ST80 on EQ1 for cheap grab & go

[Chris Hopson]

Hi all,

I've been thinking about getting the above scope & mount for around £135.

Has anyone used it & if so what's your opinion?

I have 10x50 bino's, & thought this might be less of a neck breaker? But useable!

Many thanks.

Chris

[JamesF]

The EQ1 is really pointless for a scope for visual use IMNSHO. I'd be tempted to see if I could find an AZ3 to put it on. The scope itself is ok if you're happy with the view through an 80mm lens and give the focuser a bit of TLC. As delivered, mine was pretty underwhelming. I didn't find it particularly satisfying for planetary viewing and the CA is quite noticeable on the moon.

Personally I'd recommend the Heritage 130 over it pretty much any time though, if that has a small enough footprint for you to live with.

James

[RikM]

I would agree with James. I love my ST80 for wide views of starfilelds but it's not an all round scope. I use it on a sturdy camera tripod or an AZ4, the EQ1 is hopeless for visual use. The Heritage 130P is a much more useful telescope.

[Chris Hopson]

That's interesting. I thought about the 130 flex, but the need to put it on a solid base, preferably not on the floor or a table makes it less appealing. Although I like it a lot.

I was thinking about a az4 alu, but I would have to save for it. So it would seem the eq1 is not ideal.

Chris

[Black Knight]

I considered this for a while, the idea being I could use the ST80 as a guidescope as well. Changed my mind because the ST80 is not attached using a standard dovetail, and the EQ1 is rubbish

[Chris Hopson]

Again that's interesting.

I really appreciate the advice .

Chris

[Chris Hopson]

So I should seriously think about mounting on the original plan of a az4 alu?

Many thanks

Chris

[perkil8r]

I have an St80, I am very impressed with it for it's price point and size. It is great for genrally mooching about, but as above, the optics aren't great. I have however found that with the small apature on the lens cap and my 5mm x cel EP, the moon was astonishing and error free. I actually got the whole disc in it, and it felt like I was almost orbiting the surface. I guess it was just luck, but the 5mm X Cel seems to suit it very nicely.

Go on youtube, there is a very good review and mod tutorial by AstronomyShed which I have followed. I can't judge how much difference it made as I hadn't used it prior to modding it.

[Chris Hopson]

Hi, I've seen the review, & I think for the layout, the ota would be alright.

I would be using it for wide FOV mainly, on the quick & easy transport route, if you get my drift. Although I can't help look at jupiter, moon etc.

It sounds like a better mount is needed.

Many thanks

Chris

[RikM]

I have tweaked the collimation of my ST80 exactly as shown in the vid, and sorted the focuser as well and it improves it a fair bit. I haven't gone to the trouble of flocking it though. At f5 it needs nice EPs.

[Chris Hopson]

I have tweaked the collimation of my ST80 exactly as shown in the vid, and sorted the focuser as well and it improves it a fair bit. I haven't gone to the trouble of flocking it though. At f5 it needs nice EPs.

Do you think my bst's would be suitable?

If I got it I would do the mods as well.

many thanks

Chris

[RikM]

BST's do have a good reputation but I haven't used one myself.

I only really use my ST80 as a low power grab and go, not for proper observing sessions.

[Naemeth]

For grab and go, isn't the ST80 with an AZ-4 fairly heavy?

[perkil8r]

I used the 8mm BST last night with mine, it worked good. I have flocked mine aswell as blackening the edges of the lenses. Can't say as I have any issues re the focuser, seems pretty good to me. I have also used mine to take pics of M31 and the Double Cluster. It worked nicely.

[RikM]

For grab and go, isn't the ST80 with an AZ-4 fairly heavy?

The AZ4 is quite a lump, yes.

Away from home, I normally use a Manfrotto MT294A3 camera tripod with a 3-way head.

[Chris Hopson]

Hi all, is the az4 aluminium heavy?

