I have this scope. My first upgrade was a Barlow x2. This doubled the magnification of both supplied eyepieces. I then bought a 16 mm wide angled eyepiece with a flattened view (it doesn't distort at the edges - pricey but well worth it.) The 16mm gives the sharpest view of Saturn and Jupiter with or without the Barlow. It is much easier on the eye than the other lenses so I use it the most. I can get Jupiter to the size of a pea and Saturn to the size of an apple seed. With patience one can see shadows and some good detail. Planets are very bright through a scope and white is the dominant colour. I have tried using filters on the lenses but have found it's better to allow the eye to relax and spend at least twenty minutes on each subject. Forget the spectacular images you see on the internet. They are made using long exposures, tracking and multiple shots and stacking on a computer. A pricier scope is needed for that job. Have realistic expectations, be awed by what you are looking at and wonder at the sheer scale and mass of these things floating in space. This is a great scope for beginners and as a grab-and-go for serious astronomers and my only doubt about it is whether I ought to have gone for the 150p instead. It's a similar size but with 30% more light gathering (light is data) Either way it's got me hooked and that says all you need to know about the Heritage 130p.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I agree, it is an excellent scope for beginners (and a good portable camping scope for experienced observers).
Little tip for wrapping Teflon tape. Have the tape come off the bottom of the roll instead of the top. Put your finger in the hole and it will keep itself tight as you wrap with it. Hopefully my explanation is understandable.
I have owned a few 4" achro refractors and this 4" ED refractor is MUCH better on the Moon and planets than my acros. I found the chromatic abberation on the acros to be too distracting on bright targets and it really made it hard to focus on the detail for me. The acros compared better on deep sky targets.
Glad to hear it. I like trying to catch a shadow transit of the moons on Jupiter. You can see the inky black dot on Jupiter's surface if the seeing is good during a transit.
@@AbdurAstro , Thanks a ton I figured it out a few days back, This Model could have been better with a pinion Focusing knobs like other telescopes for smoother focusing
@@premnathrao Agreed. The focuser design is probably the weakest part of this telescope. However it might have been necessary to make it as compact as possible. A rack and pinion focuser at this price range probably wouldn't have been great from my previous experience with cheap ones. The helical design works well enough especially with the modification I did in the video :)
Good review. i really want to try telescopes too, i want to do some amateur beginner astrophotography and i think about getting a sky-watcher heritage 130mm, i will use a smartphone and an adapter, i have some astrophotography apps. Should i try short 5 or 10 second exposure pics and stack them in one? Please tell me if there are better options i could try for the same money. Ive seen people get amazing results with cheaper scopes and manual mounts.
Thank you. If you want to do astrophotography, I can't recommend this telescope. There is a 6" version of this scope now with built in tracking. That one would allow you to do very basic astrophotography with a smartphone such as what I go over in my video on smartphone astrophotography here: ua-cam.com/video/XBkwlXFGW0Q/v-deo.htmlsi=Ydg2TwCleMxaZ4zi However, I would recommend a small ED refractor, star tracker, and a DSLR camera instead. Or better yet, a much better option is to get a ZWO SeeStar which is the best value available right now for beginner imaging and can get better images for the price than almost anything else out there. bit.ly/4d4XZw7
I have since sold the telescope to fund other projects so I can't check. But I did fully disassemble the smaller version of that scope so I don't see why the 130p can't be disassembled. There should be two screws holding the two 90 degree parts of the mount and the bottom part is held in place by the nut. If anyone here has disassembled it please let us know in the comments :)
I have this scope. My first upgrade was a Barlow x2. This doubled the magnification of both supplied eyepieces. I then bought a 16 mm wide angled eyepiece with a flattened view (it doesn't distort at the edges - pricey but well worth it.) The 16mm gives the sharpest view of Saturn and Jupiter with or without the Barlow. It is much easier on the eye than the other lenses so I use it the most. I can get Jupiter to the size of a pea and Saturn to the size of an apple seed. With patience one can see shadows and some good detail. Planets are very bright through a scope and white is the dominant colour. I have tried using filters on the lenses but have found it's better to allow the eye to relax and spend at least twenty minutes on each subject.
