Small refractor advice needed!

I have the new Orion 80mm F/7.5 APO and it is one of the best small
refractors I have owned. Little or no color, tack sharp up to 240x on the
moon . For the price nothing can touch it. Price is $429 in US


"tomcosgrave" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I'm seriously contemplating what sort of small refractor I should get.

Here's the criteria -

It has to be small, as it's intended as a "grab and go" type scope - I'm
going to Africa (right on the Equator!) next year,
and I imagine there'll be trips around Ireland (where I'm from) as well.

The minimum size is 80mm, the maximum size is 100mm. It's got to be as
near
to an all rounder as it can,
looking at the deep sky, the planets, the sun (I intend to use it to watch
Venus next June) and the moon.

The tube assembly itself can't cost more than ?600 (EUR 525) - I'm trying
to
factor in the cost of the mount, the tripod, eyepieces etc as well.

Scopes I have in mind -
AT1010N Nighthawk, reviewed in the latest edition of Sky&Telescope - is
the
review there on the mark?
Orion ShortTube 90mm Rich-Field Refractor - is this up to much?
Helios Startravel 80T Rich-Field Refractor - I've not found anything about
this scope on the web, aside from the BC&F people and an Irish dealer
selling it, which makes me wonder if it's much good.

I don't think I'm going to get a chance to examine any of these hands on
before I buy - there's no dealer in Ireland for these, the Helios scope
excepted.
My gut instinct tells me the Nightawk is the one to go for. Obviously if I
had the cash, I'd go for a Takahashi, but that ain't gonna happen!

What would you do? Are there any other scopes I should have a look at?

Advice from veterans would be welcomed with open arms...

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Tom
--

--
tomcosgrave ][


weblog ][ http://www.tomcosgrave.com

Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent and reboot.
Order shall return.

I have the new Orion 80mm F/7.5 APO and it is one of the best small
refractors I have owned. Little or no color, tack sharp up to 240x on the
moon . For the price nothing can touch it. Price is $429 in US

From all reports, this scope seems to the not only a great deal but a great
scope as well.

In the US, Orion is currently sold out and waiting for more. In my view, this
scope would be definitely worth waiting for.

Since it seems the OP is in Ireland, it is possible that another vendor can
provide you with one.

Markes Ludes of APM scopes in Germany has indicated he will be getting a batch
soon.

jon

Tom,

Scopes I have in mind -
AT1010N Nighthawk, reviewed in the latest edition of Sky&Telescope - is
the
review there on the mark?

I have an SV 80/9D - the longer focal length version of the 1010. It's
great. If I needed a more portable scope I'd definitely go for the 1010. You
might give them a call and visit the Yahoo Stellarvue site.

I'll second the recommendation to Markus Ludes of APM Telescopes - he's also
a straight shooter.

Gary Fuchs

On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 00:54:47 +0100, "tomcosgrave"
wrote:

Hi all,

I'm seriously contemplating what sort of small refractor I should get.

Here's the criteria -

It has to be small, as it's intended as a "grab and go" type scope - I'm
going to Africa (right on the Equator!) next year,
and I imagine there'll be trips around Ireland (where I'm from) as well.

The minimum size is 80mm, the maximum size is 100mm. It's got to be as near
to an all rounder as it can,
looking at the deep sky, the planets, the sun (I intend to use it to watch
Venus next June) and the moon.

The tube assembly itself can't cost more than ?600 (EUR 525) - I'm trying to
factor in the cost of the mount, the tripod, eyepieces etc as well.

Scopes I have in mind -
AT1010N Nighthawk, reviewed in the latest edition of Sky&Telescope - is the
review there on the mark?
Orion ShortTube 90mm Rich-Field Refractor - is this up to much?
Helios Startravel 80T Rich-Field Refractor - I've not found anything about
this scope on the web, aside from the BC&F people and an Irish dealer
selling it, which makes me wonder if it's much good.

