Recommendations, for impossible to meet criteria

[Shorty Barlow]

An f/7, 102mm ED doublet refractor isn't going to be particularly light though in my experience. A slower (longer) one is going to be even heavier. The Starwave OTA (above) alone is 4kg. Adding a diagonal, finder and eyepiece can easily add another kilo. The Vixen Hal-130 tripod on its own without mount or pillar extension is 5.5 kilo.

[notFritzArgelander]

Any appreciable difference in the goto systems or idiosyncrasies in use and setup or is it simply a matter of which color you like best? Perhaps customer service is a differentiator? Thoughts on best options in the 5-6" realm?

On the rare occasion when I've needed to deal with customer service Orion has been better than Celestron.
Despite both being made by Synta the user interfaces of the goto systems differ and I find Celestron to be easier to use and less quirky.
Due to your preference for terrestrial observing Newtonians should be ruled out. Images from them don't erect well.
I'd recommend the 5" Orion Maksutov or perhaps a 6" SCT from Celestron but... I'm really fussy about image contrast and plain vanilla SCTs seem to throw up soft images. A refractor provides sharpest images period. A fast compact and easy to store refractor would have a short tube and false color. I'll get back later with concrete suggestions after morning tea.

Thanks for your help...so for the Orion, you are thinking the StarSeeker IV 127mm ( and a correct image prism diagonal for terrestrial) For the Celestron, the Nexstar 5SE or 6SE?

Yes. Exactly. If you've got a large enough closet, an ED doublet refractor might do but I need to look a bit. My SV ED80A is a brilliant scope. It's no longer available due to thin profit margins but is the most optically perfect scope I've looked through in 65 years observing. The budget would need to be $$$$ for scope and goto mount. Many folks like plain achromatic refractors just fine and they are more economical. My Orion ST80 is a very nice performer on DSOs for instance. I use it for that and white light solar observing (properly filtered for safety!). Because of false color issues I hesitate to recommend it for terrestrial viewing compared to a Mak or ED doublet though.

I suppose I should roll out and greet the day. Later....

[Sky Tinker]

The images through the Orion 4.7" Maksutov would be somewhat sharper than through the Celestron 5" or 6" Schmidts.

In so far as an Amici, erect-image 45° diagonal, this one has the largest aperture, and at 25mm...

https://agenaastro.com/william-optics-1 ... gonal.html

If daytime/terrestrial use is important to you, that's the one to get; or the Baader at 24mm...

https://agenaastro.com/baader-1-25-90-a ... 56150.html

The ones provided with telescope kits are at about 18mm; for example...

https://agenaastro.com/celestron-1-25-4 ... gonal.html

You may also want to upgrade the star-diagonal included within whichever kit you choose, and a star-prism for either, rather than a star-mirror. But at first the one included with the kit should serve.

If the atmosphere is cooperative, and the telescope acclimated, you should be able to see the shadows of Jupiter's moons cast upon the planet's surface, even.

I have three binoculars, and I rarely if ever bring them out at night.

[notFritzArgelander]

OK here is an ED refractor option. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a complete package out there.

Most economical OTA is the Orion ED 80mm f7.5 which I've owned and a daughter expropriated.
https://www.telescope.com/Orion/Orion-E ... p/9895.uts

But you still need eyepieces and diagonals. Sky TInker's recommendations are good on that score, to be sure.

The Star Seeker IV goto mount could handle this OTA:

https://www.telescope.com/Orion/Orion-S ... 113920.uts

Using the same mount one could go for an OTA with better fit and finish like this Vixen:

https://www.vixenoptics.com/Vixen-ED80S ... p/2617.htm

It has a flip mirror so you can attach a camera to one port and view through the other. But you still need eyepieces, diagonals, a finder.....

The optical design of the Vixen and Orion is the same (it originated with Vixen). Both are made now by Synta in China. Vixen's customer service is excellent.

But I still think that the 127mm Mak is the best least fussy way to go. Sometimes folks say that Maks aren't good on DSOs because of the high magnification. That is readily fixed with a focal reducer that halves the magnification. I use this one on my Maks and it works great.

https://agenaastro.com/gso-1-25-0-5x-focal-reducer.html

[Shorty Barlow]

I'm with nFA on the ED80, you can get the Sky-Watcher version with a case, finder and mirror diagonal. It balances beautifully on a Sky-Watcher AZ5 mount/tripod. I also agree about the 127mm Mak (see my current avatar).

