Lower costing Short focal length refractor

[bomberbaz]

Ok so I know you get what you pay for, so I am not expecting the earth. However what I am looking for is a 70 - 80 mm ota up to F7.5.

Want it for wide field views mainly, might use it for terrestrial. Anyway, I have looked at these 3 OTA's initially.

Skywatcher  705 which comes with an unwanted AZ3 which can be sold to offset costs which are under a £100 quid.

Skywatcher Startravel 80  which is a well documented ota coming in at under 100 quid.

OPticstar AR80S OTA which looks a cracking OTA but is at the top of my budget of £125. (Yes I know its £149 but I could stretch it)

Looking at these the most cost effective option is the 705, the best known and seemingly best used is the ST80 but the most expensive and least known about is the AR80S.

Can anybody give me experience of any or all of the OTA's to help me decide which way to go.

 

[nightfisher]

The only thing i can say about the Opticstar is they are usually good optics, i have the last of the AR90 and its very nice indeed, be even nicer if i actually used it but a great scope

[Alien 13]

A quick look at the scopes suggest the OPticstar has some very useful advantages like a 2 inch focusser and retractable dew shield, that alone would put it on top of my list. The 705 is of course an absolute bargain, the mount is sold separately for £99 so the scope is actually free.

Alan

[Alfian]

HI Steve I have the I'm guessing much overlooked TS Optics TS80 achromat. I think when i bought mine it cost me £90. Its nothing very special to look at and certainly not as eye catching as the Opticstars but its pretty good. In its original form (see later),  though sturdy and well made, the only plastic is the removable dew shield and focuser knobs, its still a lightweight. The focuser is simple but smooth and the optic coatings are a multicoated deep blue. At F7.5 (600mm) CA is there, as you would expect, but I don't find it over intrusive and again at F7.5 it gives a good choice of EPs (and less fussy than an f5 scope) with respect to wide field views and a mind to a useful exit pupil. With a 32mm plossl it gives 18x at nearly 2.8 degrees which is wide enough for most things. However, I wasn't satisfied with that and found a simple but hefty 2" R&P focuser which with some modification to the scope went on relatively easily. With a 2" 35mm/68 EP that gives a 17x 4 degree view and still an acceptable 4.7mm exit pupil. Its a bit tail heavy but i've rigged up a counterbalance for it so its now not quite as light as it was but still portable enough. The TS80 is not, like almost any small achromat,  a planet killer though I have had acceptable (small) views of Jupiter and Saturn at 120x. Views of the moon are pretty good, not as good as small mak but that's what you would expect. This scopes forte' (for a cheap achromat) are wider field views, M44, M45, double cluster etc. The scope doesn't come with a diagonal or a finder but  I guess you have those.

 

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p7935_TS-Optics-80-600mm-Refractor-Teleskope---optical-tube-with-rings.html