Small, portable, beginners scope - advice please

[Daz1974]

I am looking to get my dad a little telescope for his birthday. I have a 130p and have taken it to my parents and they have had great fun looking through it and I think he'd like something of his own to play about with.

Now my dad isnt that much of a fan to go and spend a few hundred on a scope, but he is interested enough to have something on hand that he can quickly setup and have a look from the back garden.

Also, we are off to Portugal in August for his 65th, staying in a lovely Villa, in a tiny village up the lisbon coast which importantly should have great viewing conditions.

My idea is to get him a small portable scope that I can take out to portugal and give it to him for his birthday (this has nothing at all to do with me wanting to do a bit of stargazing under good, dark conditions, honest!!)

So, taking all this into account I have found two suitable options.

1. Celestron 76 mm Firstscope & Accessory kit
   or
   
2. Celestron 70mm travel scope
   

I know that optically these arent the best, and more experienced astronomers could find endless faults. But, from the point of view of a 65 year old fella who has a passing interest in the night sky and isnt fussed about the finer points of astronomy, plus the fact I have to pack whatever I buy into my hand luggage. What one would you vote for?

I will end by saying that both are available online for under £55

I'll appreciate any comments and advice on the two scopes. ta very much

[Geesus]

Hey Daz!

I asked a similar question the other day whilst trying to find a suitable scope for my little brother's birthday, although size diddn't really matter as long as he was able to see through the eyepiece.

I was told that a 70mm refractor would be similar in preformance to a 76mm dob, given that the dob has a secondary mirror blocking some of the light into the tube...

In my eyes the mini dob mount on the firstscope or heritage 76 looks like it'd be more stable than the tripod on the travelscope?

Hope this helps a little!

Ginger

[onesmallstep]

Hi

Given the choice I would go for option 1 as this is the more substantial scope. If you go for the 70mm refractor mount it on a photo tripod as the supplied kit is too lightweight for serious observing imo (others will disagree).

You could always consider this as an alternative:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

HTH!

[Daz1974]

Cheers guys,

Hi John, hope you're well. I did look at the flextube actually but thought it might be a bit too bulky/heavy to take in my hand luggage.

If it wasnt for the fact I need to take it to Portugal I think i'd be all over the flextube, seems a no-brainer

[Naemeth]

It may be bulky, but it's certainly not very heavy (only about 7kg). It folds up too.

The 76mm sounds the better of the two, Skywatcher does a 76mm Dob too .

[onesmallstep]

Hi

In that case go for the Heritage-76.

I'll PM you shortly.

[firstscope]

i bought Celestron 76 mm Firstscope & Accessory kit just last week and on saturday night saw saturn and its rings i am a beginner and it looked amazing but i can't comment on the 70mm travel scope as i havent used it

[onesmallstep]

Hi Firstscope and welcome to SGL

[Polar Bear]

Having experience of quite a few small scopes and having built a few I would go for the Mini Heritage 76mm Dob. I was lucky enough to find one on a car boot for £5.00 and spent a few nights with it.

The best thing about it is its immediate set up time and the 10mm EP gives great wide field views at 30x. Even at this low magnification it will resolve Saturns Rings (just) and can be used easily by all the family.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/149173-car-boot-booty/

Paul

[firstscope]

Hi Firstscope and welcome to SGL

cheers onesmallstep hoping i can learn a thing or too on SGL

[Geesus]

cheers onesmallstep hoping i can learn a thing or too on SGL

There's too much to learn here... I warn you, there is a significant chance that your brain will explode if you try and take it all in too quickly!

Welcome to SGL!

Ginger

[Keener_7]

I have the Travelscope 70. The scope itself is a fine piece of gear, but the the tripod is very light, unstable and very jumpy. First thing you need to do with the travelscope is get a new mount IMO. I would just go for option 1.

[Daz1974]

Thanks all. Ive gone for the 76mm firstscope. It is only £36 on amazon, and with the additional accesory kit makes it a similar price to the equivalent Skywatcher version.