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r/telescopes • … • u/Fire_Fox1999

Doubt for a telescope grab and go set-up.

Hello, since two years I've been interested again in visual astronomy, at first I used my old Meade Polaris 127mm (yes, a pseudo bird-jones), later I purchased a used 8-inch dobson. The 8 inch is awesome, I have a bortle 4 area at 45min and a bortle 3 area at 2h and it performs perfect. But, I live in a city and my car is parked a 5 minute walk away. This doesn't seem a big issue, but due to traffic laws, exclusion area's,... I have to drive all the way around the city in order to pick up my telescope, drive back out of the city and then get on my way. This adds about 25 minutes to my travel time both to and from my observing locations. This added travel time is a pain in the ass and often is the reason I stay home.

I need another telescope, one that is small, lightweight and one that I can easily carry in one go to my car (about 8 to 10 kg max, and all small enough to fit in a large travelbag), thus eliminating the 25 minutes of annoying labour. An added complexity is the funds, at most, I'll be willing to spend 500 EUR on an OTA and mount.

Currently, my plan is to salvage the tripod from my Meade Polaris mount and put an SV225 mini mount on it.

When it comes to an OTA, I think the most realistic option would be a 102mm mak, but something in my mind does wonder if a small apeture APO (like a skywatcher AP 72/420) would be a better idea. I'd probably buy the OTA second hand.

With this setup, my main goals would be planetary, open and globular clusters and perhaps bright nebulae.

My questions:

1) is this a setup that would be logical, given my constraints?

2) what OTA would be best suited in your opinion?

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