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What's your holiday rig?


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Like a lot of SGL-ers writing recently I've been through a bit of lean patch astro-wise so far this summer through a combination of work and family commitments coinciding with a lack of astronomical darkness and dodgy skies on the few nights I had available.   Looking forward then to the next two weeks on holiday down in Cornwall and then Devon, with promised Bortle 4 skies, good forecasts and the jet-stream away to the North I am hopeful of getting a few relaxing sessions in.   I've enjoyed assembling my holiday rig which I am determined to squeeze in among the assorted watersports gear, kids and I guess a few clothes..

I am taking: 

  • ST80 with 2 inch focusser & diagonal from TS Optics. 
  • AZGTi 
  • Manfrotto 55
  • Basic SW RDF
  • Baader Hyperion Aspheric 31mm (yes there's a good deal of aberration at the edges but sweeping the Milky way with a 5.5 degree field is awesome!) 
  • Baader 8-24mm zoom + 2.25x Barlow.   
  • 2 inch Neodymium filter in the diagonal & 1.25 OIII filter (mainly to have a look at the Veil)
  • Solar filter + Baader Solar Continuum. 
  • Celestron Nature ED 10x50s. 

Got me wondering - what's your holiday rig? 

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19 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

Mine is very simple: a Heritage Flextube 150p tabletop dob. Easy to carry (one handed) and folds up small. If I'm by myself (star parties, etc) I'll take my StellaLyra 8".

I did briefly consider trying to squeeze the 10" Revelation Dob in but couldn't really leave one of the kids behind...

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34 minutes ago, SuburbanMak said:

Like a lot of SGL-ers writing recently I've been through a bit of lean patch astro-wise so far this summer through a combination of work and family commitments coinciding with a lack of astronomical darkness and dodgy skies on the few nights I had available.   Looking forward then to the next two weeks on holiday down in Cornwall and then Devon, with promised Bortle 4 skies, good forecasts and the jet-stream away to the North I am hopeful of getting a few relaxing sessions in.   I've enjoyed assembling my holiday rig which I am determined to squeeze in among the assorted watersports gear, kids and I guess a few clothes..

I am taking: 

  • ST80 with 2 inch focusser & diagonal from TS Optics. 
  • AZGTi 
  • Manfrotto 55
  • Basic SW RDF
  • Baader Hyperion Aspheric 31mm (yes there's a good deal of aberration at the edges but sweeping the Milky way with a 5.5 degree field is awesome!) 
  • Baader 8-24mm zoom + 2.25x Barlow.   
  • 2 inch Neodymium filter in the diagonal & 1.25 OIII filter (mainly to have a look at the Veil)
  • Solar filter + Baader Solar Continuum. 
  • Celestron Nature ED 10x50s. 

Got me wondering - what's your holiday rig? 

Have been perfecting my travel kit for a while now and for upcoming holidays I'll be taking the following: 

  • WO ZS73
  • Scopetech Mount Zero
  • Gitzo Series 2 Traveller
  • Lacerta 40mm ED
  • Morpheus 17.5mm
  • Pentax XW 10mm
  • Morpheus 4.5mm
  • Astronomik Oiii, UHC, CLS

Happily all this lot fits into a single cabin bag sized backpack.

I haven't had a chance to try it under the stars yet, but I recently picked up an APM superzoom, so I might only keep the lowest power EPs and take the superzoom instead, maybe with a barlow.


(side note, I recently heard an excellent alternative term - "Suitcase Observatory" - on the Actual Astronomy podcast)

 

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24 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

Mine is very simple: a Heritage Flextube 150p tabletop dob. Easy to carry (one handed) and folds up small. If I'm by myself (star parties, etc) I'll take my StellaLyra 8".

Mine is even easier...a pair of Vortex 8x42 HD binos... nice and simple 😉 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, badhex said:


(side note, I recently heard an excellent alternative term - "Suitcase Observatory" - on the Actual Astronomy podcast)

I listened to that one too - love the podcast.   Mine is more of a "Backpack Observatory". 

Yours is a considerably higher spec setup than mine, I bet that gives some great views - I aspire to an ED upgrade to the ST80 some day...

 

 

 

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Recently I put together what, in hindsight, was a ludicrous pile of kit but I was really just trying to see what would fit in my ThinkTank Airport Accelerator case.

As others rightly pointed out, from a value and weight perspective in reality I may take this away in a car in the UK but would not take on a plane, I would cut it down to something much more manageable.


Realistic Carry on kit:

Tak FC76DCU with rings and dovetail

FS60C objective (may leave out)

ScopeTech Zero mount

BBHS T2 mirror diagonal

Baader CoolWedge

Panoptic 24mm

Leica 8.9 to 17.8 ASPH Zoom

Nag 3 to 6mm Zoom

9x50 RACI Finder

RDF

Lumicon OIII (2” and 1.25”), UHC and Hb. DGM 2”

Gitzo GT5542LS tripod (in hold baggage)

That should keep me satisfied for any overseas holiday.

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I don't astro on holiday other thah by naked eye or birding binos.
Holiday is a break from home life which includes astronomy.

Mind you Meteor watches and solar eclipses have sneaked in on our breaks in the past.

Good luck with making space for some kit, I hope it works for you.

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3 minutes ago, SuburbanMak said:

I listened to that one too - love the podcast.   Mine is more of a "Backpack Observatory". 

