight blue-ish tint, that leaves a bit "cheap" impression. The eyepiece _is_ cheap however. At ca. 35€ price point, I am very satisfied.

The "hands-on" quality is good, it feels sturdy and mechanically well made.

Please note, that I tried a collimation with both laser and cheshire, and I think it looks ok, but I am still learning, so that might contribute to whatever verdict I try to extract about the eyepiece.

Edit:

I'm aware, that I might embarrass myself with this, but I uploaded pictures from the Svbony UW 68° 15mm and the kit 25mm (not sure what type that is).

I professionally took them by holding my mobile phone above the ocular... 😏

I hope it gives a reasonable impression of the view.

The picture with the wider view is Svbony, and it is is a bit less sharp than I see it from my eye.

 

 

Cheers,

Peter

Edited September 8, 2022 by lordwimsey

[lordwimsey]

The last days, it was very rainy, so I used the time following this thread:

 

 

I put black velours into the tube, teflon tape in the threads of the focuser and blackened the edge of the scondary mirror.

 

 

Also, the hobby-rubber craft mats that I ordered for a shroud arrived. I ordered both 2mm and 3mm and have yet to decide on the thickness. Both feel rather flimsy/not stiff, so I will probably opt for 3mm here.

 

 

 

 

 

[cajen2]

1 hour ago, lordwimsey said:

The last days, it was very rainy, so I used the time following this thread:

 

 

I put black velours into the tube, teflon tape in the threads of the focuser and blackened the edge of the scondary mirror.

 

 

Also, the hobby-rubber craft mats that I ordered for a shroud arrived. I ordered both 2mm and 3mm and have yet to decide on the thickness. Both feel rather flimsy/not stiff, so I will probably opt for 3mm here.

 

 

 

 

 

I have the Heritage 150p - the bigger brother- and used 2mm foam to make my shroud. I found it too thin so the shroud tended to bow in and out. If you use the 3mil, please let us know how you get on.

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire 🙂