Spotting scope

[KeithP22]

Has anyone in the lounge used a spotting scope as an alternative to binoculars for stargazing. I was thinking of getting one for when I have a spare hour or in between clouds instead of lumping my 8 inch dob outside. I would be interested to read other comments on this subject. 

[happy-kat]

Have you thought about a small refractor on a ready to more tripod.

Spotting scopes can have 45° viewing angle, that's neck ache.

[KeithP22]

52 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Have you thought about a small refractor on a ready to more tripod.

Spotting scopes can have 45° viewing angle, that's neck ache.

Not on a tall tripod. I don’t think it would be much different from looking through my Finderscope. 

[happy-kat]

I've got a celestron C70, which is a mini mak, from that thought what about a mak90. Greater magnification potential but narrower field of view than a refractor. 

What have you seen that caught your eye?

[KeithP22]

I was looking at a celestron ultima 80 or 100

[KeithP22]

32 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

I've got a celestron C70, which is a mini mak, from that thought what about a mak90. Greater magnification potential but narrower field of view than a refractor. 

What have you seen that caught your eye?

Doesn't the celestron c70 have a 45⁰ viewing angle. Does it have a zoom eyepiece? Is it a spotting scope or a small telescope? Is it good for stargazing. Sorry for all the questions. 

[happy-kat]

My thoughts were you can't change the eyepiece and for the price and it's an achromat I would to see what refractor compares, the ultima is an f6 80mm so would show chromatic aberration on the edges of very bright objects I think, there's a chart somewhere I'll see if I can find it.

[happy-kat]

20 minutes ago, KeithP22 said:

Doesn't the celestron c70 have a 45⁰ viewing angle. Does it have a zoom eyepiece? Is it a spotting scope or a small telescope? Is it good for stargazing. Sorry for all the questions. 

Yes it is 45° and is a small mak. I took it apart and removed the inbuilt diagonal and made a new back for it and use a regular diagonal and eyepieces now. I do not recommend doing this.

Hence I suggested the mak90. I don't mind CA that much and also have an startravel 80mm. I like the views from the ST80 the star shapes are lovely points of light.

What are you after to see that you don't get with your binoculars?

Edited September 22, 2020 by happy-kat

[KeithP22]

I want more power than my binoculars, but something more portable than my dob.

[KeithP22]

would you recommend the C70 mini mak

[happy-kat]

I found the included zoom eyepiece wasn't great at the high magnification end so I would put the mak90 ahead of it as more versatile and a true instrument. Whilst you can use standard 1.25 eyepieces with the C70 they'll show chromatic aberration as the inbuilt diagonal is a small prisim so given other choices I'd wouldn't recommend it in comparison. 

You could use the field of view calculator tool on this site to check what a mak would show as it would be narrower than the ultima you were looking at, or your dob or binoculars.

[KeithP22]

Thanks for all your advice. 

[happy-kat]

The price of the ultima looked not much different to a similar fast refractor, so lots of choice. Sometimes zoom eyepieces come up on here in the forsale section. Good luck in your search.

Just sharing my thoughts, it's not advice in that sense.

Edited September 22, 2020 by happy-kat

[KeithP22]

Can you fit the mak 90 to a standard camera tripod. 

[happy-kat]

Both the startravel 80 and the mak90 can go on decent photo tripod I think but check which fitting they come with as it can vary.

One is wide field the other narrower, I'm sure you can find hands on reviews on both.

[KeithP22]

One last question, does the mak 90 use 1.25" eyepieces? 

[laudropb]

I have a 90 which I use as a grab and go scope. It is surprisingly good for the money. I mount it on a photo tripod, but as it comes with a fixed Vixen style mount you need to buy a suitable head for the tripod.

Edited September 23, 2020 by laudropb

[Astrid]

I have the Bresser 20-60x60 Spotting Scope (this is the closest I could find https://www.bresser.de/en/Sport-Optics/Spotting-Scopes/NATIONAL-GEOGRAPHIC-20-60x60-Spotting-Scope.html) and I simply love it! For the price, it does its job wonderfully! It produces very sharp images (like really sharp). I can clearly see moss and other details on trees from a distance of 10-20 meters.

I use it mostly for cloud and bird observations. It comes with a case, so it is very easy to transport, even easier than a Mak probably.

The only downside is the mount that it comes with. Not my favourite. 

For astronomical observations, I can see some craters on the moon (my profile pic was taken with this spotting scope), but pretty much no details apart from color on the planets, 

I'm planning on piggybacking this scope on my SW 150/750 EQ5 for AP...

So overall, I will say that if you're planning on getting a spotting scope, go with it. You won't regret it, especially with this Bresser. 

*I attached 2 pictures of the moon at 60x and 20x & 2 cloud pics.

(here is a youtube video with a review for it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui0HUoDFVeo)

Edited September 23, 2020 by Astrid

[happy-kat]

Are there not tripod head screw holes in the mini vixen bar? (There are on my ST 80 which means I could attach it to a camera ball head on a tripod). I like wide field views personally that the ST80 gives