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Portable Telescope for under £100

Oli

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Oli

Oli

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Looks like the ST80 is a no brainer then! It must be a popular scope as I can't find one second hand and any that were sold on here went very quickly. I'll try and keep patient for a few weeks but if I was to buy new I would take happy kat's advice and go for the terrestial view with the photo-tripod adapter (http://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-startravel-80-ota.html)

Would anyone recommend any additional equipment in the near future? (such as filters or eye pieces)

Oli

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MAN or ASTROMAN

MAN or ASTROMAN

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The ST80 comes with the stock Skywatcher 25mm and 10mm EPs.

For WIDE field views,I use a Celestron 32mm which gives a magnification of 12.5,my TAL 25mm is a vast improvement on the supplied EP,and a BST 6mm works well with the ST80 too.

Using my TAL x2 Barlow,this will provide x133.

Check out Neil English's article 'Gallus Beastie' (written in Scots' vernacular!) on his website to see what this little scope can do.Also the Yahoo message board '80f5' is a forum that covers these short focal 80mm Refractor clones,sold under several brand names.

These little achromats can surprise with their performance,even unmodded,at a really 'silly' price.

We really are living in a 'Golden Age',when you consider the options that we now have,compared to forty years ago when I got my first scope.

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Louis D

Louis D

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I've had an ST-80 for 16 years and have rarely used it during that time.  The false color and lack of crisp focus compared to my newts just totally turned me off to it.  I then bought an AT72ED and love it despite the smaller aperture.  Up to 100X, there is no apparent false color, and above that, it is very difficult to detect on bright objects.  The two inch focuser is a dream with a 40mm wide field eyepiece to sweep the heavens.  The stars are pinpoints.  I recently added a TSFLAT2 field flattener to mitigate the inherent field curvature.

I know it's well above your budget, but I love that scope so much more than my ST-80.  It's also heavier by several pounds.  Size wise, they're very similar.

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

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The ST-80 gets enough mentions all over SGL to be worthy of exploring it as an option. IIRC though most people use it for guiding or imaging. The Celestron 70 travelscope makes for a nice wide field scope if mounted on a sturdy triopd (not the crud it comes with) but isnt much use for observing planets.The Heritage 130P is a cracking scope which gives nice views of most objects and contrary to what most people say about it, can be placed on the ground and used along with a small camping stool for you to sit on for comfort. I'm in a wheelchair and use my Heritage from a seated position. When seated, there is a bit of leaning forward to use the scope but its not back breaking.

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MAN or ASTROMAN

MAN or ASTROMAN

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On 31/03/2016 at 03:41, Louis D said:

If you're really set on a reflector, put out an ad for an old Zuka.  It was designed with portability in mind.  You used it like a Bazooka, using your shoulder as the mount.

Never seen one of those before.Surely it would be a fairly simple project to replicate,perhaps using a used reflector,diagonal etc (I'm thinking 'Astroboot' here).

It reminded me of reading about Robert Burham finding his first Comet,by looking through his newly self built reflector,that was propped up on the garden fence (!)

 Oh,and I'm sure that you will enjoy the ST80,Oli.

Those scopes are 'keepers' imho.

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Louis D

Louis D

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I did a Google search and came up with this review from 1993 which has a little bit of history on the scope as well.  Other than that, I verified the trademark was abandoned in the US in 1994 if someone wanted to revive the name.

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

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On 29/03/2016 at 19:31, Dave Lloyd said:

As has been said I think it's got to be a frac if you're gonna be dragging it around all over the place. 

Just not the Travelscope 70. Its fine at home on a sturdy tripod. Great as a wide field scope,but has its limits. I now use my purely for solar observing with my Hershel wedge and safety filters.

*edit*

Just saw that you went for the ST80. I've only heard good things about it.

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Oli

Oli

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Finally had a chance to use it tonight but soon realised that the tripod I'm using isn't good enough and can't handle the weight. Can anyone recommend me a decent tripod that will also be portable (eg. light and can be carried easily)? 

Currently looking at the two below.

