Scope downsize

Hi all,

I’m finding myself in a (unfortunately) common situation of a “early forced retirement” while my wife is preparing for grad school. The bottom line is my well loved (and used) LX-10 is way to large for my projected future life style (and in truth it was getting to be a pain to set up anyway). So now I’m in the process of “trading down” to a smaller scope that must be able to hibernate in a closet corner in what may end up as compact student housing for the next few years.

I don’t want to rekindle the seeming never ending “Cats vs. Refractors” or “DOBs vs. Cats” threads but would like some feedback on small footprint scopes that involve minimal setup efforts. What I want is at least a 5 inch aperture and easy to carry (possible down stirs) to transport to a dark site. Area contenders range from USC in LA (not renown for dark skies) to Cornell in Ithaca NY (small town in the mountains – probably OK skies).

Right now I’m leaning towards trading “even” for something down the lines of a Celestron G5 on a EQ 3 mount. GOTO is nice but not requirement, just want a utilitarian setup that works well. Figure an older LX-10 with a adjustable field tripod and Magellan I DSC would be a fair dinkum trade for a newer, smaller setup.

Your thoughts?

Tom Mengel said:

Hi all,

I’m finding myself in a (unfortunately) common situation of a “early forced retirement” while my wife is preparing for grad school. The bottom line is my well loved (and used) LX-10 is way to large for my projected future life style (and in truth it was getting to be a pain to set up anyway). So now I’m in the process of “trading down” to a smaller scope that must be able to hibernate in a closet corner in what may end up as compact student housing for the next few years.

I don’t want to rekindle the seeming never ending “Cats vs. Refractors” or “DOBs vs. Cats” threads but would like some feedback on small footprint scopes that involve minimal setup efforts. What I want is at least a 5 inch aperture and easy to carry (possible down stirs) to transport to a dark site. Area contenders range from USC in LA (not renown for dark skies) to Cornell in Ithaca NY (small town in the mountains – probably OK skies).

Right now I’m leaning towards trading “even” for something down the lines of a Celestron G5 on a EQ 3 mount. GOTO is nice but not requirement, just want a utilitarian setup that works well. Figure an older LX-10 with a adjustable field tripod and Magellan I DSC would be a fair dinkum trade for a newer, smaller setup.

Your thoughts?

If you were talking a 12-inch Dobsonian, it might be different. Frankly, an LX10 is not much larger nor does it take up much more room than what you are proposing (you don't have to keep it in a case, etc., you know).

You won't like going from 8 to 5-inches if you are a reasonably serious observer. Casual observer who likes to peep at the Moon once in a while? A C5 is fine. I do suggest you get the OMNI XLT, as the EQ3 is really insufficient for the scope to really shine.

Again, not much space saving with either, though.

Tom
Your 5" limitation rules out the nice 4" APO refractors available. With an alt-az mount, these make a very portable setup.

Tom:

My two cents here...

If you are going to disassemble your scope in order to store it, then a 5 inch scope will take up less space than an 8 incher. But if you plan on leaving the scope assembled and ready to go, then you won't save you a lot of space by going to a 5 inch. And as Rod says, the difference at the eyepiece is significant.

Facing your question realistically is difficult for those of us with storage room to spare. I try to ask myself, were I faced with this situation what would I choose? My mind keeps coming back to a Truss DOB. When we are traveling in our 26 foot motorhome, space is indeed at a premium and yet with it's 20"x20" inch foot print and a height of less than 2 feet disassembled and the pieces nested, my 12.5 inch Truss DOB does take up a minimal amount of space and stores nicely in a convenient corner. In a car it takes up the space of one passenger.

Such a scope would be out of your price spec but something smaller like an 8 or 10 inch Lightbridge is not much larger, the primary difference is the round vs square foot print of the base and might do the job nicely. Hauling it up and down the stairs might be an issue. A tube DOB could sit in the corner nicely too...

Otherwise, if you are going to disassemble it, a more modern 8 inch SCT on an ALT-AZ mount could be a reasonable choice. The scope and forks in a case, the tripod folded in a corner...

Otherwise, when space is really at a premium, tent camping in a small car, I generally choose a 4 inch refractor on a Portamount. The advantage over the C-5 is the efficiency and shorter focal length allows for wonderful widefield viewing.

A final thought... what field is your wife in? Find a university with a reasonable astro club...

Just my two cents...

Jon

I just put together a C8/CG-5 setup that is surprizing light and portable for what you get. I leave it set up in the garage and move the whole thing to my front yard for home use, but broken down it all fits into the back seat of my Corolla for travel to star parties.

I would give up the electronic toys of convenience long before aperture. Think short Dob. Truss system if storage space is an issue, solid tube it set-up time is the issue.

Tom Mengel said:

Hi all,

I’m finding myself in a (unfortunately) common situation of a “early forced retirement” while my wife is preparing for grad school. The bottom line is my well loved (and used) LX-10 is way to large for my projected future life style (and in truth it was getting to be a pain to set up anyway). So now I’m in the process of “trading down” to a smaller scope that must be able to hibernate in a closet corner in what may end up as compact student housing for the next few years.

I don’t want to rekindle the seeming never ending “Cats vs. Refractors” or “DOBs vs. Cats” threads but would like some feedback on small footprint scopes that involve minimal setup efforts. What I want is at least a 5 inch aperture and easy to carry (possible down stirs) to transport to a dark site. Area contenders range from USC in LA (not renown for dark skies) to Cornell in Ithaca NY (small town in the mountains – probably OK skies).

Right now I’m leaning towards trading “even” for something down the lines of a Celestron G5 on a EQ 3 mount. GOTO is nice but not requirement, just want a utilitarian setup that works well. Figure an older LX-10 with a adjustable field tripod and Magellan I DSC would be a fair dinkum trade for a newer, smaller setup.

Your thoughts?

Perhaps a 6" f5 newt on an alt-az mount. Tripod rather than table top type, as table toppers are only as stable as the table.
It's not an 8". But does resolves more than 4".

Just a quick thanks to all who suggested/advised my situation.

As I do have a old (home made) steel 8 inch F5.6 DOB that sort of duplicate a LX-10 (parked in a friends mountain home for now) I will go for the 5 inch Celestron on a EQ 3-2 mount until such time as I can afford and have space for a bigger light bucket.

Again, thanks for all the feedback. Dark skies to all.