Advice on choosing new grab n go set up.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I can personally vouch for the TS 80/480mm. It weighs in at 2.3 kg, so not much more than the 70mm at 2.1 kg. It is a beautiful instrument that I either use on my Great Polaris EQ mount, or recently on a modded EQ1 (yes EQ1, I had it lying around) mount used in alt-az mode (polar axis pointing up) as travel mount. I will later replace the mount with a giro mini, but keep the tripod which is surprisingly light (1.5 kg) but stiff enough.

The 80mm gives stunning wide-field views (3.76 deg with a Nagler 22, going to get a Nagler 31 or ES 30 for 5 deg + FOV), and is razor sharp on the moon and planets (beats the C8 on contrast, but the C8 is a lot sharper).

Highly recommended!