Best Lunar refractor for £100

[alowen]

Hello, i am increasingly becoming more interested in observing our moon. As much as i lovemy dob, i find getting it out of the garage and waiting for it to cool is just too time consuming for a quick hour sesh.

I have decided to buy a grab and go refractor purely for lunar observing. My budget is £100 to £120 Max.

So far i have been looking at:

SkyWatcher Startravel Tabletop 80mm Refractor Telescope

SkyWatcher Mercury 705 70mm Refractor Telescope

Any advice and options would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Al

[jgs001]

Al, neither of them are ideal, they are both short focal length scopes, and getting the magnification for close up views is really tough. You may find the CA is a bit harsh too. I used an ST80 when I first started and, with the addition of a CA filter, you can get decent viewing, but you need a barlow and 5mm eyepiece, to get 160x magnification, which is pushing the scope hard to get even vaguely close, your 150 can go much closer in. Something to consider, if you can stretch the budget a little is one of the little Maks (Maksutov - Skywatcher Skymax 90 (EQ1)). They are long focal length scopes, which makes getting high magnification much easier and don't suffer from the CA the short tube fracs you mention do.

[Ant]

I'm a real fan of the Slywatcher Mak's

This is £20 over your budget, but it would be what I would go for in that price area.

SkyWatcher Skymax 90 EQ1 90mm Maksutov Cassegrain Telescope

There is a 70mm F12 would probably be my choice if the Mak was out of the question - http://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/SkyWatcher_Capricorn_70mm_Refractor_Telescope1.html

Cheers

Ant

[MarkF]

I can only reiterate what John has said, I have a ST80, not looked at the moon but getting magnification is hard.

Look here for a FOV idea of various scopes to see the FOV expected.

http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fov.htm

Might give you an idea what to aim for.

[Cornelius Varley]

My vote goes to the 90 mak also. Great little telescope.

Peter

[MarkF]

On the Mak wouldn't there be issues with cooling down? Don't they take longer than a Dob? Its only what I have read not experienced but I think that cooling was an issue for the OP?

[NGC 1502]

Post #6, I'm sure you are right Mark, that Maks take longer to cool than Newts, but for a 90mm Mak it is quite quick, only a problem with larger sizes. A clubmate keeps his 180mm Mak in his garage for this reason. I have an ETX 90, tube only, (in my sig.) its a super sharp little scope. Regards, Ed.

[jgs001]

Mark, they do take a while to cool down, my take was for a small, easily moved scope, to save dragging the DOB out, thus the 90mm Mak suggestion.

[John]

You can pick up 80mm F/10 refractor optical tubes for as little as £50 used. Stick that on an AZ-3 alt-az mount (<£50 used) and you have a great little lunar / double star scope with little CA, lightweight and almost no cooldown time. The slow focal ratio is kind to eyepieces and you can get high power without the need very short FL eyepieces.

Stick a white light solar filter on it for nice solar views.

Maks can also have dewing issues as well as taking time to cool.

[kniclander]

if you keep it in the garage, does it take much time to cool down? I would have thought that garage temp would be pretty "ambient"?

[Darren B]

I use to have a 90mm Mak and cooling times was not an issue due to it's small size. It's a great little scope.

However, these days we are spoilt for choice. So here's another telescope to consider:-

Skywatcher 90mm F10 refactor on a AZ3 mount for £124 Skywatcher Evostar 90 Telescope: Best Deals On Astronomical Telescopes, Eyepieces and Accessories - Skywatcher, Meade, William Optics, Bosma, Bresser, Celestron, Helios At Ace Cameras - Canon, Leica, Swarovski, Bushnell, Nikon, Avian & All Top Brands

[alowen]

Thanks for the input guys,

Now its between the skymax 90 and the evostar 90. Which would be best suited purely for lunar obs? Any users of either scopes opinions welcome.

Also, does the skymax's 90 degree diagonal give a corrected upright image like on the evostar?

Thanks again

Al

[NGC 1502]

Hi Al, both the scopes you are keen on will give a right way up, but reversed left to right, view if used with a standard star diagonal. You can get a "mirror image" moon map to show the moon as it appears in these scopes. I think I would go for the Maksutov as it will have no false colour, but with a longer focal ratio achromat they

can be surprisingly good. The Mak is very portable. Regards, Ed.