Beginner looking for telescope for travelling

[Sunrise]

Hi,

My partner and I thought we'd use an upcoming road trip around Scotland to buy a telescope we've been talking about getting for ages (we have binoculars we are also taking).

I am quite keen on the Skywatcher Explorer 130P (EQ-2) to use in the long term, but I was a bit worried that it may not be very portable if on our holiday we need to carry it some distance to find a suitable viewing spot. I've looked at Dobsonians and love the Skyliner 150P but the size is quite intimidating. The Heritage 130P Flextube looks wonderfully compact, but doesn't it necessitate a table for comfortable viewing?

I've also considered the Startravel refractors, just so we have less to fuss over with collimation, but the general advice seems to go for a more ambitious telecope.

I suppose the answer is to get both a travel and home telecope, but we really can't afford both! I would really appreciate advice, particularly on the weight of the Explorer 130P and whether we're being a bit too ambitious trying to learn how to use it for a week long driving holiday?

Thanks!

[Alfian]

Hi Sunrise, there are plenty of  reasonably portable telescopes that could be considered, but as I think you realise, its the mount that's the main issue, and more's the point - a good stable one. A 130 on an EQ2 is, in my experience, a bit marginal stability wise and with counterweights heavier than you might think.It can be put in the back of a car but its not especially compact with a thought to taking other luggage with it. I have recently acquired a 150P and an AZ4 mount. This is a great combination, very easy to deploy, very stable too, and like the 130/EQ2 would go in a car, but again I would not want to lug it by hand so very far.

I also have a 130 Heritage - now this is very compact, wonderfully so, its Achilles heel in my opinion is the helical focuser, which can be made to work quite well with a bit of PTFE tape, but it remains an irritating niggle to me but many seem to live with it well enough. No matter, it is a surprisingly capable "little" scope and I'm always surprised by the views I get with it. It would not be too hard to construct or buy a small folding table to put it on - which can also serve as a picnic table.

Another option would be, as you have said 400/500 f5 refractor. The ST80 on  a reasonably sturdy photo-tripod/head combo would make a very portable and rugged set up.

In terms of getting a scope that will serve you both home and away, chances are that whatever you get, if you get "the bug" you will soon be saving up for something bigger and better anyway(!) so maybe looking at your immediate needs/wants is the way to go. Its also worth thinking about eyepieces when you are calculating costs. Standard issue EPs that come with scopes tend not to be very good and can lead to some disappointment. A couple of modestly priced plossl EPs can make a big difference to the viewing experience.

[Sunrise]

Thanks for your advice Alfian. I think we'll go for the 130P Heritage after all. ☺

[Sunrise]

Could you please recommend additional lenses that would be appropriate with the Heritage to see finer planetary details? I've read that a x2 Barlow and a 12.5 mm lens would be useful but I'm not sure which ones (are all the different brands interchangeable?). I think we can afford another £40 or so for lenses and accessories.

[happy-kat]

Just a thought but a refractor gives the opportunity for day time viewing as well.

Eye pieces are interchangeable as it is the fitment size of 1.25 that makes then useable in any telescope focuser of that size.

As a minimum you need Collimation cap as well either £5-6 or can make one for free.

[Sunrise]

Also, I wear glasses but my partner doesn't, so I imagine that would affect the choice of eye pieces too?

[happy-kat]

Youw ould want eyepieces with good eye relief so that you would both be confortable. Though not everyone needs to wear glasses for observing sorry can't remember the typical types of eyes that can remove their glasses.

[happy-kat]

Why not start with what it comes with see how you get on with the supplied eye pieces before rushing in to buy another one. You may not need your glasses but you don't know that yet.

[Alfian]

Happy-Kat makes a good point regarding the use/need of spectacles. Whether you can view through an eyepiece with or without them will depend on the nature of the need for correction. If you have an astigmatism in your viewing eye, unless its fairly mild, you will probably be using your specs. If its a case of long/short sightedness you should simply be able to correct it using the focuser, that's to say you will not need your specs.

I am fortunate in I have an astigmatism in  my left but my right is "just" short sighted. So although I sometimes have issues using some binoculars without using my specs, using a scope poses no such issues.

To use specs with an eyepiece, the eyepiece will need to have a good eye relief, that is where light is brought to focus a little way from the eye piece lens. Its usually measured in mm.  Minimum eye relief for using specs is probably around 15mm-18mm  but it will vary person to person.

