Need good lightweight refractor

[Nigele2]

Hi all.  Living in Cadiz, Spain I have to walk a mile to a great dark site and my two telescopes ( see below) are too heavy and cumbersome unless I get a gang together.  Can anyone suggest a good refractor that along with tripod would not put me off heading out at night? 

Not too restrained on budget.  Up to £400 but it seems the better the scope the more the weight from what I've seen. 

Do like to find a few DSOs and here recently excellent Saturnn and Mars.  OK I'll look at anything I can find really

ps:  I get back to uk so no probs buying there.  Cheers for any thoughts.

 

 

[iPeace]

Wow that's a can of worms.

A mile isn't too bad, but the more you have to carry the longer that mile will be.

Also, weight will more or less equate to aperture, and aperture... well, you know.

I can certainly recommend my TS INED70 (just search for it here on SGL) but that is keeping it on the super portable side of things.

Maybe an ED80?

Any thoughts on other uses for the scope will help decide.

Good luck and keep us informed!

[ronin]

Does "good" mean ED or APO?

You have the 127S so if that is too much I suppose the 102S is the nect one down. f/5.9 o CA will be apparent, equally you have that on the 127.

In the ED line it is ones like the Altair 72mm, there will be a TS equivalent. Think that APO's are over the £400 mark.  Check out AST Optics, they have a 70mm, ED , f/6 that is €400. https://www.astromarket.org/telescopen/refractor---apochromatisch/tecnosky/

 

 

[nightfisher]

I would suggest the TS 80mm F7.5, on a decent camera tripod, this would be light for carrying the mile each way and if mine is any thing to go on the optics are way better than the humble price tag would suggest, some false colour but not as much as i would expect 

[Louis D]

Read these two recent threads that cover this territory pretty well.

[Sirius Starwatcher]

If your transit to the viewing site is easy ie not too rough ground,what about a modern shopping trolley ie a shopping trug.?

plenty of foam packing would work ok.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Search/searchTerm/Argos+Shopping+Trolleys.htm

Their  cheaper than a new frac as well.

 

[Nigele2]

iPeace and Ronin many thanks.  I'll have to do a spreadsheet analysis but if I can get a package under 5 kilos that would be good.  Where I am is often windy which obviously is not well suited to a lightweight rig but that said probably 90% of the time we have clear skies so I can pick the windless nights.

And here temperatures and lack of rain  are such that I don't need much in the way of extra clothing.

That

AST -  Tecnosky 66/400 ED F/6 looks a nice bit of kit but I'd like to see a DSO through it.

Cheers

 

 

 

[Waldemar]

Thought about night vision equipment?: http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/528544-pvs-7-night-vision-for-astronomy/

Waldemar

[Moonshane]

If you are looking for deep space objects then you need not worry too much about CA so maybe a Startravel 120 on an AZ4 would be a good choice

[bomberbaz]

28 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

If you are looking for deep space objects then you need not worry too much about CA so maybe a Startravel 120 on an AZ4 would be a good choice

IN the opening post he mentions looking at planets and so maybe a ST120 not the tool for the job although I agree great for dso's.

The opticstar ota here http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Telescopes-Opticstar.asp?p=0_10_1_1_225 might be worth a look. They are basically a bresser clone. I had one a while back and wish I hadn't got rid to be honest. I was going through a phase and sold it on. It was a cracker with only mild false colour, not as though it spoilt the view and was very lightweight. Cant find the weight on the webpage but they are very well priced for the scope you get. 

Weights 4kg so maybe a bit heavy. If the OP isn't overly bothered about planetary then shane's idea is tops. Bit of a difficult one methinks.

 

[Moonshane]

No need to travel for planets though. Light pollution can actually help. Cannot see other scopes on my phone but could use them at home?

 

[bomberbaz]

Just now, Moonshane said:

No need to travel for planets though. Light pollution can actually help. Cannot see other scopes on my phone but could use them at home?

 

good point mate

[Ricochet]

On 22/09/2016 at 06:33, Nigele2 said:

if I can get a package under 5 kilos that would be good. 

When you say package am I right in assuming that you mean scope + mount + tripod? I think even the lightest astro mounts are going to eat up most of that weight limit so really you're probably looking for something that can go on a phototripod.

Does it have to be a refractor? How about a Skywatcher heritage 130p on a photo tripod? I'm sure that's got to be up there for the best aperture/weight ratio and probably comes in under your weight limit.

 

[Nigele2]

Sorry folks for absense but work called.  Thanks so much for a wealth of options.  I can see I'm going to have to think carefully about what type of solution I want before getting into details.

Did the walk this morning and it is a mile but totally flat.  So as the cheapest option I think I'll get some type of wheeled trolley and give it a go (as Sirius sugested).  I'd much prefer over the shoulder but until I try it who knows.  Maybe that combined with a very light weight cheap refractor that I could just grab and go would work.

But on the other hand some of the suggestions above are very very tempting (sorry I have a weak will and could buy 20 telescopes if it wasn't that the wife would kill me .  And I suspect I'm not alone in present company).

I've got to be in London for first three weeks of October so I'll try and find where I can go and see some of the options.

Moonshane interesting.  For sure despite the light polution on the patio (High street light 5 meters away) I have enjoyed in recent weeks great views of Saturn and Mars. And it was great to show them to the family. 

But that said somehow getting a DSO in view and just contemplating what you are seeing gives me a real buzz.  I still love to see my first telescoped () DSO the Pleiades (Seven Sisters as my mum always said).   It is a beautiful site.  And now we have so much info on the individuals that make it up I can spend more than an hour just on them.

Really appreciate the input and will post what I end up with.  Cheers

 

 

 

 

[Sirius Starwatcher]

I love it when a plan comes together, let us know how you get on and what your final decision is. Glad we could help Nigel.