RobertI

Thanks Louis I will try that.

Yes it was more like V shaped stars which changed shape when changing focus. It was only the very edges but I shall double and sketch if useful.

It was a beautifully transparent night last night so had a chance for first light with my new Morpheus 17.5mm. As a comparison I used my Hyperion 21mm plus fine tuning ring, giving 17.6mm according to the Baader leaflet. Here are my initial findings. First impressions Basic stats: Morpheus weight = 306g, focal length = 17.5mm field, stop = 21.7mm Hyperion weight = 386g, focal length = 17.6mm, field stop =19.9mm The build quality is typical Baader – solid, black, simple and business-like. The Morpheus is lighter and slightly narrower than the Hyperion. One thing I have always liked about Hyperion is the large eye lens but the Morpheus has an even bigger eye lens and it’s just a joy dipping your eye into it. The Morpheus eye lens appears completely flat whereas the Hyperion is concave. Coatings look very similar on both eyepieces. Just holding the eyepieces to the sky, the AFOV in Morpheus is significantly bigger than the 68 degrees of the Hyperion. Some test results quoted in another thread indicated that the AFOV was tested to be 72 degrees, but I would be extremely surprised if this was the case in my version, definitely closer to 76 degrees (unless the Hyperion is significantly less than 68 degrees). The luminous lettering is nice but does not stay bright for very long. Also it would actually be more useful if they had just printed the focal length multiple times around the circumference so that it was always visible when in the case. Testing on the night sky I had a chance to view some nice objects using both eyepieces in my 102ED F7 refractor, and do some testing on the following: Mars and the Crab Nebula - both were visible in same field of view, which was a nice surprise. M33 superbly bright tonight, wish I could have spent more time trying to identify its various details M38 and M36 open clusters General milky way scanning in Perseus Some bright stars The general outcome was that the wider field of view significantly improved the viewing experience, and the Hyperion started to feel a bit restricted when switching between the two. The Morpheus was somehow more involving and although the Hyperion could detect the same faint stuff as the Morpheus, the star fields in the Morpheus somehow seemed slightly “brighter” (I can’t think of another way to describe it) – this could well be a trick of the wider FOV, or perhaps the transmission is slightly better, but either way it was nice. I also did some ‘formal’ testing, albeit briefly: In the Hyperion, astigmatism became apparent earlier towards the edge of the FOV and there was a lot of blue colour when at edge. There was much less astigmatism in the Morpheus and virtually no colour at the edge. Both showed similar levels of field curvature I would say (the Hyperion seemed to be much better at 17.7mm than it is at 21mm). Faint stars and DSOs could be detected equally well in both. No obvious sign of different tints between the eyepieces on brighter stars. There was distortion when sweeping back and forth in both eyepieces but was not really noticeable without looking. The on-axis views of brighter stars looked very tight and identical in both eyepieces One interesting point to note is that the actual FOV of the Hyperion seemed identical to the Morpheus, but I also think there Hyperion was showing lower magnification than the Morpheus, so perhaps theoretical 17.6 mm of the Hyperion is not correct. Not quite sure what’s going on there. Summary I’m very pleased with my new Morpheus and I think it will be the first eyepiece I go to when I’m looking at DSOs. It’s a significant step up from the Hyperion in terms of field of view and edge of field aberrations resulting in a nicer overall viewing experience. I suspect the more I use the Morpheus the more impressed I will become, and the bigger the gap will seem. I should add though that the Hyperion is still a very good all round performer which is comfortable and easy to live with (they have been my main eyepieces for the the last ten years!), so is still an excellent buy at its price point. Was the Morpheus worth the money and am I likely to buy another? Yes and Yes. 😊 Addendum: I've just seen the long Morpheus thread - I shall read this now!

If you need convincing about Steve’s credentials: http://sctelescopes.com/sc-telescopes-broadhurst-clarkson-and-fuller-fullerscopes/

I didn’t know this Dave, very illuminating, thanks! Puts a different light on things.

Just received this rather nice 17.5mm Morpheus from FLO. Beautifully put together in a nice box with magnetic lid and lots of accessories that I will never use! Includes an interesting metal ‘tie clip’ type device which I think you attach to the pouch and allows you to determine the eyepiece size by feel… or something like that. The most expensive eyepiece I have bought and inevitably the start of a slippery slope. 😉Looking forward to first light.

That’s quite an operation. Exciting times. 🙂

Thanks Don, interesting to see the AFOV of the 17.5 is quite a bit less - I’ll have to measure this myself (once I’ve learned how to do it properly!). Also no indication of field curvature or distortion in the 17.5 - is that possible? Good to know they performed well.

I can’t see your post as I think it’s white text on my white background - might be worth changing the text colour to black?

