72mm travel and grab/go setup

[Paz]

After a lot of reading and thinking I've been slowly acquiring the bits for a travel set up and am nearly done.

First I got a Neewer tripod and a TS AZT6 head as a super light mount and tested my ST80 on that to judge what size and weight scope I should go for.

I checked out a few options at the IAS and went for the TS optics 72mm ED Apo. This was smaller and lighter than other 72mm options, and looked like a solid and good quality little scope.

Here it is.

I'm using a cheap plastic rdf to save weight the  and a 6x30 finder, which is smaller and lighter that the 9x50 I usually use.

I've got a few more things to fix...

I have some small weights on order to use with a Baader dovetail counterweight clamp to get full altitude balance. Here you can see it in place but without any extra weights on it yet.

If I can find a better quality rdf I would consider upgrading.

I've got a small counterweight bar on the way to use to balance the weight of the scope across the central column, although this is just a nice to have, rather than being necessary so time will tell if I use it much.

I've had a couple of sessions and am very happy with it. I can pick up the whole thing (scope attached to mount) in one hand.

Tonight I went out for a very short spell and checked out a double and some clusters and everything looked good.

I can take this out to observe in about the same time it takes to switch on the TV and find a programme I want to watch. I think this will get me out there and observing a lot more often.

I'll try and post some more comments as I get to know it better.

[johninderby]

Nice little setup. 👍🏻

Would like to get a 72mm myself someday. 

Nice guard cat btw. 😁

[Paz]

27 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Nice little setup. 👍🏻

Would like to get a 72mm myself someday. 

Nice guard cat btw. 😁

Thanks this has been a long time coming.

I'm not sure why the cat photo bombed the picture!

[Paz]

I've had the good luck to have some further sessions, albeit mostly short and cloud dodging in nature.

The set up is proving quick and easy to use. I've got the altitude balance much improved. This is mostly by relocating the rdf and 6x30 finders as far forward in their shoes as possible and using Vixen SLVs that are lighter than the zoom eyepiece I have been using. All this means I almost don't need to have a front counterweight.

The scope is solidly built and seems to stay sharp at higher magnifications than my achromats do.

I did a back to back comparison with an ST80 which was positive. The ST80 is significantly lighter but it is much bigger and too big for me.

I noticed differences in the optics but that probably ought to be a different thread as this is about travel set ups rather than being apos vs achromats.

In this photo I'm checking out Montes Riphaeus with a 2.5mm SLV giving 173x!

[JG777]

Great scope, I have one as well and use it for air travel. Optically and mechanically its a very high standard.

[RobertI]

Very nice setup. I have something very similar for grab and go - a William Optics Megrez 72mm, on a Giro-WR attached to a heavy duty photo tripod. I can pick it up with one hand and it fab for really quick sessions (which often turn into much longer sessions!). I find that my 10mm Hyperion eyepiece is a perfect match, giving enough magnification to darken skies and increase contrast, but a wide enough FOV to appreciate open clusters and brighter nebulae in all their glory. I've never taken it to 173x though!! Look forward to some observing reports.  

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Paz nice little 'grab & go' refractor setup you have.

Below is my little 'grab & go' refractor, setup for solar white light solar observation in this instance, in the image below...

 

[Paz]

On 10/12/2019 at 23:54, RobertI said:

Very nice setup. I have something very similar for grab and go - a William Optics Megrez 72mm, on a Giro-WR attached to a heavy duty photo tripod. I can pick it up with one hand and it fab for really quick sessions (which often turn into much longer sessions!). I find that my 10mm Hyperion eyepiece is a perfect match, giving enough magnification to darken skies and increase contrast, but a wide enough FOV to appreciate open clusters and brighter nebulae in all their glory. I've never taken it to 173x though!! Look forward to some observing reports.  

That is a good set up. I'm experimenting with eyepieces but it is looking like my SLV's are coming back to the fore after a period where in bigger scopes I have either got the big televue's out or used a zoom for the convenience, but the small size and light weight of the SLV's seems to suit this scope very well.

I'm accumulating quite a lot of observing sessions as this scope allows me to fit in with much shorter opportunities, so should have some reports to feed back soon.

[Paz]

On 11/12/2019 at 00:19, Philip R said:

Hi @Paz nice little 'grab & go' refractor setup you have.

Below is my little 'grab & go' refractor, setup for solar white light solar observation in this instance, in the image below...

That looks good - the bar mount thing looks ideal for easy altitude balancing - is that a special Televue bit of kit?

I've not got any proper solar observing in but early one morning I checked out how much in-focus I have with the Herschel wedge and it is much better than my achromats - over 20mm spare in focus even with lots of filters and a 2.25x barlow pushing the eyepiece back.

Edited December 13, 2019 by Paz

[RT65CB-SWL]

23 hours ago, Paz said:

That looks good - the bar mount thing looks ideal for easy altitude balancing - is that a special Televue bit of kit?

I've not got any proper solar observing in but early one morning I checked out how much in-focus I have with the Herschel wedge and it is much better than my achromats - over 20mm spare in focus even with lots of filters and a 2.25x barlow pushing the eyepiece back.

The mounting/balance bar is part of of the ‘scope, TeleVue Ranger, as is the TV-60, and that is attached to the Vixen/Coronado/TeleVue dovetail bar - part number: AVT-1011. Very conveniently it fits in to the recess/saddle of the ball head mount, as do other Vixen type dovetail bars. Image below is from the TV-60 user guide/instruction/manual.

Edited December 14, 2019 by Philip R

[Paz]

I have continued experimenting with this set up and here's the set up I use that is the most simple, light, and small.

I can chuck this in the boot and do some observing fitted into the short opportunities that arise whenever or wherever they may be.

The mount plus bag weighs under 3kg all in, and the scope plus bag and bits weighs under 4kg all in.

Edited December 21, 2019 by Paz

[baggywrinkle]

The Altair Astro 70mm ED is also a great travel scope. Comes as a complete kit with a well padded travel bag. My son took my previous one to New Zealand and I have just replaced it.

 

[Paz]

4 hours ago, baggywrinkle said:

The Altair Astro 70mm ED is also a great travel scope. Comes as a complete kit with a well padded travel bag. My son took my previous one to New Zealand and I have just replaced it.

 

I saw one of these at the Stoneleigh astronomy show and they did look good.

That mount looks good, I notice it's got a bracing/spreader tray, thus is one thing I would add to my mount if I could.

[baggywrinkle]

The Tripod is the Skywatcher. Just about right for this set up while still being light enough to carry around.

My son also took one of these back in his check in baggage to NZ.