Mark at Beaufort

Very nice Mark. What ha scope were you using?

Piero did you buy your Lunt from APM-Telescope direct or a UK based supplier?

Not sure John. I think I may have tried some of RikM Pentax EPs although I cannot remember what size or scope I was using. Food for thought.

John I cannot personally answer that. I bought the DS from a SGL member who stated that at a recent star party he was able to compare the PST DS with a Lunt 50mm and the surface detail was better with the PST DS although the image was darker. I think that is what he stated from memory. When I go solar observing I always use a purpose made black out cloth made by TH which makes viewing much better so although the view is darker it is still very good.

Yes Alan I could not believe the difference. I bought my PST in 2005 and this DS has blown the view out of the water.

Gerry I notice that Lunt now offer a 3.5mm, 5mm, 9mm and the 20mm which is the same range as the Myraid. Having been pleased with the 9mm and 20mm I have been thinking of changing my 4.7mm ES82 for the Myraid 5mm. If the Lunt gets reviews on the same lines as the Ethos range I will have to consider the Lunt 5mm as a possible alternative.

There are some excellent filaments on the Sun at the moment. I waited most of the day for the Sun to appear and now I have some clear slots. I fitted my recently purchased pre Meade Double Stack unit onto my PST together with a TeleVue 8-24 zoom. The difference this DS makes to the general PST is incredible - great surface detail with the filaments standing out against the solar background. A few nice Proms and nice activity around sunspot AR2664 together with 3 smaller filaments nearby.

Gerry I will be interested in your review. I can tell you that I did own a 21mm Ethos which I sold - mad decision really. I missed the wide field so I bought a 20mm Myraid which I really rate. In fact I have since bought the 9mm Myriad. Like you I enjoy DSOs and using an O-III on my 12" Revelation Dob and Orion VX8 Newt I cannot complain the views that I get. Certainly for the money the 20mm Myraid is an excellent buy. It will be interesting how close the Lunt is in comparison to the 21E.

Okay Gerry I understand your wishes. I also enjoyed this thread and I am sure many others as well. One of my favourite memories of a SGL Star Party was standing side by side with @John with him using his Mak Newt and I had a 6" Skywatcher PDS. We star hopped from one DSO to the other - brilliant night.

I agree with Scott. There are members on this thread that I admire and respect for their knowledge on scopes and I want them to continue posting information on their experiences. However, perhaps its time to put this particular thread to bed.

Okay Simon I cannot answer that although the attached document is interesting. However, all I can say is that I have owned Astronomik, Lumicon, Skywatcher, TS and Castell O-III filters and for me I just preferred the view given by my Astronomik. In fact I disliked the Skywatcher O-III and only kept it a few months and bought a second hand TS which was pretty good. Recently I had an interesting discussion with Alan at Skies Unlimited who found that many of his H.Beta filters had huge differences in their bandwith from the same company. He kindly checked about 6 different filters to give me a filter which met my needs. In fact he even offered to check out my Astronomik, Lumicon, Thousand Oaks filters to show their details. 2016 Nebula Filter Buyers Guide(2).ods

Simon whether there are new or old type Lumicon filters available IMHO you have purchased the better filter. I have even used the 1.25" O-III Astronomik filter in my 15x70 Apollo Binos and have had good views of the Veil (both parts) and the NAN so in your 14" Flextube it will be brilliant.

Really nice Peter - good to see your excellent images again.

Charl all I can say is 'fantastic'. I have just looked at Gong and your H-a photos are superior with only Learmouth in Australia coming close. Really well done.

Great report Doug. It is also interesting to note that Barnard's Star is also number 87 in Steve O'Meara's book 'Hidden Treasurers'. Doug was this one of your reasons for viewing this star?