from scope to scopeless in a day

[boborange]

After several posts on here with sound advice and alot of research on the net i finally bought my first scope!!!

its a celestron omni 150 and a load of extra eyepeices and various books and guides. On unloading it from the car i could see my girlfriend looking down from the window of our flat shaking her head in dismay!! undeterred i brought the tripod and various bits in and set up the whole lot up in the lounge. i then realised my mistake, its big!!!

a small flat in london is not the best place for a scope and after realising i have no where to keep it except outside or directly in front of the TV or in our bedroom set up i knew it, had or me, had to go.

Scope ownership experience lasted one day, views of bt tower was as good as it got and now im scopeless!!!

so, do i get binoculars or something like the little meade scope ETX-80AT.what puts me off the meade is the GOTO that i really do not want so do they do it without that or is there another small scope (and i mean small) that is portable that would fit the bill?

hopefully the next choice will be more suitable........thanks

[perrin6]

A touch of impulse buying I see Bob ! Well we've all been there I suppose. Have you checked out the skywatcher range of skymax maksutov's ?

[LukeSkywatcher]

A choice between a BIG scope or a partner in bed.

Bit of a no brainer.

Scope wins hands down every time.

Girlfriends/wives come and go but a scope is for life.

[rowan46]

celestron c6 on an alt az mount but if you want cheap and small this is probably one of the best around Reflectors - Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flextube great optics lightweight and only 46cm high packed there are better portable scopes but not without spending a lot of money in my opinion the most portable 5" scope around. the mak is fine they take longer to cool however and are not as good at deep space but to be honest at 5" not much is except a refractor. so ig you want small I would suggest heritige 130p skymax 150 on a alt az mount or a celestron c6 on alt az mount all will be great for viual work forgot to add this one http://firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=SWevo120ota on an alt az mount

[Astro_Baby]

It doesnt have to stay setup....you can store it in pieces like under th bed.

I have a small flat and own quite a few scopes, if you came to rhe flat you wouldnt know they were there cs they are all stored away.

The biggest one sits inside a blanket box in the hallway which doubkes up as a seat.

[Astro_Baby]

As another solution, remove telly from bedroom and throw away. Theres only rubbish on it anyway and with the scope you will be out getting some fresh air and getting brainy. Not indoors havibg your mind rotted by junk tv.

Outdoors you will be under the canopy of the sky, complete with stars, perhaps on a wild and lonely hilltop with just you and gf cuddled up go keep warm while seeing the wonders of the universe.

Explain all this to gf over a candlelit dinner and she may come round

[Moonshane]

The biggest one sits inside a blanket box in the hallway which doubkes up as a seat.

what a superb idea!

[Moonshane]

one solution is to try and find a used Orion Optics UK dobsonian. if you got an 8" version then this would take up hardly any room. here's a pic of my 12" and 6" together - the OOUK dobs use a small but strong aluminium base which has a footprint of about 3" more than the tube. put a sheet over it, put it in the corner and with a lamp on top, would look rather natty (robbed this idea off A-B!).

[Dave S]

My Skymax 102 Mak fits in my 65L rucksack which sits neatly behind the sofa and is always available for those grab and go moments.

Dave...

[russ]

How about a small Giro mount....they are so small they fit in a coat pocket but their load capacity is superb. You could combine one with a Skymax mak or small apo refractor. Hide it all away in the pants draw.

[todd8137]

hi boborange after the lady of the house saw the coffin size box my tube came in her eyes could have turned a man to stone but it looks nice with a sheet over it behind the settee in the living room and i live in a small 2 bed terraced cottage but it makes a great talking point when we have freinds round

[Parus major]

"Something's going to leave in this box and it aint the scope!"

[Jimmy Stix]

Have you checked out the skywatcher range of skymax maksutov's ?

I concur.

