6 replies to this topic

[asaint]

Orion ST80 & Stellarvue Nighthawk

[werewolf6977]

Kinda interesting to see the more inexpensive scope doing as well as the author said it would. Gives me an idea.....

[spencerj]

I am not sure a 5.1mm eyepiece and a 2x barlow for 188x is a good test for a 80mm f6 achromat. 60x per inch of aperture on a light mount does not sound like fun.

I used to own a Celestron 80WA--essentially the same scope as the Orion ST. I replaced it with a William Optics ZS80--similar to the Nighthawk. I agree that there is very little difference between what can be seen with either scope, but to me, the views were much more pleasing (aesthetically) through the ZS80. For me, the difference in contrast is also worth mentioning; the sky just seemed darker and the images a little cleaner in the ZS80. But in the 7 months that I used my ZS80, I never even considered 188x. I would say 100x is about as high as you would want to go. For me, you get a 80mm achromat to insert a 19mm Panoptic and view the Double Cluster or M45 or M31. Give the design a chance to do what it does best.

Anyway . . . that is just my 2 cents. Thanks for the review.

--Jason

[Bandoblue]

I concur that 188x might be a bit much.

I bought an ST-80 as my first scope and have used it for 18 months now and enjoyed it on all sorts of objects. Under good seeing my sample clearly resolves all four components on the Double Double with a 6mm Ortho and 2x Orion shorty doublet Barlow for 133x. With the same eyepiece and Barlow I've split Castor A-B at 4.1" separation and also spotted the 8.8 Mag. Castor C component.

That said, I'd regard 133x as the outer limit of high power for this scope, appropriate for splitting doubles and not much else.

Where the scope really shines is on bright open clusters, star fields, and larger bright nebulae like M42. With a 13mm Nagler for 30x with a 2.7 degree field, the little ShortTube really shines.

It's a very capable scope for under 200 dollars, and it will be a long time before I exhaust its potential. I certainly agree that it offers terrific value for a very modest investment.

[erik]

nice review. i've always thought that the st80 is a vastly underrated little scope...

[John Kocijanski]

Nice. I had a ST80 beofre I got my AT1010. It was a capable scope for the money. I eventually decided to upgrade to the AT after looking through one. Compared to my ST the views seemed to have more contrast and were a bit sharper. I have been quite happy with my AT but would recommend a ST to anyone who is interested in an inexpensive travel scope.

[weezy]

I've found planetary viewing better through the Nighthawk. The ST80 has a bit more color, too. But what got me about the ST80 was that it had a whole lot less color that the 120F8!
Weezy