Yours is a considerably higher spec setup than mine, I bet that gives some great views - I aspire to an ED upgrade to the ST80 some day...

ThanksI initially bought the ZS73 as my main scope with a view to it being portable so it has always done double duty. It's a great little scope, I love it! Same with the EPs, I only have one main set which I use both when travelling or at home. I've been very lucky to be in a job which allows me to spend more than I probably should on a hobby, but I recently quit so I made a few upgrades (like the gitzo) whilst I can still afford it! 😂

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@Stu - I really should have thought this post through, it was inevitably going lead to some serious "kit envy" on my part.  I think the 76 DCU is at the top of my "I promise this is the last 'scope I'll buy" list.   

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During  summer holiday I dust off my 22” spherical kit. It has an integrated tripod with wheels on two of its legs. I exclusively use it to view the coalsack. An ideal instrument for star parties.

Brand: Weber

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10 hours ago, Stu said:

Recently I put together what, in hindsight, was a ludicrous pile of kit but I was really just trying to see what would fit in my ThinkTank Airport Accelerator case.

As others rightly pointed out, from a value and weight perspective in reality I may take this away in a car in the UK but would not take on a plane, I would cut it down to something much more manageable.

 


Realistic Carry on kit:

Tak FC76DCU with rings and dovetail

FS60C objective (may leave out)

ScopeTech Zero mount

BBHS T2 mirror diagonal

Baader CoolWedge

Panoptic 24mm

Leica 8.9 to 17.8 ASPH Zoom

Nag 3 to 6mm Zoom

9x50 RACI Finder

RDF

Lumicon OIII (2” and 1.25”), UHC and Hb. DGM 2”

Gitzo GT5542LS tripod (in hold baggage)

That should keep me satisfied for any overseas holiday.

You forgot the kitchen sink, Stu 

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10 hours ago, callisto said:

Mine is even easier...a pair of Vortex 8x42 HD binos... nice and simple 😉 

 

 

There's some nice kit listed on the thread, however having tried a travel scope kit I discovered I couldn't be bothered! The binoculars kept coming out first anyway.

So, if jollying under dark skies (excluding star camps when the kitchen sink goes) at most 15x70s, a monopod and trigger grip or if keeping things super light, hand held 10x50s.When away I can observe objects with binoculars an 8" newtonian would struggle to pick out at home.

 

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Mines a 

skyguider2

intervalometer 

Nikon 5300

Battery 

Vixen vc110

TV 24 zoom ep. 

And I've just acquired an askar 180 for wider field use. 

Took the above to Greece and use successfully to watch the planets but struggle on a family holiday to get away to the darker skies and lonelier nights. 

Thinking of how to build a 16" travel scope for the canaries. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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8 hours ago, ED Splitter said:

I am very interested in how people pack these setups. Pics packed and set up always welcome in any thread :) 

20220714_151839.thumb.jpg.75fbb429d6fd6251acaa9e044dbb1e74.jpg20220714_151313.thumb.jpg.ad537c70d07eebc555be398f4b82f106.jpg

This is approximately the setup, although I've replaced the tripod with a Gitzo (still the same size). This has the AZ-GTi in the top right compartment, but it can just be swapped out for the mount zero. 

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2 hours ago, badhex said:

20220714_151839.thumb.jpg.75fbb429d6fd6251acaa9e044dbb1e74.jpg20220714_151313.thumb.jpg.ad537c70d07eebc555be398f4b82f106.jpg

This is approximately the setup, although I've replaced the tripod with a Gitzo (still the same size). This has the AZ-GTi in the top right compartment, but it can just be swapped out for the mount zero. 

Very nice setup. Thanks for sharing. 

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Some lovely travel kits in this thread.
I’m currently in Menorca with the following:      
TV85, PVS-14 night vision eyepiece.    
TV Plossls - 55mm/67mm, 32mm.    
Panoptic 24, Delite 18.2, 11.    
Baader zoom, VIP barlow. Takahashi TOE 3.3mm. All fitted easily into cabin baggage on EasyJet flight. 
Really useful to have a zoom for travel, and the Baader zoom is a great all-rounder - fun zooming in on globular clusters.

Wonderful to have dark skies again.
First night bagged M13, M92, M4, M10, M12, M9, M14, M107, M22, M28 and four non-Messier globulars. M31, M110, M8, M16, M17, M20, M11, and Saturn.

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2 hours ago, badhex said:

20220714_151313.thumb.jpg.ad537c70d07eebc555be398f4b82f106.jpg

This is approximately the setup, although I've replaced the tripod with a Gitzo (still the same size). This has the AZ-GTi in the top right compartment, but it can just be swapped out for the mount zero. 

Absolutely spot on 👌

We just landed back from a place called Cawston, Norfolk and a very solid Bortle 4 plus clouds which was a bit of a trial run for late September when we visit the wilds of mid Scotland which is a solid Bortle 2. Nearest town is 6 miles away.

My plan is a simple: Tripod, azgti wifi plus wedge, EOS100D, synscan handset, battery pack and fingers crossed for at least one clear night. This time I forgot the level, usb extension lead and head torch 🤦‍♂️ doh.

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My Z61 is ideal for travel though my ap kit fits into one 20kg bag so I wouldn't exactly call it travel friendly (or back friendly). I'd probably take my dual astro cam/DSLR imaging rig and lenses instead.

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