Travel refractors

[ollypenrice]

I'd much rather stick to carry on with scopes, though I have packed a large refractor in the hold a couple of times.

Olly

[earth titan]

I've just purchased an 80mm refractor from someone on this forum, for just this purpose. Fits on a camera tripod and the case with diagonal, a few eps etc. - fits in overhead easily.

[Meademan]

Great input guys!

I was wondering if there is anything out there pushing the 4"/100mm mark that is still airline carry on friendly (& not too heavy).

Tak FSQ106 / Sky 90 - that kind of thing - or are these all going to be too big & heavy at this aperture?.....& James if you thought the price hike was step in your two skywatcher examples - just take a look at these two! ;-)

......The WO ZS 66 is a gem though - it just oozes quality, but I'm thinking that in the future I might be in a position to upgrade it to something nearly as compact & as beautifully built but with a larger aperture......I'm guessing the jump to the 72's is probably not worth the trip.....

The William Optics FLT 98 in Carbon Fibre would suit, but they've stopped making them a few months back. I managed to source one, but I scoured the world for it. The OTA weighs only 3.5 KG which is nothing for a 4'' APO refractor, but like has already been mentioned....rings, finder scope, dove tail, eyepieces and then a tripod....it all starts getting too much, no matter the weight of the scope itself.

[ollypenrice]

Or, of course...

Astro-Physics Inc.

The legendary travel scope for the under twenties. (Over twenty and the waiting list will mean you'll be too old to move around much when you get it!)

Olly

[LDUNN1]

.....nice way of putting it Olly ;-)

.......a Traveller would be lovely!

[LDUNN1]

Meademan - I had no idea the WO C98 FLT was out of production.

I've seen a couple 2nd hand over the past 3 months or so, I bet it is a fantastic 'scope......my only uncertainty on it is that I am using a Canon 5d2 for imaging & it has a 35mm film size sensor & I believe the WO tend to have an image circle that covers an APS sized sensor ok, but I believe vignetting may well be an issue with the larger sensor.

.....have you any experience with this sort of issue?

[LDUNN1]

Earth Titan - I think I read somewhere that 80mm was the min size to go for, for decent views of planets & the like, & I believe the step up to an 80mm for me from a 66mm would be noticeable......it is what started this who thread off really - I saw an ad for an 80mm semi-APO refractor that seemed quite reasonably priced (under £200) & I thought about getting it as a replacement for my 66mm just to get a bit more aperture......& that got me thinking about what is the largest travel scope you could get (hand carry on an airline).......I guess where I have a 66mm today & looked at getting an 80mm, if I got an 80mm will I then be looking at the 100mm mark thinking "I want the extra aperure & it is still a 'travel' scope".....& then wish I'd got a 100mm instead of an 80mm.

......but I don't really know what the max size for an airline carry on scope is.....hence the request for suggestions - & I've appreciated all the responses.

[boborange]

i dont know how to put a link to a previous thread but if you take a look the link below you will see my megrez 72 with diagonal, cleaning kit, 3 eyepieces, planisphere, red light torch and a few books that fit into a peli case and can be carried on.

the peli case fits into my samsonite roller bag so really portable and dont feel the weight.

im taking this to death valley, monumenet valley, grand canyon and some real dark sites on the 7 of august and cant wait!!!!!

http://stargazerslounge.com/members-equipment-gallery/145296-i-cant-believe-i-have-just-done.html#post1843973

[LDUNN1]

Nice one Bob. the WO 72's get good press too.

Trouble is I have a WO66 currently & am planning for something bigger.......I don't think the 72 will be a significant increase for me......maybe if i already had a 72 I would be satisfied with that & would not feel the desire to increase the aperture so much, but if I am going to do it, I might aswell go for the largest 'scope aperture wise that i can while maintaining the carry on hand luggage requirement.

Thx for posting though

[ollypenrice]

i dont know how to put a link to a previous thread but if you take a look the link below you will see my megrez 72 with diagonal, cleaning kit, 3 eyepieces, planisphere, red light torch and a few books that fit into a peli case and can be carried on.

the peli case fits into my samsonite roller bag so really portable and dont feel the weight.

im taking this to death valley, monumenet valley, grand canyon and some real dark sites on the 7 of august and cant wait!!!!!

http://stargazerslounge.com/members-equipment-gallery/145296-i-cant-believe-i-have-just-done.html#post1843973

I was on Dante's Peak above Death Valley in late August some years ago. I slept in the estate car I'd hired. It was cool enough to sleep (beating the 119F at midnight in the valley!!) The sky was stunning with just a tiny hint of a glow from Las Vegas perhaps hundreds of miles away. However, the wind roared all night which made even a small scope tricky. Enjoy!

Regarding small scopes, for me the trick is not to ask them to do what they can't do, but what they can do. This is give lovely widefield views. The entire Veil, the entire Rosette, the Double Cluster with Stock 2, etc etc. For this my TeleVue Pronto and 26 Nagler are pretty special. The EP cost half as much again as the second hand scope! The planets you can see well from all sorts of places but the deep sky is what benefits the most from an exceptional site.

Olly

[LDUNN1]

......Olly, I recognised exactly what you have just stated a few weeks back - I have been imaging with just my DSLR & camera lenses (70-200L f2.8 IS mk2) plus stacked 1.4x & 2x converters......& then heavily cropping to get some less than perfect shots of M51.......I realised that i have not been playing to the strengths of the equipment I have, but to its weaknesses. I've planned to target widefield stuff & maybe lose a converter too......it will also be a faster imaging train being f5.6 & not f8.....BUT I don't want to open up that can of worms here too ;-)

Also a great tip there about NOT shooting stuff at a dark site that you can do from your home anytime its clear. I'll try & remember that one!

I was also at Dante's Peak back in about 2003/4 ish - but not at night, I think it was windy then too. Bob, if you are using a camera tripod for your 72, you may want to think about using the hook at the bottom of the center column to add weight / stability if it is windy. Rather than hang a bag with rocks or sand in off it - which may start to sway around in the wind & cause more problems that it solves, you may want to think about getting one of those large camping corkscrew anchors - screw that into the ground firmly, place your tripod over it & use a webbing strap to pull the tripod down to the ground - this should increase the stablility while avoiding issues with windage on bags hanging from the hook.

.......You did well getting an EP 'only' costing half as much again as the scope......my WO66 cost me £155......the E8 & E17 I bought were both over twice that - & almost as big as the scope ;-)