Which telescope is best.

[Soligor Rob]

We are looking for a telescope that we will be able to take away on holiday with us in our motorhome, something small enough that it is not too intrusive we have narrowed it down to two options.

The Skywatcher Evostar-90/600 or the Startravel 102.

We were thinking the matching them with the Sky Watcher AZ5 Deluxe Alt-Azimuth mount and tripod.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[Stu1smartcookie]

I  currently have an ST120 but i have owned an ST102 in the past ... well built scopes that are easily portable and would work very well on the AZ5 . 

Wide field views are great , not too hot on planets but then again i suspect you may know that .   

Stu

 

[johninderby]

Used to have an ST102 years ago. yes better suited to widefield but not that bad on lunar / planets although there is CA of course.

Moon with the ST102.

 

 

Edited July 12, 2021 by johninderby

[Alan64]

Deep-sky objects and vistas will appear brighter through the 102mm f/5 achromat.  False-colour will be considerable when viewing brighter objects, however the perception of same varies from individual to individual; some are bothered by it, others are not.

The 90mm f/6.7 would exhibit noticeably less false-colour when viewing brighter objects, if that is a concern.

[Alan64]

A 90/900 achromat would be an even better all-rounder, and would be well supported upon an AZ-5.   Yes, it's longer, but it can be stood up and stored on its front end, vertically.

I suppose a 70/900 would be out of the question, although I got one recently, an OTA, no mount...

This is its Sky-Watcher equivalent, the "Capricorn"... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/sky-watcher-capricorn-70-eq1-refractor.html

At f/12.9, it would exhibit virtually no false-colour, albeit a bit on the dim side, although a 70mm does perform quite well under darker skies.

Edited July 12, 2021 by Alan64

[Soligor Rob]

Thanks guys for your response, I'm still at the head scratching stage, Alex from Flo suggested this as an option being as they have it in stock

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescopes-in-stock/sky-watcher-starquest-102r-f49-achromatic-refractor-telescope.html - ST102 refractor on Starquest EQ mount, optional tracking motor is nice

all the others are on a 60-90 day wait.

So I might just go with that.

Thanks again.

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

A small wide field refractor would a good choice. If you're in a motorhome travelling around campsites, the refractor will give you a great deal of low to mid power observation options. Most viewing will be of DSOs, open clusters and widefield vistas. C.A. won't really be an issue unless you crank up the power on the moon or other bright objects but that's not what you're buying it for.

I use a 102 Mak camping because it was a bargain I couldn't pass up and very small. Easily fitting into a camera bag. However it will probably be replaced by a refractor at some point in the future. It's a fantastic little planetary scope but I do prefer wide field observing under dark skies. I've even considered an ST80. So cheap I won't bust a blood vessel if something happens to it yet also small and light weight. Another option for me is to get rid of the Mak and stick with my binoculars. There's a lot to see with 10x50s and to be honest they're used more than the telescope. If in a motor home you could manage a larger aperture binocular. Have you considered this?

 

Edited July 12, 2021 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[Gonariu]

I am very happy with my refractor 80/400 (Konus Vista-80) bought used a year ago on Astrosell that I mount on a decent photographic tripod paid for about 100 euros a decade ago, I take it safely where I want.

[Alan64]

I have an Antares 805, an 80mm f/6 achromat, only 80mm longer than the ubiquitous ST80...

The white dot just above the telescope is the Moon.  There, I was using it to observe Comet 46P-Wirtenan on 12/16/2018, and with my only 2" eyepiece, a 32mm 70°.  Over a period of about 30 minutes, I did see the comet move against the stars in the background, which verified itself.

Last December, after owning it for over five years, I finally placed a 4mm into the telescope, at 120x...

You can see a bit of false-colour here and there, not too bad, but then, that's an 80mm at f/6.  I should note that the live view, with the eye, was considerably sharper than that image.  

Everyone should own and experience a short, "fast" achromat, one at most, and the ST102 will be an excellent example.  The equatorial mount that comes with the telescope is of a newer design, and refreshing.  You may be able to convert the equatorial into an alt-azimuth, and by throwing the RA-axis all the way back to 90°...

The counterweight must be used, still, to balance that side of the mount, and the slow-motion controls can be used as well for tracking.

Edited July 13, 2021 by Alan64

[Stu1smartcookie]

17 hours ago, Alan64 said:

A 90/900 achromat would be an even better all-rounder, and would be well supported upon an AZ-5.   Yes, it's longer, but it can be stood up and stored on its front end, vertically.

I suppose a 70/900 would be out of the question, although I got one recently, an OTA, no mount...

This is its Sky-Watcher equivalent, the "Capricorn"... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/sky-watcher-capricorn-70-eq1-refractor.html

At f/12.9, it would exhibit virtually no false-colour, albeit a bit on the dim side, although a 70mm does perform quite well under darker skies.

I was lucky enough to also pick up a similar scope recently ( 70/700)  which performs admirably on double stars and the moon . And these scopes are ridiculously lightweight which adds to the portability . 

[Soligor Rob]

Well those guys at Flo don't hang around, I ordered this last night https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescopes-in-stock/sky-watcher-starquest-102r-f49-achromatic-refractor-telescope.htm

received an email this morning that it's on the way and I will get it tomorrow, knowing the DHL delivery service (have I bought from FLO before?)🤔

it will be here before 10am.

Happy days and thanks guys for all your words of wisdom.👍

[Stu1smartcookie]

57 minutes ago, Soligor Rob said:

Well those guys at Flo don't hang around, I ordered this last night https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescopes-in-stock/sky-watcher-starquest-102r-f49-achromatic-refractor-telescope.htm

received an email this morning that it's on the way and I will get it tomorrow, knowing the DHL delivery service (have I bought from FLO before?)🤔

it will be here before 10am.

Happy days and thanks guys for all your words of wisdom.👍

Great buy Rob ... i actually bought one of these scopes ( yes i seem to have had one of everything  ) It gave very good sharp views . At low power the moon didnt suffer much in the way of CA either . Nice One ! 

[Alan64]

8 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

I was lucky enough to also pick up a similar scope recently ( 70/700)  which performs admirably on double stars and the moon . And these scopes are ridiculously lightweight which adds to the portability . 

Over here, I had to scramble to get a longer-focus achromat larger than a 60mm, longer than f/10 or f/11.  Long-focus 80mm and 90mm instruments are unavailable, so I've had to make do with the 70mm instruments, which isn't a bad thing, not at all.  It's actually a superb balance between ergonomics and optical performance.

With that Meade "Polaris" 70mm f/12.9 achromat no longer in production, the only other option is the Celestron "AstroMaster" variant, which I have already...

...and which I detest, due to its impossible focusser.  I can't trust a focusser that I can't enhance, for a straight, true racking motion, and slop-free.

I'm still catching my breath over having landed that Meade.

[Soligor Rob]

As promised the nice delivery man was on time, actually 30mins earlier, (must have a faster van).

So here is my new Starquest 102R travel Telescope from Flo.

I have made a few changes in changing the standard fittings for a Badder Click Lock and adding a 2" Revalation Astro dielectric Diagnol.

Also swapped the infrared finder for a 50mm right angled one, I'm thinking I will get some tube rings which will give me some flexibility on turning the tube all in all I'm well pleased with it.

 

Thanks again to Alex and his Amigos at Flo for excellent service.

[John]

Nice setup !

You can turn the finder in it's mount so that the eyepiece lines up with that of the scope - personally I find that works well. Apologies if you already know that !