Travelling: Portable and cheap telescopes.

[Jaq1967]

Scotland was not my choice. It was my wife and my dog. I got out voted.

Here:

[pakarinen]

And I bet the dog abstained...

[Richard]

I bought this:

https://www.tringastro.co.uk/sky-watche ... 3865-p.asp

sky-watcher-startravel-80-tabletop-telescope-3865-p.jpg

Sky-Watcher StarTravel-80 TableTop Telescope
Sky-Watcher Startravel-80 TableTop Telescope
80mm (3.1") f/400 REFRACTOR TELESCOPE on Table Mount

​​​​​​​Magnifications (with eyepieces supplied): X16, X32, x40, x80
Objective Lens Diameter: 80mm
Telescope Focal Length: 400mm (f/5)
Eyepieces Supplied (1.25"): 10mm and 25mm
X2 Barlow Lens
90° Diagonal Mirror 1.25"
Red Dot Finderscope
Table-Top EQ1 Mount
Tripod Bush for Photo-Tripod Mounting
Soft Carrying Bag

...with a bag!!! All for £106.00 (free post). Seems like a bargain.

Now, we mentioned the diagonal was an issue. What would be a good, reasonably priced, upgrade to that supplied?

Jaq

Yes that is quite cheap and portable you will need a table obviously , me personally I would rather get some better eyepieces like the celestron Xcell lx for example than spend money on a better diagonal , you will gain very little with a slightly better one but hugely with the better eyepieces

[Bigzmey]

I bought this:

https://www.tringastro.co.uk/sky-watche ... 3865-p.asp

sky-watcher-startravel-80-tabletop-telescope-3865-p.jpg

Sky-Watcher StarTravel-80 TableTop Telescope
Sky-Watcher Startravel-80 TableTop Telescope
80mm (3.1") f/400 REFRACTOR TELESCOPE on Table Mount

​​​​​​​Magnifications (with eyepieces supplied): X16, X32, x40, x80
Objective Lens Diameter: 80mm
Telescope Focal Length: 400mm (f/5)
Eyepieces Supplied (1.25"): 10mm and 25mm
X2 Barlow Lens
90° Diagonal Mirror 1.25"
Red Dot Finderscope
Table-Top EQ1 Mount
Tripod Bush for Photo-Tripod Mounting
Soft Carrying Bag

...with a bag!!! All for £106.00 (free post). Seems like a bargain.

Now, we mentioned the diagonal was an issue. What would be a good, reasonably priced, upgrade to that supplied?

Jaq

This is a nice package, congrats!

[Markmjm]

And I bet the dog abstained...

[Ylem]

I travel with either my ST80 or my C90 mak. Both work on my decent photo tripod.

Don't over look binoculars, they come in handy for daytime sightseeing also

[AbbN]

Well I have both the wide field ST80 (great for clusters) that's been mentioned and a narrow field Orion 102 Mak (great for planets, double stars and the moon) . Also I don't use the lenses that came with these scopes as I have better ones What you go with depends on what you want to observe .

Good luck with whatever route you take.
Abb

[helicon]

Congrats on the new gear. I hope you have some fun with it.

[Lady Fraktor]

The GSO 1.25" dielectric is a good step up from the stock diagonal.
Agena Astro has them for $68USD

[Sky Tinker]

With all kits at that price-point, all of the accessories may be questionable.

It's important that the diagonal be a star-diagonal for use at night, and that's what the included diagonal appears to be. If you want a diagonal for use during the day, for terrestrial use, and to view images right side up instead of upside-down, then you would need an Amici-prism, erect-image diagonal...

https://www.tringastro.co.uk/celestron- ... 1034-p.asp

If you want to replace the kit's star-diagonal... https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/an ... l-125.html

[pakarinen]

Haven't read the product page, but your description mentions a tripod bush(-ing?). I think that's a really good thing to have - it'll give you the option of using a lightweight tripod when and if you care to do so.