Decent budget scope (1 Viewer)

Hello everyone.

Several years ago I picked up picked up a Meade 20-60x60 spotting scope and it has served me quite well however I feel that the image could be brighter, the image is soft over 45x and as with all zooms the apparent field of view is narrow at the low end. The last two issues at least are probably mostly down to the quality of the non-removable eyepiece.

With that in mind I would quite like to replace it with something a bit better. I'm thinking 80mm objective, a decent removable/upgradeable zoom and if possible the ability to use the 1.25" fixed focal length eyepieces I already have for my astro scope. However, budget wise at the moment I'm only thinking of around the £200 mark. Is it possible to get a decent spotting scope at that price or will there be too much false colour/fringing in a non-ED scope? Would I be better off looking at a 70/90mm Mak instead of a spotting scope?

Thanks in advance.
Dave

Probably not. It's hard to get a good image at 45x. You should be able to get something in 80mm. If you can find a used Pentax 80mm body, you can then spend time shopping for an astronomy eyepiece. Use the ones you have in the mean time.

At £200 you're on a bit of a tight budget. If it were me I would go for the Pentax PF65ED. Cracking little scope and your not missing out on much with the PF80ED. I have both and they are excellent.

Hi,

I would save up and look at the classifieds.

A 70 or 90mm Mak can be had for 200 quid or less but it's 750 or 1250mm focal length so the usual 24-8mm zoom will start at 31x or 52x and not offer a very wide field there. Fixed EPs won't either due to the 1.25" focuser.

If you really want to go astro, I would rather try to snag up a used baby ED apo, although the 80mm versions are usually beyond 2kg there plus you need a diagonal or prism and most have no photo foot, so extra weight for mounting it... But my Evostar ED80 gives a nice sharp view at 120x with a 5mm Nagler, although not super bright.

Another option is a spotting scope which can take 1.25" EPs. Quite a few can with an adapter, some can out of the box (Pentax, Celestron, TS Optics). Pentax is recommended but not cheap, the other two have many models in the lower and medium price ranges, some of the mid range models with ED glass aren't bad but are usually a bit bigger and heavier than the top dogs.

Joachim

jring said:

Another option is a spotting scope which can take 1.25" EPs. Quite a few can with an adapter, some can out of the box (Pentax, Celestron, TS Optics). Pentax is recommended but not cheap, the other two have many models in the lower and medium price ranges, some of the mid range models with ED glass aren't bad but are usually a bit bigger and heavier than the top dogs.

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Yes, this is what I was after, but only really so that I can use the same eyepieces in both scopes. If however, there is some reason why I would be better off not getting a scope that takes 1.25" eyepieces then it's not a deal breaker.

Is it fair to say a 65mm ED scope will perform better than an 80mm non-ED and that I should be on the lookout for a used 65mm ED from one of the above brands (although I don't see a 65ED on the TS website) so that it is closer to my original budget?

Pluraldave said:

Yes, this is what I was after, but only really so that I can use the same eyepieces in both scopes. If however, there is some reason why I would be better off not getting a scope that takes 1.25" eyepieces then it's not a deal breaker.

Is it fair to say a 65mm ED scope will perform better than an 80mm non-ED and that I should be on the lookout for a used 65mm ED from one of the above brands (although I don't see a 65ED on the TS website) so that it is closer to my original budget?

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I have a Pentax PF 65EDA f/s in the classifieds if you're interested. Comes with a 12mm fixed and 7 - 24mm zoom for £250 ex delivery. PM me for full details if you want to follow up..

Regards

John