Neil Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Hello all, I received (asked for) a Skywatcher Heritage 130P FlexTube Dobsonian Telescope for Christmas so just starting to learn all about this hobby. Any hints and tips gratefully received. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightspore Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Congrats on the scope. Have you got first light with your Dob' yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Welcome to the forum Neil.. Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Hi Neil welcome to the forum, nice little starter scope you have there. Top tip, practice setting up / aligning everything during the day / indoors, make sure you know how to set up / take down, so when outside and its dark, you know exactly what it is your doing. Also, you might want to stand that on a sturdy low table or get a chair, just so your not bending over all night, back ache in the cold is one way for a sore back the next day. Have a read of the forum, ask any question (the only silly question is the one you didnt ask) and we will help where we can. All the best, Daz. Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 39 minutes ago, Nightspore said: Congrats on the scope. Have you got first light with your Dob' yet? Thanks, sorry new to the jargon, what do you mean by 'Have you got first light with your Dob' yet?' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Hi neil, it means have you looked through the scope at some stars etc!! Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 First light is reference to actually looking through your scope, at something, the Moon, a planet ETC ETC. Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottletopburly Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 If you got it from first light optics some of the cloud packaging may have escaped 😂😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightspore Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 (edited) 57 minutes ago, Neil said: Thanks, sorry new to the jargon, what do you mean by 'Have you got first light with your Dob' yet?' You're welcome. What they said above lol. Have you any eyepieces with the scope? Have you set the finder up on it yet? I'm not a fan of Dob' mounts but they're a stable relatively inexpensive mount. If it's this 130mm you may need to place it on a very flat surface to keep it stable. I think a lawn might be a bit wobbly. I believe some people place them on garden tables. Edited February 23, 2021 by Nightspore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Hi Neil welcome. Tips and hints, get yourself a good astro book, Turn Left at Orion is a good one. This will tell you whats up there and what to expect. Then get a star atlas such as Sky and Telescopes, this tells you where to find the stuff. Also a red torch to see what you are doing without dazzling yourself. Then, get some warm clothes and boots, go outside on a clear night and find your way around. Most of all, enjoy it Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 2 hours ago, RonC said: Hi neil, it means have you looked through the scope at some stars etc!! Sorry yes, I've played about with the set up and aligned during the day time with the lens and red dot finder. I was out last night just looking at the moon and was quite impressed with the level of detail 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Daz Type-R said: First light is reference to actually looking through your scope, at something, the Moon, a planet ETC ETC. Yes I have, practising on the moon first Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Nightspore said: You're welcome. What they said above lol. Have you any eyepieces with the scope? Have you set the finder up on it yet? I'm not a fan of Dob' mounts but they're a stable relatively inexpensive mount. If it's this 130mm you may need to place it on a very flat surface to keep it stable. I think a lawn might be a bit wobbly. I believe some people place them on garden tables. Yes a super 25 wide angle. I have a small wall with a large flat slate top, so I've been using that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Bottletopburly said: If you got it from first light optics some of the cloud packaging may have escaped 😂😂 Rother Valley Optics. I take it that is a joke 🤷♂️ Bottletopburly 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Running joke that every time an astronomer purchases new kit, they anger the cloud Gods. 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 7 minutes ago, Daz Type-R said: Running joke that every time an astronomer purchases new kit, they anger the cloud Gods. 🙂 Got it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightspore Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Neil said: Yes a super 25 wide angle. I have a small wall with a large flat slate top, so I've been using that I have some of those. I believe they're a reversed Kellner of about 58 degrees field of view. Should give you about 26x on your scope. Which is great for rich field (star fields, open clusters etc). Although you'll want a lot more magnification on the Moon. You can often push to 60x per inch of aperture with the Moon. A 130mm reflector will be easily capable of 150x. Although tracking objects at that magnification isn't always easy with a Dob' mount. Some useful freeware links: LROC online lunar map Stellarium Astronomy Software Celestron SkyPortal Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottletopburly Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Neil