Skywatcher Heritage 5 inch Dobsonian telescope

[dannat (Daniel)]

for planets with that scope you will want about 100x -which equates to 6mm ep, you could get a cheep plossl or something like a tmb clone planetary 6mm

[Mountain_Wanderer]

Nice. So there is some decent colour in planets?

[Monstar (Johnny)]

Let us know when you've bought it. It would be great to see how you get on, and how what you see compares with what I and others see.

[dannat (Daniel)]

good price on a unit http://www.binostore.com/en/telescop...8AaCOinGjw_wcB

nb i have never bought from this store- just found on gogle

[OzStarGazer]

Originally Posted by dannat

good price on a unit http://www.binostore.com/en/telescop...8AaCOinGjw_wcB

nb i have never bought from this store- just found on gogle

But it is based in Italy (so shipping costs would be very high)... And no real contact details on the "contact us" page (although there is an address at the bottom of all pages so you could always use that). I would be at least a bit cautious and ask around if somebody has ever bought from them and what their experience was...

[astro744]

There is a video that shows the operation of the telescope at http://www.opticscentral.com.au/skyw...l#.U6t2KpSSy5I

This telescope is certainly portable but a table is required for comfortable use. However if the table to is too large then operating the telescope to other parts of the sky in azimuth (horizontal plane) becomes cumbersome as you would have to shift the telescope to the edge of the table each time.

The other thing I noticed is that the telescope has helical focuser. If you have all eyepieces close to being parfocal then this is fine but if you have significant difference of field stop position between eyepieces then you may need an extension tube or rotate in and out a lot (slow) to reach focus. Not sure what the travel of the focuser is. The focuser is 1.25" only and unlikely to be able to be changed to 2".

I also noticed a rather thick single spider arm. This will give you two very bright diffraction spikes on bright stars and extended objects like bright planets such as Jupiter.

I still think this telescope is a rich field telescope and best suited for low power sweeping of the sky at 26x with the supplied 25mm eyepiece. A better quality and wider apparent field eyepiece will deliver a more pleasing view but try the supplied eyepiece first as it will still deliver a nice view.

As for seeing full colour; planets yes, easy. Nebula no; not enough aperture.

[Monstar (Johnny)]

Hey Astro,

you're spot on about having to use a table and having to move the scope to get a comfortable viewing angle. As I said earlier, this is no problem for me at home as I have a small round table that my wife bought for use on our smallish balconies, I also have a stool that's good to sit it on. But it's a bit awkward when at another sight. I've heard of people using what they call "short camping stool" to sit on and have the scope on the floor. I'm only 5'10" tall and would find this uncomfortable after about five seconds. I'm going to make a table/stool for mine based on my cats scratching pole with a wide base and top.

The helical focusser is bad but I haven't used anything else yet so it seems OK to me. I can only think they made that one for it's light weight which would be why it doesn't accept 2" EPs as well. It has around 30mm travel on single thread from memory but has come nowhere near to totally unscrewing.

As for the single spider arm I can detect no type of aberrations caused by it. The only time I have seen any noticeable spikes was when the secondary mirror it holds it was knocked out of collimation.

[astro744]

Originally Posted by Monstar

Hey Astro,

you're spot on about having to use a table and having to move the scope to get a comfortable viewing angle. As I said earlier, this is no problem for me at home as I have a small round table that my wife bought for use on our smallish balconies, I also have a stool that's good to sit it on. But it's a bit awkward when at another sight. I've heard of people using what they call "short camping stool" to sit on and have the scope on the floor. I'm only 5'10" tall and would find this uncomfortable after about five seconds. I'm going to make a table/stool for mine based on my cats scratching pole with a wide base and top.

The helical focusser is bad but I haven't used anything else yet so it seems OK to me. I can only think they made that one for it's light weight which would be why it doesn't accept 2" EPs as well. It has around 30mm travel on single thread from memory but has come nowhere near to totally unscrewing.

As for the single spider arm I can detect no type of aberrations caused by it. The only time I have seen any noticeable spikes was when the secondary mirror it holds it was knocked out of collimation.

