Beginner's Scope - Skywatcher 130mm Truss Dob

[depardeuz]

Update

Received Mcgill reply this morning. They offered 3 options 1)They will send a replacement primary mirror at no extra cost as the scope is still under warranty 2)They will give a $100 rebate on the purchase but scope remain status quo 3) Full refund but I need to bring the whole gooblygook to their drop off point at Bedok for them to pick up.

I chose option 1 since I still get to keep the scope and have the chance to go through actual change of the primary mirror and the collimation process. If I get to keep the original mirror, I will probably attempt to wash it?! See how....

[acc]

Glad they offered a good recovery! :-)

I am going to a dark sky site in Java in Apr; this looks like a robust, portable, excellent, yet cheap-enough scope to bring along.

[cloud_cover]

Let us know how it tolerates high power I currently use a 5" Mak as my travel scope but that means a rather bulky tripod as well...

[orly_andico]

aha! you can sell the used primary to someone who wants to do a DIY.

$100 is probably not a bad price.

[Gary]

@depardeuz Thanks for taking the time and effort to share your purchasing experience here. I think the lesson we can all learn from this is the importance of taking sufficient time to physically inspect the condition of the goods at the point of delivery. This is to the benefit of both the buyer and seller.

[depardeuz]

Yup, Gary. Ideally, I wuld want to be around when they deliver. I guess in reality, it is kinda difficult unless we put down everything else at work etc. So Bo Pian Act ( " No Choice" in hokkien). Can only inspect the goods after it delivers. I guess this round, i have been fortunate that the dealer, has honoured its warrenty!

[Gary]

Just thinking out loud... with today's technology, perhaps the person collecting the scope can take a photo of it and whatsapp to you during delivery or maybe even live video through smart phones. Or perhaps the dealer can be more pro-active and offer this service to you instead! At least just one photo of the primary lens/mirror.

[depardeuz]

@acc:

The truss system does have the problem of allowing stray light from the surroundings reflecting off its secondary mirror. A shroud is a must have. Unless you decide to acquire its twin... a Skywatcher 130p OTA but I heard it is a spherical primary mirror instead of a parabolic one. Of course, there are views saying spherical vs parabolic over such a focal length doesn't really matter.

@cloud_cover

I will try. Probably push it to x300 with stacked barlow or a Baader 5mm with 5x telextender and see if I will get an empty magnification. Probably... Lol!

[depardeuz]

Just thinking out loud... with today's technology, perhaps the person collecting the scope can take a photo of it and whatsapp to you during delivery or maybe even live video through smart phones. Or perhaps the dealer can be more pro-active and offer this service to you instead! At least just one photo of the primary lens/mirror.

That's a good idea. But photo can still be deceiving. I discover while taking photo of this mirror, one could have minimise the particles on it by shooting at certain angles too. But then again, this is still a good idea!

[depardeuz]

Let us know how it tolerates high power I currently use a 5" Mak as my travel scope but that means a rather bulky tripod as well...

@cloud_cover

But you 5" Mak gives a higher performance view of planets etc with that long focal length which this scope will not be able to do. Give and take.

For this scope, I have recently ordered a Skywatcher Synscan AZ GOTO mount. It has yet to arrive to Singapore. Ok, I did mentioned to Gary about doing manual tracking of the objects but this system is too enticing..