Opticstar AR range

[Marky1973]

Hi All

I'm taking the kids to Lapland at Christmas to see Santa, but thought it might be nice to take a small scope with me to take advantage of some lengthy dark nights and (hopefully) clear skies. I have also begun to think it woudl be a nice introduction for the kids who keep asking to come out with me an my Dob, but it is often too late, cold or they can't reach the eyepiece! I may have a play around with it for some basic astrophotography in the future - nothing serious, just to try my hand before spending more money.

I've been looking at the Opticstar scopes - AR80s and AR90s which come in various guises and prices and seem well regarded on the site. What I am not sure about is which to go for.

For my "everyday" kind of use, is it worth spending a little extra to get the 80mm OTA with a dual speed focusser or perhaps the 90mm OTA with standard focuser? Is the extra aperture (however small) a better advantage to the kids and I than a dual speed focusser? I have no experience of small scopes like this, so not sure if the DS focusser is vital or not? I am sure either will be fine, just wondered if anyone with experience of the scopes might have a helpful opinion.

Cheers

Mark

Oh, and I never thought I would ever say this, but I am so glad the nights are drawing in! :-)

[ronin]

Of the lot I would likely go for the AR80S(7.5) DS.

The 80mm is a good all round option, the f/7.5 reduces the CA, and a dual speed focuser is worth having.

Rother Valley appear to have similar but theirs seem to be limited to the single speed focusers, and when trying to get a scope just right a dual speed is worth the extra.

One day I will manage to read everything:

The Rother Valley 80mm f/7.5 is a dual speed focuser.

Very likely the same scope with RVO on the side and not Opticstar.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

From what I gather these are well-built fast achromats with good visual performance on wide field objects, but less so on planets. I would not think these would be ideal for DSO imaging. You need an ED scope or apo for that

[Marky1973]

Hi Ronin - thanks for your thoughts - not aware of Rother Valley, so that is another option - I need to get a diagonal as well and the Opticstar one comes with a carry case, so going to have to have a more detailed look (when I am not at work) to figure out which might be the better value!

@Michael, thanks! Yeah, I didn't expect it to work miracles, just thought it might be a useful way to get familiar with imaging if I went that way - from what it will be an ideal guidescope further down the line at least, so i know I will be able to get my money's worth! :-)

[Mark at Beaufort]

Mark I recently bought the AR80S f5 mainly as a cheap travel scope. Well its ok on low magnification 20x - 30X but after that it becomes a bit soft. As Michael has already stated you don't buy this scope for lunar or planetary viewing.

Currently I am using it as a good finderscope with a correct image diagonal and an eyepiece giving me about 20x and a FOV of 3 degrees+. Its useful on one side of my SkyTee 2 mount with the 180mm Mak Cass on the other.

In hindsight I wish I had bought the AR80S f7.5.

[Marky1973]

Thanks for the views Mark - I can see the budget creeping up slowly! :-)

[Mark at Beaufort]

Mark if you are looking for a small travel frac this one has had good reviews since it became available in 2013. Because its an ED doublet you will get better views than with the Achros you have already mentioned. I know the basic cost is £299 and they are in short supply. However, something else you might consider before your trip to Lapland. I know that you mentioned the best size for a small refractor (80mm or 90mm) - I had a William Optics SD66 and from a dark site I had good views of the North American Neb plus lots of galaxies including M101 which can be difficult.

http://astronomia.co.uk/index.php/telescopes/starwave-1/starwave-70-ed-refractor-telescope-ota.html

[Marky1973]

Thanks Mark, I did look at this one briefly and discounted it because of the price - so thanks for tempting me back! This hobby is worse than my other hobby, Home Cinema - I'm sure that the £100 Amp will do what I want but this £600 Amp has blue lights!!!.....I started off looking at Travel Scope packages at about £70 and you now have me looking at the Altair Astro package for £400.....will just need to make sure I can arrange for delivery when my good lady wife isn't looking.... :-)