LenSatic wrote:
The best starter scope, IMHO, is the Edmund Scientific Astroscan. They're simple and so rugged that I use to carry it as carry-on luggage. "Yes it looks like a bomb, but it's not a bomb, ma'am." The new ones come with a red-dot sight as a finder scope. No tracking, but it's a rich field (wide field) low power scope, so tracking is not a problem. The go-to feature is you; it's the best way to learn the sky. I gave mine away before moving to AZ and will be getting a new one soon. (They are out of stock until the end of the year.)
LS
I'm sorry, but this telescope doesn't begin to address the items profdant139 was asking about. It also might have been great in it's day, but it's been left behind by many reasonably priced scopes with greater aperture.
FIRST, the question asked was:
profdant139 wrote:
So this brings up another related question -- is there a good compact telescope suitable for RV travel into the boondocks? It would have to be rugged, light, easy to set up and take down, and preferably with a mount that would track the stars -- I think those are called equatorial mounts. And as long as I am dreaming, it ought to have one of those fancy computerized "go to" controls, where you say "find me the Andromeda galaxy." And it should use very little power -- probably connect to an inverter, plugged into the 12 volt system in the RV. After all, if you have ordinary 120 volt power, you are probably in an RV park, with the attendant light pollution.
The now discontinued Astroscan does not begin to meet those requirements. It's a basic 4" newtonian reflector, of only 445mm focal length, without any kind of a Go-To or tracking system. With it's supplied eyepieces, a 28mm and 15mm, it is only capable of 15 and 29 power respectively. Because of it's fast f-ratio, of f4.0 and short focal length, it is not capable of much higher power without image degradation. Light gathering and field of view should be it's forte but with the cheap Plossl eyepieces with which it ships it has only 3 degree and 1.6 degree fields of view respectively. IMHO, it's not even worth upgrading with better eyepieces.
Putting aside the wish for a Go-To for a second, there are far better choices available in a USABLE newtonian reflector with a bigger mirror, greater light gathering capability, and the flexibility for higher magnifications.
For beginner scopes, expecially on a limited budget, I always say go with aperture and light gathering capability over bells and whistles. One of the best choices available today, and as a "grab-and-go" for an RV, is the
Sky-Watcher Collapsible Dobsonian 8" The photos don't do it justice to show how compact it is when collapsed.
At $449, only $100 above the last price I can find for a new Astroscan, it's well over twice the telescope. 8" mirror, 1200mm focal length, with the included 25mm and 10mm eyepieces 48 and 120 power respectively. PERFECT !! The 48x is perfect for wide field, like open clusters, the full disc of the moon, and large nebulae and the 120X has enough to be satisfying on planets (with good atmospheric conditions) and globular clusters, galaxy, and nebula. It's a serious instrument.
We just gave one away in our astronomy club's Christmas raffle and the winner, who also has a 16" dobsonian reflector, stopped bringing the 16" to public outreach events and only brings the 8" Sky-Watcher. He's also an RV'er, and keeps the 8" Sky-Watcher in his RV for a "grab-and-go" now.
Addressing profdant139's desire for a "Go-To" telescope, and assuming he's not going to do astrophotography, an Equatorial mount would not be necessary but they're my personal preference (because I do image). Rather, a good Alt/AZ mount with go to capability would be easier to learn and use. For a good easy to use scope on an Alt/Az mount, and suggesting an aperture of at least 6" in a Schmidt-cassegrain, the
Celestron NexStar 6SE Computerized Telescope would be good choice. 6" f-10 SCT design, 1500 mm focal length, 44,000 object computerized database, SkyAlign technology to get you aligned and ready to observe in minutes. It comes with only one 25mm eyepiece for a power of only 60X but the optics are such that you can accessorize with any eyepiece you want with a 15mm giving you 100x (for readers who don't know, Focal Length mm / Eyepiece MM = Power).
This mount can also be upgraded with a GPS receiver (accurately sets location and time) and
StarSense AutoAlign
Just my opinion, but I do a ton of public astronomy outreach and set a lot of people up with their first scope.
2005 Winnebago Sightseer WFD30B "rigged for night" with red LED lighting for night adapted vision.
Do you remember when the sky was dark, and the stars were bright?The International Dark-Sky AssociationAmerican by birth...Scottish by the Grace Of God.
