"Steve Maddison" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I'm contemplating getting an Orion ED80 for wide field viewing and
imaging. My original thought was to piggy back it on my Meade LX90, but
it'd be nice to have a separate mount too, in order to increase the
grab-and-go possibilities

www.universalastronomic.com

Check out the UniStar line. The Light Deluxe model is perfect for the ED80,
and ultra-portable.

I have the UniStar Light on the D&S Compact CS short tripod for my 100mm F5
refractor. The entire setup (with scope) weighs just 15 pounds. Put
anti-vibration pads under the tripod and it's good to go for as high power
as you'd want to use in an undriven scope (160x?).

I can't recommend this setup highly enough. I use mine out on the patio
every clear night that I don't have time for the bigger scopes. Pick the
whole thing up in one hand and step through the slider. Go back for the
binoviewer and a cup of decaf coffee. Sit in a patio chair with beverage in
hand, and contemplate Plato for a half hour at 100x (with the binoviewer I
think I can see two of the larger craterlets come and go in flashes as the
seeing varies). Very nice way to end (or start) an evening.

With the short tripod fully collapsed, the binoviewer eyepiece position is
low enough that I can sit in a patio chair and observe down to the horizon.
It then has an adjustable center post which raises very easily as you aim
higher toward the zenith, keeping the eyepiece position very comfortable.
(Although raising the center post more than half it's full length can
introduce more vibrations and cause the setup to be "tippy", so you might
want to extend the legs a bit instead if you need that kind of height...
also easy enough.)

I like it so much, that I'm getting serious about shedding the fork mounted
C8, and picking up a CG5/C8 with GoTo, and a UniStar Standard (which can
handle 30 lbs). The UniStar can use the CG5 dovetail and the CG5 tripod, and
I believe it takes just 5 minutes or so to swap out the heads.

I will then be able to use the C8 as a grab-and-go for binoviewing. You
simply haven't lived until you've seen M42 in 0.8 degrees with a 80x200
binocular; or Saturn with two eyes at 145x (or more). I'm convinced that
there's a _very_ noticeable increase in the visible low contrast detail, but
part of that might just be an increase in experience at the eyepiece, mixed
with some novelty of just getting into binoviewing. Either way, it's
"wicked" cool, and the UniStar is my ticket to making it super easy to get
out there. The tripod and fork and the GoTo are just too slow and
restrictive. I like the freedom of just whooshing the objective wherever
whim and fancy take me.

So why the CG5? Same old reason... tracking. Why GoTo? Well, in my
experience, EQ mounts are just better with an automated finding system.

Stephen Paul
Shirley, MA