Skywatcher Heritage 130p vs Skywatcher Heritage 150p

[Kevin Peat]

Hi,

 

This is my first posting here. 

 

I bought myself a really nice Skywatcher Heritage 130p just to get into occasional viewing when sky and 'seeing' permit. I love it !!! This telescope has infected me with 'the bug' !!!

My one and only regret is that I didn't buy the 150p version. I didn't know the difference when I was searching for my first telescope. I've done the upgrades and bought some juicy eyepieces. 

If it were my own choice I'd have both telescopes as money isn't really the problem with me. My wife is the problem. She hates clutter !!!

I don't really want to get into anything I can't carry from front to back garden. 

So. Is the upgrade worth me selling on my 130p and buying the 150p ?  I know that there's about 30% more light capture to be had  but is this really going to improve my level of satisfaction by 30% ?  If I did not know that the 150p existed I'd probably be perfectly happy with my 130p. It's not about the view but about the 'finding' and the confirmation that I've found *it*.  "There it is ! I can see the rings, stripes, moons..."  I know I'm not going to get a Hubble experience from a back yard scope and that I can get all of that online anyway. 

Or should I trade my wife ?  She's very pretty and has a good figure for her age... well.. any age really. Plus, she'd take half of my telescope money (and the dog) with her !!!

 

 

[Kevin Peat]

PS. I've even carried the 130p onto the other side of our street to get a view !!!  It really is a cracking tool for that sort of thing. 

[MikeAa]

Hi Kevin, I don't have a 150p, but I don't think you would notice a lot of difference with a 150p. I also have a 130p GOTO, but have since bought two more scopes which I use now. The CPC800 is my favourite for ease of use - even though it weighs a ton (not literally!) I guarantee you will buy something bigger and better in the future - keep watching the classifieds!!

[Kevin Peat]

Thanks Mike. 

 

What eyepieces do you recommend ? I'm impressed with my 16 mm which gives great clarity and 'relaxed' viewing if not magnification. 

 

I'm happy to spend a bit. 

[MikeAa]

What eyepieces did you get with the scope? I just realised, the Heritage is a Dob isn't it?! I think a decent wide field EP would be useful. Probably need to go no greater fl than a 32mm as I'm not sure if you would get secondary mirror issues with anything lower mag - perhaps someone else could comment! As for higher mag, I think a 10mm or 12.5mm would be as far as I would go. FLO have some Astro Essentials Plossls which have good reviews and are reasonably priced - not sure how they would perform to be honest, maybe give FLO a ring and ask ( I don't work for them!). Also, keep an eye on the classifieds if you want to keep the costs down and don't be afraid of trying things out. Hopefully some other Dob owners can comment on what they use most often. Good luck with your new hobby!!

[Louis D]

Unless you're trying to keep costs down, you might look into getting either a 6" f/5 or 8" f/4 solid tube Newt with dual speed 2" focuser.  You'd need to upgrade to a alt-az mount on a tripod, but having access to 2" eyepieces for much wider fields of view would be "eye opening".  That, and the convenience of a dual speed focuser that doesn't rotate the eyepiece to focus can't be overstated.

[RJC]

I was also between the Heritage 130p and 150p and got neither, kind of regret that too.
I'm very new to this and I already basically want every telescope ever made - it really is a rabbit hole.
Good luck!

[JOC]

Having owned an 8" I was surprised when I finally realised that it isn't really the size of the scope mirror that affects the overall magnification you can achieve (OK it helps a bit, you cn push a bit more megnification, but to get close to stuff particularly in the UK with x250 is about it most scopes/EP's will get there).  What a bigger scope gets you is more light - OK if you are chasing feint fuzzies really seriously with pristine dark skies, blacked out set-ups, hours spent adapting eyes etc., but if all you want it bigger you just need a different EP in what you have and if you are at around x250 on a good night that's about it.  I was amazed one night when I tried saturn in my tiny portable Vixen 80S on Saturn and got as good a view as I have ever had in my 8" Dob.  It was then I realised that pure magnification was, for my practical use, entirely separate to light gathering ability, because I wasn't into 'faint fuzzies'.  Thus, if you think that the upgrade will give you more effective  magnification you might be disappointed.  You will get a little more light, obviously, but I hugely doubt you will see much benefit.

[happy-kat]

I have a heritage 130p the eyepieces I bought extra are

16mm maxvision - love this magnification in the scope great for lots of use

30mm vixen NPL - the lower powered one picked up SH

32mm GSO - the other lower powered one both are good either would do

6mm William Optics SPL - love it saw a Jupiter moon shadow transit, sadly discontinued but the stellalyra reads/looks very similar

1.6 AE shorty barlow - useful

I like how the heritage with it's long dove bar can be instead used on a tripod

edit -

10mm Vixen SLV  - picked up SH

Edited January 15 by happy-kat

[bosun21]

If I were you I would stick with the 130p. You really wouldn't notice the jump to the 150p. With a focal length of 650mm you would want to get some shorter focal length eyepieces like a 4mm Nirvana which would give you 167x which would be good for the planets and moon with a wider FOV(less nudging).You could also get a 2x barlow for your existing eyepieces depending on what size they actually are.

[Kevin Peat]

Thank you all so much for your responses and sorry for being so late in replying. Believe it or not I lost this site and hadn't bookmarked it and have been pulling my hair out trying to find it again. Well here I am once more !!!

 

Best wishes, and all advice is much valued. 

 

Kevin 

Edited February 3 by Kevin Peat

[Gfamily]

I'd go with what @bosun21 says and suggest that you probably won't see any significant improvement going from 130mm to 150mm, but I add that you may notice the extra bulk and weight.

When I got my first Newtonian scope about 25 years ago, the feedback from astro people was that a 2" jump in aperture would give some improvement, but it would take a 4" increase to make someone go "Wow!". 

Yes, it'll be a bit brighter and more contrasty, but it's going to be relatively rare that the 30% more light alone makes a huge difference, it'll mostly be different atmospherics / light pollution that will make things stand out.

 

 

Edited February 3 by Gfamily

[Kevin Peat]

Thanks G

I have to be realistic here. I got the telescope to look at the moon. I was happy doing so through some binoculars. Then I pointed my scope towards Jupiter and Saturn and have started to get a bit greedy for sharpness and detail. I'm well aware that to approach a Hubble experience one is probably better off joining a club. The nearest to me is Torquay Grammar school where my boys were educated and where I got to see one of their graduates, Chris Lintott do a presentation. 

 

I got to ask him through a mic before a 500 member audience of a projection of a galaxy on the display screen "See that bright orangy bit in the middle. If we lived there would we need to wear sunglasses in bed ?" Cue much laughter from the audience. 

His answer, of course, was that we couldn't because of all the heat and radiation. 

Edited February 4 by Kevin Peat

[Kevin Peat]

On 15/01/2024 at 12:23, bosun21 said:

If I were you I would stick with the 130p. You really wouldn't notice the jump to the 150p. With a focal length of 650mm you would want to get some shorter focal length eyepieces like a 4mm Nirvana which would give you 167x which would be good for the planets and moon with a wider FOV(less nudging).You could also get a 2x barlow for your existing eyepieces depending on what size they actually are.

I got the 4mm Nirvana. Perfect !  (I already use a Barlow.)

 

Thanks.