Travel Scope

[lindendave]

Well I haven't posted in a while but that's because the wife and I are homeless and have been for the six days. With the loss of the house also came an end to everyday internet access and I'm now intruding on a sister-in-law.

It's a long story, so I won't bore y'all, but the wife has given me permission ( I must have built up some WAF) to get a travel scope to take along. I've never really had a scope I travelled with, but did own a couple Meade ( ETX-125EC & ETX70) GoTo scopes once. I was thinking I might look into something on a GEM mount with the GoTo but I'm open to any and all suggestions and experiences.

Let me have it!  

Homeless Road-Gypsy

[BobRose]

Dave,
I’d vote for a LX90. Works well in alt/az and can be polar aligned with a wedge if needed. 31lbs for the upper and the tripod is slightly less. Next choice would be a small 6 or 8” dob.  The ETX 125’s are ok, but the long focal ratio is a bit of a drawback. If space is premium then get a good set of binoculars. They can be really impressive for some objects. I keep a set with me where ever I travel.

bob

[wbehrens]

Dave.......look at the new LXD75's. They have some nice SN's at 6" that would be nice.

[lindendave]

Thanks, I did look at the LXD scopes but I'm being told that Meade says they are "approximately" four weeks from shipping and I have no idea of where I'll be then!

I was looking at the Konusky-200 - 200mm (7.8") Newtonian Reflector Telescope and wondering if it would fit the bill for a travel scope, any opinions?

[Jake]

I was looking at the Konusky-200 - 200mm (7.8") Newtonian Reflector Telescope and wondering if it would fit the bill for a travel scope, any opinions?

Hi Dave -

I would stay away from the Konusky 200, even though I own one.  The reason is that Konus recently changed their manufacturer, and the new versions of the scope have poor mirrors and even poorer mounts - you would be best to avoid them.  The older Konus 200 I have is great, and is now currently being sold by Celestron as the 8" advanced series scope - this is the exact same scope as mine, and is a very good one.  

Another option you might want to consider would be an Orion 8" dob - it would be much more portable (no mount), and has built-in DSC's.  

-Jake

[lindendave]

Thanks for the input Jake.

I think that I've just about decided not to get a travel scope for now. What is now more appealing is the idea of a good set of binoculars, tripod and mount. These would also enhance daytime views of some of the sights the wife and I want to travel to see. Some time ago I had a nice set of Oberwerk binos and really enjoyed them, but apparently not enough to keep. Ah, hintsight is a wonderful thing!  

[Ralph Vaden]

Hi Dave,

You might consider the Stellarvue Nighthawk 80mm f/6 achhromatic refractor. It's very portable, solidly-built, and has very impressive optics. You won't get the high magnification of your 12" SCT, but the wide-field view is, in many ways, even more pleasing.

Mounted on a UniStar Light alt-az mount on any good tripod, it's easily portable. Add an erect-image diagonal (I use a William Optics 2") and it becomes a great wide-field spotting scope for daylight use.

Ralph

[Jake]

Heeyyy, now there is a good idea!  Very portable indeed, yet gives more magnification choices than binoculars.  

Even better might be the Orion ED80 - I looked through one and they are very nice - very much a Televue-ish view.  

-Jake