budget scope (1 Viewer)

Hi there, firstly hello I'm new here and pretty new to bird spotting on a more serious level. I've like the outdoors for years and injuries have meant that I need to enjoy the outdoors a wee bit differently from how I used to.
Anyway, sorry for this question as I know it might annoy a few folk but I'm really confused. I'd like a scope for bird spotting at my local nature reserve (swt - loch of the lowes). I used to just come with wee binoculars but the birds are too far away to see properly when out on the loch and even with my camera and it's 250mm lens, I still can't get a good look at them.
so I'd like a scope that would let me get closer to the birds, I may try digiscoping with it (but my expectations on how good the pictures would be are realistic) and perhaps might look at the moon and planets with the scope if it was good for that.
I don't have a great budget (I see £1000 is considered cheap!) ideally £200-300, I guess I could go to £400 if that was really going to make the difference. I thought I'd found something suitable a couple of times only to read a review saying it was rubbish. I was looking at the Acuter ST20-60x80A Water Proof 45° Angled Spotting Scope as it's got the nitrogen filling so it doesn't fog etc. I'm not too concerned about the scope being ultra lite as it's only going to go from the car to the hide.
I also looked at the Barr & Stroud Sahara 20-60x80 telescope and even tried pushing the budget as I saw it on ebay for £396 the Celestron Regal 80F-ED.
But each time I've seen a review saying it's not good.
Can anyone please help me?
Many thanks.
Les

My vote for the Regal ED.

em132 said:

My vote for the Regal ED.

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thanks for your feedback

I own the Regal 65 and It is a really good scope..It is very well built and offers very good image quality..The newer version of these scopes ,the M2 ,Is lighter, seems to have improved coatings and a faster focusser..The focusser and specially the weight reduction are welcomed improvements in the model, that is PRETTY heavy(due to a VERY robust design)...They use astro eyepieces,always a fun and versatile option to find the image that suits your liking ,or to reach the power you need.The Zoom eyepiece that comes with the scope is VERY good too,and the whole package is very well put together,includign camera adapters and all!,,you dont find this in many other brands..Even the box and padding is well put together..The scope can be shipped safely,due to high quality foam inserts(not to be overlooked if you are buying online ,for instance)that are customable and have room to store other eyepieces and accesories..kind of neat ..
At the price point that they are selling,(and even better if you dont mind to buy Used or to get the older version)I think they are a great option..

mayoayo said:

I own the Regal 65 and It is a really good scope..It is very well built and offers very good image quality..The newer version of these scopes ,the M2 ,Is lighter, seems to have improved coatings and a faster focusser..The focusser and specially the weight reduction are welcomed improvements in the model, that is PRETTY heavy(due to a VERY robust design)...They use astro eyepieces,always a fun and versatile option to find the image that suits your liking ,or to reach the power you need.The Zoom eyepiece that comes with the scope is VERY good too,and the whole package is very well put together,includign camera adapters and all!,,you dont find this in many other brands..Even the box and padding is well put together..The scope can be shipped safely,due to high quality foam inserts(not to be overlooked if you are buying online ,for instance)that are customable and have room to store other eyepieces and accesories..kind of neat ..
At the price point that they are selling,(and even better if you dont mind to buy Used or to get the older version)I think they are a great option..

Click to expand...

Thank you very much for your advice

I had a look through a Barr and Stroud Sahara 20-60x80 a while ago and it was very poor optically, nowhere near as good as the Camlink CSP80 I was using at the time. The Camlink was as good as a lot of other big name scopes, not ED, I've looked through. Maybe one to think about.