Mark at Beaufort

Yes Stu I thought that was a great bit of kit when I viewed it last week at SGLX1. My only regret I was not around on Sunday for the clear skies. Good to see you again.

Derek the 35mm Panoptic is a fantastic eyepiece and it was wonderful in my 4" and 6" frac I had at the time. In the end I did a straight swop with a 26mm Nagler but I do regret not having it. Look forward to seeing you again at SGLX1 especially with all your new equipment. I looked 'finger on the button' at Chris Lock's 60mm Skylight f16.7 Frac but I am glad its gone to a good home. Are you bringing that to the star party or is it too much to bring.

Nick I really enjoyed my double star outing in Taurus. In some respects I wish I had kept my 180mm Mak/Cass

Chris - thanks for that. I will have a go with the Orion VX8 to see if I can separate.

Knowing that the Moon was going to wash out the sky I started to view double stars in Taurus. I planned my session using the Sissy Haas double star book and the Cambridge double star atlas. I started with Struve7 and Struve 401 which I understand is the double/double of Taurus. Struve 7 is mag 7.4/7.8 with Sep of 43.3" and Struve 401 is 6.6/6.9 and Sep of 11.2". Using my Astro Tech 4" APO and my Televue 8-24mm I could get both sets in the same FOV. Well worth seeking out. I then viewed Struve 422, 430, 427, 435 but failed with 7 Taurus (sep 0.7") although the other star in the system at 22" was easy. Others were Struve 38, Phi Tau. 59 Tau, 62 Tau, 65 Tau, Theta Tau, Sigma Tau and finally Tau Tau. At this stage the Moon was getting very bright making it difficult star hopping. So a good few hours of double star viewing although I must come back for 7 Tau - a difficult tight system.

Phil that is nice range of EPs. How are finding the new TeleVue DeLite EPs?

Derek that looks a fabulous scope with so much history. You have done a fine job restoring this Polarex Unitron. I remember looking at Sky and Telescope mags from the early 1960s and wishing I could afford a Polarex. Hopefully, you will be able to bring it to a future SGL star party to make us feel jealous. Look forward to reading further observing reports.

Nick some good advice on observing. I use a white marker board to make notes rather than paper and pencil. When I prepare the nights programme I list the objects on the marker board. I have also bought some nice plastic boxes to hold star atlas etc. What I have also found convenient is a quality music stand to hold the atlas which has a Rolson flexible twin red light bought from Maplins to illuminate the atlas.

Rob a wonderful piece of work - its a great read. Its great to have you back - I hope things will now settle down for you and your partner.

For some time I have thinking of improving upon the 25mm Antares plossls which I use in my binoviewers. I thought about the 25mm TeleVue as being the best option but clearly these new Vixen really look the business and provide a quality EP. I really must have a look at the 25mm to make sure that the main body is not too wide - I need to get my nose between them.

John a very enjoyable read and quality information as always. I recall at SGL9 you had these EPs with you and I thought that they looked a quality EP. at the time.

This is a great facility for astronomers so congrats to all those involved at FLO. It was great to have a demo from Steve yesterday at the IAS. I have bookmarked the site and it will save me looking at various sites to know whether to set up the scope.

Alan I had the 6mm, 9mm and 18mm Hutechs to try out. One interesting observing point was viewing the SN in M82 (2014j) - I could see some fainter stars with the 6mm Hutech than with my Ethos EPs - very marginal but an interesting point. I recall on one night (very frosty) I felt my eye sticking to the bare metal of the Hutech. I suppose if I ever bought an Ortho I would prefer one with a rubber eye cap. However, if the quality, contrast etc of the Delos is as good as an Ortho then I would buy the Televue - OK its more money but I need to I need to enjoy the viewing experience and not feel uncomfortable.

Alan you do produced some very enjoyable and detailed reviews. I bought a 10mm Delos to sit between my 8mm and 13mm Ethos and I have been so pleased with the quality and eye relief. At the moment to gain higher magnification I simply use a barlow but I am grateful to know that if I purchase a higher mag EP then the quality of the Delos is still the one to go for especially if it is close to an Ortho. I could try a Pentax but because they are so close and considering the focusing situation its best to stay IMHO with Televue. In the Spring I had the chance to use some Hutech Orthos (thanks to FLO and John) and they were very sharp but in the end I did like the very tight eye relief and the shorter FOV. Thanks again Alan it will help on future decisions on buying a higher mag EP. Hope the sky conditions improve in Bulgaria.