hiking scope advice

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Sorry for the long background story...

A friend contacted me yesterday asking for advice on replacing a telescope that he used to take hiking/overnight camping. He wasn't sure what type of scope it was (refractor vs Newt vs Cass). He thought it was a Celestron 3000. Looking at the Celestron website he thought it looked most like the Nexstar 8SE, but his mount wasn't computerised. He said he was hiking with backpack for overnight camp, and had a bag made up to strap scope and mount to outside of backpack. The attachments caught on something while climbing Mt Barney(?) and the scope bag detached and fell down 100m inaccessible cliff. Gone.

He recalls a dimension of 175mm or so for the external diameter of the scope, because he had a foam insert made up for the bag. I said that it sounded like it would have to be a 6in Cass then, because an 8in would have to be over 200mm externally.

I asked him what he views with it, and sounded like planets and Moon. Things for the kids to look at. Visual only.

He was adamant about the scope type, but I would have thought it'd be a struggle attaching and carrying a 6in Cass plus mount (alt/az?) plus backpack for overnight stay on top of a mountain!

So. He wants to replace it. On a budget. He mentioned around $500. I said he'd be settling for something second hand. He needs scope, mount, eyepiece. He's open to a different scope type, as long as it's equivalent portability and I guess similar view performance (can see Saturn ring divisions he mentioned).

Can you offer some advice? I am struggling to come up with a suggestion or recommendation that meets his brief. I would think 6in cass would blow budget. A 6in newt might be tricky collimation-wise if he's not that experienced and carrying it a lot. Refractor wouldn't have same resolution for same portability?

[glend (Glen)]

Just get him to look at the Celestron Spotting scopes, which are within his budget and easy to carry (They come with their own padded carry cast which has a shoulder strap). They come with a zoom eye piece (typically 20x to 60x), and a T-thread adaptor for eye piece projection photography with a DSLR. Can be used for nature or astro photos and casual observation. Yes it can see Saturn's rings. Comes in 80mm and 100mm apertures.
Check them out at Bintel website.

https://www.bintel.com.au/product-ca...v=322b26af01d5

I have the 80mm Trailseeker and it is great grab and go scope, stays setup on my standard camera pan head tripod.

Note a 6in or 8in Cass etc or anything with mirrors and Correctors are going to be heavy to carry, keep it simple and light and it will get used far more.

[Outcast (Carlton)]

FWIW, I can see the Cassini division quite clearly with my 80mm Triplet refractor at around 120x magnification (4mm EP) and above but, the image itself is still quite small... A triplet is probably well out of his budget but, if he can deal with some false colour on brighter objects, an 80mm Achro & a lightweight mount would probably come within his budget & weight considerations.

My 5" Vixen Newt would offer similar resolving power, would possibly meet his budget second hand & is quite light but, it's bulkier than an 80 - 100mm refractor & as you say, might present some collimation challenges

Maybe a small Mak Cassegrain? 127 - 150mm, fairly long focal length in a reasonably compact, lightweight package perhaps?? Might be doable secondhand within his budget on a modest mount... Should be able to resolve Saturns rings with relative ease but, again, image size isn't going to be huge...

My 2 cents...

[jahnpahwa (JP)]

Originally Posted by troypiggo

..... Looking at the Celestron website he thought it looked most like the Nexstar 8SE....... The attachments caught on something while climbing Mt Barney(?) and the scope bag detached and fell down 100m inaccessible cliff. Gone."

Amazing effort to pull that sort of a rig up Mt Barney!
(and i'm glad that he didnt stay attached to his pack as it was flipped over the edge! what a moment...)

[GrahamL]

Have taken my old 80 mm refractor camping a few times and its ok for use round the campsite, havn't been to Mt Barney for many years , I couldnt imagine hauling it a mount and all the other stuff for an overnight stay up the top let alone something bigger ,, some cheapo 9 x 60 roofs would work ok .

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Thanks for the thoughts all. I was thinking an 80mm doublet would be a reasonable option. I'm sure a bit of colour won't bother him too much. I'll have a chat with him.

[SteveInNZ]

It might have been the Meade 2045 4" SCT. I think the base would be about that size.

These days, I'd go for the ST80 and small tripod.


Steve.