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksut ... eluxe.html

These WO Amicis are good as they have a fine focusing helical, something I prefer on Mak's.

https://agenaastro.com/william-optics-1 ... 125ii.html

[GCoyote]

Maybe a 102mm refracting scope. I had a 90mm spotting scope for a few years. I had it set up in the living room and used to look at the Golden Gate bridge and the container ships and sail boats going in and out of the Bay plus the City and the Marin headlands. Also worked well on objects like the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and bright nebulae such as M42 in Orion...

Very similar experience. I have a 90mm Maksutov that I left set up over the holidays just to watch the wildlife at our feeders. It's short enough not to be in the way and I just tossed a towel over it when not in use.

[Shorty Barlow]

I wouldn't rule out something like the Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED DS-Pro OTA.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-se ... o-ota.html

I have one of these which is usually mounted on a Vixen Porta II/APP-TL130 combo.

I had 210x on the Moon once with this. I'm pretty sure it would be good for ducks.

[smp]

If money is no object, there is always the Questar. The Duplex model will work fantastically for terrestrial viewing and the fork mount is used for astronomical viewing. The Q3.5 is amazingly portable, advertised as an observatory in a box. And, it arguably has the finest optics that can be had in a 3.5 inch aperture.

smp

[OldGaot]

I'm not sure why you'd want a scope of around 130mm ~ 150mm for predominantly terrestrial viewing. Whatever you get it's going to have to have a mount and tripod that can carry it. This won't make it particularly portable. Unless you get a Dobson mounted Newtonian. Which in my opinion are awkward enough for astronomical viewing, let alone terrestrial viewing. Might be OK for viewing distant molehills or short ground based ducks. I'd have thought a spotting scope would be the most practical.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/acuter ... scope.html

Transport, for the most part, will be taking it out of the closet out to the den or out onto the deck, maybe 20'. My thought is to keep everything pretty much assembled... just fold up the tripod and put it in the closet when not being used.

[OldGaot]

If money is no object, there is always the Questar. The Duplex model will work fantastically for terrestrial viewing and the fork mount is used for astronomical viewing. The Q3.5 is amazingly portable, advertised as an observatory in a box. And, it arguably has the finest optics that can be had in a 3.5 inch aperture.

smp

No doubt a great option, based on the little research I've done; however, given my rather fuzzy criteria and use, I'm not up to spend that kind of $.

[OldGaot]

Maybe a 102mm refracting scope. I had a 90mm spotting scope for a few years. I had it set up in the living room and used to look at the Golden Gate bridge and the container ships and sail boats going in and out of the Bay plus the City and the Marin headlands. Also worked well on objects like the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and bright nebulae such as M42 in Orion...

I am kind of set on something with GOTo capability.

[Shorty Barlow]

I'm not sure why you'd want a scope of around 130mm ~ 150mm for predominantly terrestrial viewing. Whatever you get it's going to have to have a mount and tripod that can carry it. This won't make it particularly portable. Unless you get a Dobson mounted Newtonian. Which in my opinion are awkward enough for astronomical viewing, let alone terrestrial viewing. Might be OK for viewing distant molehills or short ground based ducks. I'd have thought a spotting scope would be the most practical.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/acuter ... scope.html

Transport, for the most part, will be taking it out of the closet out to the den or out onto the deck, maybe 20'. My thought is to keep everything pretty much assembled... just fold up the tripod and put it in the closet when not being used.

Which is why I thought a spotting scope of around 10cm aperture would have been the idea solution. Many spotters are sold with tripods that are deliberately designed with portability in mind. Slow motion mechanism controls would probably add extra weight to the mount and aren't usually a feature of dedicated spotter tripods as far as I can see. If the scope is intended to be used terrestrially for at least 80% of the time a photo tripod style 'pan handle' should be sufficient. Furthermore many spotter scopes are equipped with zoom-style eyepieces obviating the need to be encumbered with multiple extra eyepieces. You'll see the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn with a 102mm spotting scope, as well as distant ducks (sitting or standing). The field of view should be sufficient to find other astronomical objects and/or airborne ducks fairly easily.