Your best bet might be the new Orion 80ED refractor. Focal length
is 600mm, and it has a two inch focuser. What reviews I've seen have
been favorable. It has a camera tripod socket and could be mounted
most likely on the Orion EQ-1 or better yet, the EQ-2 mount. Motor
drives are available from Orion. Ditto for eyepieces, althought I
think you'd get a better deal buying from "Hands on Optics" with
their GTO line of Plossls.

I don't think I'm going to get a chance to examine any of these hands on
before I buy - there's no dealer in Ireland for these, the Helios scope
excepted.
My gut instinct tells me the Nightawk is the one to go for. Obviously if I
had the cash, I'd go for a Takahashi, but that ain't gonna happen!

What would you do? Are there any other scopes I should have a look at?

Advice from veterans would be welcomed with open arms...

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Tom
--

Jerome Bigge

Member of Muskegon Astronomical Society.
Author of the Warlady & Wartime series of SF
novels at "http://members.tripod.com/~jbigge

I'm seriously contemplating what sort of small refractor I should get.

Here's the criteria -

It has to be small, as it's intended as a "grab and go" type scope ...
The minimum size is 80mm, the maximum size is 100mm. It's got to be ...
as near to an all rounder as it can ...
The tube assembly itself can't cost more than ?600 (EUR 525)

Scopes I have in mind -
AT1010N Nighthawk, reviewed in the latest edition of Sky&Telescope - is the
review there on the mark?
Orion ShortTube 90mm Rich-Field Refractor - is this up to much?

This particular scope has received mixed reviews with respect to its
optical quality. A better bet is Orion's 100mm F/6 achromat, which
costs barely more than the 90mm model. I bought one some months ago,
and I find that it has amazingly good optical and mechanical quality
for its price. However, you should be aware that a 100mm F/6 refractor
is *much* bigger and heavier than an 80mm F/6 refractor. Whether it
is still small enough for you, I don't know. Note that the 80mm F/7.5
ED refractor that everybody is recommending is also much bigger and
heavier than an 80mm F/6 scope.

Comparing the 100mm F/6 against the 80mm F/7.5, the tube lengths
are almost identical, but otherwise the latter is smaller and lighter.
The 100mm will surely do *much* better on deep-sky objects, and the
80mm F/7.5 will probably (but not certainly) do better on the planets
and the Moon.

By and large, all decent telescopes are generalists; you don't have
to worry too much about that.

The other design to consider for portability is the catadioptric,
like the Celestron C5. There are good reasons why you might
prefer a refractor, but I just want to check that you have
considered catadioptrics.

The mount will be at least as important as the optical tube both
for portability and for useability. I don't know what your
thinking on that subject is. To some extent, it makes sense
to decide first what mount you want and then select the
biggest scope that will fit on that mount. I will repeat
what I have often said before, that for portability, the
single most important factor is being willing to use the
scope in a seated position, ideally sitting on the ground.

- Tony Flanders

The other design to consider for portability is the catadioptric,
like the Celestron C5. There are good reasons why you might
prefer a refractor, but I just want to check that you have
considered catadioptrics.


No doubt in my mind that the C5 OTA is gives more aperture in less space than
any other grab and go combination. The OTA is less than 12 inches long and
fits nicely in a standard 35 mm camera bag. The focal length is long at 1250
mm but can be reduced to about 800mm with a focal reducer.

The mount will be at least as important as the optical tube both
for portability and for useability. I don't know what your
thinking on that subject is. To some extent, it makes sense
to decide first what mount you want and then select the
biggest scope that will fit on that mount.

I will repeat
what I have often said before, that for portability, the
single most important factor is being willing to use the
scope in a seated position, ideally sitting on the ground.

While I agree that one must choose the mount carefully, my experience is that a
heavy duty photo tripod with a decent head is a nice transportable mount. I
will admit my bias as I have been doing this for several years and it does take
some getting used to but a nice tripod like a Bogen 3051 will carry a C-5 or a
Pronto quite nicely and yet is quite rugged and stable, folds up quickly and
pops in a bag for airline transport.

Not so good for hiking though...

jon