startravel 120 vs evostar 120

[pob175]

I would like to the community for the advice i have been given so far. Thankyou

i have another question, i have an he5 pro goto mount and was wondering which of these 2 scopes would be better to start learning/practising with before i think of a larger/more expensive scope.  Thankyou 9in advance once again.

 

Paul

[Kyle Allen]

What objects do you intend to view with them? And is it for visual or imaging?

Both are achromatic refractors so will show chromatic aberration on brighter targets (failure to bring all wavelengths of light to the same point of focus), which shows up as a purple fringe around bright stars and boundaries between bright and dark parts of the image. 

Chromatic aberration is better controlled at slower focal ratios and less noticeable at low power. The Startravel at F5 will show more than the Evostar at F8. For deep sky objects, it’s not really an issue because they are faint. However, the Evostar should perform much better on the Moon and planets. 🙂

[banjaxed]

I have the Startravel 120 and am very pleased with it.

[Peter Drew]

Both telescopes are good value.  The Evostar would be more versatile and would suit the beginners wider interests, the mount should cope with the extra length.       🙂

[Alfian]

The ST120 is very good at wide field low power views of DSO's in a compact but quite hefty package whereas the Evostar 120 at F8.3 is a longer scope to mount but is undoubtedly the more versatile of two in terms of better all rounder.

[chrisv]

I have the Startravel 120/600 and I'm very happy with it. Yes, it does show some CA, but I don't really find it that bad. Most of the times the atmospheric conditions and sky brightness are bigger problems than CA. There are a few ways to control CA, decreasing the aperture & filters, but all of them have some disadvantages. 

It's light, easy to carry and kind of easy to store - I'm not very comfortable storing it vertically, hence I always need to find a place to put it horizontally. I've also considered Evostar 120, but since I wanted to try to some imagining (especially EAA) with it, I've decided to go for the shorter focal length. 

If you're only interested in visual, Evostar 120/1000 should provide better image quality - but you'll lose the wide field of views that are possible with the 120/600. Some nights, when I'm tired and not in the mood to search for anything, I just love to cruise through the stars - even under medium light pollution (Bortle 4-5), you can still see some amazing views (Sagittarius, Scutum, Aquila are some great constellations to start with).

If you're more interested in planets or smaller DSOs, a 127 Mak might also be an option. It has a longer focal length than the Evostar (1500 vs 1000), but it has no CA and is a lot smaller. 

[vegaandarctures]

Out of the 2 the evostar will give you a better view, as CA is reduced when the focal length is longer. But as previously stated it depends on whether you want to get wide field views of DSO's or close up views of the planets. Although I think the Evo will out perform the ST. 

[Alfian]

Just a passing thought. In terms of a wide field of view. IF you limit the exit pupil to 5mm, (which I do on account of my age but also personal preference) the Startravel with a 24mm/68 gives a nice 2.7 degree fov. Something like a 25mm/60 Starguider will give 2.5 degrees. OK you can get a 2" ES 24mm/82 which will give give over 3.25 degrees but that's a big money EP.  The Evostar at F8.3 will take a 2" 40mm/68, something like the Aero ED, which will give the same 25x 2.7 degrees as the 24mm in the Startravel. This might seem strange coming from someone who has the Startravel but there you go! (I do like its easy manageability)

[Paz]

Both are good value but if you are looking at using one scope then the evostar is a better all rounder.

[pob175]

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the advice and help you as a community have given me a newbie to this field.  Ordered the evostar120 after reading through all the advice. I thought go with a gd not too expensive scope to start learning with and getting used to the technical side. Thankuou once again for all your help and probably will have lots more questions in future. thankyou