[Shorty Barlow]

Maybe a 102mm refracting scope. I had a 90mm spotting scope for a few years. I had it set up in the living room and used to look at the Golden Gate bridge and the container ships and sail boats going in and out of the Bay plus the City and the Marin headlands. Also worked well on objects like the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and bright nebulae such as M42 in Orion...

I am kind of set on something with GOTo capability.

You could go this route:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/startr ... -goto.html

or

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-wa ... scope.html

nFA dislikes the ST102 but I find the CA isn't particularly visible in white light viewing at 60x and below.

http://scopeviews.co.uk/SW102.htm

https://roslistonastronomy.uk/tag/skywatcher-st102

I don't know how good it is on ducks though. My modified ST102 gets out a lot for rich field observing. If you want a fairly light 10 centimetre refractor it isn't bad. I'm pretty sure the OTA is under 3 kilo.

[OldGaot]

I feel myself slowly descending into the depths of analysis paralysis. So let's start slashing away. Looks like these are the main recommendations
Orion StarSeeker iv 127mm with goto at $700
Orion ED80 with the Orion Starseeker go to mount for $850 or
Vixen ED80SV @ $750 + $400 for the star seeker mount for a total of $1150
Celestron nexstar 6SE $700

What's the favorite?

(Also, can anyone tell me how wide the tripod is when fully extended...looks like I may be able to claim a small corner of the den as a semi-permanent location)
Thanks to all for your input!

[Shorty Barlow]

(Also, can anyone tell me how wide the tripod is when fully extended...looks like I may be able to claim a small corner of the den as a semi-permanent location)

I make my AZ5 58 centimetres between two of its legs at its retracted length and 86 centimetres at maximum extension. I don't know if this is typical.

[Lady Fraktor]

Between the Orion and Celestron you have listed I would go with the Orion.
Much better optically and comes the closest to giving a quality refactor like view.
The field of view is slightly smaller in the Mak than a SCT but the contrast is much better.

[Shorty Barlow]

The Orion (Synta) 127mm Mak looks like the best choice if you want a GOTO. Its 'sprightly' focal ratio of f/11.8 gives it a fairly good field of view for a Mak. The GOTO will have to have a power source though. I'm pretty sure the StarSeeker mount doesn't have manual clutches either, so I don't know how that will work out for terrestrial viewing.

[Shorty Barlow]

Powertanks:

https://agenaastro.com/celestron-powert ... 18777.html

https://agenaastro.com/celestron-powert ... 18774.html

[notFritzArgelander]

I feel myself slowly descending into the depths of analysis paralysis. So let's start slashing away. Looks like these are the main recommendations
Orion StarSeeker iv 127mm with goto at $700
Orion ED80 with the Orion Starseeker go to mount for $850 or
Vixen ED80SV @ $750 + $400 for the star seeker mount for a total of $1150
Celestron nexstar 6SE $700

What's the favorite?

(Also, can anyone tell me how wide the tripod is when fully extended...looks like I may be able to claim a small corner of the den as a semi-permanent location)
Thanks to all for your input!

The SS IV 127mm Mak.
On my SSIII retracted 25" between two legs, extended 40". I keep mine retracted to negotiate doorways.

[Lady Fraktor]

I feel myself slowly descending into the depths of analysis paralysis. So let's start slashing away. Looks like these are the main recommendations
Orion StarSeeker iv 127mm with goto at $700
Orion ED80 with the Orion Starseeker go to mount for $850 or
Vixen ED80SV @ $750 + $400 for the star seeker mount for a total of $1150
Celestron nexstar 6SE $700

What's the favorite?

(Also, can anyone tell me how wide the tripod is when fully extended...looks like I may be able to claim a small corner of the den as a semi-permanent location)
Thanks to all for your input!

I assume you mean the Vixen 80Sf? https://www.vixenoptics.com/Vixen-ED80S ... p/2617.htm
I am a Vixen fan so of course I would recommend it , the SV (Stellarvue) 80mm is also very highly recommended but then your budget will be going out the window very quickly