Travel scope on a budget

[Helen]

For the last mercury transit I was sat in an astrophysics exam - who could have scheduled that so badly!!

For next time I'm thinking of using my solar funnel again - its a great way of watching progress as a group. https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/Build_a_Sun_Funnel_v4.pdf

Helen

[Mark at Beaufort]

1 hour ago, Littleguy80 said:

If grandchildren come along, I'll have to get them interested in astronomy so they can watch the next  Venus transit for me

 

Neil - the next Venus Transit will be December 2117. My Granddaughters live in the USA and they watched the Transit through numerous scopes including a guy from NASA who had a Lunt 6" Ha scope, binoviewers + TeleVue EPs - it was a fantastic view.

[steveex2003]

My little run around set-up. Not a million miles from your budget. 

Manfrotto 055 Carbon Fibre 4 section - picked up from eBay for circa £180

Equinox 80ED - secondhand circa £300

Giro ll mini - picked up from eBay £50

 

I love it. Literally 60 seconds to assemble, can pick it up with one hand. Will all fit in a carry-on with ease.  Didn't cost the earth (relatively speaking) for a very convenient, not half bad grab n go. 

 

[Stu]

Just now, steveex2003 said:

My little run around set-up. Not a million miles from your budget. 

Manfrotto 055 Carbon Fibre 4 section - picked up from eBay for circa £180

Equinox 80ED - secondhand circa £300

Giro ll mini - picked up from eBay £50

 

I love it. Literally 60 seconds to assemble, can pick it up with one hand. Will all fit in a carry-on with ease.  Didn't cost the earth (relatively speaking) for a very convenient, not half bad grab n go. 

Nice! Bet that works really well.

[Littleguy80]

56 minutes ago, steveex2003 said:

My little run around set-up. Not a million miles from your budget. 

Manfrotto 055 Carbon Fibre 4 section - picked up from eBay for circa £180

Equinox 80ED - secondhand circa £300

Giro ll mini - picked up from eBay £50

 

I love it. Literally 60 seconds to assemble, can pick it up with one hand. Will all fit in a carry-on with ease.  Didn't cost the earth (relatively speaking) for a very convenient, not half bad grab n go. 

 

That looks a great setup! Looks like you got some deals on eBay

[steveex2003]

Scanning through this thread, my thoughts (and I am about as far away from an expert as you can get) are, you are going to struggle with something travel based if you truly mean back-pack travel and an EQ mount. I have the AZ5 mount and enjoy it, but its quite large and relatively heavy. I also have an AZ GTI which is quite diminutive and light, but goto, and powering goto may not be for everyone. I like the GTI and definitely consider it grab n go and travel good. The Giro mini 2 is small and light and just about copes unbalanced with the Equinox in relation to stiction. The Altair AZ mount and its TS equivalent is super small and perfect for travel also. There is a real performance boost when balancing even these little mounts, but honestly I put up with gladly for not having to bother with counterweights etc. 
Reading other threads it's obvious that grab n go or travel has its own tiers. I'm at its most basic end, one tripod, one head, one scope. 

[Littleguy80]

12 hours ago, steveex2003 said:

Scanning through this thread, my thoughts (and I am about as far away from an expert as you can get) are, you are going to struggle with something travel based if you truly mean back-pack travel and an EQ mount. I have the AZ5 mount and enjoy it, but its quite large and relatively heavy. I also have an AZ GTI which is quite diminutive and light, but goto, and powering goto may not be for everyone. I like the GTI and definitely consider it grab n go and travel good. The Giro mini 2 is small and light and just about copes unbalanced with the Equinox in relation to stiction. The Altair AZ mount and its TS equivalent is super small and perfect for travel also. There is a real performance boost when balancing even these little mounts, but honestly I put up with gladly for not having to bother with counterweights etc. 
Reading other threads it's obvious that grab n go or travel has its own tiers. I'm at its most basic end, one tripod, one head, one scope. 

As I have quite a few different scenarios that I want to use this setup with, the challenge has become finding the most flexible setup. I know I want airline transportable so, as Mark rightly pointed out, I’ve got to consider weight. On the flipside, the majority of it’s use will not require airline travel so I don’t want to compromise stability too much. 

I like the Altair mount because I can use it with or without the counterweight. Around the UK that should give me nicer performance. Balance issues/challenges seem to be frequently mentioned with lightweight travel setups. For airline travel, I can ditch the counterweight if necessary and take just the mount. 

I’m still looking around at tripods. The TS optics aluminium option is my current favourite. It collapses to below 50cm and weighs 1.7kg so quite light and also inexpensive. I’ve got searches setup up on eBay for a Manfrotto 55 carbon so maybe I’ll get lucky there. I haven’t looked at 55 aluminium option yet.

