A Portable Scope for the Lapsed Astronomer Wants it All...

[dick_dangerous]

Hi,

I'm getting back into astronomy and am looking to buy a telescope. The only problem is I haven't used one for about 14 years...

My old 'scope is a 4'' Newtonian reflector on an equatorial mounting. It's an ancient Tal-1, built like a tank, and was (And will be once again if we can fix its stand) brilliant. I'd love a telescope with similar capabilities to get back in it, but I now live in London so am looking for something a little... lighter.

I don't have a garden, so ideally I want something that I can take down to the park of an evening or, better still, on the bus or train out to somewhere like Ranmore Common to get away from the light pollution. I'd also like something that can go in the back of a car when I go on holiday without taking up the entire boot. My interests veer more towards DSOs, but I did get good enough views of planets with the Tal. My budget is up to £200.

I've looked at several reviews, and whittled it down to the following instruments:

• Skywatcher Heritage 130P
  
• Skywatcher Skyhawk 1455P
  
• Celestron Astromaster 114
  
• Skywatcher Skymax 90 on a tabletop mounting or a tripod
  

I'm worried that a tabletop mount would break my back and I'd never find anywhere to put the damn thing, but that a proper tripod might be too bulky for lugging around. I've heard good things about the portability of the Heritage 130P, but I'm used to the equatorial mounting. I'm interested in the Skymax 90 because, as a Cassegrain, it would be by far the most portable, but I'm worried the smaller apeture won't pick up DSOs. Any advice on what to go for gratefully appreciated, or any 'scopes that might also be good for me?

Many thanks,

DD

[Scooot]

I was just reading about these, seems to fit the portability requirement. A touch over your budget though.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-startravel-120-az3.html

http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/forum/first-light-review-skywatcher-startravel-120-eq3-t114757.html

[ollypenrice]

An equatorial adds a staggering amount of bulk from the transport point of view. Counterweights for one thing. I'd go for one of these; http://www.firstligh...-dobsonian.html

On a tight budget the proportion of your cash going into the optics is always at its highest with a Dobsonian, and by quite a margin. And a Dob mount isn't just cheap, it's darned good.

I just can't let myself be convinced that the construction of the Heritage 130 is going to prove durable. The minimalist truss system and the single secondary support... I haven't tried them but the voice in my head is saying 'No.'

Olly

[Scooot]

DD perhaps you could clarify your transport position further. I think this is a tricky one.

I agree with everything Olly says about a Dob and an EQ mount but assumed you wouldnt be driving most of the time but using a bus or train. Personally I wouldnt want to take a Dob on a bus or train, nor carry an EQ mount. I haven't used one, but I thought an Alt/Az mount might be better because I thought they fold flat to an easier carrying shape.

Sililarly, from a carrying point of view, you wouldn't have the same collimation issues with a refractor. Also I note your interest in DSO but looking at where you live I'd guess the light polution is quite bad, even in a park, so I doubt you'd have a very good view of many feint fuzzies even if you had the larger aperture, The refactor I pointed out was an f5 so had good wide field views for things you could see such as clusters etc. Presumably it would be good for double stars etc as well. Although I note it wasnt so good with planets.

I think you should first decide your mount and then choose around that.

Havent said all that if you can use a car for transport I'd agree a Dob is a good choice.

[damnut]

A dob is nearly always biggest bang for your buck. But having had a st120 for a numbver of years it quickly became my grab&go scope and weapon of choice for a quick obsy session. Bullet proof, impervious to snow, sand & dog slobber! and still has a large enough apperture..

Good luck with your choice!.

[dick_dangerous]

Many thanks for the replies. I'd worried that while the tube might be quite light, the counterweight could be quite problematic. Certainly if I was only carrying it to the end of the garden, I'd buy the 150mm Dobsonian right away! When I buy the 'scope I suppose one of the most important things I'll have to do is feel the weight. Even the Tal was a struggle to get into the garden, let alone on a bus!

