$50 Orion 60 mm

Eventually I hope to get a small short-tube refractor for travel, daytime, wide-field, etc, not yet sure about going the ultra-cheap Apogee route or saving up for a decent one some day way off in the future. But then I see this Orion 60 mm long tube for $50 complete, and even with $75 worth of accessories. Can those standard alt-az tripds be adapted to anything else? The tripod and accessories alone seem almost worth it. The narrow field and low quality would limit its astronomical use, but the thought of having a cheap scope for kids and scouts to play with, and maybe for daytime use, is intriguing. Or it is just a bad idea because the scope itself is completely worthless? I already have a minus-violet filter.

IMO, forget the little refractor and buy a decent set of 8x42 or 10x50 binocs. I have a great set of 8x42 Carton Adlerblick and Nikon Action Extreme 10x50 binos and they are wonderful for everything you listed. I also have a monopod that I keep in my car, helps steady out the views for long time birding

Binoculars have their place, no doubt about it. But they have significant limitations, especially when they are used by a group of people. Setting up a scope and pointing it at a target allows the entire group to see it at once. The limited magnification is another difficulty. Binoculars cannot show the rings of Saturn not the cloud bands of Jupiter...

Long tube 60mm refractors on those shaky mounts are fun to play with but that $99 Apogee Inc 80mm scope is a far better choice IMHO. I had the previous version and gave it away. Recently I had the chance to use it again.

Pretty nice scope, needed the same sort of tune up that the ST-80's do, focuser de-gooping and adjustment, objective ring loosing. Note too this scope has a plastic focuser.. But on a great night I have seen a shadow transit, split the double-double and yet of course it makes a nice wide field scope.

The mount is actually quite solid, far better than the ones that come with an inexpensive 60mm refractor...

And with the shorter 400mm focal length, it does a pretty decent job as a spotting/birding scope. Find a hawk resting on a tree limb a quarter mile away, this is a scope you can setup and the whole troup can take a close look.

Yes binoculars are nice and everyone ought to have a pair of decent binoculars, but the scope has so much more capability.

Regarding whether to buy an Apogee or save your money up for a good one:

Do both. When you have enough for a good one, pass the Apogee along to someone else, either as a gift or as sale.

jon

Thanks for your replies. I think there's a place for both a modest pair of binoculars as well as a small scope. Currently doing binocular research.

The cheap Apogee scope might not be a bad alternative until I can spring the $500 plus for a Stellarvue package, so I'll have to give that some thought.