Poll: Best travel scope (airline carry-on)

I hope I'm not being too forward here, I know it's been a while since I've
participated in the group.

A possible change in jobs has got me thinking I may be doing quite a bit of
travel for business in the coming years. One upshot is the chance to travel
to dark-skies, (NM,KS,WY...)something that is quite difficult here in the
Northeast. In fact, Long Island (where I live) could possibly be the worst
place in the country for accessing dark skies. Among my greatest nights of
observing came while on vacation (Steamboat CO), and without a telescope!
Darks skies and dark adapted eyes showed me more than my C8 from Long
Island!

What is your opinion on an airline carry-on scope? I guess we could go with
2 categories.

Under $1000 (where I'll be shopping)

and

Over $1000 (where undoubtedly most will say are the best performers)

all-types of scopes considered, optical performance should be the most
heavily weighted criteria.

THIS IS NOT A TROLL, ITS A POLL, please refrain from rehashing old arguments
about which scope type is inherently superior. Please, just give your
endorsement without detracting from others. Practical experience is
certainly the best support you can give.

Thanks,
Tim

The Meade ETX is the best and you can't beat the price.

The Meade ETX is the best and you can't beat the price.

In article ,
says...
I hope I'm not being too forward here, I know it's been a while since I've
participated in the group.

A possible change in jobs has got me thinking I may be doing quite a bit of
travel for business in the coming years. One upshot is the chance to travel
to dark-skies, (NM,KS,WY...)something that is quite difficult here in the
Northeast. In fact, Long Island (where I live) could possibly be the worst
place in the country for accessing dark skies. Among my greatest nights of
observing came while on vacation (Steamboat CO), and without a telescope!
Darks skies and dark adapted eyes showed me more than my C8 from Long
Island!

What is your opinion on an airline carry-on scope? I guess we could go with
2 categories.

Under $1000 (where I'll be shopping)

and

Over $1000 (where undoubtedly most will say are the best performers)

all-types of scopes considered, optical performance should be the most
heavily weighted criteria.

THIS IS NOT A TROLL, ITS A POLL, please refrain from rehashing old arguments
about which scope type is inherently superior. Please, just give your
endorsement without detracting from others. Practical experience is
certainly the best support you can give.

Thanks,
Tim




Well, for airlines I like my ETX 90 EC w/electric focuser (a must), a
Bogen tripod (Bogen is much smaller than the field tripod), and a wedge.
And a case of eyepieces. I use a LowePro Vidcam 6 case for the scope and
accessories, a Bogen softcase for the tripod, and a Pelican case for the
eyepieces.

In article ,
says...
I hope I'm not being too forward here, I know it's been a while since I've
participated in the group.

A possible change in jobs has got me thinking I may be doing quite a bit of
travel for business in the coming years. One upshot is the chance to travel
to dark-skies, (NM,KS,WY...)something that is quite difficult here in the
Northeast. In fact, Long Island (where I live) could possibly be the worst
place in the country for accessing dark skies. Among my greatest nights of
observing came while on vacation (Steamboat CO), and without a telescope!
Darks skies and dark adapted eyes showed me more than my C8 from Long
Island!

What is your opinion on an airline carry-on scope? I guess we could go with
2 categories.

Under $1000 (where I'll be shopping)

and

Over $1000 (where undoubtedly most will say are the best performers)

all-types of scopes considered, optical performance should be the most
heavily weighted criteria.

THIS IS NOT A TROLL, ITS A POLL, please refrain from rehashing old arguments
about which scope type is inherently superior. Please, just give your
endorsement without detracting from others. Practical experience is
certainly the best support you can give.

Thanks,
Tim




Well, for airlines I like my ETX 90 EC w/electric focuser (a must), a
Bogen tripod (Bogen is much smaller than the field tripod), and a wedge.
And a case of eyepieces. I use a LowePro Vidcam 6 case for the scope and
accessories, a Bogen softcase for the tripod, and a Pelican case for the
eyepieces.

I also live in the Northeast and I'm very much in touch with the pain of
finding dark skies in this area. However, I submit that the worse place in
the country is not Long Island where you live, but New Jersey where I
live.:-)

In my opinion, the best travel scope ever made is the Pronto. Small, light
weight, great optics and can be mated to a light weight photography type
tripod/pan head. Can be carried on board and stored under the seat or in
the overhead compartment. Also, when you get flushed, you can buy an
H-alpha filter, which threads directly to the Pronto, and view the sun
before it gets dark. I carried this scope with me everyplace I went...but
that was before 9/11.

Al


"Tim Powers" wrote in message
...
I hope I'm not being too forward here, I know it's been a while since I've
participated in the group.

