View Single Post
  #7  
Old 19-04-2018, 05:29 PM
Wavytone
Registered User

Wavytone is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Killara, Sydney
Posts: 4,147
What is your car ?

I'd suggest a Celestron CPC 8" (CPC 800) or a Meade 8" LightSwitch would do nicely for casual use.

I have a Mazda 3 hatch and my rig is:

- SW AZEQ6 mount plus tripod, eyepieces and bits & bobs fill the boot,
- Santel 9" Maksutov in a soft bag on the back seat; this is comparable to a Meade 10", bigger than a Celestron 9.25 and smaller than a C11.

This defined the upper limit for me for "portable". The OTA is 15kg and the mount similar; heavier and I'll be concerned that I'd either do myself an injury or drop something expensive.

An EQ6R is a nice GOTO mount, slightly smaller.

For a smaller scope than the above, say a C5 or C6 or 6" Maksutov or smaller, you could get away with the Skywatcher All-View mount, this is altaz and full GOTO. The only aspect of the All-View mount is that its tripod is flimsy and it would benefit significantly from being placed on a surveyors tripod ($200 from Bunnings).

Another option is an altaz setup with setting circles that is PUSH-TO as distinct from GOTO. In this respect you could look at say a C8 or Meade 8 on a DM 4 or DM6 altaz mount with encoders fitted, to that add a Nexus II and an iPhone running SkySafari. Or a Losmandy AZ8 (+DIY encoders) or one of the AYO Swiss mounts (these have encoders).

See for example https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/5...-ii-skysafari/

This was dead easy to use - push it wherever you wish, no need for finderscopes or GOTO - and no coffee-grinder noises or heavy batteries. From arrival to observing in 10 minutes.

Last edited by Wavytone; 19-04-2018 at 05:44 PM.
Reply With Quote