short tube refractor

[johnnyp]

Hi all. I'm looking for a short tube achro. Hopefully it will do abit of everything. Wildlife/plane spotting/ and wide field views of the heavens.

I have the 80mm Star travel on my list but would maybe like a step up in quality in terms of views and fit and finish.

The optic star ar80s looks decent and the sort of thing I'm after. Anything else I'm missing in this sort of price range?

Cheers.

[John]

I've heard of a few Opticstar AR80's with not so good optics so I'd be cautious with those. Although they are less "glossy" in finish the Skywatcher ST80's seem to be consistently pretty decent optically. For the new price of the Opticstar you can nearly get a Skywatcher ED80 which have great optics in them although they are F/7.5 rather than F/5. The ED80's to take 2" accessories though so that gives potential for wider fields of view.

[johnnyp]

Cheers john. Good to know these things. The st80 is looking favorite as they seem to be consistently popular. Would love a small apo but out of my price range .....for now