Need advice on travel scope (the old FAQ with no answer)

So here it goes: I'm going to Brazil in December, to around 30 degrees
south. I do have an Orion 120ST that is way to big to carry (telescope
& needed mount/tripod). So I'm fumbling around about a smaller scope
that I can set up quickly and doesn't weight much (including
tripod/mount). There will be no planets around there in December, and
even w-Centauri will be out of sight (still there will be Tucanae, the
Magellanic Clouds and such), so I don't expect trying to get about
100x. Price *is* a factor. So far I came up with the following:

1) Orion ST80 (one of the "defaults")
2) Orion Starblast (fiddled with it at the store, looks ok)
3) Orion short tube 4.5 newtonian
4) Apogee el-cheapo 80AT (maybe the 90)
5) Apogee 80 f5.8 (maybe the 90 f6.1)

So there. Some include a tripod/EQ mount, some do not. I would greatly
appreciate any suggestions, pointers, experiences with the above. The
apogee would be great if they're good enough (for the price factor).
Again, the intended use and conditions is: Dark skies, no planets
(there won't be any), low magnification (25mm plossl, 32mm plossl, 6mm
something-I still need to get it).

Best,

- Cesar

(Cesar Crusius) wrote in message . com...

So here it goes: I'm going to Brazil in December, to around 30 degrees
south. I do have an Orion 120ST that is way to big to carry (telescope
& needed mount/tripod).

Seems to me that your problem is the mount rather than the telescope.
I own the Orion 100mm F/6, which is the same length and only a little
thinner and lighter than the 120ST optical tube. It makes a nice
portable travel scope atop a low-end Bogen tripod and a good
alt-azimuth head.

The Starblast is a great little scope, but it's much bulkier than
your scope would be if properly fitted on an alt-az mount. Also,
although a 114mm F/4 reflector is nice, it doesn't match the
performance of a 120mm F/5 refractor.

Whatever you do, *don't* get a German Equatorial Mount! When
bulk and weight are at a premium, why waste most of them on
something that's really only useful at high power or for
photography? Sounds as though neither is in your plans.

- Tony Flanders

So here it goes: I'm going to Brazil in December, to around 30
degrees
south. I do have an Orion 120ST that is way to big to carry
(telescope
& needed mount/tripod).

Seems to me that your problem is the mount rather than the telescope.
I own the Orion 100mm F/6, which is the same length and only a little
thinner and lighter than the 120ST optical tube. It makes a nice
portable travel scope atop a low-end Bogen tripod and a good
alt-azimuth head.

Yes, the mount is the main problem, although the 120ST OTA gets to be
somewhat a nuisance at 630mm length. I'd love to take it with me, but
wife & kids get luggage priority!

Regarding the mount, I have this silly sympathy for the GEQ. I was
thinking about an Orion EQ1, which goes for less than $80 and *seems*
to be light and small enough. The only problems are that it comes with
that silly tripod, and I don't think it would balance a 120ST well, but
it just may do (experiences?). Also, since money is important: I *had*
a bogen tripod plus a nice head, but I either forgot it somewhere or it
got stolen. The EQ1 looks better in this light due to price, and I can
always get rid of it when I finally get the money to replace my photo
equipment. But I agree, for travel a Bogen + 410 head is ideal. Too bad
the combo is way too expensive for me for now...

I pretty much gave up on the starblast (why bother with a *small*
reflector?), and I'm now in between the Orion ST80 and the Apogee
scopes. I tried to contact them regarding optical quality (email and
phone message) but got nothing back yet. The 80mm f5.8 looks promising
but I can't find absolutely *no* first-hand accounts of it. Anybody? If
the $99 80/f5 is acceptable it would be a money saver also (I know Jon
Isaacs is fond of it, but I can't find anybody else who is...). Anybody
has any experience on either (especially the f5.8)?

Best,

- Cesar