Horizon 8115 2-Way Heavy Duty Tripod £79

Fotomate VT-6006 Heavy-Duty 2-Way Tripod £55

Oli

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happy-kat

happy-kat

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Right now astroboot have an az3 for £49

It can be carried over the shoulder but not back pack. It would need the camera head for it I think I paid £17 of so for that.

Or why not look at the video tripod di ck dangerous posted further up.

Edit: just done a search and I can't find an actual product model mentioned.

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Oli

Oli

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Thanks, I think az3 just isn't portable enough though. (I've realised that the previous two I was looking at are not really portable either) I guess I'm looking for a travel friendly tripod that can take the weight.

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Linda

Linda

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You could look at the Feisol Carbon tripods. Highly portable and stiff and can fit into or onto a backpack.

 Just make sure you buy a good mount on it. A normal video head for a photo tripod is not good for a scope.

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Oli

Oli

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1 hour ago, Linda said:

You could look at the Feisol Carbon tripods. Highly portable and stiff and can fit into or onto a backpack.

 Just make sure you buy a good mount on it. A normal video head for a photo tripod is not good for a scope.

Hi Linda,

Can I ask why a normal video head isn't good? (Sorry for the questions but this is still all new to me!)

With the current tripod I have, I'm able to use it at a small angle but as soon as I point it anywhere up towards the sky the telescope just drops and so the only way to use it is to lock it into position which then makes it very difficult to lock onto any target. Would a new mount fix this?

 

1 hour ago, happy-kat said:

This ttread for tripod head idea

Link here

Thanks for link, I shall take a look.

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Linda

Linda

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3 hours ago, Oli said:

Hi Linda,

Can I ask why a normal video head isn't good? (Sorry for the questions but this is still all new to me!)

With the current tripod I have, I'm able to use it at a small angle but as soon as I point it anywhere up towards the sky the telescope just drops and so the only way to use it is to lock it into position which then makes it very difficult to lock onto any target. Would a new mount fix this?

 

Thanks for link, I shall take a look.

My scope weighs approx 3,2 kg. In the beginning I used it on a Feisol carbon photo tripod with video head. This works fine when viewing landscapes with the scope standing horizontal. When pointing it up in the sky to find DSOs, I missed slow motion controls. The video head handle is not precise enough and easily steers past something. And when I finally found M13, I had to support the scope with 1 hand, so that it wouldn't sink backwards. That meant changing the eyepiece with 1 hand, which is not easy at all. When changing to a third eyepiece, I missed the support on the scope for a moment, and the scope went backwards until vertical. As I was a total newby by then, I couldn't find M13 back and was very disappointed. With a normal astronomy tripod (like my EQ3), you can just leave it without hands and it won't move. Only the DSO moves out of the pictures, but that is easy to find back when turning the correct slow motion control.

But that said, don't buy an EQ3 for taking along on trips. It is quite bulky and big. I have taken it on a snow trip, in a sledge, and on a short canoe trip to an island. But especially on the last trip, we had way too much gear to carry and I decided to buy something better to use on camping trips.

I have ordered this:

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p725_TS-Geared-Head-and-Alt-azimuth-Mount-for-photo-tripods.html

But I will receive it first at the end of this month. I'll give some feedback by then. There are many other alternatives for light weight mount alternatives.

You could take a look here:

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/262110-travel-mount-for-maksutov/

Edit: The other thing about slow motion controls is that you can lock the mount, but still adjust the scope's direction with the slow motion controls. 

Linda

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happy-kat

happy-kat

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Does make you think that a better positioned telescope and being in balance with the mod Helen linked to might actually work on your existing tripod. If you hang your water bottle down the centre of your tripod that will give stability.

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Oli

Oli

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Thank you all again your advice. 

Linda: I've had a quick google and searched youtube to try and find an explanation on slow motion controls but can't find anything (maybe I'm not searching the right term). I'm presuming that the two dials are there to tighten each axis and so slow the movement of telescope? Or are these dials used to actually move the telescope?

Is there any disadvantage to that easy modification? It makes me wonder why people are spending good money on a mount while this £10 one would do the same job.

I've also had a look at the Giri Mini despite the crazy prize tag but looks like this has to be perfectly balanced eg. on Flat ground.

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