Travel use - Binoculars or Small scope?

[Commanderfish]

Ok so I've ordered it!

Explore Scientific ED80 F6 Triplet, (not the Alu essential one), with the longer dewshield, heavy duty 2 speed crayford focusser, 2" di-electric diag and Alu case, just professionally collimated, for £395 inc postage!  Very excited about this.  I've ordered an RDF as well.

Now for the mount and tripod - need to be light enough for travel but hefty enough to carry the weight.  Scope is on the heavy side for an ED80, at 3.4Kg plus eyepieces.  Some of my eyepieces are 454g televues so the total load is about 4Kg.

I think the Manfrotto Junior head should give a stable view - anyone agree/dissagree?  It's got a safety payload of 5KG.  As this is for visual only I wonder if this is just enough for a stable view with a 4KG load?

What about the tripod - Redsnapper?  How tall should it be - I'm 5 foot 9 which is 175cm.  Will this 155cm, 8KG max load Redsnapper be enough http://www.redsnapperuk.com/camera-accessories/RSF-284M_.html#nogo

or do I need it's more expensive, heavier 177cm bigger brother: http://www.redsnapperuk.com/camera-accessories/RSF-324_Alloy_4_Section_Tripod.html

Any other recommendations would be great.  I'm looking for things that are stable but pack down small for travel.

Cheers

[BinocularSky]

On tripods: the height of the altitude axis of the tripod head +  the length of the scope from centre of mass to eyepiece should ideally exceed the height of your eye.

[Commanderfish]

Thanks Binocular Sky.  Do you mean Tripod max height + Axis height of head MINUS length of scope from centre  to eyepiece needs to exceed height of eye?

Height of eye is probably 157cm (175cm total height), relevant scope length around 30cm, and head axis around + 8cm, so I think the Tripod needs to be 157 + 30 - 8 + 179cm?

[BinocularSky]

Thanks Binocular Sky.  Do you mean Tripod max height + Axis height of head MINUS length of scope from centre  to eyepiece needs to exceed height of eye?

Congratulations on spotting the "deliberate error to see who was paying attention"

[MarkRadice]

Hi

If it's of use, took a skywatcher ST102 to Florida in a briefcase - with finder, diagonal, charts and eyepieces - while the mount went in the hold. A great scope for your preferred objects and only £90 second hand. A far more versatile instrument than binos although I never tire of binocular views.

I wrote a short article that may be of use http://www.refreshingviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Winter-Star-Party-Scope.pdf Shout if you have any questions.

Best regards,

Mark

[Paul73]

I'm sitting in a field in France with my ED80 and hand held 10x50's. My wife was very happy with my ruthless editing of children's toys etc when packing the car. Not so impressed when she saw the scope case and tripod.

The only thing that I would add is. Don't skimp on the mount. I have a modified AZ3. In standard trim, it is next to useless.

Paul

[Moonshane]

As mentioned by Stu I have a Meade s5000 80mm triplet. I bought it for about £200 used. The focuser is not the best but with some tinkering is now reasonable and holds a 2" diagonal and 26mm Nagler at zenith. Despite being a dob fan I have really enjoyed using fracs more since buying my first ed. Until then the ca even on long slow fracs bugged me.

Given your specs the 80mm fast ed / apo is a great choice.

I'd try and get an aluminium tripod az4 for travel and pick up a used cg5/heq5 steel tripod for home use. You'll love your new scope. Although more effort I found using bins for astro most uncomfortable

[Dinosour23]

Wow Mark that is a nice case you made there !!! 

You could totally mass produce it and make good money

[MarkRadice]

Hi Dinosaur,

Thanks for your kind words. I doubt the box is that good - luckily the low resolution pictures hide the blemishes rather well! I hope that it shows how a travel scope can easily be achieved for a very reasonable outlay.

Best regards,

Mark

[Commanderfish]

Nice one Mark - I have a similar case (without the impressive bespoke work) for my main eyepiece/counterweight/spreader tray/Finder box!

The Explore scientific ED80 comes with an alu flight case, it may not fit as many 2" eyepieces in as I'd like though

[Commanderfish]

Thanks for all your help everyone!

I've just posted a first light review of the mount, tripod and ED80 Triplet:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/250028-first-light-explore-scientific-ed80-apo-triplet-manfrotto-405-geared-head-redsnapper-rsf324-tripod/

[Moonshane]

You'll never regret buying it.

[Sweety]

Hi, I would take both if possible, thanks Darren.