Best Travel scope?

[johnnyp]

Hi All

Im off to cyprus next month and i would like to take advantage of the troodos mountains:)

Ive got a horizon 8115 tripod that i will taking along and im wantin a scope to mount on it, somethin light and portable that can be taken as hand luggage.

Ive got it down to these three scopes

Vixen - Vixen VMC110L

Maksutov - Skywatcher Skymax 102 OTA

William Optics - William Optics Megrez 72 FD APO

The megrez would have to be second hand as its out of my budget new,and i will have to buy diagonal,eyepieces as well.

The vixen mak appeals to me as it shouldnt require a dewshield and apparently has less cooldown times. Ive heard of issues with the flip mirror and difficult to collimate....any thoughts on this?

The little skywatcher mak is favourite at the moment though as its the cheapest and seems to get good reviews.(also considering the 90mm as i havent read a bad word about it(apart from the smal aperture)

Which one would you go for and why?

all responses appreciated

John

[Doug]

Hi JOHN

The Sky Watcher looks ok for the money and with skies darker then here should be ok and a few eyepieces

If you go up to the Trudos Mountains it will be dark there , you will need a car for that dont for get driving Licence

Doug

have a great holiday

[johnnyp]

Hi Doug

was up troodos mountains last year and really missed out with no scope:(

the little celestron travel scope has just caught my eye as well....would save me luggin the horizon tripod.

car hire all sorted by the way:)

cheers

John

[vlebo]

Say hi to my ancestral home for me.

Thanks

Vlebo

[Rossco72]

LOL, from my own memories of Cyprus around this time of year, cool down time shouldnt be a problem, surely its warm up time if you have kept the scope in an air conditioned apartment!!!

Have a great trip and i'm sure any of the scopes you are looking at will provide some enjoyable views.

[Mark at Beaufort]

John - On paper the Vixen looks a nice little grab and go scope. Here are some reviews which may help you.

Vixen Optics VMC110L Modified Cassegrain Optical Tube Reviews | 3 reviews | Buzzillions.com

Mark

[brantuk]

The Meg is a terrific little scope but a tad heavy for travelling and it needs a solid mount too wich is even more weight. I'd go for one of the other two - probably the SW.

Bring me a kebab back for the advice lol

[johnnyp]

thanks for all the responses gents.

The skywatcher is the favourite at the moment, although the celestron 70 travel scope is very appealing also....anyone with experience with one of these?

cheers

John

[simon84]

I've just come back from holiday and was using the Skywatcher Alt/Az mount along with a William Optics 66 semi apo scope. Had some fantastic widefield views. The area was dark enough to see the milky way so the view we had of M31 was exceptionally good from such a small aperture scope.

The WO66 is around £130 to £150 second hand and come up from time to time.

[JamesC]

Are you not tempted with something a bit faster, like the f/5 startravels? I like wide fields, especially from dark sites.

[hunterknox]

I have a Megrez 72 and a Skymax 102. Thinking of getting rid of the latter because I like the wider field of view of the M72. Apart from that it's difficult to choose between them. If anything the Skymax is crisper for high power viewing.

Both are very compact. The M72 fits in a camera backpack with a diagonal and a few eyepieces, which is useful. A similar sized startravel would do the same, but the colour correction is would be better on the M72 and Skymax. Both of them are great little scopes. You can't go wrong.

[johnnyp]

Are you not tempted with something a bit faster, like the f/5 startravels? I like wide fields, especially from dark sites.

I like widefields myself but i also want something thats good for planets hence the mak

[johnnyp]

I have a Megrez 72 and a Skymax 102. Thinking of getting rid of the latter because I like the wider field of view of the M72. Apart from that it's difficult to choose between them. If anything the Skymax is crisper for high power viewing.

Both are very compact. The M72 fits in a camera backpack with a diagonal and a few eyepieces, which is useful. A similar sized startravel would do the same, but the colour correction is would be better on the M72 and Skymax. Both of them are great little scopes. You can't go wrong.

Very useful info cheers. What would the FOV be like in the skymax with a 40mm EP? I know their is no "do it all" scope but no harm tryin:)

[LukeSkywatcher]

I just bought myself a Celestron travelscope 70 to take on holiday. Apparently it does widefield views extremely well.

[johnnyp]

I just bought myself a Celestron travelscope 70 to take on holiday. Apparently it does widefield views extremely well.

the more i think about it,the more i think this could be perfect for cyprus...im just waitin on your first light report luke:)

im not overly keen on luggin the horizon abroad anyway....maybe ill treat myself to a new mak when i get back:)

[hunterknox]

Very useful info cheers. What would the FOV be like in the skymax with a 40mm EP? I know their is no "do it all" scope but no harm tryin:)

This calculator should answer all your questions:

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

Select your eyepieces and play around with the different scopes in visual mode. It's the focal length of the Skymax that makes the difference. At the same magnification with the same apparent field of view at the eyepiece it will make no difference. The small refractor will let you get a lower magnification and therefore wider field. It's also worth noting that the Skymax will only take 1.25" eyepieces.

I've been using them side by side on a Giro mini mount - Skymax for planets, Megrez for widefield (like a posh finder). It's a sweet setup.

One more note on Maks - they dew up for fun. Factor a dew shield or camping mat (to act as a dew shield) into your budget.

[johnnyp]

The calculator is most useful cheers.

i decided to go for the celestron travel scope 70. i can lug this up troodos mountains no problem,and at 60 notes delivered, wont be too bothered if it gets damaged. The skymax i have decided to purchase to mount on on my horizon for a grab an go set up at home.

Many thanks for all the advice

John

[the_laughing_crow]

This is slightly (well completely) off topic, but the troodos moutains have some fascinating geology

I suppose I could get a tenuous astronomy link in by saying its the geology of an earth like planet 1AU from a sun like star

If youre as much of a geek as I am you might get a kick out of reading about the processes that formed the range and taking the opportunity to have a look at some uncommon geology.

Geological Survey Department - Geology of Cyprus - Troodos

[johnnyp]

This is slightly (well completely) off topic, but the troodos moutains have some fascinating geology

I suppose I could get a tenuous astronomy link in by saying its the geology of an earth like planet 1AU from a sun like star

If youre as much of a geek as I am you might get a kick out of reading about the processes that formed the range and taking the opportunity to have a look at some uncommon geology.

Geological Survey Department - Geology of Cyprus - Troodos

Very interesting..thanks for the link,

[LukeSkywatcher]

the more i think about it,the more i think this could be perfect for cyprus...im just waitin on your first light report luke:)

im not overly keen on luggin the horizon abroad anyway....maybe ill treat myself to a new mak when i get back:)

Hi Johnny. I just posted my first light report in the observing reports section.

[johnnyp]

Excellent...will have a read now