Portability of small dobsonian telescopes (Skyscanner and Starblast 4.5)

[Kerrschild]

Hello! I'm trying to get into astronomy for the first time! As I said on a previous post, I'm looking for a beginner telescope that is portable for hikes and backpacking and under $300 dollars (a lot of constraints, i know...) At first, I was looking into the group of 80mm refractor telescopes with 400mm focal length (Like the Orion st80 or the celestron powerseeker). However, other people have pointed out at those prices the tripod  mounts are not that good and that dobsonian mounts are cheaper and therefore more money is spent on the optics. I checked out the Orion Skyscanner 100 and the Orion starblast 4.5 which are roughly 150 and 250 dollars. They both seem like good telescopes, great for beginners, easy to use, etc. My question is:

Can dobsonian telescopes be easily dismounted and made somewhat comapact to put in a backpack? Or should we always try to keep them fully mounted? In terms of portability, would you say the starblast 4.5 is a severe downgrade from the skyscanner or roughly the same capacity to put in a packpack and walk around?

 

Thanks again! And sorry for all the questions! I'm excited to start looking at the sky! Also, I heard the suggestion in the previous post to start with binoculars and I might do that before getting into telescopes! Still curious about the portability of small dobsonians though.

 

[Ricochet]

1 hour ago, Kerrschild said:

However, other people have pointed out at those prices the tripod  mounts are not that good and that dobsonian mounts are cheaper and therefore more money is spent on the optics

This is true, but the mini-dobs are so low to the ground that you need to find some way to raise them up and I think that very quickly you will be looking for some way to adapt them to sitting on a tripod. In this size of Newtonian I quite like the look of the Bresser Nano 114 because it comes on an Alt-Az tripod rather than an EQ mount or mini-dob base. Whether or not this is anywhere near the level of portability you want is another question. Ideally you want a carbon fibre photographic tripod that is lightweight and folds down to a small length and the Bresser has a Stainless Steel tripod with only two sections per leg.  The Skywatcher Heritage 100p, which is the Skywatcher branded version of the Orion Skyscanner, comes with a 3/8" thread on the bottom of the base so you can mount it on top of a photographic tripod. Additionally, the heritage 100p/Skyscanner come with a proper Vixen dovetail. which will make fitting them to a different mount in the future much easier. The Starblast looks to have a tube cradle fixed directly to the mount which is not so easy to switch over (the cradle may be able to removed and screwed to a dovetail).

1 hour ago, Kerrschild said:

Can dobsonian telescopes be easily dismounted and made somewhat comapact to put in a backpack?

They can easily removed from the base, but the mini-dob bases aren't really designed to be taken apart so you have this big lump of a base that won't fit in a backpack. While the 100/114mm dobs are relatively short scopes, they are quite chunky so if you do get one in a backpack I don't think there will be much more room for anything else. The Newtonian design requires space between the mirror and inside wall of the OTA so they are wider than their aperture. For the 114mm scopes you are probably looking at a tube width of 140mm, while with the refractors you were looking at earlier only the dewshield has to be wider than the aperture, the OTA can in fact narrow to be smaller than the aperture (I don't know the spec for the ST80, it could be 80mm until the focuser)

1 hour ago, Kerrschild said:

Also, I heard the suggestion in the previous post to start with binoculars and I might do that before getting into telescopes!

Binoculars are definitely the easiest thing for you to carry but the downsides are that they only have a fixed magnification and if you observe whilst standing, looking at anything over say 45° is uncomfortable. If you're camping you may have something you can put on the ground to lie on to alleviate this problem. Personally, I think binoculars are fine if you're only observing for five minutes, but anything over this and I'd much rather have either an ST80 or small Newt like the ones you've been looking at.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Ricochet

[happy-kat]

If bumping around on a hike I would pick the ST80

[doublevodka]

Much as I love my little Starblast, I would have to also recommend a short tube 80mm refractor too, it'll travel better and fit in a smaller space, in a pinch it can even be mounted on a sturdy photo tripod 👍

[NGC 1502]

This may not what you want to hear-

If you want your scope to fit in a back pack that’s a very tough call, don’t forget you need some sort of mount for the optical tube.   Perhaps one of the smallest table top mini dobs might be your best bet.  With a bit of DIY it’s possible to make the Dob base to be easily taken apart and put together again, certainly not ideal especially if it’s dark. But unless you want to lay on the ground to observe then you have to find something to rest the scope on.  Sounds easy but not so easy in practice.

If it were me, with the restrictions of a back pack I’d choose binoculars, 10x50s recommended.

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Kerrschild and welcome to SGL. 

Slightly more expensive than a 'small' Dobsonian and more compact, I would go for small Maksutov or SCT. That said, if you have never viewed through a Maksutov or SCT 'scope, then it may not be the best choice if it is your first 'scope because they have a narrow field of view and if mounted on a manual alt-az mount only a slight movement your intended target has disappeared from view. They are however brilliant for lunar and planetary viewing. Also when cold you have to leave it to acclimatise to the ambient temperature if taken from somewhere warm.

I have a 're-modded' Meade ETX-105 [image below] and that fits perfectly in a padded backpack. A small alt-az mount [note: some photography ball heads with removable plates are wide enough to accept 'Vixen' compatible dovetail bars too] a few eyepieces, dew-shield also can be stored in the backpack pockets and photo/video tripod is what I use when traveling.

My 're-modded' Meade ETX-105, flexible dew-shield, c/w small alt-az mount and Manfrotto PROB tripod.

Edited November 29, 2023 by RT65CB-SWL