A possible change in jobs has got me thinking I may be doing quite a bit
of
travel for business in the coming years. One upshot is the chance to
travel
to dark-skies, (NM,KS,WY...)something that is quite difficult here in the
Northeast. In fact, Long Island (where I live) could possibly be the worst
place in the country for accessing dark skies. Among my greatest nights of
observing came while on vacation (Steamboat CO), and without a telescope!
Darks skies and dark adapted eyes showed me more than my C8 from Long
Island!

What is your opinion on an airline carry-on scope? I guess we could go
with
2 categories.

Under $1000 (where I'll be shopping)

and

Over $1000 (where undoubtedly most will say are the best performers)

all-types of scopes considered, optical performance should be the most
heavily weighted criteria.

THIS IS NOT A TROLL, ITS A POLL, please refrain from rehashing old
arguments
about which scope type is inherently superior. Please, just give your
endorsement without detracting from others. Practical experience is
certainly the best support you can give.

Thanks,
Tim

I also live in the Northeast and I'm very much in touch with the pain of
finding dark skies in this area. However, I submit that the worse place in
the country is not Long Island where you live, but New Jersey where I
live.:-)

In my opinion, the best travel scope ever made is the Pronto. Small, light
weight, great optics and can be mated to a light weight photography type
tripod/pan head. Can be carried on board and stored under the seat or in
the overhead compartment. Also, when you get flushed, you can buy an
H-alpha filter, which threads directly to the Pronto, and view the sun
before it gets dark. I carried this scope with me everyplace I went...but
that was before 9/11.

Al


"Tim Powers" wrote in message
...
I hope I'm not being too forward here, I know it's been a while since I've
participated in the group.

A possible change in jobs has got me thinking I may be doing quite a bit
of
travel for business in the coming years. One upshot is the chance to
travel
to dark-skies, (NM,KS,WY...)something that is quite difficult here in the
Northeast. In fact, Long Island (where I live) could possibly be the worst
place in the country for accessing dark skies. Among my greatest nights of
observing came while on vacation (Steamboat CO), and without a telescope!
Darks skies and dark adapted eyes showed me more than my C8 from Long
Island!

What is your opinion on an airline carry-on scope? I guess we could go
with
2 categories.

Under $1000 (where I'll be shopping)

and

Over $1000 (where undoubtedly most will say are the best performers)

all-types of scopes considered, optical performance should be the most
heavily weighted criteria.

THIS IS NOT A TROLL, ITS A POLL, please refrain from rehashing old
arguments
about which scope type is inherently superior. Please, just give your
endorsement without detracting from others. Practical experience is
certainly the best support you can give.

Thanks,
Tim

Al;

Thanks for the opinion on the travel scope, as for the dark skies, here is
my reasoning for thinking LI is worse than all others. LI is smack dab in
the middle of the BOS-WASH megalopolis (sic?) and is "completely"
developed/lit much like NJ. I am only halfway out from NYC but it takes at
least 1.5 hours to escape from LI. From there it is still hours away from
"dark" skies by NE standards in upstate NY or central PA. Nearly any locale
in NJ is 2+ hours closer to relatively dark skies. BTW Long Island
population is pushing 4 million in an area 100 miles by 15 miles. This
excludes the other 4 million living in Brooklyn and Queens which occupy the
western 20x20 miles of Long Island proper. Additionally, the multi-layer
government structure on LI prohibits any realistic chance of enacting any
effective light pollution legislation.

-Tim




"Al" wrote in message
. net...
I also live in the Northeast and I'm very much in touch with the pain of
finding dark skies in this area. However, I submit that the worse place
in
the country is not Long Island where you live, but New Jersey where I
live.:-)

In my opinion, the best travel scope ever made is the Pronto. Small,
light
weight, great optics and can be mated to a light weight photography type
tripod/pan head. Can be carried on board and stored under the seat or in
the overhead compartment. Also, when you get flushed, you can buy an
H-alpha filter, which threads directly to the Pronto, and view the sun
before it gets dark. I carried this scope with me everyplace I
went...but
that was before 9/11.

Al


"Tim Powers" wrote in message
...
I hope I'm not being too forward here, I know it's been a while since
I've
participated in the group.

A possible change in jobs has got me thinking I may be doing quite a bit
of
travel for business in the coming years. One upshot is the chance to
travel
to dark-skies, (NM,KS,WY...)something that is quite difficult here in
the
Northeast. In fact, Long Island (where I live) could possibly be the
worst
place in the country for accessing dark skies. Among my greatest nights
of
observing came while on vacation (Steamboat CO), and without a
telescope!
Darks skies and dark adapted eyes showed me more than my C8 from Long
Island!

What is your opinion on an airline carry-on scope? I guess we could go
with
2 categories.

Under $1000 (where I'll be shopping)

and

Over $1000 (where undoubtedly most will say are the best performers)

all-types of scopes considered, optical performance should be the most
heavily weighted criteria.

