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There definitely needs a nerd thread/page going by how many 🤣

You could fit a 2" to 1.25" step ring into the eyepiece to allow for 1.25" filter use:

After NEAF, before catching our plane home, we visited Al and David Nagler at their premises in Orange County. Together, they gave us a tour of their facility. We left with a renewed respect for what they do. Some thoughts, observations and learnings from our visit, in no particular order: Tele Vue is a family-run company headed by Al, his son David and David’s wife Sandy. Al Nagler’s enthusiasm, curiosity and drive are palpable and inspiring. He is not simply a figurehead. I have been pronouncing Nagler wrong. It is pronounced N’ay’gler (like Nay or Nay-sayer). Although, they pronounce coffee c’oi’ffee. So, hey, what do they know 😄 They are obsessed (in a good way) with QC! They will reject an eyepiece or telescope with the tiniest mark or imperfection. I noticed a rejected telescope dew-shield on the shelf with a barely visible, insignificant 2mm blemish in its anodising. I haven’t seen QC done to this level anywhere else. Tele Vue eyepieces must surely be the most copied—especially their Ethos series. There are now multiple copies of the Ethos. So many that, ironically, the copies are competing against each other! The Chinese copies are copies. They are NOT the same. They are made using Chinese equivalent glass types and optical coatings. (I wondered if one of Tele Vue’s manufacturers had been naughty, but no. The copies are not related in any way to Tele Vue or their manufacturers). People say copying is a form of flattery. I sense the Naglers disagree (and I don’t blame them). The building was explicitly designed for Tele Vue. I.e. entrances/exits are lined up so that when all the doors are open, they provide a very long path for optical testing. Their optical testing and assembly rigs are all made in-house! I didn’t take photos because I felt that wasn’t appropriate. But they were fascinating. I could easily lose a whole day playing! Tele Vue's staff don’t wear nuclear fallout suits or masks (neither do we when we test optics), but they are very strict about separating clean and dirty processes. Interestingly, though their eyepiece and telescope designs are modern, their admin and procedures are old-school—mostly pen, paper, and lots of cross-checking. I sense Al’s influence here. If it isn't broke, don't fix it. Whilst Tele Vue is known primarily for premium eyepieces, their telescopes are also designed, assembled and QCd in-house to a very high standard. The telescopes have benefited over the years from numerous incremental improvements in design, materials and glass. The NP101is astrograph has matured into an especially impressive telescope! We will add one to our demo stock, lend it to Gary Palmer for testing and then send it to our remote observatory in Spain. Tele Vue's focusers are also designed, assembled and QCd in-house. (For years, I suspected Starlight Instruments made Tele Vue's tubes, focusers, and hardware. But I was wrong. They are designed and assembled by Tele Vue). Tom (on the left of the group photo, behind David Nagler) does most of the telescope assembly. His enthusiasm for his role and the telescopes is palpable. Tele Vue will happily repair and restore a TV eyepiece or telescope, regardless of age. So if you accidentally damage yours, please get in touch with them or your supplier. Most members of the Tele Vue team have been with the company for many years (i.e., Tom has been with them for over twenty years). Rick (fourth from the left, behind Sandy and Al Nagler) has a wicked sense of humour and makes excellent ‘New York Black & White’ cookies! Tele Vue’s newest optical designer (not in the photo) mentioned that new products are in development. We are guessing that at least one will likely be released in the next month or two. We sincerely thank Al, David, Sandy, Rick, Tom, and their colleagues for the tour and hospitality. We look forward to seeing you again next year 🤗

Hello. Are you by any chance from the Netherlands? I'm trying to calculate the total cost of imports so I can plan my budget in advance

Great stuff. Anything on a mono version of the 585?

I turned the noise reduction dial of Graxpert 3 to "11".

Couldn't answer some of the computer stuff as just use a computer I don't analyse it.

The battery in the HC lasts for quite a while so no real concern of it loosing time or anything. When you plate solve in the air you can press the button sync to mount and I believe this aligns the mount model to the actual pointing location as calculated by the air. I've never felt the need to use this though.

@Louis D I have one 20mm 68deg from ES , was thinking to use it in a pair , sadly the lathe i've found only does 0.5/0.75/1mm thread steps and the ES has the standard 1.25" thread 27.5 x 0.6 so it'l have to wait. Probably going to 'upgrade' the binoviewer to 1.25" holders in the future but currently I'm playing with it as it is - and use eyepieces that come with 0.75mm thread with adaptors. EDIT: I was thinking at this type of adapters , iniatially wa looking at the click-lock but I did read that it sometimes does not hold the EP as intended and that the screw ones are safer.

I don't particularly like using it either, though it doesn't apply to the hem15, I've read someone blew the board in their gem28 by trying to connect directly to the mount. So I'll keep to manufacturer recommendations.

I was using the hand controller, I just never bothered putting a battery in the hand controller or setting up date/time on it - I thought that would all come from the Air... The air does set some info like location, but not all, it would seem. I object to setting up the hand controller. Having two sources of time and location information is very, very wrong and asking for trouble. But it is what it is.

pass the salt please

Same here. I also scored 99%. 0% scored higher (more nerdy), 1% scored the same, and 99% scored lower (less nerdy).

When I'm using my C6 F6.3 reduced the dovetail position is very similar to yours. I bought a vixen saddle clamp that has threaded holes in the underside, clamp that under the dovetail near the front and screw in stackable gimbal weights (they're 300g each) under the vixen saddle. Near enough good Dec balance.

It never occurred to me to ask but for clarification how exactly did you use the hem15 with the air without the hand controller? The usb connection and WiFi are contained within the hand controller.

Looking forward to the actual review of the 12".

So over a number of night ( a couple of hours here and there) i have managed to capture the soul nebula, its only 40 x 5 on each narrowband filter with OSC, Think this could do with a lot more data, but more than happy with it at the moment.

I mean, you probably could. Once 🤣

I agree, SX kit is superb, but always on the very expensive side, I have been waiting for them to bring out an IMX571 based camera, but now they are, I dare not ask the price…😮😮

Once mastered the eyepieces are very enjoyable to use, the feel wider than they are tagged.

The SX combined Autofocuser and Active Optics does look very interesting but probably very expensive. it would be interesting to know the bore.

Kostas have you checked all the relevant grub screws and Allen screws which position and hold the various plates of the clutch assembly? The video posted earlier in the thread shows these various screws and where they are located. I ask this due to your description that the brass worm gear is turning and it is tensioned against the teeth on the drive plate yet it's not moving the axis. To me it appears that the clutch is slipping and this could be due to the screws mentioned. Tightening the main tensioning nut on top of the assembly will have no effect due to this. I would watch the video and check the screws on yours at each disassembly stage. Good luck 🤞.

Thanks! I love prime imaging with planetary conjunctions

Yes I know ... sorry Central Europe.. it is cloudy, raining and even snowing 😄. At least I had ample time to put together and now to collimate.

My score is 99%