What could be more enjoyable than observing on the fly, whenever you want, even when the skies are not the best. I have in the past maintained that large binoculars are the best for these sorts of observing, but have always yearned for a more in depth look at some objects, some which require UHC type filters. I used to have the Orion StarBlast, which I am sure would have served a similar function. Alas I had to let it go when I moved from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere. I should have never let it go. It now goes for a whopping $199, not inclusive of taxes. I am not inclined to go out and buy another one, seeing how I got mine for $139 (it was a floor model). The Astroscan is even worse as they are now selling them for over $200! And the Astroscan is not even nearly half as good as the Starblast as it cannot be user collimated!
Enter the realm of the table top scopes from Orion and Celestron. These scopes, the Celestron Firstscope 76mm, Orion Fun Scope 76mm, Orion SkyScanner 100mm and the Orion GoScope 80mm and Orion StarMax90mm scopes all have one thing in common...they are extremely light (all under 6.5lbs), rather well equipped (with the exception of the Celestron that does not come with a finder but otherwise they all come with two eyepieces), come on super stable mini dobsonian mounts, are super small and are all under $100 (with the exception of the Orion Go Scope 90mm which retails for $199). Gone are the days of rickety tripods and handknobs. Well these scopes still do exist, but for the absolute beginner and for the time pressed advanced astronomer, the mini dobs are a whole heap better. I have gone through so many grab and go scopes, 80mm and 100mm short tube achromatic refractors on fluid pan head tripods (I much prefer large binocs on such tripods compared to these scopes) and find these mini dobs to be heaps better. And for the price who can fault them. These are the "throw in your car boot/bag" scopes.
Seeing how I could purchase a used Celestron Firstscope with the full accessory kit for less than the whole scope new, I jumped at the chance. And boy did I not regret it! I have now had several "on the fly" grab and go sessions. In the beginning I had problems finding a suitable place to sit to observe, seeing how I had to dodge the light fittings in my compound, as well as find a bench to sit on. The benches get moved all the time depending on where the trees lie. I had major problems finding and bech that did not have an obstructed sky. Plus I did not want to buy a plastic table and chair. That would just defeat the whole grab and go concept! Enter the playground castle/slide, whatever. I found I could use my lil baby scope on the highest level where the slides start and sit one of two steps down so the scope would be at a comfortable height. While using the straight through finder was literally a pain in the neck, I found that by getting the scope in the general region, I could find stuff as the scope can do very very low magnifications. With this setup I can just scan the skies and then zoom in using higher powered eyepieces. I get the best views of M42, the Orion Nebula, M45, The Pleiades Cluster and double cluster using my 6mm Radian giving 50X. Plus the scope has enough in the way of light gathering to use the NPB filter effectively....can you tell I am so loving my newest grab and go setup ;)
