Going Grab-and-Go

One of the new trends in amateur astronomy is the grab-and-go telescope.   Instead of a behemoth that takes an hour to set up, you settle on some nights for a scope on a lightweight mount that you can just pick up and carry out.  This is also attractive for public astronomy where you go somewhere to share the night with friends or the general public.   It simplifies transportation a lot.

My Televue-85 is almost in that category.   I use it on an Orion EQ1 mount, which causes laughter in some circles.   It is the equivalent of a Porsche on bias-ply tires.

I take the mount out separately from the Televue-85 because it is a hideously expensive piece of optics.  If I drop the mount,  it likely will experience no appreciable damage; it only cost about $200.

I am going to be doing some public astronomy in Nevada next month.  Tonight. I was verifying that the mount tracks the sky adequately with the Televue-85 and its weight on it.  It does.  Jupiter was my test subject.  At 30x, all four Galilean satellites were easily visible.  At first,  I was disappointed at Jupiter.   But there was just too much sky glow.  As it darkened, several cloud bands appeared. 

My left eye is noticeably inferior in resolution, even with corrective lens.  My ophthalmologist says it is a fundamental aspect of the retina and is not correctable.  I am reflexively used to observing with my left eye.  I have to consciously use my right eye.

The downside of this cheap mount is that even a little vibration starts and it takes a whole to calm down.  The mount that I am building will not have that problem.