John

APM scopes are very popular in the USA. More over there than here in Europe I think ! Markus Ludes (who runs APM) is a regular contributor to the "Cloudynights" forum. There are the APM ED doublets and the APM / LZOS triplets though - very different scopes with very different price tags.

I completely missed that you were talking about a reflector ! As has been said, Herschel Wedges should not be used with reflecting scopes.

Do you mean in terms of the light cone striking something internally instead of just the prism and filters of the herschel wedge ?

My TMB / LZOS 130 F/9 triplet is air spaced and cools reasonably quickly. 30 mins or so from the centrally heated house.

Interesting that you assess the AFoV of your TAL 25mm plossl at around 60 degrees. I've owned 3 of them over the years and they all had a different size field stop and therefore a different AFoV. The widest of mine was around 55 degrees I think and the narrowest around 48 degrees. All 3 performed pretty well.

I should have added that joining my local astro society has added a lot to my enjoyment of the hobby. A weekly "fix" of meeting other interested in the subject and learning more from expert speakers. The opportunities to share the hobby with others (either experienced or new to it) has been a great bonus

I've never lost the interest but I did have a period of a few years without a telescope when our children arrived. I'm glad that I realised long ago that keeping setups really simple with no technology / power / alignment needs was the way forward for me. I have owned a few GOTO setups but didn't really find that they did anything other than frustrate me. And keeping with simple observing has proved the best way for me to enjoy the hobby as well. The weather is probably the main "downer" now. Too much quality gear sat doing nothing for too long here I fear !

Very interesting report Mark. I used to have 3 of the Tele Vue Widefields - 15mm, 19mm and 24mm but these were in the 1.25" fitting. These were modified erfles I believe. Long out of production now though and replaced with the Panoptics which themeselves have now been around for a long time too ! The TV Widefields were specced as 65 degree AFoV eyepieces. Interesting to read about the other eyepieces too - I've owned a couple of the Tal 25mm plossls but not the others you report on.

The Mendip Hills and Exmoor are also good. I do most of my observing from my back garden though, which is not too bad.

The ES 92 17mm is a heavy eyepiece - 1.2kg. A little more even than the Ethos 21mm.

Bristol AS have open evenings at their observatory quite frequently (weather allowing !). See 2/3rds of the way down the website for info: http://www.bristolastrosoc.org.uk/www/index.php

As you have a decent 2 inch diagonal you might as well use it. You never know, you might come across a half decent 2 inch eyepiece at a bargain price sometime and want to see what those wider vistas look like. A good quality 1.25" diagonal will probably cost you £50 and that would get you a nice used Aero ED 2 inch eyepiece

Nice purchases Gerry I have the 17.4 and 14mm Delos and like them a lot I'm looking forward to comparing the 17.3 Delos with the ES 92 17mm which I've recently acquired.

I've managed (just !) to see the Horsehead Nebula a couple of times from my back garden which is on the fringes of a large town. I used my 12 inch dob and the Astronomik H-Beta filter to catch it. The target took a fair amount of practice runs and preparation before I managed to actually see it for the first time. Probably one of the least spectacular targets that I've observed in terms of what you see but I still feel that it's well worth "the chase" Here is the report I posted when I managed to see it, if it's of any interest: https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/304416-barnard-33-the-horsehead-nebula-at-last/ Your 20 inch under dark scottish skies should be made for such challenges !

Having visited the Lowell Observatory at Flagstaff a few months ago I feel strongly that these are really important heritage sites that must be preserved so that they can inspire future generations. Its good to see that the Yerkes Future Foundation have made progress in securing the future of the observatory and some of the instruments in it. I for one would love to visit the place if and when I'm in that part of the USA. Thanks for posting the link

It was great to meet you too Rob - glad you enjoyed the event

Thats a good description of how I generally go about things too If there is something specific happening I'll try and get that and then go onto explore (with a star atlas) a nicely presented piece of the sky. Maybe some diversions to some old favourites as well, depending on the season. Occasionally I come up with a little project and do that eg: one dark moonless night a while back I decided to try and see all the galaxies shown in the "Bowl" of the big dipper in the Sky & Telescope Star Atlas. That was a nice session with the 12 inch dob Wherever possible I try and end a session with a couple of easy wins just to end on a positive note. I don't like the feeling of packing away having failed to find something for the last 30 mins or so of the session.

Fair point John. The choice of eyepieces that ticks the right boxes here is a bit limited though.

I agree that the Nagler T4 22mm would also be a good option to consider. It might make the Baader Aspheric 31 look a little "ordinary" though

To make a Morpheus in 20mm or longer focal length it would need to have huge lenses to get the apparent field and eye relief that the Morpheus range have. It would also be somewhat more expensive than the current range and probably in the 2 inch format because of it's bulk and weight. I'm not aware that Baader has any plans for anything longer than the 17.5mm. Baader struggled to get the quality they wanted at 17.5mm focal length so that eyepiece was launched somewhat later than the others in the Morpheus range. Looking at whats around with the eye relief and correction you want maybe a 22mm Vixen LVW would do . This is a really good quality eyepiece with a 65 degree AFoV, 20mm of eye relief and is in the 1.25 inch fitting. Not sure if it's Dioptrix compatible though.

I'm wondering if there are some other factors at play here @bluesilver said that he previously had a 10 inch dobsonain which seemed to top out at 120x before things got fuzzy. Maybe some localised issues that are affecting seeing conditions ?

Yes, when you switch the drive system on, the handset should startup. I don't think there is a further on / off function on the handset.

Was this all bought new from a vendor ?

I was referring to more localised factors such as proximity to water, height above sea level, etc.

I think dewing depends to some extent on location. At home I hardly ever have dewing problems with my refractors but at my society observatory (about 6 miles from my home) I need to use dew shields. SCT's and maksutovs need dew prevention even at home though. My Kruppax tubed 130mm frac seems to be totally immune from dewing - apparently something to do with the properties of Kruppax.