Telescope Reviews: I just upgraded my scope and all my eyepieces!

As tempting as eyepieces and other viewing accessories are, a couple recent threads had me increasingly unsatisfied with using a short stack of resin patio chairs for observing.

So I bought the Vestil CPRO-800. It's the one on Amazon for about $85 plus tax, with free two-day shipping through my Amazon Prime membership. I'd have sprung the extra dosh for a Starbound, but there was no way it would've arrived in time for an upcoming dark sky opportunity with the kids.

I had played a little with Jon Isaacs' Starbound when we got together a few weeks back. My Vestil's first light was last night, when the chair was delivered a day early. My short review, based on one night of observing with the Vestil and what I remember of the Starbound, is that the Starbound is better than the Vestil CPRO-800. It is probably worth the extra money, especially if you need to get low to the ground.

That said, I'm well satisfied with the Vestil. It's made in Japan, well-designed and nicely finished. It folds up very flat. Because the legs are offset when folded, it's easy to set up one-handed. And, the seat locks into place when folded.

I'm 5' 5, 145, with pretty poor balance. Even with the seat set to the highest position it feels rock solid, and the footrest is a major help in stabilizing myself when the seat is set high (I have short legs). The maximum height spec is 33", but I was able to get 34" out of it measured from floor to seat.

The downside is the downside: the seat lowers to about 18" (as specified and measured), twice as high (or half as low) as the Starbound's lowest setting. I have a short Mak-Cas on a tripod, but there were still a couple times I wished for maybe another two inches of down. Next time I'll set the tripod a bit higher!

Also, you must be careful not to hit the seat lock when you adjust the seat to the lowest position, because that will really peel the paint. The lowest position is just a bit above where the seat stops.

The way the Vestil's seat height adjusts is slightly different than the Starbound. Like the Starbound, you tip the seat front up to free it to slide up and down; it friction-locks in place when the seat is weighted. Like the Starbound, it is infinitely adjustable within its range. Unlike the Starbound, there's a detent so the seat sort of click-locks in position. On the one hand, the seat doesn't slide down if you bump into it hard. On the other hand, it's much harder to adjust the seat on-the-fly with the hand-under-seat buttlift method - you must raise your butt enough to actually click the seat front up before sliding it to your next desired position.

The Vestil's seat padding is much thinner than the Starbound's plush, thick pad. There's not room to permanently attach more padding because the top of the seat sits fairly close to the chair frame when folded.

The Vestil is available only in black, with a black seat. I'll put a few turns of red reflective tape on it, and that should help - I need to think about the placement a bit, though, because I don't want the tape to get chewed up by the seat being slid up and down. And I'll probably cover the seat with red vinyl first chance I get - it's just a matter of stapling it on.

Just having an adjustable observing chair made it a lot easier to see stuff. Being able to solidly sit at any height essentially upgraded everything I own. Including binoculars - I can just slide the seat down and lean back and have my head supported while I scan the sky.

It's the best 90-something bucks I've spent on astronomy gear so far!

EDITS: Added actual measurements and a few usage details.

Edited by John Kuraoka (02/13/13 11:25 AM)