Help choosing my Second Scope - suggestions?

[virtualpilot45]

I've had my 6in SW for 7 months now and I really love going outside to find DSOs and a couple of planets. However, lugging the OTA, the mount, the weights, the accessories etc in and out can waste a little time. I'm still glad I got an EQ though, in case I ever got seriously into imaging, and it helps me track stuff really easily. So I've decided that I might get a second scope, preferably around £50 for use as a grab-and-go, mainly lunar and some planetary observing. It needs to be portable, as I will be taking it to Italy a couple of times a year, by aeroplane! My choices have narrowed down to these two

Celestron Travelscope 70

Skywatcher Heritage 76

For the Travelscope

• It's a refractor, and will never need mirror recoatings
  
• Chromatic Abberation doesn't seem to be too bad from YouTube videos I've seen
  
• Comes with bag, tripod and other accessories
  
• The mini dob's aperture will be severly compromised by the central obstruction
  
• This can go higher than a dob base
  

For the Heritage

• No chromatic aberration
  
• Base is much more stable than apparently flimsy travelscope tripod
  
• Comes with MA eyepieces
  
• Focuser looks metal, as opposed to plastic Travelscope one.
  

I'm in paralysis by analysis, can you guys help me out?

[tyler_jrb]

i would go for a different scope, the celestron firstscope as the heritage,travelscope has little magnification 12x and 40x, the first scope is around the same price and can go to 75x magnification which will be great for views of the moon and possibly planets. It has also the same type of mirror and is very small to store. Hope this helped. As for height you could put it on a table etc. It also doesnt have a finderscope but it wont be too hard to find the moon. If you dont like the sound of this scope I would then go for the heritage 76 from what I have heard it is of better quality than the travelscope.

Celestron FirstScope Telescope - Tesco.Direct

[ollypenrice]

I wouldn't travel with a reflector. Too many opportunities to give it a deranging bang!

Couldn't you stretch to an ST80? There was a used one on here recently and they do come up. (Hey, it is a fine SGL tradition to encourage your friends to overspend!!!)

Olly

[jonathan]

I have quite fancied the Mak 90 on a tabletop EQ mount as a travel set up, doesn't look very sturdy but I'm sure it will be fine for wide field stuff and should pack away nicely.

I notice that the tabletop GEQ1 with RA motor has been discontinued..

First Light Optics - Skywatcher tabletop EQ1 GEQ mount with RA drive and multi-speed hand controller.

But there is a complete Startravel 80 telescope set up which uses the manual tabletop mount..

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-startravel-80-tabletop-telescope.html

I have this telescope on a full size EQ1, the telescope is not small by any means (approximately two feet long) but should fit inside an 80 litre ruck sack without too much trouble (with padding, of course). It showed Albireo beautifully, and I managed to see M13 in the light summer skies just a week or so ago.