Space Hopper

Perhaps worth mentioning that it's quite difficult to make one of these diagonals well. Well enough, and consistently well enough for high power astro use.

You only need to look inside one to see the complexity of the thing.

Hence the sky high price of the Badder BBHS 2" Amici.

With the more budget models you often see a bright diffraction spike through very bright stars etc.

I have the 'cheaper' Baader version ; it performs ok, only giving the big diffraction spike on something really bright like Venus or Sirius etc.

On Lunar though, theres no issues.

Let us know which one you go far and how it performs on your C8 🙂

This APM 2" seems to have a good reputation.

https://www.apm-telescopes.net/en/apm-2-inch-erect-image-prism-with-fast-lock-and-ultra-broadband-coating

I actually often have a hard time seeing Neptune at times, never mind moon Triton ! 😀

Thank goodness for the Nexus DSC.

Seriously though, much respect to those that routinely see it. I've tried many times with 10 & 12 inch Newtonians and my current 140mm refractor without any joy.

I don't think I have good enough eyesight now. Then again (like Uranus) Neptune is becoming much netter placed for us in the UK to observe it, so you never know 🫰🏼

25 minutes ago, glafnazur said:

Eight for me at the moment.

1. WO ZG61
2. SW ST80
3. Vixen A80MF
4. SW Evostar 90
5. SW Esprit 100 ED
6. Bresser Messier MC-127
7. SW Evostar 150
8. OO Europa 200

I remember my other half occasionally having concerns about the number of telescopes in the garage Dave, back when i owned six.

My perfect excuse, and 'trump card' was always, "well, i only own one of them........all the rest are society scopes, and i've been tasked with looking after them for a while....." 😉

Only the one (a 140mm refractor) during the last 5 years, excepting a 10" Orion Optics F4.8 Newtonian i owned for a few weeks : I had to sell it, it wouldn't fit my mount.

I'm sure there's room for another scope at some point in the future.....? The most I have owned is six.

Also own 3 pairs of binocs : Fujinon 7x50 & Canon 10x30, 15x50 is.

Thanks Paul

And yes, its certainly a very versatile design, at a very compelling pricepoint. More so as its a triplet.

So how does it perform visually with the binoviewers Paul ?

Assuming it can focus natively minus the tube extension........but do you then have sufficient 'out' focus travel if you want to crank the power up a bit ?

Or do you have to refit the extension again for that ?

Just wondering, as I use a Baader bino, and you need a focusing range of 65-70 mm to view natively at one end and then using a 2.6x multiplier (gpc) at the other.

I can comfortably do that with my own scope, and there's not that many refractors that will allow this as a rule of thumb, usually something imaging optimised with a lot of in focus.......

Thanks, and sorry, i'd not seen it.

By the way, the £200 listed is a DEPOSIT PRICE for reservations pending release.

Actual cost is £3199 . 00   UK£

This is new, and i've not seen it before.

Looks interesting.

See below :

https://www.darkclearskies.co.uk/products/warpastron-wd-20-harmonic-drive-mount

1 hour ago, John said:

I had to let it go earlier this year 🙁. We have 2 lively grand children here often now and refractors can be tucked safely away but a 12 inch F/5.3 dob invites lots of attention, inevitably. 

I had a good decade or more with the scope though so I can't really complain 🙂

Thats a shame John, but all good things must come to an end i guess.

I'm sure the new owner is thrilled with it. I never had a 300/1600 ; my scope was the short tube 300/1200. I still miss its aperture sometimes and those lovely rich field views.

No, nothing like that. Just the optical tubes.

If you want to go down the 'go-to' route, theres the AZEQ6 or with deeper pockets a Rowan AZ100.

But i personally would'nt entertain the idea of putting a 12" size scope on one. A 12" Newt is a big big scope no matter what its focal length.

If i was going down the Newtonian + alt-az route (not a Dob base) i'd be looking at 8" or 10" max.

Just now, PeterStudz said:

The particle board that the bases of Chinese manufactured Dobs are made of is also far heavier than plywood. I think Orion Optics use plywood but I could be mistaken. Certainly when I made my own plywood base it was lighter and stronger/stiffer than the manufactured particle board examples that I’ve had experience with.

No no, OO Dob bases are solid metal. Pretty much bomb proof, and a whole lot better than the 'Weetabix' Chinese variety from Skywatcher etc.

1 hour ago, John said:

Orion Optics dobsonians are quite a bit lighter than the chinese made ones. My OO 12" F/5.3 weighed about the same as a chinese 10" F/5. It was pretty easy to put out and pack away. Not quite grab and go but about as close to that as a 12" scope can get !

 

You say that in the past tense John ? Do you no longer have it ? 😯

3 hours ago, radiofm74 said:

My only concern is about the additional weight against the other option, or I think I'd have settled the debate already. I need to crunch some numbers re: OTA weight and mount payload.

 

Yes, there are some big heavy eyepieces out there, some will cause balancing issues and will ask questions of how suitable your diagonal and focuser are.

4 hours ago, inedible_hulk said:

I have all the ES 82s except for the 30mm. The 24mm is a bit of a lump, but it hasn’t seen much use since I acquired a 30mm UFF. The others see regular use and I can’t fault them.

This one from ES was certainly 'a bit of a lump' ! 😀

Really nice image Stu 🙂👍🏼

..........Not with my eyes Peter ! 😀

Going off slightly at a tangent, i've often read about the Takahashi FOA-60Q F/15's double star prowess.

Now if only they made it in a bigger aperture, maybe you'd be in the ballpark of actually being able to bag it consistently. But i'm guessing 60mm of aperture is much too small ?

If Rigels other half looks ok, i'll have a go at Sirius, but no joy for me i'm afraid tracking down the elusive pup.

I'm afraid this observers 56 year old eyes and home at 53ºN are working against me.

And maybe i never get lucky enough with really steady seeing......😕

Its fun chasing it though.

That looks nice and clean.

Not familiar with 'Caloclean lens spray'........can you use Baader Optical Wonder (and Baader lens cloth) for something like this ??

And like you say, i've never felt inclined to clean a refractor optical element (treading cautiously) but i have used it on my Panoptics and also a C8 corrector plate and its worked a treat.

A hot cup of tea during the long winter months, black, 2 sugars. Thats mainly to keep me warm.

Now if we are talking about a solar session in the summer time, a gin and tonic, or an ice cold beer goes down very well.

My apologies there, I didn't realise the AZ75 had no slow motion option.

I just thought it was unable to take the motors, although i do know it can be fitted with encoders and a suitable DSC

But i'm going off topic......sorry

Could you run to an AZ 75 ? Rowan Astro. Or a second hand one.

I remember seeing one for sale just recently.

21 minutes ago, Moonlit Night said:

The slow mo is interesting, never bothered me at all. You never hear dob users complaining about a lack of it. 

A good, and very valid point.

I've used a pair of 15mm ultra flats (the APM versions) in the binoviewer for a number of years now, and they are very solid performers, and both lightweight and ergonomic.

You can't really ask for more at £109 each.

They are a similar size to the 19mm Panoptics, and while they may not be QUITE AS GOOD optically, they are not too far off. And they have no undercuts !! 😃