Greetings- I have the pleasure of living in Central FL and have a distant, unobstructed 2nd floor balcony view of Launches from KSC. Been wondering if a nice tripod mounted spotting scope might enhance my views. I am about 50 miles away from the Cape, as the crow flies.
May also like to check out wildlife on camping trips with same unit if possible. Recommendations and consideration please.
Thanks
-Edsel

Pick a price range,any price range.
A. $400.00 - $800.00
B. $600.00 - $1000.00
C. $ 900.00 - $1,700.00
D. $1,500 - $2,400.00
E. More

Edselbutler,

Also keep in mind that looking through 50 miles of atmosphere will engender a lot of distortion from heat, etc. This more pronounced as magnification increases.

Just want to make sure your expectations are realistic so that you won't be disappointed. Might want to see if you can get your hands on some high powered binoculars that you could tripod mount as a sanity check first before popping $$$$ on a quality spotting scope.

Okay, thanks. I have no experience with this and was not sure if one would be practical under the conditions stated. I don't mind spending $$ on quality products.

quote:

Originally posted by Edselbutler:
Okay, thanks. I have no experience with this and was not sure if one would be practical under the conditions stated. I don't mind spending $$ on quality products.

Astronomers refer to atmospheric conditions that distort their ability to clearly see as "seeing." And they're looking closer to straight up through less dense air layers than you would 50 miles downrange at sea level.
(This site has good definitions of seeing and transparency among others: https://www.cleardarksky.com/ )

And then there's the quality of optics used to try to see bullet holes at varying range distances. Some instruments can, others can't; and are subject to heat mirage and other conditions that may make things basically impossible.

Spotting scopes are standard equipment for birding. I suggest looking around at some birding sites and getting feedback from those who use spotters on a regular basis. Many times they will also break down the optics in term of quality and price groupings to help you with making the best choice within a given budget as well as the pros and cons of individual spotters. The usual brands listed are Kowa, Meopta, Vortex, Nikon, Bushnell, Athlon, Celestron, Swarovski, Leupold, Leica and there are others.

Get the best glass you can afford, you won't regret it.

Agree about checking out birding sites. This is probably the best dedicated to binoculars and spotting scopes:
https://www.birdforum.net/forums/binoculars.112/

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Agree about checking out birding sites. This is probably the best dedicated to binoculars and spotting scopes:
https://www.birdforum.net/forums/binoculars.112/

Bald1, I just checked out the link you provided and want to thank you. I hadn't seen that particular forum before but there is a lot of information/opinions from those who use "glass" on a regular basis. Thank you again...

quote:

Originally posted by Sig Marine:

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Agree about checking out birding sites. This is probably the best dedicated to binoculars and spotting scopes:
https://www.birdforum.net/forums/binoculars.112/

Bald1, I just checked out the link you provided and want to thank you. I hadn't seen that particular forum before but there is a lot of information/opinions from those who use "glass" on a regular basis. Thank you again...

My pleasure. Glad to be of help. FWIW Bill Cook aka WJC who frequents there is a fountain of knowledge and experience. Long time optics expert, repairman, author, etc. And, like me, a retired Navy curmudgeon.

Bottom line:
If you can afford it, find a Televue 85 refractor and an altazimuth mount.
That scope is a "goldilocks" scope in terms of resolution vs portability. It was top-rated a few years back by the Cornell Ornithology Lab mega-review of spotting scopes.
You're not carrying it around, it doesn't need to be waterproof, so this astronomical-style scope would be fine without the frills.
New they are about $2500.
If you go to cloudy nights.com and go to the Classified section you can watch for one of these to come up for about $13-1500 (telescope only).

how portable?

Kowa makes an excellent spotting scope, that is portable

a lot of Service Rifle or High Power shooters use them

the TSN 7xx or 8xx series,



Unertl Team scopes are still around, and great for distance, but not really easy to take around,,,,

As mentioned, but something that receives little attention in these discussions is under what conditions a scope will be used.

I have some very high quality optics—binoculars, spotting scope, telescopic sights—and I live where the “seeing” is generally better than where probably 99% of the rest of the population does. None of those optics, though, will permit me to get crisp, clear views of anything 50 horizontal miles away. The nearest 14,000+ foot peak in my neighborhood is about 10 crow miles from my house and my Swarovski spotter and the Tele Vue scope I owned several years ago make/made it possible to see hikers on its peak (farther and better with the Tele Vue, of course, but...). Even on the clearest days, though, the view is distorted by heat waves in the atmosphere. Looking straight up at astronomical objects is much better, but that’s because there’s a lot less than 10 miles of dense atmosphere to look through.

One thing about birding for which my Swarovski scope and binoculars were very highly rated is that the viewing distances are usually much less and therefore the quality of their superb viewed images isn’t significantly degraded by the atmosphere. Looking into a shaded forest area to see the color of a feather at 50 yards is far different than even viewing a 100 yard shooting target from the prone over bare ground on a hot (or even not-so-hot) day.

None of that is to suggest that you shouldn’t get a scope, and the best you can afford at that. Regardless of its quality, though, there’s no way it can perform viewing miracles through difficult air, and you shouldn’t be disappointed when it doesn’t.

Thanks sigfreund. You did a much better job of explaining the issues inherent in using optics to see 50 miles downrange than I did.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Thanks sigfreund.

Wordy as usual (and which seems to annoy some people for some reason).
But sometimes wordy examples and explanations are helpful for people who don’t have much experience with the topic.

From you, we like wordy!
That was a great explanation. And I use a Kowa for birds, too, even though I have the TV-85.