An 80mm for mainly AP but also some observing.....

[Feral Rabbit]

Hi all,

I'm going to have £600 (no more as I want a reducer/field flattener too)  to spend on a small scope for mostly AP but also as a light(ish) observing scope when I can't be arsed to get the 8" Edge out.

It's a bit of a minefield out there, as we all know, and I think I've narrowed it down to three, unless you guys can come up with some others I've missed.

1. Altair Lightwave 80mm F6 @ £549

2. Skywatcher Evostar 80 ED DSO Pro OTA only £349

3 Skywatcher Equinox 80 ED Pro £549

I was leaning towards the Equinox but there seems very little in the Equinox and the Lightwave. The Evostar  seems good value for money and I could get a flattener as well for the price of the other two. The negative is that it doesn't have a retractable dew shield and as always go for the best optics you can afford. So is there any difference between the Evo and Equinox in the optical train?

I understand from reviews that the Skywatcher case have poor protection inside whereas the Altair is all foam. But this wouldn't be a deal breaker.

I use Celestron Luminos EP's and was wondering if these would be suitable to use on any of these scopes?

Sorry, lots of questions but I want to get it right for the hard earned money I've saved.

 

Thanks for your help

Martin

[iapa]

I had similar choice the other month adopted for the SW ED80 plus field flattener.

Can't reallycomment on results as have none yet  

[ngwillym]

Worth a look?:-

http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Telescopes-Ascension.asp?p=0_10_1_6_9

[Feral Rabbit]

4 hours ago, ngwillym said:

Worth a look?:-

http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Telescopes-Ascension.asp?p=0_10_1_6_9

Oh Crikey! Another one added to the choice

[mountainmadman]

Hello!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything but then came across your post.  I've been in the same predicament for the last couple of months.  I see from your signature that you have an AVX mount too which is the same as me.  By this time next week, I hope to have pulled the trigger on the Altair Starwave 80 ED-R.  I saw the older 80 ED model in action and was impressed and sold on that, but when it come to try getting one, they were sold out everywhere, replaced by the 2016 80ED-R instead.  Since then, I've been reading some good things about the updated version, and though the price is at the limit of my budget too, I've heard sufficiently good things about it to make my mind up.  Their build quality is supposed to be really good, and in a side by side comparison between the 80ED and the 80ED-R, the newer optics are supposed to be a noticeable improvement on what were already good quality optics in the previous model.

I will be attaching an un-modded DSLR to it for AP and a small guide scope.  Adding all that together, it comes in well below the 30lb weight limitation of the AVX mount.  Hopefully in the next month or so, I will be in a position to put up some sort of review about it, but of course, that's all weather dependant! 

Whatever you decide to go with, I look forward to reading up on what your thoughts on it are!

All the best,

Tony

[Feral Rabbit]

On ‎30‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 20:09, mountainmadman said:

Hello!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything but then came across your post.  I've been in the same predicament for the last couple of months.  I see from your signature that you have an AVX mount too which is the same as me.  By this time next week, I hope to have pulled the trigger on the Altair Starwave 80 ED-R.  I saw the older 80 ED model in action and was impressed and sold on that, but when it come to try getting one, they were sold out everywhere, replaced by the 2016 80ED-R instead.  Since then, I've been reading some good things about the updated version, and though the price is at the limit of my budget too, I've heard sufficiently good things about it to make my mind up.  Their build quality is supposed to be really good, and in a side by side comparison between the 80ED and the 80ED-R, the newer optics are supposed to be a noticeable improvement on what were already good quality optics in the previous model.

I will be attaching an un-modded DSLR to it for AP and a small guide scope.  Adding all that together, it comes in well below the 30lb weight limitation of the AVX mount.  Hopefully in the next month or so, I will be in a position to put up some sort of review about it, but of course, that's all weather dependant! 

Whatever you decide to go with, I look forward to reading up on what your thoughts on it are!

All the best,

Tony

Thanks for the reply Tony. At the moment I am holding off as there seems little chance of me getting out in the next month what with work and our weather. I would be interested in your findings once you get up and running with this scope. I too will be using a DSLR so our set ups will be very similar.

Clear Skies

Martin 

[SonnyE]

I got into this Astronomy to take pictures, so my searching was geared towards a telescope lens for a camera. That lead me to an ED (extra low dispersion) Triple Apochromatic telescope.

My logic was that I could look through my T APO, but I would be disappointed if I settled for something potentially marginal of my photographic goal. And so far, I'm not at all disappointed with my results. Visual, or photographic wise. Now when I manage to get far enough along on the learning curve, I might even be happy.

Go for the best glass you can manage.

I don't use my DSLR on my telescope much. It gives me a rather wide view. Conversely though, I had to get a focal reducer for my cooled CCD camera I specifically bought for the telescope. It had too narrow a view. So now I have 3 possible FOV, not counting a small eyepiece camera. It's been interesting.