said: Rother Valley Optics. I take it that is a joke 🤷♂️ Yeah they put my may contain clouds on the box 📦 lols Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Hi Neil, a warm welcome to the group. Having just read your posts you are right at the beginning of your Astronomical path, not a problem, that's what we are all here for as we were fresh out the box noobs once too. Have a look in the Beginners and guides section, there is some really useful info in there, I think a read of Acronyms and abbreviations would be of help to you. Your scope is called a "Dob", short for Dobsonian, a mount designed and made by a chap called John Dobson. He couldn't afford much so he bought decent optics and made his own telescopes based around this Alt Az (Left right up down) style of mount which was cheap to make and is easy to use as well. As with the basic ethos of this scope, your mount is dead basic, but it works and there is a good parabolic mirror in the scope. This will give you really good images to look at. A good way of learning your way round the sky is to start with finding the Pole star, Polaris and work your way out from that. Then you know where North is and you will soon get to know where other constellations and objects are. Get to know a constellation (collective group of stars) one at a time and find the objects and stars within it. As mentioned a star atlas and Turn Left at Orion are great learning tools. There are a lot of good objects to see through that scope and a good list to have a look through is the Messiers. This was a list of objects that Charles Messier made to avoid seeing, as he was an avid comet hunter and didn't want to get bogged down by stuff that he had found and logged previously. However, this is a great bunch of objects that we do want to see and contain all sorts of things from star clusters, nebula's and galaxies. These are prefixed with the letter M and a relevant number. The easiest one of these at the moment is M42, the Great Orion Nebula and your scope will give a lovely view of it. Happy hunting and keep asking the questions. Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8472 Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Hi Neil and welcome! Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckstar Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Hi Neil, welcome aboard. Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 17 hours ago, Nightspore said: I have some of those. I believe they're a reversed Kellner of about 58 degrees field of view. Should give you about 26x on your scope. Which is great for rich field (star fields, open clusters etc). Although you'll want a lot more magnification on the Moon. You can often push to 60x per inch of aperture with the Moon. A 130mm reflector will be easily capable of 150x. Although tracking objects at that magnification isn't always easy with a Dob' mount. Some useful freeware links: LROC online lunar map Stellarium Astronomy Software Celestron SkyPortal Brilliant advice, thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 13 hours ago, BAZ said: Hi Neil, a warm welcome to the group. Having just read your posts you are right at the beginning of your Astronomical path, not a problem, that's what we are all here for as we were fresh out the box noobs once too. Have a look in the Beginners and guides section, there is some really useful info in there, I think a read of Acronyms and abbreviations would be of help to you. Your scope is called a "Dob", short for Dobsonian, a mount designed and made by a chap called John Dobson. He couldn't afford much so he bought decent optics and made his own telescopes based around this Alt Az (Left right up down) style of mount which was cheap to make and is easy to use as well. As with the basic ethos of this scope, your mount is dead basic, but it works and there is a good parabolic mirror in the scope. This will give you really good images to look at. A good way of learning your way round the sky is to start with finding the Pole star, Polaris and work your way out from that. Then you know where North is and you will soon get to know where other constellations and objects are. Get to know a constellation (collective group of stars) one at a time and find the objects and stars within it. As mentioned a star atlas and Turn Left at Orion are great learning tools. There are a lot of good objects to see through that scope and a good list to have a look through is the Messiers. This was a list of objects that Charles Messier made to avoid seeing, as he was an avid comet hunter and didn't want to get bogged down by stuff that he had found and logged previously. However, this is a great bunch of objects that we do want to see and contain all sorts of things from star clusters, nebula's and galaxies. These are prefixed with the letter M and a relevant number. The easiest one of these at the moment is M42, the Great Orion Nebula and your scope will give a lovely view of it. Happy hunting and keep asking the questions. thanks you for the welcome and the advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Glafnazur Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Hi Neil, welcome to the forum. +1 for Turn Left at Orion a great book and you could try downloading Stellarium which is a free planetarium software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 Hi Neil and welcome on board EMS 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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