John

I'm not sure that this thread will go anywhere positive now so I think it's time to lock it.

36 minutes ago, Victor Boesen said:

Anyone that purchased these that has had an opportunity to get a first light with them? Would love to know some more about their performance!

I started a thread about them a few weeks back. It got deflected by those who were thinking of making their own version but there might be some useful information in it:

I have not as yet purchased or used any of these.

7 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

I'm afraid this would compound the issue.     🙂

That's where I have my counterweights and they work fine.

I realize that the optimum position for them would be on the lower tube opposite the focuser and finder but on my scope the weights would hit the mount uprights so I've put them on top of the tube and they work well:

Thanks Jeremy

Phobos should be straightforward at 11th magnitude but less than 1 planet diameter from Mars is going to be even harder than splitting Sirius I think !

Also known as the Orion Versago III:

https://www.telescope.com/Orion-VersaGo-III-Micro-Motion-Altazimuth-Mount/p/101903.uts

I've seen them at shows but never used them. 365 Astronomy used to sell it as well.

If only it was clear !

When planets have been close to the Moon I've found them outstanding to observe.

17 minutes ago, Don Pensack said:

The view of M8, M20, M17, M16, M42 are all better with a UHC than an O-III...

 

Agreed, but most of those are also visible and rather nice without a filter.

Looks like a pseudo-Masuyama to me. The Orion Ultrascopic range included a 15mm which looks identical to the one you posted:

5 elements as I recall.

University Optics probably ran a similar range for a while. Also available under Antares, Parks, Celestron brandings a few years back as well.

Decent eyepiece.

My understanding is that that the older X-Cel line of eyepieces are not as good as the newer X-Cel LX's but even so the F/10 focal ratio of the SCT should mean even a humble plossl should work well.

Some of my best views of Saturn ever were with a Celestron C8 (older one) and an 8mm Tele Vue plossl.

12 hours ago, Pixies said:

Thanks @John and @Don Pensack

I was looking at getting a UHC and Oiii. Both 2" - so probably one soonish and then the other later. 2 questions, please:

1. Is the NPB more similar to a UHC? And if so, which is better?

2. I know the Oiii is the one-to-have for the Veil, but is the UHC more general-purpose and perhaps get more use in the long term?

 

Sorry - that looks more like 3 questions!

Cheers

My understanding is that the NBP is a UHC class of filter.

My way of thinking about this is that a UHC enhances things which I can already see so that's a "nice to have". The O-III shows me things well that are practically invisible otherwise so that has been a tool that I have always wanted in my tool box.

There have been periods when an O-III was my only deep sky filter and I've not really missed not having a UHC. The UHC's that I have now don't get used all that much but the O-III's are regularly used and I would really not want to be without one. I know what I'd be missing

Knowing what I do now, the O-III would always be a higher priority for me than a UHC I I found myself with no deep sky filters.

That's my findings over the years given my observing preferences, scopes and skies. Yours and others may well be different though

It could be down to the seeing conditions, which have been rather mixed of late. Perhaps they were rather good when you recently had the Baader zoom in use and not so good when the X-Cel 10mm was in use ?

I would think that the optical quality of the X-Cel would more or less match that of the Baader zoom.

The 5mm and 3.5mm eyepieces will be giving too much magnification to be useful most nights I think.

I've moved this to the imaging section but left a link in the observing section where it was originally posted.

Hope that's OK

42 minutes ago, Stephenstargazer said:

Such a brilliant topic! Inspiration for any one looking for or wondering about what's out there.

I join late but have a few to add to this great list. First up are Desert Sky DSM and DS2b - made by Raoul with all CNC aluminium and SS fixings. Ball bearings and an assembly that can be stripped, adjusted cleaned and lubricated forever. The dollar and VAT needs to be kinder but prices are low for this quality. The 2b features separate clamps and friction controls and a smart eyepiece balance on the side or 2 scopes with collimation. Sadly sold that one but the DSVM has done 3 trips to NZ in hand luggage. The wand is my addition.

 

Lovely mounts and lovely scopes as well. Don't see many DSV mounts over here.

Lumicon diagonal as well - another rather unusual item !

General rule is not to shine a torch on your optics !

1 hour ago, Don Pensack said:

I'm not John, but I can tell you that while the NPB does a good job on the Veil, it is not the equal of a good 2 line O-III filter, which will show you more and with better contrast.