Forget the spectacular images you see on the internet. They are made using long exposures, tracking and multiple shots and stacking on a computer. A pricier scope is needed for that job.
Have realistic expectations, be awed by what you are looking at and wonder at the sheer scale and mass of these things floating in space.
This is a great scope for beginners and as a grab-and-go for serious astronomers and my only doubt about it is whether I ought to have gone for the 150p instead. It's a similar size but with 30% more light gathering (light is data) Either way it's got me hooked and that says all you need to know about the Heritage 130p.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I agree, it is an excellent scope for beginners (and a good portable camping scope for experienced observers).
Little tip for wrapping Teflon tape. Have the tape come off the bottom of the roll instead of the top. Put your finger in the hole and it will keep itself tight as you wrap with it. Hopefully my explanation is understandable.
Thanks for the tip friend! I love learning new stuff :)
@@AbdurAstro I like learning new stuff as well
How would you compare it for the Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter to a 4" achro refactor?
I have owned a few 4" achro refractors and this 4" ED refractor is MUCH better on the Moon and planets than my acros. I found the chromatic abberation on the acros to be too distracting on bright targets and it really made it hard to focus on the detail for me. The acros compared better on deep sky targets.
Of course it can't compete with an 8in Dobsonian.
I agree. But it is MUCH more portable than an 8" dob so each has their advantages.
Viewed Jupiter and its moons, was very beautiful
Glad to hear it. I like trying to catch a shadow transit of the moons on Jupiter. You can see the inky black dot on Jupiter's surface if the seeing is good during a transit.
Hi, good video, but I would like to know where is the focusing knobs for this model, for making the objects clearer?
Hi. I I go over how to focus at 2:36 in the video ua-cam.com/video/aH7iCVQBHEo/v-deo.html
You focus by rotating the focuser.
@@AbdurAstro , Thanks a ton I figured it out a few days back, This Model could have been better with a pinion Focusing knobs like other telescopes for smoother focusing
@@premnathrao Agreed. The focuser design is probably the weakest part of this telescope. However it might have been necessary to make it as compact as possible. A rack and pinion focuser at this price range probably wouldn't have been great from my previous experience with cheap ones. The helical design works well enough especially with the modification I did in the video :)
Good review. i really want to try telescopes too, i want to do some amateur beginner astrophotography and i think about getting a sky-watcher heritage 130mm, i will use a smartphone and an adapter, i have some astrophotography apps. Should i try short 5 or 10 second exposure pics and stack them in one? Please tell me if there are better options i could try for the same money. Ive seen people get amazing results with cheaper scopes and manual mounts.
Thank you. If you want to do astrophotography, I can't recommend this telescope. There is a 6" version of this scope now with built in tracking. That one would allow you to do very basic astrophotography with a smartphone such as what I go over in my video on smartphone astrophotography here:
ua-cam.com/video/XBkwlXFGW0Q/v-deo.htmlsi=Ydg2TwCleMxaZ4zi
However, I would recommend a small ED refractor, star tracker, and a DSLR camera instead. Or better yet, a much better option is to get a ZWO SeeStar which is the best value available right now for beginner imaging and can get better images for the price than almost anything else out there.
bit.ly/4d4XZw7
Can this base be disassembled to fit inside a suitcase to be checked in during a flight?
I have since sold the telescope to fund other projects so I can't check. But I did fully disassemble the smaller version of that scope so I don't see why the 130p can't be disassembled. There should be two screws holding the two 90 degree parts of the mount and the bottom part is held in place by the nut. If anyone here has disassembled it please let us know in the comments :)
which adapter did u buy? and how much is it
This was just a cheap generic $20 adapter on amazon. But I will be reviewing and comparing a few different adapters soon :)
@@AbdurAstro ooh okay tysm