The kitchen table

[Eyeball]

Hi all

As Scopes 'n' Skies had not refunded my money yet, after cancelling my order with them on Friday, and as they now have the Heritage 130P in stock again, I have just reinstated my order. I should be receiving it tomorrow.

[solarwallace]

That's good news. Let us know how you get on with it.

Steve.

[Ogri]

What swung me to this Heritage 130p as a present for my father, was ease of use, potential for comfortable use while seated (he's 83), good optics, ease of maintenance, additional accessories purchased later being interchangeable with any future scope he gets, and its sheer 'grabability' if conditions suddenly become available for viewing.

Everything just seems to scream 'this is a keeper' (rather than a trade up, temporary purchase) that will complement whatever he gets in the future, and it continue to get a lot of very enjoyable use.

TBH, I think the ideal mount for it, would be a rigid fixture to an electronically adjustable Parker Knoll recliner!

Unfortunately for me, I have now definitely 'caught the bug' and the darned thing hasn't even arrived yet (dad's positively hopping from foot to foot in excitement and impatience, and I'm now close behind him).

FLO being so supportive here with SGL, and having such an obviously good and genuine approach to doing business (something that's become sadly lacking in this Country the last 30 years or so). meant they got the order.

Communication has been great, I checked them out with a competing comparison, which they came up trumps with, the order tracking with FedEx was nice so I could give dad updates, and it's presently on the delivery van headed here. A big thumbs up for FLO from me to be sure.

I hope you all get yours delivered asap, if not faster.

[Ogri]

Thinking about the motorised Parker Knoll recliner, I wonder if it would be possible to use one of those Skywatcher Merlin AZ Goto Computerised Table-Top Alt-Azimuth Mounts with the Heritage 130p?

It should be a light enough OTA for it?

That could be a cracking future upgrade.

Given it is also a Skywatcher, a suitable 'off the shelf' adaptor kit for it could have a pretty decent market? May already be available, and maybe worth a word with Steve about - I'll send him a PM.

eta: PM sent, and asked him if there's any mileage in this, if he could maybe add some comments in this thread.

eta2: Well, I have come across a reference that the Heritage 130p does indeed already have a dovetail! I haven't seen any photo's of it that show that (all seem to be taken from the other side to show how compact it is for storage), but if true, then the only remaining issue is the weight of it.

eta3: Finally found a reference to the weight of the Heritage 130p - approx 6.2kg. Most of that would be the weight of the base I suppose, but if we say 50% that would be 3.1kg, then it's within the Merlin GOTO range of up to 4kg.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Ogri the documentation that comes with the Heritage says that you can mount it on any mount that has a dove tail fitting and likewise you can put any scope with adove tail fitting onto the Heritage mount. Most of the 6.2 kg weight is in the base. The optical tube is perhaps 1-1.5 kg.

[Ogri]

Ogri the documentation that comes with the Heritage says that you can mount it on any mount that has a dove tail fitting and likewise you can put any scope with adove tail fitting onto the Heritage mount. Most of the 6.2 kg weight is in the base. The optical tube is perhaps 1-1.5 kg.

That's awesome Paul!

Weight well inside spec, and the dovetail confirmed.

Somehow I don't think dad will want to wait for his birthday to get that GOTO mount as a present, hehe.

I'll PM Steve at FLO to let him know we've sorted the questions out.

[LukeSkywatcher]

The exact wording in the manual is:

"The telescope tube can be installed on any telescope mount with a dovetail mounting system. You may also install a different short tube telescope on this portable table-top Dobsonian mount". I've included a couple of images of the dovetail system on the Heritage. Hope this helps.

[Ptolemaeus]

Well I have just checked my bank account and they have taken the money for the scope today, it says in their email they only take the money when it's been dispatched, so I should with a bit of luck get it tomorrow.

I still havent received my nightwatcher book that I ordered on the 15th from the book depository!

My wadrobe has just fallen apart and my toilet is leaking, i'm not having much luck this christmas, so i'm not holding my breath for either.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Even if not tomorrow Chris, i am pretty confident that it will arive on Chrstmas eve. Mine took only 3 days and that involved a flight across the sea. We all know how bad checkin can be at airports at this time of year. Add the snow you guys have to the equation and its spells disaster. I'm glad mine got out just before the snow arrived.

[Eyeball]

Well I have just checked my bank account and they have taken the money for the scope today, it says in their email they only take the money when it's been dispatched, so I should with a bit of luck get it tomorrow.

I still havent received my nightwatcher book that I ordered on the 15th from the book depository!

My wadrobe has just fallen apart and my toilet is leaking, i'm not having much luck this christmas, so i'm not holding my breath for either.

Cheer up mate, I am sure you will get your scope tomorrow. Hopefully mine will come as well.

