Grab And Go Advise

[JonH]

The time has come to take the plunge and buy my second scope!

There are two reasons for this decision - while my MN190 gives me fantastic views, it will be used for imaging once I get my act together and sort a camera out. Also, I really want something for those occasions when time is short or a quick look is in order. Therefore I'm looking for a grab and go set-up purely for visual with a budget of around £1000 including an Alt-Az mount. The problem is, I've been spoilt with the 190 so I'd like something with a reasonable aperture and a good all rounder. The Skywatcher Evostar 120ED is a possible although a little over budget so I'm looking at achros, but feel a little concerned about CA when viewing the moon and planets. Does anyone have any experience of Fringe Killer filters on achromatic refractors?

Any advise from you refractor lovers out there would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,

Jon

[nightfisher]

get a TAL100rs on an eq5, it will blow you away, they are just superb

[Mark at Beaufort]

Jon I use a 4" frac on a Skywatcher dual SkyTee mount for doing grab and go. If you decide to look towards something like the Tal100rs you might want to purchase a pillar extension to save being too low to view. The alt/az mount is about £250 - pillar extension from Widescreen Centre about £90 and the Tal scope is £245 from FLO.

Mark

[Astro_Baby]

And if you get the TAL about 90% of any CA can be wiped out with a pale yellow filter. Personally I never really have a problem with CA on mine.

Also if you can find a decent 2nd hand one you may be able to bag the TAL EQ mount with the wooden tripod. Its a bit underspecced for the scope but not horribly so, careful twiddling of the RA and DEC knobs keeps wobbles to a minimum and its makes for a relatively lightweight mount thats hardy enough to take a few knocks.

Can I offer some advice on grab and go - DONT get anything with power. I bought my Nexstar 4SE for grab and go but by the time I had bundled up tyhe Nexstar, an eyepice case and power it was damn nearly as much trouble to pack and set-up as the 200 on an HEQ5.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Can I offer some advice on grab and go - DONT get anything with power.

I agree with Mel - I bought a 5" SCT goto which gave great views but took time to set up. Its much better and quicker to have a standard alt/az mount for those quick observing periods.

Mark

[andrew63]

The tal might be a good scope, but i feel it could be a little 'heavy' on alz mount for quick grab and go - ED refractors say 100 ish have shorter tubes and are much lighter. With the glass they are also better corrected. I use a 100ED on skywatcher AZ4 altz mount and it balances fine. But take into consideration the heavier weight can be awkward to find a good balance. Even using thinks like larger eyepieces eg hyperion can affect the scope.

regard, andrew

[JonH]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Mel - totally agree, I don't want to be faffing around with power.

Mark - thanks for the tip about the pillar extension. I hadn't thought of that.

The Tal sounds good, as do 100EDs. Why is choosing a new telescope sooooooooo difficult!

[Ags]

I've gone back to using batteries with my 4SE, I'm sick of power cables! OK, so the GOTO is 'creative' now, but the tracking is OK. But at least I just plonk my telescope down and get going... or at least, plonk it down, go inside for an hour while it cools, then come out and get going :-)

[ollypenrice]

I bought a second hand TeleVue Gibraltar years ago and this has carried all sorts of refractors painlessly. I'd look for a 4 inch apo or semi apo doublet, myself, again probably second hand. Their unsuitability for imaging seems to make the SW 100 ED a bargain on the used market, for instance.

Olly

[Rossco72]

I too use a Gibraltar for my grab and go, but to be totally honest it is a bit on the heavy side. Don't get me wrong it is solid as a rock and for me worth the lug, but for my dinky little 85mm scope maybe something like a vixen Porta (which I used to own) or an AZ4 would be adequate and lighter.

It's still a lot lighter than getting the CGE up and running or even the big dob!

[russ]

I have no complaints at all with the AZ4. We have used it with the ED100 and the combination was pretty much perfect. Easy to handle and setup, not heavy or cumbersome. Great views from the ED100. But i decided not to keep the ED and instead just stick with a 90mm f11 achro. The solar, lunar and planetary views were not too far removed from the ED100. The CA is very well controlled indeed, only Venus gives it any real trouble and even that is not objectionable.

But i'm always thinking about the budget and how to reduce my investment. If money wasn't an issue, i would buy a 100mm f7 Apo for the AZ4.

[JonH]

Thanks chaps, the AZ4 certainly looks the biz, but to be honest, I'm struggling over the scope. I've only ever looked through three - my own, of course, and 2 large dobs at SSP last year. I wish now that I'd taken the opportunity to do a bit of market research when I had the chance. Having said that, I am very interested in the Tal 100RS which seems to have almost cult status on here, but also can't get the SW 120ED out of my head. The 120 was the scope I nearly bought when I decided on the MN190, and I can't help wondering what if...

[Mark at Beaufort]

Jon - I took a long time to decide on the frac that would best meet my needs. I knew that a long focal length would be great for the Moon, Planets and double stars but I felt that a shorter focal length frac would give me a wider FOV.

In the end I decided on a 4" apo doublet and found that the Astro Tech met my needs best. Its f7 and has no CA when I view the Moon or the brighter planets. With a 26mm Nagler I have a 3 degree FOV and if I use a 2X APO Barlow with my 8mm Ethos I can go to 178X which is at the upper end for a 4" at most times.

I have never tried a Tal100RS but as you say it gets very good reviews on SGL.

I wish you well in your decision. But if you have not decided by the end of March 'pop up' to SGL6 and try them out. You are welcome to view through my Astro Tech.

Mark

[JonH]

Thanks Mark, I hope to be sorted by then so I can bring my new scope along, but I'd still love to check out your Astro Tech, and also your PST if you're taking it.

Cheers,

Jon

[Mark at Beaufort]

Jon you are welcome to view through the Astro Tech and the PST. The nearest frac to the Astro Tech which is currently available appears to be this one from Ian King -IKHARUS 102mm F7 ED APO Refractor - Refractors from Ian King Imaging. I think some members on SGL have bought it.

When I bought my Astro Tech from SCSAstro I upgraded the focuser to a Starlight Instruments Feather Touch - otherwise it appears the same.

Mark

[Mr Spock]

I use an 80ED on an EQ3-2 and can pick the whole thing up one handed. You can't get much more grab and go than that!

[andrew63]

From my experience of using the AZ4 which is excellent, the tal 100 would not be not well suited

- just too long - fine with equatorial but not with this type of mount. That Ian king 100 F7 would be just perfect as mentioned above.

andrew

[great_bear]

I've got a soft spot for the SkyWatcher SupaTrak.

The motorised operation removes the "wobbles" that ruin the fun of observing (for me anyhow), it tracks - for high power lunar/planetary work - and it uses so little power that you don't need a power tank, just AA batteries - which in my experience last several long nights of use.