grab and go scope

[steve_bham]

After ive finished my contract on the big smoke im looking to get two scopes big one wil be a 12(ish) SCT and i want a small grab and go scope to throw in car for when i go camping etc.

Ive got a bufget of abot £600ish for the grab and go scope. Dont want to go any higher than this as i dont want to eat up my bonus payment for the big scope.

The main thing i want is portability and goto for quick set when i can get out and about with it.

Ive looked at the skymax127, and ETX125 are there any others that would be worth looking at?

[steve_bham]

Would a refractor be any good as a travel scope?

[jgs001]

Steve depending on what you want to use it for a small refractor may be ideal. My little Konus, same as an st80, is great for that as I can fit it and all my visual kit in my napkins flight case. I'd like tone able to get one of the small ED fraca but they are out of my budget at the moment. Put on something like the sybscsn altaz or nexstar slt is a tidy and portable combination. Of course if the moon and planets are more your thing, rather than widefield, then the skymax 127 is a cracking buy.

[steve_bham]

Steve depending on what you want to use it for a small refractor may be ideal. My little Konus, same as an st80, is great for that as I can fit it and all my visual kit in my napkins flight case. I'd like tone able to get one of the small ED fraca but they are out of my budget at the moment. Put on something like the sybscsn altaz or nexstar slt is a tidy and portable combination. Of course if the moon and planets are more your thing, rather than widefield, then the skymax 127 is a cracking buy.

Thanks John, Yeah i like look of the skymax 127 and is well within my budget. I know it would be the best scope for DSO but for a quick grap scope would it be ok?

[Stardust]

Your big SCT will will do your high power stuff, how about a 80-90mm refractor for some nice wide field vistas at the campsite. If you get the skymax, which is a super scope by the way, you could still add a refractor to your set up and use it on that mount too at a later date. Just depends what you want to look at, plus there is too much choice these days.

[steve_bham]

Never thought about that, good idea using the mount for a small refractor. Cheers for that got me thinking now

[jgs001]

I've used my NexStar SLT, the Celestron version, with both my Konus and the C80ED... it works great. And in fact, you could get both and still have change...

The Skymax 127 on the SynScan is £349, and the ST80 is about £90...

[steve_bham]

I've used my NexStar SLT, the Celestron version, with both my Konus and the C80ED... it works great. And in fact, you could get both and still have change...

The Skymax 127 on the SynScan is £349, and the ST80 is about £90...

Thats what i was thinking, but was looking at the mak and 102 skywatcher refractor!

[LukeSkywatcher]

My SW Heritage 130P is my main scope now and my "grab n go". My Celestron 90EQ is the one that i think needs to be housed in a dedicated Obs.

[brantuk]

At the moment I've got my WO 72 Doublet on a SW goto alt/az mount - great for grab and go though I'd prefer the SW az4 heavy duty tripod. With £400-£500 you could afford a slightly bigger one and all the bits to go with it.

[Macavity]

I think an ST102 might be a good thing to consider. It has a larger aperture than the ST80 which may reveal a few more DSOs. It's isn't heavy and has the capability of upgrade to 2" eyepieces etc. It has a (fair) bit of false colour, but not so much as to invite the criticism of it's bigger brethren (the 120 & 150) - You can always stop it down or try "Minus Violet" filters for individual circumstance.

If the "colour" is an issue and longer focal lengths not a problem - Go for the MAK. It might be worth noting that *I* personally consider the MAK127 to be a fairly "substantial" scope. At a quantum leap less in weight, the MAK102 might be a more immediately portable beast, with slightly shorter focal length, and SOME (sic) of the capabilities of a 3" APO?

[steve_bham]

yeah looks a good little scope so i will consider both the 102 and 127 that way get the best of both worlds and great for quick grab and go sessions

[steve_bham]

Slightly off topic, but can you moved the mount for the skymax when no power is connected to it, or is it like the nexstar SE mount where you cant move them.

Steve

[ollypenrice]

I picked up a second hand Televue Pronto for under £300 and that is probably top whack for this scope these days. They were over a thousand pounds new, back in the nineties. The build quality is pure TeleVue, which is to say stunning. Very robust for grabbing and going and something to pass on to your great grandchildren! Optics are near apo but not quite, though in another league entirely to the ST80 (we have one of those too.)

The focal length is quite short so I'd expect the Mak to beat it on the moon and planets. However, on widefield for clusters and extended nebulae it is is sublime. Lovely stellar images and a contrasty dark background sky. I generally plonk it on an AltAz or even camera tripod.

If you were going to be 'boxed in' by the long focal length of a big SCT then the small scope offering a wide field would be my choice. Favourites objects of mine in the Pronto are the whole of the Veil complex and the whole of the Rosette, both of which are easy from this site.

Be warned, Im a refractor nut at heart...

Olly

[GuillermoBarrancos]

Slightly off topic, but can you moved the mount for the skymax when no power is connected to it, or is it like the nexstar SE mount where you cant move them.

Steve

The Alt-Az Goto mount of Skywatcher is the same as the nextar SE I am afraid.

You will have to go for an Equitorial mount, if you want to use it without the motors as well.

I have the Celestron Advanced CG-5 GoTo myself, wich has a lever on both the RA and Dec axis I can losen, so I can use the mount without motors as well.

But in all fairness. The moment you get used to GoTo and the auto tracking that comes with it. You don't want to go without it anymore

I just pick two big stars for a 2-star align, wich takes less than 5 minutes. And off I go the rest of the night.

If you want to take the scope to a Dark site. You just need to buy a Power tank. (I still need to buy one too heh)

[bobafett]

I have had an ST80 for a good few years now - it's a great little scope and great for grab n go. I've taken it on a few holidays in my hand luggage too ! Just chucked a velbon camera tripod in the main case and together with my 10x50 binos it's a half decent holiday set-up.

I got to the point where it's convenience and portability (my dad lives near some real nice dark skies so it's good to take a scope over when I visit) meant I was using it more and more as my main scope and my Skywatcher 120 refractor less and less and that lead me to recently buy a Nexstar 6SE.

I'm still in the honeymoon period with my Nexstar 6SE (go away cloud and rain !) and I'm loving it. I'm going to sell the 120 OTA and put the ST80 on the EQ3 mount.

Portability is great and the nexstar 6 and ST80 are a nice contrast to eachother with the views they provide.

I'm sure the 127MAK (or other similar cass.) and ST80 combo would be ideal as your grab n go portable set-up

[steve_bham]

Yeah i had the 6se and cg5 mount which were great bits of kit. Now sold them as i want a big scope and nice grab and go to go with it.

Ive seen a really good priced ETX125. what do you think of these for planet killers?