back pack telescope ?

[phatlad]

myself and my friend have been looking for a small scope to take out when we go camping cycling etc.. i have a 10" skywatcher reclector and call me lasy but i don't fancy carrying that on my back. So we have been looking at a meade etx 70 at witch comes with a backpack, it mainly for planets and so i would like advice, is this a good scope for what we want or can you give me an idea for another scope.

thanks glen

[GazOC]

How about a small apo? Like a Skywatcher 80 Equinox or a William Optics 72mm Megrez...

[Tiny]

I understand the smallest Meade (etx70) was sold with a carry backpack and the tripod comes in a carryall. Not sure if its still around.

[Stardust]

Isn't the etx70 a short refractor? a small mak would be better for planets, etx90?

Dave

[GazOC]

There arn't too many planets about for the next couple of years. Mars is gone, Jupiter is very low from the UK, Venus is (whats the best way to put this?)...dull, it really only leaves Saturn.

[algol]

mercury is quite good, venus is apparently good in jan of next year and apparently jupiter rises a little in 2009.

[GazOC]

mercury is quite good, venus is apparently good in jan of next year and apparently jupiter rises a little in 2009.

I'm looking forward to Jupiter making a decent reapearance but the two inner planets don't really do much for me. Outside of the phases theres just not enough activity to keep me interested.

[Rob]

I have to agree.. the next true planet season will be 2010. 2011 will be superb!!

[acey]

My back-pack scope is a Celestron 80mm f5 achromat refractor - the same scope that's branded as Skywatcher, Orion etc, and you can get for about £100. My backpack is a Lowenpro padded camera bag. By removing the lens hood you get a scope that's very short and stowable. But that short focal-length means it's not great on planets - a mak would be better. Bear in mind, though, that for high-power planet viewing you'll also need a stable mount. I use a Manfrotto tripod with a Celestron-badged alt-az slow motion attachment (you turn the wheels for fine adjustment of alt and az - very useful at higher power). What all of this means, though, is that the set-up is really better for deep sky than planets. To be honest, deep-sky back-packing makes more sense to me personally, because I can see the planets well enough already from my light polluted garden - camping holidays are a great way to see what else is up there.

Andrew