Startravel 80 first light

[Alastair Rae]

My first astro telescope arrived by FedEx on Friday afternoon - a SkyWatcher Startravel 80mm "tabletop" refractor. The package includes scope, 10mm, 25mm & 2x eyepieces, bag, EQ1 but no tripod base.

I put the tabletop in quotes because I never expect to use it with its (actually quote sturdy) little legs. The first thing I did after I'd lugged it all home on the bike was take the scope outside with my photographic tripod. I adjusted the red dot finder and was soon getting bands on Jupiter in rather hazy, light polluted conditions.

We happened to have booked B&B at a pub in rural Kent for Saturday night (weekend away bird watching) so I found myself out the back of a pub in -4C clear viewing getting properly a nebulous Orion Nebula for the first time and a stunning Pleiades. The sky was wonderful, bins were giving great views and I was a bit miffed when my GF said that the view of Jupiter wasn't any better then previously through my 65mm ED spotting scope.

I'm not sure if I'll ever get to grips with the EQ mount. It seems well made but is maybe mismatched with an entry-level scope. I could mount it directly on my tripod legs (it has a standard 3/8" thread) but I'm not sure I could be fussed with all that aligning business. (The main reason I went for this package was because the OTA version has a 45deg rather than 90deg mirror.)

The red dot finder is a bit toy town. There is a lot of flex when you try to adjust it and I'm not sure it holds its alignment. But once it is aligned, it does the business when trying to sight bright objects. For darker objects, I just get cross-eyed trying to use it but maybe that my squinty eyes or lack of practice.

The scope and EPs etc fit neatly in the supplied bag and I can use it easily on my spotting scope's tripod so I think I will get a lot of use from this on my frequent out-of-town birding trips. Roll on the camping trips.

[John]

Nice report !

The views of the planets and the moon probably would look a bit nicer through a 65mm ED refractor though - the chromatic aberration (CA) that a short tube achromat has will rob it of some resolution and contrast at higher powers. The ST80 / 102 / 120 and 150 were designed for low to medium power viewing.