RobertI

Looks like a fantastic scope, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. I look forward to hearing about first light. 👍 I was very keen to get a quality prism diagonal for my F7 refractor, but I have to say having read all the above, I think I’ll stick with my mirror! ☺️

I’ll be interested to know how you get on with those. 👍

Very nice solution! What star charts are you using, they look nice and detailed?

Oh dear! Sorry for your pain, but that it quite a funny story!

Crikey John, sorry to hear about your foot. 😟 Was it a counterweight or something or did you slip? It's a really lovely image though, well done.

Really super sketch of an interesting pair. Well done on getting up so early!

Really engaging image of the moon, very rich colours, captured the essence of Luna perfectly.

Beautiful drawing.

That's a great setup Gary. As we have discussed on some other threads the BVs are working out great for me too. I have also been looking at the twin zoom option so it's really good to know it works well. I think the Hyperion Zoom was designed with BVs in mind. So far I've only used the BVs with my 102ED and with a 2.25x barlow I get about 180x - I've actually found this perfect for Mars and the Moon and haven't really felt the need to change magnifications yet, but it's early days and I want to give them a go with the C8 and try other types of object. Wierdly the biggest problem when using the 2.25x barlow and standard 20mm eyepieces is that every single tiny piece of dust on the outer eye lens shows up as a big black blob, so the eyepiece has to be cleaned srupulously before each session!

Another important point is that binoviewers reduce the impact of floaters significantly for most people. I have certainly found this to be the case with my BVs.

What's the screw on the barrel for Dave?

I would second that, binoviewers have transformed my enjoyment of the moon and planets. They make it more comfortable to view for longer periods, are more immersive and the result is you end up seeing more. It's worth thinking about factoring binoviewers into your budget IMO. Interesting video here:

I also recently bought this scope and used it during the Mars opposition. I have been totally amazed by its planetary abilities, and have also used it to view the moon with really excellent results. Although its limited aperture is apparent for deep sky, for planetary it has so far been a revelation. Although I haven’t managed a back to back test with the C8 on planets/moon (which will probably turn out to be better when cooled and the seeing is right) it has been so good that I haven’t wanted to get the C8 out. It’s so easy to use (if stored in a garage it actually doesn’t need cooling) and at F7 is very much more manageable than my 100mm F10 achro. Personally I would find an 100mm F11 too unwieldy. I use it with binoviewers which have also been a revelation.....but that’s another story. Of course I have never tried an ED120. 🙂

A very useful site, fun to fiddle with too.

An interesting one, I’ll keep an eye out for it. 👍

Great video Luke, it was fascinating to see the story behind the images. I think your style is perfect, you didn’t seem shy, just natural. 👍 Love the images by the way - also shows what can be achieved with a bright moon in the sky. 🙂

Very interesting image and great to have the overlay to help identify the objects. 👍

Not at all, it was an entertaining watch as always Chris and it was nice to be included. 🙂 I’m thinking about talking to Netflix to see if they are interested in dramatising at the events surrounding the sale of the scope! 😂

Great vid Chris as always. Your obsy is the business. 🤟 So glad to see you using a Meg72 again and the great story behind it. Don’t get that kind of generosity very often so lovely to hear and respect to @Davey-T. I can assure everyone that I am completely over the unfortunate sale of my Megrez that you mentioned. 😂 My biggest regret is not speaking to you first Chris - a mistake I shall not make again! 🙂 Fortunately I still have six lovely scopes, including the Tal 100RS that you also sold me. 🙂

Quite amazing to see Clear Outside showing 'green' all through today and tonight.

Thanks! I use the William Optics BV with the supplied 20mm 66 degree eyepieces and a Bader 2.25x Barlow which actually magnifies 5x giving around 175x total magnification.

Lovely report. Sounds like you had a great night with your Tal. Interesting that you had it adjusted by Es Reid, I wonder what kind of magic he performed on it?!

You're probably right Mike. I haven't actually done a back to back test but I assumed that the cyclops view must be theoretically sharper because there is less 'stuff' in the lightpath, but I guess two eyes outstrip those minor optical advantages (if they even exist at all?). I won't be going back to cyclops viewing for solar system work. 👍

You're just rubbing it in now! 😁

Yes I feel ultimately I can see more with BVs, perhaps the image quality is not quite up to cyclops viewing with a good quality eyepiece, but because it’s so much easier to look for long periods, I can relax more tease out that detail over time. I find I get more of a 3D effect which is very engaging. I was getting around 175x magnification and the targets were moving pretty quickly across the FOV, but with the 66 degree eyepieces I didn’t have to re-centre too often and was still able to sketch. I’m sure you'll appreciate some wide field eyepieces if you can get them. 👍