First light with my new ST80

[alan g]

Sorry, that's a lie...... I've already tried it during the day and it proved itself to be exceptional.

I bought this with the intention to use it when on holiday in Malta or the Greek islands But tonight, despite the weather forecast it turned out to be nice and clear for a change so i unpacked and set up about 11pm to let the scope cool a little.Excited as I was, I managed about a minute with the skywatcher 25mm lens and then quickly changed to the standard skywatcher 10mm because I wanted to try this little scope out on planets,so I decided to focus on Saturn which was just creeping out from the edge of one of the trees in my garden.

This wont be great ..I said to myself, having read reports about viewing planets with this scope on this forum.

Well (word removed) me!

Saturn came into view as clear as a bell, with its nearest moon there to.

At this stage the madness had set in and I went for the 8mm BST ..... HOLY (word removed ) BATMAN !

How much further can this go ? I ask myself, and that's when I lost control....... In went the 2.5 Barlow with the 8mm

BST ......................

After a while with some fine tuning of the focuser, Saturn came back into view in all its glory without losing any discernable sharpness in quality of viewing.

So far I'm very impressed with what this little scope can do, and as I bought it primarily as a travel scope that I can take abroad with me I think I've got a bargain at £59. for the OTA

As some of you may know if you've read some of my previous posts I'm a complete newcomer to this pastime so some of you might disagree with my post and some might agree, such is the way of life, all I can say is.......

Get one while you can folks !

[Pat Dunne]

Cheers alan g I am considering getting one myself and I am please to read the positive review.

[jonathan]

My first scope was an 8SE so many 'lesser' scopes don't quite compare. Still, the ST80 is a great little package that can be used on a table top, camera tripod, maybe even resting on a broom, so it's certainly not to be sniffed at. All I can say is you must have some exceptionally clear skies up there to be able to use those eyepieces, I never got past a 10mm (and even that was always a bit muddy).

[gkec]

I have an ST80 and I do like it. £59? Was that new?

[philhas]

Great little scope with better optics than you think, I still use mine when I can't be bothered to dig out the Evostar 120.

[Monty]

I have it's bigger brother the ST102... Love it to death!

[alan g]

gkec said - I have an ST80 and I do like it. £59? Was that new?

Yes that was new, from 365 Astronomy.com, The price was for the OTA only and I see the price has went up £10 since I got mine about 10 days ago.

[Polar Bear]

Glad you are enjoying your ST80 , I have had 2 and they both seemed ....well .... muddy ! Maybe mine were Friday afternoon scopes but I could never get a crisp image from them.

I compared my ST80 with a Skywatcher Heritage 76mm reflector (£5.00 from a car boot) and the Skywatcher blew it into the weeds.....its a strange world

[gkec]

gkec said - I have an ST80 and I do like it. £59? Was that new?

Yes that was new, from 365 Astronomy.com, The price was for the OTA only and I see the price has went up £10 since I got mine about 10 days ago.

Oh http://www.365astronomy.com/

looks like you put them out of business with that bargain.

[webboid]

I have the ST102 & was observing Saturn with it myself last night. I like mine a lot as it is a useful grab & go

Mind you it was eclipsed by the view from my friends 14" dob at high magnification.

Either way in most scopes Saturn is captivating by its unique appearance & always wows me

[Helite]

I think its a great wee scope, wish I had purchased one instead of that celestron power-seeker I ended up with as my first scope. Bought the ST80 to use as a guide-scope but find it being grabbed and taken out more than the 200p now! Have recommended it as a first scope to people as I think its just a great little bit of kit for the price and size.