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Newbie Review - Skywatcher 130PM

ZOG

By ZOG
in Member Equipment Reviews

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ZOG

ZOG

Posted
Posted

As a complete newcomer to astronomy I needed a scope that would be easy

to set up and use but which would be able to last me long enough to

take me through my first tentative steps in the hobby. After wading

through a mindblowing amount of info on the net, I had a word with

Steve from First Light Optics who recommended the Skywatcher 130PM at a

very good price. I duely ordered it and it arrived 4 days later. It

would have been faster but I ordered it on Friday and Steve couldnt get

it on the van till Monday.

The scope was very well packaged, the actual box being in 2 outer

cartons and fragile objects inside the box were bubble wrapped.

Included was a fairly sturdy tripod and a EQ2 mount. I know that this

isnt the best mount around but it supports the tube with ease and with

minimum wobble. The setting circles, although fairly small are readable

and easy to use. Eyepieces supplies are 10mm and 25mm Kelner types

which again may not be the best around but to a newbie who has never

used anything else are more than adequate. A 2x Barlow lens completed

the eyepiece set up although I understand that this is no longer part

of the offer. The supplied "red dot" finder is simple to fit, adjust, and use. Also included is a clock drive and hand controller which

is easily fitted to the mount. Following the instructions in the owners

manual which is easy to follow and contains a lot of useful info for

the newcomer (the collumation instructions are a bit vague and dont

tell you to remove the bottom cover to get at the collumation screws

but Steve sent me a much more friendly set of instructions for this) I

assembled the scope in about half an hour.

First light, as for many newcomers, was a look at the moon from the

back garden which has horrible light pollution. Notwithstanding this

the scope produced crisp,clear,images. The focuser is a rack and pinion

type with no apparent backlash and the slow motion controls are smooth.

After work at 1:30 the following morning the skys were fairly clear so

I took the scope to a fairly dark site and, after a brief brush with

the local constabulary who seem to take a dim view of people who lurk

about in the dark at the entrance to a farmers field at stupid o clock

in the morning, I managed to get a really good look at the moon and

some beautiful views of the plaedes. Orion had risen in the East but the

clouds were rolling in so at 3am I packed up and went home feeling well

happy with my first session.

I think the scope will fulfill all of my needs for now and the ease of

assembly and use make it, I'm sure, an ideal first scope although I

cant wait to use it with some better quality eyepieces.

A special word of thanks goes to Steve who has provided excellent

service and assistance and I can only say that, if he continues in this

vein then First Light Optics is a sure fire winner, all the best Steve

:rolleyes:

A final word of thanks to Internet Explorer who decided it had

encountered a problem and needed to close just as I came to the end of

this review so I had to re type the whole lot. Thanks Mr Gates.

Also thanks to all of you on the forum who have replied to my newbie

questions and will, I'm sure continue to do so. Now, where did I put

that list of Messier objects ??? :D

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Caz

Caz

Posted
Posted

A final word of thanks to Internet Explorer who decided it had

encountered a problem and needed to close just as I came to the end of

this review so I had to re type the whole lot.

Don't you just hate that... :rolleyes:

I'm glad your pleased with your scope Zog, heres to clear skies :occasion5:

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russ

russ

Posted
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Excellent first light with the scope and good to see you are pleased.

IE is a pain in the butt. So an even bigger well done for rewriting the whole lot.

Like Gaz, I always type out long drawn out replies in Notepad. Then cut'n'paste.

Russ

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Andrew*

Andrew*

Posted
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cheers a bunch for the tip. It seems like I'm in the same situation as you were, and that's one convincing article. I'm quite sure I'll go for that scope, or it's little brother (assuming scopes are male! :?). It suits my needs perfectly, and who's better to deal with than Steve?!

Hopefully I'll get some nice images one of these weeks to post up, once everything's up and running. As I said, "I can't wait!"

Astrophethean

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Andrew*

Andrew*

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incidentally, I was in what as far as i know is the only dealer in astronomy in Aberdeen earlier today and they had the same model on for £250!! You can get it from steve delivered for £180.

Seeing that also made me realise that reflectors don't actually have any glass optics at all! is that true? There's no glass just inside the lens, just a cross to hold the secondary mirror. Does this apply to all reflectors? does dust not get in there and stuff?

Astrophethean

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FLO

FLO

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Seeing that also made me realise that reflectors don't actually have any glass optics at all! is that true? There's no glass just inside the lens, just a cross to hold the secondary mirror. Does this apply to all reflectors? does dust not get in there and stuff?

There are hybrids that use a combination of lens and mirror to reduce the telescopes size/weight and to increase magnification but a pukka Newtonian reflector relies entirely on mirrors. The benefits of using mirrors are: It is cheaper to grind and polish a mirror than a lens so aperture for aperture the Newtonian will give you the most telescope for your money. And, a lens can behave like a prism creating a colour fringe around bright objects such as the Moon and planets; this does not happen with mirrors.

I wouldn’t worry about dust/moisture entering the tube and forming on the mirror. It does happen but it is easy enough to clean a mirror (ask before you try) and a mirror will last several years before its shiny aluminium coating becomes dull. When it does, it can be re-silvered.

Hope that helps.

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Andrew*

Andrew*

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Yes, that explains it well. But I was thinking does the secondary mirror support not distort the image? and surely the real aperture is less because of light lost where the secondary mirror is?

Sorry for asking such annoying questions!

AP

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FLO

FLO

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Posted

... I was thinking does the secondary mirror support not distort the image? and surely the real aperture is less because of light lost where the secondary mirror is?

Sorry for asking such annoying questions!

Yes, the secondary mirror and its supports do affect the image - the obstruction results in a slight loss of contrast and the spider (secondary mirror supports) produce the points of light around bright stars. Some people like the points of light and will attach cotton thread across a refractor telescopes aperture to produce them. Also, if you use very low magnifications, you might see some central darkening as the secondary becomes more evident.

Every telescope type has its Pros and Cons.

BTW, SGL thrives on questions so never worry about asking them :rolleyes:

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ZOG

ZOG

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Oh yeah I'm really having fun, I watch it in the corner of the bedroom, go out and look at the clouds, come back in, polish it, go out and look at the clouds, come back in, kiss it goodnight, and go to bed :rolleyes:

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