Narrowing the bandwidth in the blue green from 21-22nm to 12nm has a strong effect on contrast.

I am John and I agree with Don !

IMHO nothing is as good on the Veil as a premium quality O-III filter. A UHC helps you to see it when you otherwise might not. A good O-III gives you a target that you can study and explore over multiple sessions.

1 hour ago, wookie1965 said:

I would love a Ed 120 I would have to sell both my scopes and put money too you don't see many come up second hand. 

Thanks a lot John I really appreciate it. 

Paul 

No problem Paul.

The bortle 3 skies here in mid-Wales have been mostly covered in clouds. Just one night of observing so far

The daytimes have been mostly good though and the Cambrian Mountains really lovely in their early Autumn tints

Decent target here under bortle 5 skies. My 100mm scopes and up show the mag 13 star off to one side of it as well. Needs medium to high magnifications to make it stand out. 250x in the 12 inch dob is V.nice indeed

6 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

I really appreciate you for taking the time to go in to so much depth very informative, the chromacors do they have any influence on focusing in my not so much naivety it looks like an extension and therefore would influence focus I know I am more than probably wrong, would you suggest I get one for the Meade would it make the views better in you opinion. 

They don't affect focus position at all because they slide inside the drawtube of the scope. I did need to remove one baffle from the inside of the 150mm F/8 focuser drawtube to give the clearance needed for the chromacor though.

The challenge is finding them these days. It was a few years back that I got mine. They are like hens teeth to find now and expensive as well - probably £300 or more. They do really work though and are better than a filter because they actually correct the focus position of the light rays, ie: bring them to focus at very close to the same point, rather than filter them out. The correction of the spherical aberration is something that a filter can't do as well.

In all honesty it would probably be better to put the money towards something like an ED120 rather than try and find a Chromacor today.

7 minutes ago, Stu said:

.... never been bothered by a reversed image though so prefer the simple prism for maximum quality.

Me neither and ditto on the Baader / Zeiss prism.

Presumably those that are can't use newtonians at all ?

2 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

That Bresser looks identical to my Meade 127 I have heard god things about the Helios was that a good Frac and thank you for answering me really nice scopes.

Heilos was the brand name used by the Synta manufacturer before they used Skywatcher. Synta have made equipment for lots of other brand names including, for example, Konus and Saxon. Some of the latest Meade products look like they are made by Synta as well.

The Bresser 127L was pretty much exactly the same as the Meade AR5 and I'm sure they were made by the same manufacturer - I've had a Meade and apart from the logo's the scope was just the same. The objective in the Bresser was better though. I never got as nice images with the Meads AR5 as I did the Bresser 127L but I've put that down to sample variation.

The Konus 150 F/8 was the first scope that I used a Chromacor with. The Chromacors are optical adaptors correct chromatic and spherical aberrations that are commonly found to varying degrees in these chinese made refractors. Using Chromacor's with these larger achromats taught me a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of these scopes and also the impact that CA and SA have on image quality.

If think it's fair to say that using Chromacors eventually drove me to wanting ED doublets rather than achromats. This is one of the chromacor's that I had installed on the diagonal as it needs to be:

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

I think I need another Frac so I can post up something new,
Does that sound reasonable excuse for Mrs W?  Hmmmmm.......

Post some pics of your finders if they are optical ?

An ADC is the tool to use if it is atmospheric diffraction and it bothers you. Personally I don't use one.

The Feathertouch is in a different class again from the Moonlight - I have one on my LZOS/MB triplet. But the price tag is a heck of a lot I appreciate that.

I now have a Vixen R&P back on the ED120SS and find it quite OK.

Here are Vixen's instructions for tuning up their R&P focuser and if followed carefully, they do work well:

vixenfocuser.pdf

25 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

Is that first one mounted a Meade 127 or AR6 and the black one next two down is it a Cr6 John. 

Cracking scopes love those big Fracs 

The Meade is the AR6 152mm F/8. The black one is a Helios 150mm F/8 - later they got rebranded the Evostar 150 which is the last one pictured. I also had Konus 150mm F/8 at some point which was the same scope but without a collimatable objective cell.

That and a Bresser 127L with the Vixen ED102SS pictured below . I went through a lot of achromats over a relatively short period

A 2 inch wide field / low power eyepiece that will exploit the ST 120mm F/5 refractor capabilities will simply not be useful with the 127mm Mak-Cassegrain as far as I can see