Many thanks

chris

[ollypenrice]

For me Grab and Go means alt az. No aligning, no counterweights. I have a pair of old TeleVue mounts, both pretty battered, a Gibraltar and a Tele-Pod. The are not expensive second hand. I don't like camera tripods because they pivot in the wrong place, under the scope rather than 'through' it, but you can manage with them.

Olly

[RikM]

Yes, if you can find a second hand Telepod these really are very nice.

[KevUU]

I've been pretty happy with my ST80. Haven't got any gripes with the mount - although I don't use it as an EQ anyway. Focusser seems a bit rustic but I'll be looking for the video mentioned above to see what help I can get there. I have a couple of Vixen NPLs which I'm happy with too (30mm and 8mm).

A caveat to all of the above though, is that I have absolutely no points of comparison, never having used anything else whatsoever!

[Naemeth]

Looking at the weight of the two mounts (Telepod and Camera Tripod), the ST80 with one of them would probably make a great grab and go, for a cost of about £200 ish, perhaps more depending on the 2nd hand price of the Telepod .

[jonathan]

I have the ST80. As stock it is OK, not the sharpest contrast for those star clusters that really do shine in my 8SE, indeed many are just fuzzies in the ST80, but I didn't really have any problems with the mount - it is light and portable, with minimal set up time (the tray is quick to remove so that the legs can be folded flat).

I tried my Lunt LS60 solar scope on the EQ1 - not so good. The lack of adjustment possibilities that a dovetail bar brings hurts it, the EQ1 is only really suitable for use with the ST80 it comes with (or a similarly balanced scope), even then I found that with my heavier eyepieces it became unbalanced and would occasionally slip or the slow motion controls would feel as though they were grinding a bit.

It depends on your definition of grab and go, but for me the CG-4 is just as portable as the EQ1; I leave it fully assembled, all I have to do is roughly point it North and tighten up the accessory tray. The CG-4 is in a different league to the EQ1, it is so smooth, so steady, and looks superb (also has a built-in polar scope, and comes with thicker tripod legs now). The ST80 could be mounted to a dovetail with a pair of tube rings for use in a larger mount, but honestly I would rather spend a bit more money and get a better OTA. I know it is a considerable amount more, but I think the Celestron Omni XLT 102 looks like would be a much nicer scope, and only a bit larger and heavier than the ST80, plus you get the CG-4 mount which can be used for other small scopes.

[JamesF]

My objections to the EQ1 with a scope for visual use is that it's a whole load of complexity and weight that achieves basically nothing. Unless you're going to drift align then the best you can do is get approximate polar alignment because there's no polar scope, and who wants to drift align a grab and go scope? I really don't think it's that well made, either. You're probably better off leaving the RA and DEC clutches locked (though they're not brilliant at that) and loosening the alt and az adjusters so you can use it as an alt-az mount. In which case, why not get it on an alt-az to start with?

I know some people use the EQ1 for imaging with a DSLR and that's a completely different hovercraft of eels, but I just can't see what is gained by selling the ST80 on the EQ1. I do sometimes wonder if it isn't just a marketing gimmick to make people who are buying a product at the bottom end of the "proper telescope" market (and I don't mean to denigrate the ST80 by that) that they're getting something serious because it comes on a GEM. For me it would make far more sense on the AZ3. Perhaps I'm missing something...

James

[JamesF]

(And obviously if you're going to drift align then you need the add-on motor.)

James

[Naemeth]

If the "grab and go" refers to being so portable you can camp with it, where you really cannot afford to take a big OTA, but can afford to spend time setting it up, then drift aligning it wouldn't be such a big deal, would it (I wouldn't know though, never having had a GEM)? Again, this depends on the definition of grab and go.

[jonathan]

Something else to consider... If money is the limiting factor, then you could probably get some pretty decent views from a pair of 15x70 binoculars on a sturdy camera tripod, this could cost about the same as the ST80 with EQ1; the ST80 will probably allow greater magnification though (never was very good at the maths), and if you are like me then 15x70 binoculars just don't work with my eyes (tried several pairs - always the same - but fine with 8x42).