Building my kit

[notoriusjack]

Hi, posting for the first time as I would like to return to this hobby after almost a 20 year pause.

I used to have a refractor when I was a kid but I am still pretty much a beginner. This time I would like to try with astrophotography but my needs are a little bit tricky as I will be travelling with my scope and I am looking for a lightweight setup so I was thinking about small APO doublets or triplets so I can carry (hopefully) everything I need in a backpack hand luggage and take with me on a plane. This would point to DSO but it would be nice to get a scope that despite being compact would still be able to give you a glimpse of the major planets (I know, it's either one or the other but I would like share this experience with my wife and nephews who have never seen a planet through a scope before). So here is my kit so far:

Mount:

Skywatcher Star Adventurer Pro Pack - Takes about 5kg load
https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-star-adventurer-pro-pack.html

 

Telescope Choices (so far):

SharpStar 61EDPH Mk II ED Triplet Apo f/5.5 £438
https://www.365astronomy.com/sharpstar-61edph-ed-triplet-apochromatic-refractor-telescope.html

William Optics 2019 Zenithstar 73 APO f/5.9 £549
https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/william-optics-2019-zenithstar-73-apo-refractor-with-case.html

SharpStar 76EDPH ED Triplet Apo f/5.5 £792
https://www.365astronomy.com/sharpstar-76edph-ed-triplet-apochromatic-refractor-telescope.html

ALTAIR STARWAVE 80ED-R REFRACTOR TELESCOPE V2 f/5.6 £599 
https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/altair-starwave-80ed.html#SID=1706

 

The Altair seems interesting as it is a 80mm and has an interesting price but it might not be portable enough and I can't find decent reviews on that scope.

The Sharpstar 76EDPH seems to have good optics but a bit expensive as I still need to add diagonal and eye pieces but more importantly I am not sure what I will be able to see for visual observation. Like will Juiper and Saturn be even visible? if so any eye piece you might recommend?

WO 73 is similar to the Sharpstar 76EDPH but I think it's a doublet instead of a triplet but it's quite cheaper

The SharpStar 61EDPH instead would be my choice if I only wanted to do astrophotography. It's a triplet, it's cheaper, very light and portable but it would miss the visual observation part. 

Or maybe I should go for the SharpStar 61EDPH for astrophotography and buy a decent but small Maksutov-Cassegrain? 

 

Sorry the many questions but it would be nice to have the opinion of this forum

[Seelive]

Astrophotography using a scope is a whole new game compared to just observing. I would say any of those scopes would give you give you views of Jupiters main belts and Saturns rings but once you start on the road of imaging with anything with that sort of focal length you'll probably find that you  need to guide to get decent images on a regular basis.  That means a guide scope/guide camera/guideing software and PC. It soon doesn't all fit in hand luggage. 

[gilesco]

Admittedly, you can get some pretty compact autoguiders in a box, like a synguider and either a guide scope or an OAG set up. OAGs can eat into your light on a small scope like the ones you've shown, making it difficult to find a guide star.

I think the Star Adventurer will only guide via the ST4 port, and it will only guide Ra, not Dec (so good polar alignment is critical for results).

As mentioned by Seelive, it isn't long before the idea of fitting everything into a hand luggage becomes implausible for the quality of images you might get.

When I think of portable for my setup I think the size of a car boot and I think about 30mins - 60mins set up time, more for alignment.

So much for get up and go portable astrophotography 

[notoriusjack]

Thank you for coming back to my post.

I understand what you both are saying and I agree that I would soon feel the need to upgrade but unfortunately I am always on the move (I live between 2 if not 3 countries) and I don't even have a car and this one of the reasons I gave up to this hobby in the past but now I think that a bit is better than nothing.

The mount I'm going for should be a decent enough star tracker (yes polar alignment is crucial) for wide objects. In the end I would be happy enough if I can manage to take a decent picture of Andromeda with an old unmodified DSLR

I just want to learn and possibly show Saturn rings to my little nephews.  

On this point I wonder if it would make more sense to go for the small SharpStar 61EDPH for astrophotography and a small 102mm or 90mm Maksutov-Cassegrain for the visual.

[gilesco]

I was going to say, for compactness a small, perhaps even a 127mm Maksutov might be good for visual compromise. These generally come in some Alt-Az setup - great for kids.

So then you would want a Equatorial set of equipment for deep sky imaging - also great for explaining to kids what the differences are and why.

To be honest, with Astronomy, you ask ten different people their opinions and you'll get ten different answers!!

 

 

 

[notoriusjack]

17 minutes ago, gilesco said:

To be honest, with Astronomy, you ask ten different people their opinions and you'll get ten different answers!!

I've been reading astronomy blogs and forums for a while and this is exactly what I felt like.

Do you feel there is a lot of difference between the two Starsharp?

[gilesco]

Can't give an opinion on the manufacturer.

I think the 76 will give you more light than the 61, the extra 15mm aperture counts for quite a bit, you'll want the flattener too when you start imaging. The 61 flattener is also a 0.8 reducer.

Would suggest you go to http://astronomy.tools/ and check what your FOV will be with various set ups.

[Rocky III]

Good morning, I was wondering what you ended up getting....I've been considering the same scopes and cant seem to make up my mind. I will not be doing any Astrophotography so I'm wondering if there is a better option than a refractor scope...

My main goal is to have some clear viewing of planets and moons AND must be compact!

Any thoughts?

 

thanks

 

[Shimrod]

4 hours ago, Rocky III said:

Good morning, I was wondering what you ended up getting....I've been considering the same scopes and cant seem to make up my mind. I will not be doing any Astrophotography so I'm wondering if there is a better option than a refractor scope...

My main goal is to have some clear viewing of planets and moons AND must be compact!

Any thoughts?

 

thanks

 

Might be worth having a read of this thread for some ideas - small scopes used for both visual and astrophotography.   small can be beautiful