THIS IS NOT A TROLL, ITS A POLL, please refrain from rehashing old
arguments
about which scope type is inherently superior. Please, just give your
endorsement without detracting from others. Practical experience is
certainly the best support you can give.

Thanks,
Tim

Al;

Thanks for the opinion on the travel scope, as for the dark skies, here is
my reasoning for thinking LI is worse than all others. LI is smack dab in
the middle of the BOS-WASH megalopolis (sic?) and is "completely"
developed/lit much like NJ. I am only halfway out from NYC but it takes at
least 1.5 hours to escape from LI. From there it is still hours away from
"dark" skies by NE standards in upstate NY or central PA. Nearly any locale
in NJ is 2+ hours closer to relatively dark skies. BTW Long Island
population is pushing 4 million in an area 100 miles by 15 miles. This
excludes the other 4 million living in Brooklyn and Queens which occupy the
western 20x20 miles of Long Island proper. Additionally, the multi-layer
government structure on LI prohibits any realistic chance of enacting any
effective light pollution legislation.

-Tim




"Al" wrote in message
. net...
I also live in the Northeast and I'm very much in touch with the pain of
finding dark skies in this area. However, I submit that the worse place
in
the country is not Long Island where you live, but New Jersey where I
live.:-)

In my opinion, the best travel scope ever made is the Pronto. Small,
light
weight, great optics and can be mated to a light weight photography type
tripod/pan head. Can be carried on board and stored under the seat or in
the overhead compartment. Also, when you get flushed, you can buy an
H-alpha filter, which threads directly to the Pronto, and view the sun
before it gets dark. I carried this scope with me everyplace I
went...but
that was before 9/11.

Al


"Tim Powers" wrote in message
...
I hope I'm not being too forward here, I know it's been a while since
I've
participated in the group.

A possible change in jobs has got me thinking I may be doing quite a bit
of
travel for business in the coming years. One upshot is the chance to
travel
to dark-skies, (NM,KS,WY...)something that is quite difficult here in
the
Northeast. In fact, Long Island (where I live) could possibly be the
worst
place in the country for accessing dark skies. Among my greatest nights
of
observing came while on vacation (Steamboat CO), and without a
telescope!
Darks skies and dark adapted eyes showed me more than my C8 from Long
Island!

What is your opinion on an airline carry-on scope? I guess we could go
with
2 categories.

Under $1000 (where I'll be shopping)

and

Over $1000 (where undoubtedly most will say are the best performers)

all-types of scopes considered, optical performance should be the most
heavily weighted criteria.

THIS IS NOT A TROLL, ITS A POLL, please refrain from rehashing old
arguments
about which scope type is inherently superior. Please, just give your
endorsement without detracting from others. Practical experience is
certainly the best support you can give.

Thanks,
Tim

In the under $1000 category, I have traveled with and enjoyed two different
systems.

A: An ETX 90
B: An Older Orion 80mm F6.25 Ultrascan refractor on a Velbon CF tripod with
a geared Bogen 410 head.

The ETX fit in a much smaller and case and is pretty much fully self
contained and very manageable while traveling. The B system all fit into a
single carryon luggage piece with all the extras - EPs, Guides, etc.

In the over $1000 category, I replace the Orion 80mm with my Takahashi Sky
90 and add the Tak Sky Patrol-II compact mount. I can still jam most of it
in the carryon but I slide the Velbon into my checked-in clothes luggage. If
my connecting flights look like they may filter down to small prop planes
where they may *insist* I check everything, I pack the delicate stuff in a
Kinetics carryon sized hard case, just in case. I think it's important to be
prepared for the worst possible contingency. The one thing you don't want
to do is starting getting ****y with security people about your optics. They
quit caring in a New York Second if they smell attitude. I've seen it happen
to others and took to the lesson to heart immediately. There has been an
occasion, on an Arizona puddle jumper, where I had to politely politic my
way into keeping a scope out of the cargo hold, but I remained light and
cheerful and secretly thanked myself for having it in the Hardcase. During
the discussion, one of the other passengers overheard my plight and
volunteered his aisle-seat footspace for my scope. When I told him my
Hardcase would probably keep it safe in Cargo, he laughed and INSISTED I let
him watch over it. :-)

In my opinion, the ETX (or a Questar) are by far the most "portable" of
options but, especially when traveling to an unfamiliar latitude, I like to
sweep wide angles with a short throw refractor and feel the extra gear to
accomplish that has been worth the effort for me. If the planets are up,
then either are great for guests/hosts which is a big reason I "travel with
glass".

Hope I've given you some food for thought here.


-Paul S. Walsh
http://www.nwlink.com/~filmdos/m111








"Tim Powers" wrote in message
...

What is your opinion on an airline carry-on scope? I guess we could go
with
2 categories.

Under $1000 (where I'll be shopping)

and

Over $1000 (where undoubtedly most will say are the best performers)