Have a good Christmas my friend

[Eyeball]

The exact wording in the manual is:

"The telescope tube can be installed on any telescope mount with a dovetail mounting system. You may also install a different short tube telescope on this portable table-top Dobsonian mount". I've included a couple of images of the dovetail system on the Heritage. Hope this helps.

The screw in the first image - does it mean you can loosen it and slide the tube assembly up the support arm?

[LukeSkywatcher]

The screw in the first image - does it mean you can loosen it and slide the tube assembly up the support arm?

Indeed it does and even if the tube is fully extended along the support arm the screw holds it TIGHT. There is also a tension knob (lets call it a DEC control) on the other side of that 1st image and with the tube fully forward on the support arm the DEC control holds fast and there is NO slippage. The scope stays pointed exactly where you aim it. You can slide the tube as far or as little up the support and the scope remains perfectly "balanced" even when pointing it at accute angles.

I have found that from a seated position that the best placement of the tube is fully extended along the support and locked down. This means that you are not sitting close of the base and can move it in its AZ without having to worry about it hitting your leg or having to move so you can turn the tube. Sitting at the business end of the scope allows alot more room to turn the scope on its AZ axis without having to keep moving yourself and your chair/stool. You can move the whole tube up/down/left/right with just 2 fingers by either gripping the top end of solid tube or even the extended truss arms.

It really is a solidly constructed scope.

The 2 screws used to lock/unlock the flextube are plastic and long........so they have a bit of give in them and could easily break off if manhandled. I'm gonna look for alternative metal screws to replace them with. Thats about the only gripe i have.

P.S.~~~ive even observed with the supplied 10mm and 25mm EPs and i have to honest and say that they are much better then the standard supplied EPs i got with my Celestron scope. Maybe it is because this is a 5" scope and not a 3.5" scope (like my Celestron).

Haha if the Celestron scope i have was not 3ft long i just might have mounted it on the Heritage as a finderscope. God knows i am not gonna use the red dot finder (RDF) supplied. Not because it is bad.................its a standard RDF (same as on Celestron). Its just the scope is so compact that to use the RDF is an impossibility unless you have the whole scope set up on a table.

Yet AGAIN, i cant help but be in awe of (and comment on) the portability,apeture and PRICE of this scope.

It truely is a little powerhouse of a scope with BIG attitude.

Thank you Sky-Watcher for this gift from the gods.

[Eyeball]

Indeed it does and even if the tube is fully extended along the support arm the screw holds it TIGHT. There is also a tension knob (lets call it a DEC control) on the other side of that 1st image and with the tube fully forward on the support arm the DEC control holds fast and there is NO slippage. The scope stays pointed exactly where you aim it. It really is a solidly constructed scope.

The 2 screws used to lock/unlock the flextube are plastic and long........so they have a bit of give in them and could easily break off if manhandled. I'm gonna look for alternative metal screws to replace them with. Thats about the only gripe i have.

That's brilliant Paul, being able to slide the tube assembly along the support arm. It provides a bit more height between floor and EP, doesn't it?

[LukeSkywatcher]

That's brilliant Paul, being able to slide the tube assembly along the support arm. It provides a bit more height between floor and EP, doesn't it?

That is exactly what it does. This scope really does have a "EP height from ground" position for all seated astronomers. It gives you the whole lenght of the tube to play with to adjust it comfortably to your seated height. If it STILL falls short of comfortable, all you have to do is sit the base on a few breeze blocks or something similar. But i really dont see the need. Just slide the optical tube back along the guide rail a bit.

This scope really shows me that i kind of wasted 350 euro on my 90mm refractor first scope 2 yrs ago. But THIS scope was not available back then.

[Eyeball]

That is exactly what it does. This scope really does have a "EP height from ground" position for all seated astronomers. It gives you the whole lenght of the tube to play with to adjust it comfortably to your seated height. If it STILL falls short of comfortable, all you have to do is sit the base on a few breeze blocks or something similar. But i really dont see the need. Just slide the optical tube back along the guide rail a bit.

This scope really shows me that i kind of wasted 350 euro on my 90mm refractor first scope 2 yrs ago. But THIS scope was not available back then.

The more I hear about the Heritage the more you realise how much thought went into producing it. Cannot wait to get mine - today???

[Ptolemaeus]

The more I hear about the Heritage the more you realise how much thought went into producing it. Cannot wait to get mine - today???

I had an email saying mine was dispatched via DHL yesterday. I got a feeling I aint going to be here when they come and he is going to take it god knows where:mad:

[Eyeball]

I had an email saying mine was dispatched via DHL yesterday. I got a feeling I aint going to be here when they come and he is going to take it god knows where:mad:

With a bit of luck, he might drop yours off at my place instead

How come you all seem to get emails about the sale but I don't?