Thanks Dave for the considered analysis and excellent suggestions. I hadn’t thought about the Hyperion Barlow idea and that’s a really good way of getting the most out of my Morpheus. The addition of the 12.5mm is also a compelling proposition, when you look at the range I will get. The 21mm and 5mm are looking increasingly redundant. I’m sure I’ll love the Morpheus and I hoping it will rouse my interest in eyepieces. I shall of course post a full report. 🙂

Your arguments for the Morpheus are strong, and I am weak……….I have just ordered one. 🙂 Apologies to OP for diverting thread.

Yes I have heard very good things about the Morpheus. Perhaps I can convince myself I have a glaring gap in my collection. Currently I have 38mm (70 deg), 24, 21, 10 (all 68 deg) and 5mm (60 deg) plus a Hyperion zoom with 2.25 barlow. Most of my observing is done with the 102ED F7 and the C8 @ f6.3, all my lunar/planetary is done with my binoviewers, and doubles usually done with the zoom. So I guess anything new would be for deep sky. Perhaps a 14mm……

In a previous thread I jokingly mentioned that I don’t really like eyepieces and pondered whether there was something wrong with me.😆 I have a bit of a rag-tag, randomly selected, middle of the road collection of eyepieces, none of them excel, none of them fail epically. And the only time when I really start to become dissatisfied is when I start to try and assess how good they are! Perhaps I have a high tolerance for mediocrity or perhaps, as someone told me, “I just haven’t met the right eyepiece yet”! As far as my favourite eyepiece goes, in my very limited collection, it’s my 10mm Hyperion - 68 degrees seems just right and it works nicely in the 102ED. I have a Baader Mk4 Zoom but it never seems quite as good as the Fixed FL Hyperions, losing out on FOV on higher FLs and getting edge of field brightening at the lowest FL. I would love to experiment with a more expensive premium eyepiece, but I’m really scared. 😬

On the positive side I suppose it’s better to have to add extensions than to not have enough in focus, and not be able to focus at all! This is a problem I have with one of my scopes - the only solution is the take a hacksaw to the tube! 😉

I spent a total of five hours there, an hour of which was in a lecture, so somehow I managed to spend four hours walking, talking and looking. I do like to talk to the stall holders (why not take advantage of their knowledge!) so that absorbed a lot of time. To be honest I could have done with another hour or two to ‘tick off’ everything on my list. My only negative observation would be that there didn’t seem to be many stalls displaying accessories, but a minor niggle. So, was it worth the 7 hour drive there and back? Absolutely, without a doubt. I have precious little opportunity to look at new kit, talk to experts and mingle with like minded enthusiasts, so for me it was a treat. Kudos to all the guys at @FLO - your enthusiasm shone through and it was a pleasure to spend some time with you. 👍

That’s a massively long focuser tube on the right! Do you do straight though viewing?

Yes, I’ve always thought that a much better place for a straight through finder on a refractor or SCT is at the objective end of the tube, not the eyepiece end. It’s always seemed strange to see long refractors supplied with a straight through finder right next to the eyepiece. I have found right angled finders have their disadvantages too, in that you also need a red dot finder to orient yourself, whereas straight through finder you don’t.

Great results for a relatively diminutive 80mm! Looking good.

I did the same a while ago, I took the cheap/lazy route and used epoxy resin and cable ties to connect them as they exactly matched my interpupillary distance. Works a treat.

Lovely looking scope Alan, you’ve got something special there. Looks especially good on that pedestal mount. I shall watch progress with interest. It’s inspiring me to get my Newt out again. 🙂

Just for clarity, with refractors should we also leave the cap off the eyepiece end so the air inside can dry out? I never really thought about this until I saw those desiccant caps that go in the eyepiece end.

Agreed! I think my EAA should setup should in theory catch them, but as you say very challenging, so I’ll let you know!

Not me either, the best my wallet could stand was a manual filter wheel and a bottle of Baader Wonder Fluid! 😆 Very enjoyable time at the IAS though. I also attended the insightful Galaxy Groups lecture - lots of concentration required! Then some nice conversations with the Rowan brothers and a play with the AZ75 and AZ100. Chris at FLO gave me a guided tour of their dobs, the superb looking new parallelogram mount and the live observatory images. Had a very informative chat with Simon at Widescreen about binoviewers and got some expert advice. Stopped off at the SVBony stand - very friendly people and some nice kit. A very impressive exhibition by RVO with Patrick Moore’s old Ford Prefect with 3/4 million miles on the clock (seriously). Finally bought a couple of books from the Webb Society which I hope will contain some nice objects for EAA, although I think some of the PNs might be a challenge even for my EAA kit!

Great to see you back Ron. 🙂

Binoviewers. 😉