I have the Skymax 127 Mak and I chose it specifically for it's portability. I only have a small terrace house and a small back yard, with quite a bit of LP, so I wanted to be able to get out to the darker areas around Sheffield and the Peak District. Of course it's not the best for DSO's but I hope to be able to have a good few years of teaching myself the skies, bagging the "easier" DSO's, adding a few EP's here and there and enjoying the planets.

[boborange]

thanks for all your replies. She says shes always right and in this case i would have to agree with her and that it is just too big for the flat. Space under the bed is taken and any spare storage in the wardrobes is taken up with junk from other hobbies.

i think the skywatcher 127 or the even smaller celestron c9 would fit the bill. in central london there is alot of LP so i do need something highly portable so i can take it to dark sites easily. Im off on a road trip across the US in august for my honey moon so thinking ahead I could buy something small enough to take with me aswell and get do some viewing in some real dark sites.

with the road trip in mind does the skywatcher 127 show corrected images as it would be useful if it did for daytime stuff? also what mount/tripod would you recommend, obviously it has to be small and compact so just a alt/az camera tripod be enough?

thanks

[Jonobiwan]

How come you don't like the GOTO system on the Meade ETX?

[boborange]

the whole package does seem very compact and neat and to be honest i would buy it with the little rucksack etc but i just dont like that whiney motor moving the scope. if i could move it without the motors it would be fine as i would move it manually 90% of the time and the goto would get some use.

let me know if it can be moved manually, my impression was that you had to move it with the keypad and heard they eat batteries. thanks

[Jonobiwan]

the whole package does seem very compact and neat and to be honest i would buy it with the little rucksack etc but i just dont like that whiney motor moving the scope. if i could move it without the motors it would be fine as i would move it manually 90% of the time and the goto would get some use.

let me know if it can be moved manually, my impression was that you had to move it with the keypad and heard they eat batteries. thanks

You can unlock the clamps and use it without the GOTO system. I've used my ETX 105 without batteries in the past. Also, the actual motor isn't that loud at all.

I can understand your concern for space. You can mount the telescope on a table if you don't want to use the tripod too.

Let me know if you have any other questions about the ETX and i'll try my best to answer them for you.

[Jimmy Stix]

with the road trip in mind does the skywatcher 127 show corrected images as it would be useful if it did for daytime stuff?

I bought my 127 as part of a package that included a goto mount, EP's and tripod. I also got a star diagonal which does give you an upright image but it is still reversed left/right. I think you can get erecting prisms that give a totally corrected image.

[boborange]

thanks Jonobiwan. A couple of questions if you dont mind.

i like the idea of finding the stars myself but im sure on occassions goto has its place.

so is it easy to move in all directions manually without the goto?

[Dave S]

Simple answer is yes. you can also move it to inputted co-ordinates.

Dave...

[boborange]

So do you guys think i would be better with the meade all in one package or the celestron c90 and a compact tripod?

im not fussed about the computerised stuff so was thinking the c90 and tripod would be optically better for the money?

[Jonobiwan]

Dave S is right, you can move it totally fine without GOTO!

As for the C90, I'm not entirely sure what it's like. Hopefully someone on her has reviewed it or has spoke about its capabilities, do a search and see what you come up with...sorry I can't be more help there.

What sort of things are you hoping to look at?

Small scopes like the ETX 80 won't show up amazing amounts of detail but if you link it to a computer and do the whole image editing thing, you can get some awesome views.

[Starblazer]

Scope would win out, there ain't no way on this earth that my partner would complain at my hobbies, I don't at hers and space isn't easy to come by here either. In fact i've sold stuff I don't use to make room and fund other purchases.

Failing that....she'd have to walk, no-one stopping me do what I want lol.

Under the thumb ain't for me haha.

[Astro_Baby]

Heres the blanket box idea for housing a scope - got the box in antique pine thats been distressed off the web. Cost about £100 but its built like the proverbial.

It hold a Skywatcher 200, HEQ5 mount head, power supplies, weights, and some other odds and ends. the tripod legs are stored elsewhere because we ordered the box slightly too small and the tripod doesnt fit in neatly.

[Starblazer]

OOO I like that Mel