Zhumell Z130 Reflector

The Zhumell Z130 is the largest and most capable of the three Zhumell tabletop Dobsonians, which places it in a bit of an awkward position both mechanically and price-wise.

It features a 130mm parabolic primary mirror, a high-end feature not usually found in telescopes of this size. The parabolic mirror removes visual defects like spherical aberration, providing noticeably sharper views. The primary mirror and all other optical surfaces are coated with Zhumell’s high-reflectivity coatings.

Zhumell Z130 reflector – Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

• Very affordable
• Easy to use out of the box
• A great gateway into astronomy
• Fairly lightweight and portable
• The eyepieces and other accessories are a nice touch
• Sharper views by removing visual imperfections such as spherical aberration
• Greater than 90% light transmission for brighter views

Disadvantages

• Regular maintenance is needed as it’s a reflector telescope
• It’s not very powerful, so the images you see won’t be super detailed

Technical Specifications of the Zhumell Z130 Portable Reflector Telescope

Optics

1. The optics follow the Reflector optical designs.
2. The focal length is 650mm, with a focal ratio of f/5 and an aperture of 130mm.
3. It has a limiting stellar magnitude of 13.05.
4. It has the highest theoretical magnification of 256x.
5. Its lowest useful magnification is 18x.
6. It is made of wood and melamine.

Mount and Tripod

1. Altazimuth Mount

Physical appearance

1. It has an assembled weight of 18.6 Pounds.

What comes in the box with the Zhumell Z130 Reflector?

1. Zhumell Z130 Telescope
2. Single Arm Dobsonian Mount with Eyepiece Tray
3. Red Dot Finder
4. 25mm 1.25” Eyepiece
5. 10mm 1.25” Eyepiece
6. Screwdriver
7. Lens cap.

What can you see with the Zhumell Z130 Telescope?

• Detailed views of the moon and its craters
• The rings of Saturn
• The bands on Jupiter and some of its moons
• Mars, Mercury, and Venus, but without much detail
• Possibly the colours of Uranus and Neptune
• Lot’s of star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies with some detail

Recommended accessories for Zhumell Z130

1. A UHC or ultra-high contrast filter- It greatly enhances the view of emission nebulae with the Z130. Though it does not replace truly dark skies, a UHC is useful even with dark skies, as the natural sky background is not truly dark.
2. Better low- and medium-power eyepieces- These will enhance your experience with the Z130, but they become costly very quickly.
3. A 2x Barlow lens will bump it up to 218x with the 6mm gold line, which is getting to the limit of what the Z130 can handle and may be problematic to track by hand. 
4. Agena 15mm Starguider- The 15mm Starguider (43x) provides a medium-low magnification ideal for viewing most deep-sky objects.
5. SVBONY 6mm Redline and Astromania 3.2mm Planetary Eyepiece are great for close-up views of the Moon, planets, double stars, and globular star clusters.

My personal experience with Zhumell Z130 Reflector

I used the Z130, and it is a great scope, and being a relatively new product, not many of them have been able to waste away in neglect, so you’re unlikely to find a used one in poor condition. A missing base is not a problem in the slightest, as the Z130 can fit on other mounts with its dovetail plate. 

Unfortunately, damaged mirror coatings are not worth repairing, as recoating the optics costs almost as much as the Z130. Dents to the tube that don’t affect the installation of any hardware can be safely ignored. Missing eyepieces can also be replaced, though this can get expensive fast.

Other Reflector Telescopes by Zhumell

1. Zhumell Z10 Dobsonian Telescope – It is ideal for observing wide-field objects like the Orion Nebula, Pleiades Star Cluster, and comets. The Zhumell Z10 Dobsonian Telescope has enough light-gathering ability to view all the best celestial objects. 

2. Zhumell Z114 Portable Altazimuth Reflector Telescope- One can spot the Rosette and Veil, two huge nebulae that span the entire field of view at low magnification. The Zhumell Z114 has a Dobsonian-style wooden base that makes pointing to and tracking celestial objects smooth and easy.

3. Zhumell 76mm AZ Reflector- It is not the biggest or best telescope on the market, however, it has a great dollar-to-power ratio. The Zhumell 76mm AZ Reflector only weighs an extremely light 7 lbs but can still offer potential views of 200x zoom. 

4. Zhumell Z12 Dobsonian telescope – Much like its smaller variants in the Z10 and Z8, it uses Newtonian reflector optics to project images to its users. The Zhumell Z12 Dobsonian telescope has a focal length of 1500mm, with a focal ratio of f/4.95 and an aperture of 305mm.

5. Zhumell Z100 Portable Reflector Telescope – With this scope, one can count on more than 90 per cent light transmission for brighter views of even dim objects like nebulae. The Zhumell Z100 has a focal length is 400mm, with a focal ratio of f/4 and an aperture of 100mm.

6. Zhumell Z8 Dobsonian telescope – Produces bright images free of visual defects like spherical aberration. The Zhumell Z8 is fairly standard in optical quality among all of the 8” Dobsonians out there.