I think I'm warming to the idea of having such a telescope for low power viewing as it looks like a fun telescope that can be taken camping as it doesn't take up too much room.

I mentioned two diffraction spikes but this would be seen as one single long spike across the field and only visible with very bright objects. Perhaps the thick circular design of the spider arm rather than a thin narrow arm spreads the light a little reducing the appearance of the spike.

The telescope reminds me of the Edmund Scientifics Astroscan (now Astroscan Plus version) which can even be hand held for low power viewing. See http://www.scientificsonline.com/ast...telescope.html

[Mountain_Wanderer]

Monstar, do you use a light shroud?

[Monstar (Johnny)]

I haven't got a light shroud but want one and would advise you to get one too. If you look on the web you can find how to make one out of stuff like cardboard, neoprene, rubber sheeting/mat. I will be making one just haven't got round to it yet.

[Mountain_Wanderer]

Cool.

Hey what exactly is the 6mm eyepiece you got? Can you send me a link to it?

[Monstar (Johnny)]

I just got a 6mm plossl eyepeice from Australian Geographic for $39.

Andrews has a 6.3mm Sywatcher plossl for $29, they also have (generic???) plossls for $19 but not a 6mm. They have GSOs for $29 bucks too but no 6mm. I think they only put what they have in stock on their site and it changes quite often:

http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm

I used AG as I had a few bucks in my paypal and I don't think Andrews take paypal.

Just have a look around.

[Rob_K]

Just a note of caution about buying eyepieces for this scope. I have the scope, purchased on special from Australian Geographic a couple of years ago. It was supposed to come with plossls but on getting it home I found a couple of Huygens in the box. No biggie (hey, it was on special!) so some time later I purchased two eyepieces from Andrews. One was a 6mm plossl and the other a GSO SuperView 15mm Wide View 4-element eyepiece. The latter doesn't reach focus in the scope unfortunately, not enough in-focus to make it worse. Just something to watch out for.

That aside, it's a great little scope, very portable and nice widefield views.

Cheers -

[ClaireBaire (Claire)]

Originally Posted by Mountain_Wanderer

Hi everyone,

I'm a beginner on a budget and am looking to get my first telescope.

My search has taken me to the Skywatcher Heritage 5 inch Dobsonian telescope.

It's cheap, compact and should be easy to use.

Can I please get your thoughts on it if you have managed to use/own one?

The aperature is 5 inches which I feel is the minimum I'd need to see the main deep sky objects at a decent level of detail. Is that true? Can 5 inches get a decent view of the wonders of the deep sky?

Any other comments are welcome?

Scope is currently for sale at OzScopes for $269. How long do the OzScopes sales usually last?

Thanks.

Hi Mountain Wanderer

I have the Skywatcher Heritage 130 dob myself. It was my first telescope purchased almost 4 months ago (I am a raw beginner). It is indeed cheap, compact and extremely easy to use. Light as a feather at only 6.2kgs. No tools or having to put it together except for the red dot finder, which is not too difficult anyway. I had fun learning lots of general astro stuff with my "Dobby" and it is a very cheap way to see if you want to continue with the hobby.

However, I was not able to find deep space objects but I feel that a more experienced star gazer (one who knows the sky better than I) would be able to find quite a few! I have since bought myself an 8" Skywatcher Synscan, to make it easier to find objects, and it does (current winter clouds permitting )

A 5" Newtonian, I believe is the minimum aperture anyone should start with. Just be aware, you cannot buy heavy eyepieces to use with it. It is just too lightweight; you would have to tighten up the tension knob too much to stop the tube from falling downward that nudging it becomes difficult. The maximum weight in ep's it handles is about 200g (that I have found) and you will have to change the tube's balance each time you change from light to heavier ep's. The ep's that came with it weigh only about 50g each.

I hope I haven't put you off. If I had not bought this little scope I would not have bought one at all.

Btw I bought mine from Australian Geographic online (with free delivery!) at the same price Ozscopes are offering. You can get it from there if the sale at Ozscopes ends - check out their delivery costs.

Just read your other comments, I think you might be happy with this scope being so portable etc. And you can get lightweight plossls which are quite cheap!

Good Luck with whatever you do,
Clear Skies.
Claire.