Spotting Scope

[devdusty]

I have been interested in astronomy for many years. As a combined 65 th Birthday and Xmas present my eldest daughter bought me a Skywatcher 90mm refreactor (f/10). I chose this after reading several books on astronomy as it was suggested that this was the best type of telescope for use in a light polluted area. However after using it for some time I found it to be too bulky and heavy for me to operate. Also the equatorial mounting  was very difficult to align with the Pole star.

 I have therefore been looking at Spotting scopes for using in astronomy. I tried one in a camera shop and it was so light and portable that I was amazed. As I have a limited budget I have been reading reviews about the Acuter 20-60 x 80 spotting scope and using it with a 3 way heavy duty tripod. I like the upright image it gives compared with the inverted image in the refractor which I found very distracting.

I do have pairs of 8 x 40 and 10 x 50 binoculars but the stars are dancing all over the place.

Any advice or comments about using a spotting scope for astronomy would be most useful.

Thanks.

Devdusty.

[Mak the Night]

Celestron make spotting scopes: http://www.celestron.com/browse-shop/sport-optics/spotting-scopes

[happy-kat]

Spotting scopes can be not so suited to night use as they have usually a day time fixed angled 45° eyepiece which can = neck ache. For night use you really want a 90° angled eyepiece.

Do you already own the heavy duty tripod, if so have a read of this.

Link here

Me I would rather have a short refractor with a erect image diagonal for day time and a 90° star diagonal for night time, you would get a much bigger range of magnification potential. Skywatcher startravel 80 mm. 1.5 kilos in weight so very light. Or alternatively a 90mm mak equally small and that won't show any false colour which the ST80 would do on very bright objects.

 

[Louis D]

Look into getting an AT72ED.  Compact, sharp, and very little to no color up to 125x.  I have mine mounted on a fairly heavy alt-az mount and tripod, but it could be used on a photo tripod and head as long as you don't go too far straight up.  There are also lighter weight alt-az options out there that aren't as robust as my mount.

[Putaendo Patrick]

I bought a vintage spotting scope a few months ago, and it's proved surprisingly versatile for quick viewing sessions. If I were buying a brand-new one though I would look for one with the facility to change EPs and prehaps the diagonal as well. Some Acuters allow interchangable EPs, but I think some are fixed. The Celestron Mak C90 has quite a following among light-weight astronomy enthusiasts:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-spotting-scopes/celestron-c90-mak.html

The Skywatcher Sky Max 90 is probably quite similar and comes with a 90 degree diagonal as well as two EPs:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/skywatcher-skymax-90-ota.html

[avtaram]

+1 for the 90 Mak.

I have one which I use as a travel scope and for quick grab and go sessions, its mounted on a photograpic tripod with an Alt/Az head with slow motion controls.

The whole setup is very light and can be carried with one hand and gives great views of the Moon, planets and double stars.

With a 32mm 50* eyepiece it gives a true field of view of about 1.3*.

 

Avtar

[Peter Drew]

Hello Devdusty, welcome to SGL.

I think it would be a shame  to avoid some of the issues you mention by buying a telescope that is not primarily intended for astronomy. As others have mentioned, there is quite a good choice of excellent astronomical models that would fall in line with your needs and offer better overall performance than a terrestrial spotting scope.

[John]

I have a spotting scope or two (70mm and 80mm) of decent quality but, apart from the occasional quick look, I don't use them for astro observing. The 45 degree eyepiece angle is not too "neck friendly" for many astro targets and aiming the things is quite difficult as well because their finders (such as they are !) are very basic and not accurate enough to track down astro objects.

There are astro scopes though, some are mentioned above, which can serve well as terrestrial / nature scopes by swapping the 90 degree diagonal for a decent quality 45 degree one.

 

[happy-kat]

Astroboot often have an errect image diagonal for very little cost so it is easy to get which ever diagonal needed to compliment the chosen telescope many of which can be selected that come with photo tripod mounting capability.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Hello Devdusty

I bought a 60mm spotter scope last year to take to the United States. The quality was good and I had the occasional good views. However, in hindsight I wish I had not bought it. What I should have done was to buy a small 66mm or 72mm Refractor. In the end most of my observing in the United States was done with a pair of 15x70 binos. I have since obtained a Altair Lightwave 72mm ED frac which allows me a great choice of magnification from 14X to 125X. I have a William Optics 2" correct image diagonal which gives me the best of all worlds.

PS - I should have formally welcomed you to SGL.

 

[Mak the Night]

I have a tabletop Dob mounted Omegon 90mm Mak which is more or less a spotting scope. At f/11.3 it is a bit faster than many 90mm Mak's and I've had some superb views of the Moon with it. I use it in conjunction with an Orion 6x30 RACI. There are 70mm and 80mm versions I believe. It is also marketed as the Kasai Pico.

http://www.kasai-trading.jp/PICO8e.html

 

[laudropb]

I have a Leica top of the range spotting scope which I take on holiday with me for bird watching. I have used it for stargazing but it is not really suitable for astronomical work. You would definitely be better off with one of the astronomical scopes mentioned in previous posts or even an erecting 90 degree diagonal for your current instrument.

[Dave In Vermont]

I agree that a decent AltAz-mount would be much less weight and trouble in setting-up each time. I'm posting an image of a Orion-USA branded mount, which is available in your land as the Skywatcher AZ4. These would handle your 90mm F10 with ease. And they don't cost an arm & leg either. Here's a link to them at FLO:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/alt-azimuth/skywatcher-az4-alt-az-mount.html

These have a very dexterous, fluid feel to them - which makes adjusting them a breeze (no pun intended).

Nice 90mm Scope - these small achromats are great!

Best wishes,

Dave