John Hoare
seantoir
Reged: 04/25/04
Posts: 8860
Loc: Area 14, Kildare, Ireland
|
|
Hi Peppe,
Ireland is a very cloud-prone country, and also has perpetual astronomical twilight from mid-May to the end of July each year. I want to have some fun doing scenic photography as a second hobby that makes use of my equipment rather than just being constantly frustrated by cloudy skies. The past season's campaign was dismal.
The NexStar 4 is not practical as a back-packable spotting scope/telephoto lens because the OTA can't be dismounted from the heavy GOTO base and mounted on a photo tripod but some of the ones in my original list and the C5 are. The Orion Apex 127 is on the edge of that category, but still in with a chance. Of those discussed the C5 is probably the best all-round in terms of weight, size, aperture and range of accessories and availability of post-warranty technical support in Ireland. It's cost is a little more than I originally envisaged, but the StarBright coatings would definitely make it a much better astro scope than the Celestron C130 for instance. My second choice is the Orion, but that is first and foremost a good astro scope, and it's spotting scope/photographic accessories are not as diverse as those of the C5. Both will fit on the EQ3-2 GEM as well as other tripods I have, and I can easily make adaptor plates for one of them if needed.
Probably the most important feature of the new purchase will be that it, the Ranger, my camera and necessary accessories will fit in a backpack, with a tripod where the bedroll/tent would normally hang, for hiking on foot to scenic vantage points. Not your average 'grab & go', but close enough!
--------------------
John
Watery Glebe
Puddlestown
Co. Kildare
Chaos is the rule of nature
Order is the dream of man
Henry Brooks Adams
IFAS
|
matt
Vendor (Scopemania)
Reged: 07/28/03
Posts: 10022
Loc: Chaville, France
|
|
Blah, blah blah...
John, there's an MN51 for sale on ukastroads.co.uk for sale for less than 400£. Are you going to buy it or do I have to do it myself to keep the Free World going?
--------------------
Matt
CI700 mount with various scopes on top.
|
John Hoare
seantoir
Reged: 04/25/04
Posts: 8860
Loc: Area 14, Kildare, Ireland
|
|
600 Euro? And it seems to be gone already, not surprisingly...
But VMT nevertheless Matt.
--------------------
John
Watery Glebe
Puddlestown
Co. Kildare
Chaos is the rule of nature
Order is the dream of man
Henry Brooks Adams
IFAS
|
John Hoare
seantoir
Reged: 04/25/04
Posts: 8860
Loc: Area 14, Kildare, Ireland
|
|
Well, I finally made my choice. Yes, I could have gotten one of the Synta 127s for less, and yes, it would have been a good choice as an astronomical telescope. But what I wanted was a spotting scope that would serve both for astronomical and a wide range of terrestrial uses. I didn't come upon this web site called Cloudy Nights because of Ireland's crystal clear night skies, and I want to be able to get more use out of my new toy than perhaps 15 weekends per year and an occasional night during the working week. Photography as such doesn't need clear skies. In the end I found a C5 Spotter at a fair price (given duty tariff, taxes and shipping). The wider FOV, options for focal reduction useful for terrestrial and starfield shots and the shorter close focus range of the C5 clenched it once the price was reasonable. The long pedigree of these scopes didn't hurt, but in the end didn't factor.
Thanks for all your input 
--------------------
John
Watery Glebe
Puddlestown
Co. Kildare
Chaos is the rule of nature
Order is the dream of man
Henry Brooks Adams
IFAS
|
Scott Beith
SRF
Reged: 11/26/03
Posts: 33042
Loc: Gulfport, MS
|
|
John,
Congrats on the new purchase. I have heard good things about hte C-5's. Let us know how you like it.
--------------------
  Scott
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell
"The measure of a man’s greatness is not determined by what he accomplishes for himself, but by what he accomplishes for others.” -- Some Bald Guy
|
John Hoare
seantoir
Reged: 04/25/04
Posts: 8860
Loc: Area 14, Kildare, Ireland
|
|
Thanks Scott. I'll know in the next couple of days when it's due to arrive.
--------------------
John
Watery Glebe
Puddlestown
Co. Kildare
Chaos is the rule of nature
Order is the dream of man
Henry Brooks Adams
IFAS
|
PJF
professor emeritus
Reged: 05/06/04
Posts: 611
Loc: UK
|
|
John, check out the "Maks & SCTs as terrestrial scopes" thread down in the Cloudy Days forum. Some interesting views there, if somewhat academic now.
--------------------
Peter
10x50 binocs
ED80 'frac
10" f/4.3 Newtonian alt/az
Bryce
|
John Hoare
seantoir
Reged: 04/25/04
Posts: 8860
Loc: Area 14, Kildare, Ireland
|
|
Thanks Peter, I've posted a followup there if you'd like t take a look.
John
--------------------
John
Watery Glebe
Puddlestown
Co. Kildare
Chaos is the rule of nature
Order is the dream of man
Henry Brooks Adams
IFAS
|
Rusty
Postmaster
Reged: 08/06/03
Posts: 16399
Loc: Brooker, FL
|
|
You'll be delighted with the C5 - I've had mine for over 20 years, and the only reason it doesn't get more use is that its drive is 120v....
--------------------
N11GPS Fastar
TOA-130S
MK66 Std
Vintage C5
Megrez II 80mm ED Triplet APO
SolarMax 40
NJP Temma II
Sirius EQ-G
ST8XE/CFW-8(LRGBHa)/AO-7/DF-2/STV Dlx/ST237a/350D (Unmodded)/Mallincam Color Hyper Plus/DSI III Color/DSI II Pro
Two not-spoiled Golden Retrievers - Maggie and Casey
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering. - Arthur C. Clarke
|
John Hoare
seantoir
Reged: 04/25/04
Posts: 8860
Loc: Area 14, Kildare, Ireland
|
|
Thanks Rusty, I'm expecting it to be a keeper. This particular one is sold in a spotter configuration with no mount and an erect image diagonal. I already have a GEM, an AltAz and a video camera tripod that it can be mounted on, which is just as well because the only other way the C5 is supplied currently is as the NexStar 5i and I don't want it in a GOTO configuration.
--------------------
John
Watery Glebe
Puddlestown
Co. Kildare
Chaos is the rule of nature
Order is the dream of man
Henry Brooks Adams
IFAS
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
|
I had a C5 for awhile back in the 80's, it is a good compromise between deep sky and planetary. It was lightweight, and I used it on a heavy duty photo tripod, which worked pretty well. Great portability and good general purpose views.
|
John Hoare
seantoir
Reged: 04/25/04
Posts: 8860
Loc: Area 14, Kildare, Ireland
|
|
With a camera it'll also be good for terrestrial scenic shots.
--------------------
John
Watery Glebe
Puddlestown
Co. Kildare
Chaos is the rule of nature
Order is the dream of man
Henry Brooks Adams
IFAS
|
John Hoare
seantoir
Reged: 04/25/04
Posts: 8860
Loc: Area 14, Kildare, Ireland
|
|
The delivery: not in stock here, not in stock in the UK. It'll probably take a couple of weeks to arrive from Celestron, but hopefully it'll be worth the wait.
--------------------
John
Watery Glebe
Puddlestown
Co. Kildare
Chaos is the rule of nature
Order is the dream of man
Henry Brooks Adams
IFAS
|
Ken....
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/22/04
Posts: 1005
Loc: Nashua, NH, USA
|
|
Can anyone comment on the Lomo Astele 133.5?
Thanks.
--------------------
Ken....
Discovery 10"
|
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
[Re: 
Edit
Reply
Quote