[Stu]

Hi Neil,

Not sure if you've seen these threads? Not suggesting a Tak, but there may be a few ideas in there which are useful. There are options for counter weighting without having to take one with you; I tried a very inelegant washing powder tub which weighs nothing to take (can be packed with socks!) but filled with stones is quite effective.

I packed quite alot into my 10kg carry on allowance, including the giro mount so it is quite possible to do. There are some other examples in these threads too I think.

Cheers,

Stu

 

 

[steveex2003]

5 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

As I have quite a few different scenarios that I want to use this setup with, the challenge has become finding the most flexible setup. I know I want airline transportable so, as Mark rightly pointed out, I’ve got to consider weight. On the flipside, the majority of it’s use will not require airline travel so I don’t want to compromise stability too much. 

I like the Altair mount because I can use it with or without the counterweight. Around the UK that should give me nicer performance. Balance issues/challenges seem to be frequently mentioned with lightweight travel setups. For airline travel, I can ditch the counterweight if necessary and take just the mount. 

I’m still looking around at tripods. The TS optics aluminium option is my current favourite. It collapses to below 50cm and weighs 1.7kg so quite light and also inexpensive. I’ve got searches setup up on eBay for a Manfrotto 55 carbon so maybe I’ll get lucky there. I haven’t looked at 55 aluminium option yet.

For sure the 055 3 section versions will be too big for a carry-on. The 4 section versions are about 540mm. I can't speak for the Alu versions. I only bought the CF model because I got it for a relative steal, right place, right time type of thing. It is solid, even fully extended, and as long as reasonably well balanced in the little AZ mount (I have to reverse the foot on the Equinox to achieve this) it can cope with high mag without bouncing around all over the place. That said, even with a 2" diagonal and my Aero 30mm and a Hyperion Zoom, which are my default run around EP's, the total weight isn't much more than 4 - 4.5kg which is about half the rated loading of the tripod. The tripod is about 2KG, so with the head, scope, diagonal and 2 EP's i'm probably banging on 8kg's or so. In a nice backpack, it's not an uncomfortable weight to haul.

[Littleguy80]

Instead of getting an early night, I’ve ended up researching tripods. I found some reports of people using the Zomei tripods. I think it was @Fozzie who was using one with a heritage 130. I believe the bullhead can be removed leaving the standard 3/8 screw.

Carbon Tripod Zomei Z888C https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B014A87VOA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_t6WFCb663FJNF

Alternatively there’s the Manfrotto 190. It’s Aluminium and 4 section but a better known brand. Only rated up to 7Kg though. I believe this was @Piero‘s choice for his TV60.

Manfrotto 190XPRO Aluminium 4 Section Tripod https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FZLBVBG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_0aXFCbGJEK9EB

 

[Piero]

@Littleguy80 that's correct! It's a great tripod for my TV60.

[Ricochet]

9 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

I found some reports of people using the Zomei tripods. I think it was @Fozzie who was using one with a heritage 130. I believe the bullhead can be removed leaving the standard 3/8 screw.

Yes, they can. I've got an 818C (I think, no model numbers on the tripods or packaging) that I use with a fluid head for my spotting scope. If the head az friction is set too high you can induce a little bit of twist into the tripod but this might be the same with all the options. I have used it at night and thought it would be nice to have a lightweight head and scope to go on top for grab and go but I've not managed to decide which scope. 

With regards to the tripod, I bought mine through eBay. I think it might have been shipped directly from China but the original price was cheaper than Amazon, plus the seller had a % off offer on, and eBay also gave me a % off voucher so I only paid £65 for it.

[John]

Thats the improvement that I might make to my travel scope outfit - the Slik classic tripod is very stable but only a 2 section one so stays a little long for easy packing. My Slik tripod and the Dwarf Star alt-az head weigh 2.1kg in total so the weight is reasonable. I guess I might loose a little stiffness going to a 3 section (or more) tripod ?

Sorry to talk about my interests in your thread Neil - I hope they have some relevance ?

 

[Littleguy80]

12 minutes ago, John said:

Thats the improvement that I might make to my travel scope outfit - the Slik classic tripod is very stable but only a 2 section one so stays a little long for easy packing. My Slik tripod and the Dwarf Star alt-az head weigh 2.1kg in total so the weight is reasonable. I guess I might loose a little stiffness going to a 3 section (or more) tripod ?

Sorry to talk about my interests in your thread Neil - I hope they have some relevance ?

 

No problem at all, John  

I did spend some time trying to track down the Dwarf Star Mount but doesn’t seem to be available in the UK. 