Plossl's eye relief work out about 2/3 the focal length of the EP so a 25mm will be fine, probably also a 20mm but less than that will be difficult to use with specs. I find using a 10mm Plossl difficult even without specs. Using a Barlow lens can help a lot here because using a 2x Barlow on a 25mm will effectively give you the equivalent of a 12.5mm EP but you still get the eye relief of the 25mm. 

On the other hand you can go for a different type of eyepiece that is designed to give good eyerelief. The Altair 12.5 I use has 20mm of eye relief and is very comfortable to use. But then, of course, EP costs then start to rise! 

So to get back to happy-Kat's point - its probably best to see how you go with the stock EPs and go from there, and report back!

Incidentally, if you do decide to go for a Heritage 130, First Light Optics (FLO)  ,the forums sponsor, are currently advertising one in the clearance section at £20 off the normally already good price.

[Sunrise]

Thanks for all your advice! I have astigmatism in both eyes :-/ I am contemplating getting just one good EP with eye relief, so that I have a decent chance of using the telescope. Would it make sense to get a 10 or 12 mm EP to cover all bases, or to get a 5 or 6 mm one, as we most interested at looking at planets and the moon to begin with?

[Alfian]

Using a 6mm EP (with an apparent field of view of 55-60 degrees) with the Heritage 130 will give a view at 108x where the moon will completely spectacularly fill the eyepiece. Looking at Jupiter you should be able to see the cloud belts and the larger moons. Looking at Saturn, the ring "shape" around it should be obvious, but significant detail will harder to resolve. A lot depends on how good the seeing conditions are. Both Jupiter and particularly Saturn will be quite small through the eyepiece.   

A 12mm EP will give half the magnification and twice the field of view. It will also give a 2.4mm exit pupil which is near optimal in terms of eye sensitivity so is a good one to have. My choice would be a 12mm and perhaps use a Barlow for higher powers but that's me!  I could however completely understand the temptation of going for a 5 or 6mm. 

If you do decide another EP, you could look at the BST Starguiders, Celestron XCel-LX, or (and they don't get mentioned much but I like mine!) the AltairAstro Lightwave LERs but as they say - other reputable brands are available.

It would be worth, if you don't have it already, downloading "Stellarium" planetarium software - completely legit' open source software that is really worth having. Amongst its many valuable assets, using its configuration window you can set up "occulars" (Telescoopes, Binoculars) using aperture, focal length etc, virtually any scope you like. Similarly you can set details of would be eyepieces. The clever bit then is that on the main screen you can then in whatever combination you choose "preview" what any object will look like using that scope and that EP. Very idealised of course but still very useful. 

[MarsG76]

Celestron NexStar 6 or 8SE are very portable.

[Sunrise]

Thanks for all of the advice! We've just ordered the Heritage 130p and splurged on both 12 mm and 6mm eyepieces for me (we'll make up the the cost by camping on the occasional night!). Hopefully we there won't be too much of a delivery delay with the bank holiday and it's not pouring with rain when we go up to Scotland. ☺

[LukeSkywatcher]

Because the Heritage is an open truss (tube) scope you will want to make a dew shield/light shroud. This is easily done with a camping mat and some double sided sticky velcro strips.

[Alfian]

Thanks for all of the advice! We've just ordered the Heritage 130p and splurged on both 12 mm and 6mm eyepieces for me (we'll make up the the cost by camping on the occasional night!). Hopefully we there won't be too much of a delivery delay with the bank holiday and it's not pouring with rain when we go up to Scotland. ☺

Glad you have got some equipment on its way. Now the "fun" starts - always something new to learn, a bit of a steep hill to climb at first (for me at least) but worth it. Patience is a big element, especially where the weather is concerned!

You will, no doubt, check the collimation of the Heritage 130 when it comes. There are instructions that come with the 'scope but if you have any queries you will find a lot info./advice on the forum. When I got my Heritage 130, the secondary mirror was spot on and the primary only needed a very minor tweak, so hopefully yours may be similar. I do hope you enjoy your scope and your holiday and also hope the Scottish skies (and midges!) are kind to you.

[Sunrise]

I'm not looking forward to the midges - I'm almost hoping for a lot of wind and rain at the expense of any astronomy to keep them away!