[Ogri]

Well dad's prezzie arrived just as it was getting dark, and with a clear sky and twinkling stars, he couldn't wait for Christmas day, so I got delegated to get it all set up for him, hehe.

It is an absolute gem of a scope!

I zero'd in the RDF, put the Meade moonfilter on the 25mm EP, checked out the view of the moon, switched to the 10mm with the moonfilter, and had a look around at some nice bright shinies.

Popped the 25mm back in to look at something (Venus I think), and swung it onto the smudge in the sky (the 7 sisters I think dad called it) and the stars that leapt into life in the EP were simply breathtaking and memorable.

With everything now nicely cooled down, a call to dad and with him wrapped up warm, we shared some wonderful viewing, with dad barely able to take his attention from the area around the 7 sisters. He is on the moon, around the moon, and over the moon with it.

Unfortunately though, I hit a really big problem, and not with the scope. I rapidly lost the ability to focus.

My fault, I really hadn't taken into account the sheer amazing light gathering ability of these things. I actually ended up getting arc eye (and the high strength pain killers are thankfully now starting to cope with it).

Live and learn I suppose, as a night time type pastime, I just hadn't thought about it.

I have acute glaucoma in both eyes, and had a laser eye operation in my right eye to open up some circulation, that went badly wrong some years back. The guy doing it was an atrocious shot, and did far too many laser blasts in too short a time, which basically 'cooked' the eye internals and welded up the pupil mechanism. The pupil was at maximum dilation at the time, for the operation, and it can't shut down any more (plus as the left and right eye mechanisms are both linked, because the one is locked, so is the other - the only way to fix the left eye, is to remove the right eye).

So I just don't see any way at the moment, that I can pursue this wonderful hobby, without removing or chronically reducing the very thing we are all trying to see - the light.

Given how ultra sensitive my eyes are though (sensitive enough to be a testing device for computer monitors, for example), it might pay for stargazers to give some serious thought to eye protection, even though their pupils can move to cope with the light, with the emphasis on acquiring and protecting night vision - red torches, etc - as they are basically trying to get their pupils dilated to the extent mine are forced to be.

I'm not saying it is a particular worry, it just might be a concern, and a little caution and thought could go a long way towards preventing eye difficulties maybe decades ahead.

I have to visit my optician in the next couple of months, and she is absolutely brilliant on these things - we worked out tints and coatings (anti glare, anti reflection, anti UV) for both daytime glasses (green tint with blue mirroring) and night time glasses (66% amber tint with silver mirroring) for me over the last few years - so will ask her what she might recommend.

Hehe, I still can't believe I got arc eye at night. Ah well, a somewhat gutted fan wishing you all clear skies, happy astronomy, and a Merry Christmas.

I'll be rooting for you all.

[Ptolemaeus]

How come you all seem to get emails about the sale but I don't?

I think they just dont like you very much

Well i've just got home from work and there is no card saying a courier has been, neighbours have no packages and there is nothing in my shed, so perhaps he may come this afternoon although I thought couriers always come early..

I cant believe I still havent had my nightwatch book either! Doesnt look like i'll get that before christmas

[jimhaleysscomet]

Ogri,

If you stay off the moon, you should have no problem with too much light.

[Ogri]

Ogri,

If you stay off the moon, you should have no problem with too much light.

Well there wasn't much atmosphere there anyway (sorry).

I'll have a long chat with the optician next time I see her, and see what extra helpful coatings I might be able to get applied to a filter I think.

Even those 7 sisters were getting to be pretty painful at the end though.

To give you an insight, the first roughly 6 months after the operation, I was sat in a dark, heavily curtained room, with sunglasses on, and just holding up a piece of A4 printer paper was dazzling me.

I felt a right idiot, as you can imagine.

[Eyeball]

I think they just dont like you very much

Well i've just got home from work and there is no card saying a courier has been, neighbours have no packages and there is nothing in my shed, so perhaps he may come this afternoon although I thought couriers always come early..

I cant believe I still havent had my nightwatch book either! Doesnt look like i'll get that before christmas

I finally got an email (they do like me after all) informing me that the scope was despatched yesterday. Paid for next delivery but no delivery yet!

I have heard that DHL are working until 9pm tonight - so there's time yet.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Fingers crossed you both get your scopes today. Ogri you should invest in a moon filter.

[Ogri]

Fingers crossed you both get your scopes today. Ogri you should invest in a moon filter.

That was with a Meade moonfilter fitted.

[Ptolemaeus]

Well my scope (I assume) came today, there is quite a hefty box at my neighbour's house, and i'm waiting for her son to arrive to carry it round to mine. I also got my nightwatcher book !