Cheap, Light Scopes

[AkiThePirate]

Hi, I'm looking for a small, cheap, light and portable scope for college next year.

I'll be heading into the city, and be in student accommodation, so bringing my 8" dob isn't practical, and my 70mm equatorial refractor is a pain to use, as it's pretty heavy and the mount is diabolically bad.

I'm thinking about something similar to this, but I'm not too sure if it's any good. I was thinking of a Mak with an altaz mount, as they're probably the smallest and lightest options. It'd also need to be quite cheap, as I'll be lugging it around on public transport out into the countryside a little, and I don't want to feel terrible if it breaks.

Does anybody here have any experience with something similar?

[Keiran]

I dont have any experience with MAKs, but i have heard that the Skymax 127 is pretty good, and there have been a few come up second had for a good price....

I have also found... Adler Optik Adler MK85 70mm 30x to 90x zoom Maksutov hybrid telescope

I dont know what this is like but it is cheap

Or maybe this...

Sky Watcher Heritage 130P FlexTube™ 130mm (5.1") f/650 Parabolic Dobsonian Telescope (inc book set)

And half way dow this page....

Second User Bargains - Scopes'n'skies

There is a meade ETX 80 for £190, and a Heritage 130P FlexTube for £85, and a skymax 90 for £115

HTH

Keiran

[TheThing]

There is a nice Celestron 4se Mak OTA for sale on the sale section of the boards. Mounted on an Eq2, 3-2, or an alt az mount it would be very light and portable!

I've heard the seller is a nice chap too!

[tinvek]

i actually got away with mounting my skywatcher 150 newt on an AZ3 when some one in work wanted a look through a proper scope, whilst i wouldn't recomend the 150 on it, it does show the AZ3 can handle a reasonable amount of weight whilst being very portable, i normally have a C 80 Ed refractor on it and it's stable enough for some reasonable maginfication.

if you do decide to try one, go for the mercury 705 kit as it's only £2 more than the mount on it's own and if nothing else you'll have a spare lightweight scope for guiding etc

[Capricorn]

Your profile says:

70mm f/10 Skylux equatorial achromat.

Whats wrong with that, or were you looking for something bigger?

If something bigger then I would suggest the 102 Skywatcher refractor. Pretty reasonable if on a goto, although you then need power wherever you take it. Although I think the battery pack life on those isn't too bad.

After that a Star Travel offering, small, compact and either chose with a mount or buy separately.

[abumuhannadh]

and W E L C O M E to SGL

[nicnac]

skymax 90 or 102 on horizon tripod, very portable and comes in a very small package.

check out first light optics prices (tab at top of page)

[WWPierre]

Well, someone suggested the 130mm Heritage Collapsible Dob. I have one of those, and I can vouch for it and recommend it highly.

Another little gem is the Seben Comet 90mm Mak. I recently purchased one of these second hand, although under another brand, to mount on a motorized EQ2. It is light but very robust, and rock solid on the mount. I did replace the very inadequate finder with a RDF. The receiver moulded into the body of the scope was a bit narrow for the standard dovetail, but a bit of judicious file work fixed that. I ditched the tripod, but it should work nicely on a GOOD camera tripod. I'll dig up a pic.

[ollypenrice]

The Mak in your link is on an alt-az camera-style mount. I would have expected this to be pretty unpleasant to use since it has a long focal length and will need careful aiming.

I can't see the collapsible Dobs doing very well on the bus either. To be honest you already have a small refractor (okay you don't like the mount but I don't think you'd like the Seben one much either) so I'd look into some big binoculars and a second hand camera tripod, both easy to find and easy to carry.

The Revelation 15x70 are good and there are even bigger ones around at sane prices. Just watch the exit pupil; 11x80 for instance throws up an exit pupil almost certainly too wide to go into your eye! (Divide the aperture by the magnification and remember that 7mm is probably all your eye can accommodate, maybe less.

Olly

[AkiThePirate]

Your profile says:

70mm f/10 Skylux equatorial achromat.

Whats wrong with that, or were you looking for something bigger

Well, ideally I'd be looking for something that isn't a metre long and that doesn't kill images beyond 30x.

Also, I've been looking at this, as it has a backpack and is dirt cheap. I mean, I know I won't be looking at any galaxies or anything, but I'd imagine that Saturn, Mars and Jupiter would be reasonable through it.

The backpack seems pretty sweet too, and I wouldn't cry if it fell off a cliff.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I have the SW Heritage 130P also. Great scope but not really suited for transport on buses etc.

Last night i bought the Celestron Travelscope 70. Looks/sounds ideal for travel (hence the name). I'll be taking mine with me to the Canary Islands in a couple of weeks. From what i have read of it, it does appear as if it is pretty good for observing planets/moon/clusters. Not so good with galaxies and nebs.

Cheap as chips, but i still might cry if it fell over a cliff.

LOL.

[Leegsi]

Just bought this for my holiday: SKYWATCHER SKYMAX-90 TABLETOP MAKSUTOV-CASS TELESCOPE on eBay (end time 21-Aug-10 16:13:51 BST)

Skymax 90 with table top mount that fits into a hand luggage size padded bag.

[Astro_Baby]

Someone on here had the Seben 90 scope in your post ages ago and the mount was terrible and ended up breaking.

Lots depends on what you want to spend.

How about something left field like this Astroscan Plus Telescope - beginner telescope | Edmund Scientific had a lot of good press when it came out years ago. Celestron do something similar.

If you can live without GoTo and you need super small and light you could get something like this Maksutov - Skywatcher Skymax 90 (EQ1)

Or maybe even a spotting scope like Acuter - Acuter Spotting Scopes

LOts depends on what you want to spend, what you hope to see and how poratble/rugged it needs to be.

[AkiThePirate]

I have the SW Heritage 130P also. Great scope but not really suited for transport on buses etc.

Last night i bought the Celestron Travelscope 70. Looks/sounds ideal for travel (hence the name). I'll be taking mine with me to the Canary Islands in a couple of weeks. From what i have read of it, it does appear as if it is pretty good for observing planets/moon/clusters. Not so good with galaxies and nebs.

Cheap as chips, but i still might cry if it fell over a cliff.

LOL.

Have you had a chance to test it out?

And I'd assume that it'd be dire for DSOs, but if I get bad galaxy withdrawal there might be some star parties down in the Wicklow mountains.

Once I can take it on a bus, use it for planets and manhandle a bit it's all good.

I think I'll go with the Celestron tavelscope thing.

Also, what part of Ireland are you from?

[LukeSkywatcher]

Hi Aki.

My travelscope has not arrived yet. I bought it from Astronomy Ireland (as you do when you live in Ireland and need something in a hurry). I'm hoping it arrives this week so i can test it out before my holidays on the 14th.

I'm in Killiney.

[AkiThePirate]

Killiney? Plenty of dark skies there.

I'm a Kerryman, unfortunately.

Also, is AI notably more expensive than international stores?

[LukeSkywatcher]

Kerry eh!!!!!!!...........you have more dark skies down there then i do up here in the big smoke. I was down around the Cahirdaniel area a couple of years ago. Great dark skies.

I would say that AI are maybe marginally more expensive then international stores, but then when you add the shipping onto international purchases it kind of evens up the score.

[AkiThePirate]

The skies are good here if I go for a hike; the town to the east destroys anything below ~30 degrees.