Although I hire cars occasionally for holidays, I'll be using bus and train, so it sounds like the alt-azimuth might be worth going for. I'm sure I can figure out how to use it too. Although I've always been more interested by DSOs, I do get what you're saying about what I can expect to see. On a clear night right now (And we've had few enough of those), if I go just inside Bushy Park, I can see the main stars of Orion, the Pleiades, Jupiter, M42 (just about) etc. so I'd like to aim for a scope that could pick all those up. I guess I can see more if I were to take it on holiday or back home for the weekend. I could always trade up if we move somewhere with a garden or darker skies!

Many thanks,

DD

[LukeSkywatcher]

An equatorial adds a staggering amount of bulk from the transport point of view. Counterweights for one thing. I'd go for one of these; http://www.firstligh...-dobsonian.html

On a tight budget the proportion of your cash going into the optics is always at its highest with a Dobsonian, and by quite a margin. And a Dob mount isn't just cheap, it's darned good.

I just can't let myself be convinced that the construction of the Heritage 130 is going to prove durable. The minimalist truss system and the single secondary support... I haven't tried them but the voice in my head is saying 'No.'

Olly

I can without doubt say that your worries are unfounded about the Heritage 130P.

Its very robust and more then capable.

BUT, as compact as it is in or out of the box................would i take it on a bus or a train.........................NO.

Its still to big for that.

How about a Celestron 70 Travelscope?. Great widefield scope.........................RUBBISH TRIPOD so you would need to invest in a good lightweight tripod. Im thinking redsnapper.

[ollypenrice]

You've convinced me, Paul. Sorry to have been a doubting Thomas!

Olly

[Spanishfly]

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p3431_Skywatcher-Startravel-80---80-400mm-Autotracking-Teleskop.html

This is my grab ´n´ go - very light, the AltAz mount doesn´t have GOTO but does track. I take a 7-21mm zoom lens, to reduce the mount of heavy glass.

[Spanishfly]

Damn where´s the kin EDIT button - Amount of heavy glass.

[dick_dangerous]

Mmm... There's a lot of food for thought here... If I had a garden I'd plump for a big Dobsonian because I've always wanted one of them. But in a first floor flat with no garden, and the nearest practical observing sight a short walk away, that's not going to be a practical option. It seems to me from what everyone is saying that the choices are these:

• The Heritage 130P - on the plus side it'll gather the most light for the DSOs and is relatively portable, on the minus it's still quite chunky
  
• The Startravel 80 or 102 - these look pretty portable but have less apeture (120 is a bit too much money for me!)
  
• The Skymax 90 - a possibility for size reasons, but I've been lead to believe these are primarily planetary instruments - would I be able to pick up the Messier objects with it?
  
• The Celestron 70 - This would be ultra-portable, but I've heard the tripod is terrible!
  

I suppose it comes down to where I'm going to be doing the most observing. I could take a train and a bus or a couple of trains down to Box Hill or round there to observe but it's a hell of a faff, especially considering that I live about 5 minutes walk from Bushy Park. So what I'd want is something that I could take down to the park with me and set up relatively quickly, but will also yield good results when I hire a car and go somewhere dark. To my mind this would make the Heritage 130P the obvious choice. The only concern I have is in the tabletop Dobsonian mount.

I think that's a decision of kinds. Thank you for all your input!

DD

[happy-kat]

Have a try of it in as shop as maybe it can be used while sitting on one of those folding small portable stools. This is how I expect to use ours out back, not tried it yet as weather pants. It is the finder scope that I am not sure I can get right angle for.

[swamp thing]

Hi

One of our "Surrey observers" group brings a 130 heritage Dob to Ranmore common for our meets and I can say it provides excellent views. Lovely bright images of wide field, superb on big open cluster. I personally look forward to having a look through it at a dark sky site. The planetary views are good to. So simple to use, I reckon it's a breath of fresh air in so far as small aperture scopes go.

I'd have no problem recommending one.

[LukeSkywatcher]

You've convinced me, Paul. Sorry to have been a doubting Thomas!

Olly

Not sure how to take this comment. Have i convinced you to buy a Heritage, or just satified your mind that it is a well built scope?

For some reason, i cant image you buying/using a Heritage.

LOL.