The tripod seems to be the trickiest piece of the puzzle as there’s no spec that gives you a good sense of stability. It’s all about trying to find enough positive reviews from people using a similar setup. On that note, thanks to @Ricochet for the response on the Zomei tripod  

[John]

At the time I was looking at the TS / Altair mini-alt az head but the Dwarf Star popped up used for £50 so I went for that. It's dead simple, very light and works !

I do have a nice 2-way pan-tilt head for the Slik tripod but I prefer an astro-type alt-az - the scope weight is balanced better.

 

[Littleguy80]

I am slowly but surely talking myself around to the TS-Optics 72mm with the FPL-53 glass. The improved optics is the main selling point for me. It should support higher magnifications than the SW72ED. The retractable dew shield makes it more travel friendly. I think Stu said the focuser is a step up too. 

[JamesF]

7 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

I am slowly but surely talking myself around to the TS-Optics 72mm with the FPL-53 glass. The improved optics is the main selling point for me. It should support higher magnifications than the SW72ED. The retractable dew shield makes it more travel friendly. I think Stu said the focuser is a step up too. 

Assuming you're talking about the Photoline model, I posted some photos of mine here when it arrived:

James

[Littleguy80]

13 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Assuming you're talking about the Photoline model, I posted some photos of mine here when it arrived:

James

I am indeed. Thank you. A great looking scope. I haven’t found anyone with anything bad to say about it. 

[Littleguy80]

A Televue Pronto, as recommended by Iain @scarp15, has appeared on ABS. I believe the seller is a former regular on here. Does the modern coatings and FPL-53 glass give the TS Optics 72mm an edge over the older Pronto? I’ve read that the purple fringing is an issue with the Pronto? 

[Stu]

10 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

A Televue Pronto, as recommended by Iain @scarp15, has appeared on ABS. I believe the seller is a former regular on here. Does the modern coatings and FPL-53 glass give the TS Optics 72mm an edge over the older Pronto? I’ve read that the purple fringing is an issue with the Pronto? 

The Pronto is a great little scope, but is definitely an achro not an apo. In sure the optical figure will be good so it would still perform well at higher powers but will show CA. I think the TS 72 would be the better scope as an all rounder.

[Littleguy80]

8 minutes ago, Stu said:

The Pronto is a great little scope, but is definitely an achro not an apo. In sure the optical figure will be good so it would still perform well at higher powers but will show CA. I think the TS 72 would be the better scope as an all rounder.

Thanks Stu. My instinct was the TS 72 but when the the other scope is a TV I wasn't 100% sure!

[FaDG]

Be informed that TS has actually TWO Photoline 72ED in their  lineup: 

The f6 you referred above, 

And a 72 f5.5, also FPL53, which is even lighter and more compact, although more expensive. I have one of these and chromatic correction is astounding. 

Interestingly it is modular, so that the main tube can be unscrewed in two halves, and exhibits a huge backfocus (up to 16 cm!). 

I use mine reduced at f4.4 for astrophoto on the Star Adventurer. Field of view is very well corrected (but spent weeks to find the optimum spacing), with just a tiny bit of astigmatism visible in the corners. 

It is ultralight, well below 2 kgs. Actually, with my 600d and reducer, but a helical focuser, it weights 2040 grams, with only one section of the main tube. 

Obvioulsy, I have never compared it to a TV, yet the TV are normally great scope. 

[Littleguy80]

On 06/03/2019 at 00:13, Littleguy80 said:

Instead of getting an early night, I’ve ended up researching tripods. I found some reports of people using the Zomei tripods. I think it was @Fozzie who was using one with a heritage 130. I believe the bullhead can be removed leaving the standard 3/8 screw.

Carbon Tripod Zomei Z888C https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B014A87VOA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_t6WFCb663FJNF

Alternatively there’s the Manfrotto 190. It’s Aluminium and 4 section but a better known brand. Only rated up to 7Kg though. I believe this was @Piero‘s choice for his TV60.

Manfrotto 190XPRO Aluminium 4 Section Tripod https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FZLBVBG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_0aXFCbGJEK9EB

 

I thought I was set on the Zomei tripod but then found the Manfrotto Element Big Traveller tripod. 5 section carbon fibre and rated up to 8kg. The 55 series goes up to 9kg. It’s £150 which is over £100 cheaper than the 55 series 4 section equivalent. I believe the ball head can be removed. In principle it looks like a great deal but the price makes me think I’m missing something!

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/manfrotto-elements-carbon-fibre-big-traveller-kit-1640497/#prodthumb-carousel

[Littleguy80]

Travel setup is finally complete. I ended up spending closer to my original budget but I think I got plenty for it. Big thank you to everyone for your advice.