Any suggestions? (1 Viewer)

So...hard to tell and conditions add ambiguity (over 40x)....it's looking that way.
I suspect your lackluster ED might have a relatively short FL.
In other words, great for it's type but its type (short) cannot do the higher power.

I've been checking out a plain astro 70mm f/10 scope at higher power with
super-plossls scavenged from scrap binocs and flat-coating the interior.
It's pretty amazing. Over 100x easy.
The tripod vibration is a bigger problem.
The idea is, at high power (60x and up) even a short barrel doesn't have much FOV,
(so little to lose with the long one) and the long barrel has almost no chromatic or
spherical aberration. At f/6 or f/7 the spherical aberration almost disappears and
the chromatics steadily decline as the f/ratios go up. So you add 1-1/2 ft. to the
length and crush the aberrations cheaply, albeit with extra light suppression
(iris, flat coating tubes) The FOV at 90x doesn't seem much worse and the
weight is nearly the same as a spotter.
The question is: can I slew to follow the target well enough?

I think the alt-az at low elevations will turn out to be terrible.
Equatorial is way too slow.
A smooth sphere mount or something might be needed,
(the Astroscan base stuck in the middle of a refractor).
but I have enough to go looking at 1/2 mile for trials.

I'm thinking F/8 refractor would be awesome but it seems
they are all APOS. Wonderful, but those things cost a lot and they still
weight a bit much for using a faster-panning tripod.

Still some eagle-following experiments left to do...to see if this long approach works
at 300-700m. There are obvious issues closer in, but I have the 60mm spotter for
20-200m.

Thanks all!
Okay, then I'm going to buy a scope with ED glass, but the problem is now WICH ONE? The Barska one looks great, but for this price I don't know what to think...it may work well, but it's quite odd that costs far less than others. Definitely, it's not the best one, but I'll look for reviews when I get a moment. That Leupold with ED is confusing me too, it's quite expensive but, -apart of the zoom range- it doesn't look much better than the Barska...(maybe that's cause I'm not an expert haha)

About the Opticron scopes, the GS 665, the IS WP or the IS 70 R have a good price...how about them?

Btw, I got a DSLR camera so I'll be able to use it when I get the scope!

I have tried the Opticron 665. Excellent performance and a big selection of eyepieces to use with it. Price is around $1000 US if I remember correctly. Really a rarely mentioned high performer.

For what it is worth, I own the little Barska and the Opticron MM3 50 mm class spotters. You can see some comparison pics here....

http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=2945482&postcount=99

The full thread and comparative digiscope shots are here....

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=271495&page=5

Great pictures and interesting evidence! I was just plotting out how smaller aperatures
require less of an f/ratio to avoid aberrations. Combine that with ED and you've got
something stunning. I'm assuming finishing out at 36x is mainly a function of light.

I wonder how it does against the smaller ED APOs. Seems like...smaller and lighter for sure, for more $$.
Awesome travel size.

You might look at the Kowa 663/664 ED scopes. I think that at there price its probably got the least CA you will find and plenty sharp with great contrast. Ben at EO told me last week there is going to be some sort of Kowa sponsored sale in August plus they make a really nice 30X wide angle eyepiece that a lot of people like for pictures.
MY two cents and probably overpriced at that.
Steve

I would get a scope *only* from a reputable manufacturer such as Kowa, Leica, Nikon, Opticron, Swarovski or Zeiss. In your price range Opticron has several interesting scopes like the MM3, a good example of a nice, small scope. There's an Opticron subforum, have a look there. Note you can order Opticron from the UK no problem if necessary. Now that the Nikon wideangle eyepieces have become hard to find, I would buy the Opticron over the Nikon ED50 recommended here.

Do not buy any scope that's only available in the US. You may need service at some stage, and that's always a hassle if you bought the scope in the US.

Get a scope meant to used for birdwatching, not some refractor meant for astronomy. There are some (including some of *very* high quality) that may work fine. Most don't. And they're not waterproof (and thus also not dustproof). Forget about reflectors.

You'll need a decent tripod with a fluid head. Manfrotto is a well-tried maker and easily available in Europe. They're not perfect, but they're pretty decent and won't fall apart within a few months.

Hermann

Thanks all. I'll definitely buy a scope from Kowa or Opticron, and the MM3 seems to be a great option. I was considering the ED50, but I didn't know that Nikon eyepieces are hard to find, and that's another point in favour of the MM3. About the tripod, I already have one that will work well.