Space Hopper

Lifting and manoeuvring a heavy Berlebach tripod can often be hazardous. The weight of it can make it close rather abruptly as you lift it upwards invariably resulting in crushed fingers underneath.

A boat anchor.........love it 😁 There are a few of them around........

It gives a 7mm + exit pupil. And out focus (lack of it) is the issue in my scope not in focus ! 😃 I have pretty small 54 yr old pupils. When i tried the 35 Pan the shadow from the secondary mirror was all too apparent, off putting in fact. I had exactly the same issue with an old retired scope, a 12" F4 using my 31 Nagler (now sold) as well. So i thought i'd need an eyepiece in the 20mm range to negate this. My 35 Pan was a recent second hand buy. I could try it in one of my refractors but i doubt i'd use it much longterm.

Thanks to all for your input. @Louis D I'm not there in the astigmatism department just yet. My last eye test a year ago revealed 1/4 diopters in my weaker right eye and somewhere between 0 and 1/4 in my left. I don't use eye glasses to observe. @Rainmaker Probably my main concern is whether the N22 is as well corrected as the E21. As its a Type 4 i've read its not as good as the Type 6 and certainly not as good with 'fast' scopes below F5. My Orion Optics is F4.8 You also don't see so many N22s come up second hand. The E21 is in the used ads more often (around the £500 mark) and i wonder if thats because users have tried them and like you say, not found them so easy to use. I will do some more looking at the APM XWA 20mm as i've been very impressed with their 15mm/65º series, and possibly the ES 17/92 or 20/100 although i'm not a fan of their tapered barrels. Also i could indeed just stick with a Pan 24, but these are really my binoviewing eyepieces, and i'm really looking for a widefield 2 incher to fill the gap between my current 12.5mm and 35mm options. Also the 35Pan i have won't work with my Newtonian.

Quite the contrary as Olly will tell you.....

Worth pointing out that the TEC oil spaced design only has a few drops of oil between the lens elements, not half a pint or anything like that. Theres nothing much really to leak and the lens cell is designed optimally for this optical design, which is tried and tested over 20 years. TEC made around 750 140mm units an i bet the fluorite versions are over 100 strong now.

Hi folks, I'm looking at sourcing a second hand low power, rich field eyepiece for my 10" OO Newtonian 1200mm F4.8 shorttube. Has anyone used either the 21mm Ethos, or 22mm Type 4 Nagler or both ?? I'm interested to know your thoughts, pros and cons. The 22 Nagler has the better eye relief , but the 21E has the wider field of view. Or should i simply stick with 1.25" eypeieces and just use my 24 Panoptic ?? Thanks in advance for your thoughts and opinions 🙂

"Mey" musicians stool is what i use. They are German, Flo used to stock them but you can still order them direct from Thomann. I find them ideal : solid build, adjust up and down in a second and will tilt left and right. https://www.thomann.de/gb/mey_chair_systems_af6_kl_bk.htm

I'd always recommend the BB Planet over a lighter tripod if your mounting a 5" + refractor or a heavy SCT etc, certainly if its in the 10 - 15kg weight category. Its certainly heavy at 11 kg, but the stability it gives you is worth it in terms of cost and weight. I've even been experimenting using a 10" Newtonian on my own alt-az mount + Planet. It was a definite no-go with my lighter Uni-18, but with the Planet its a viable option (as long as its not too windy 😀)

I've been watching it a bit from Derby. With my 105mm refractor. Seeing is pretty grim here as well (surprise surprise) It seemed a bit better earlier on before Io reached the limb, and i could make out the GRS pretty well. I've been half blinded by the moon a few times as well....🤫

@Lee_P Nice review, thanks for posting 👍🏼

Just had a look at a couple of mine, and the answer to your question is not often enough. Not something i worry too much about in all honesty unless there's something obviously amiss. I always use a rocket blower bulb first and if theres need the trusty Baader optical wonder fluid is there in reserve. The BOW fluid is the stuff to use. Highly recommended. I remember at a society public viewing event a good few years ago i had a queue of people waiting to look at Lunar. I had the binoviewer set up (not the best of ideas) but everything seemed well with lots of oohs and arrs. One lady though had a ton of make up on and after she's gone i found both my trusty 24 Panoptics nicely covered in mascara. No problem for the wonder fluid though ; once home they had a good clean and both came up perfect. Its good stuff. And this : The micro fibre cloth that comes with it is big. I tend to use an 'unused bit' each time. And once its pretty much all used up i ditch the cloth. I don't wash it. A replacement from Baader (either a cloth or a whole new wonder fluid set) isn't too expensive and a lot cheaper than having to replace a scratched eyepiece etc

I think here lies the problem. In my location, the atmosphere NEVER supports it. And in my case the mirror was rarely equilibrated. Not 100% anyway. Maybe 90% on occasion.

Theres one for sale on here.....

The DM-4 is not 'motorizable' . Neither is it a dual scope mount.

Its the BB Uni 18 in Nutwood brown.

I looked at a TOA130 as well, and read the same. The 3 elements are pretty widely spaced apart.

Yes, 13 month wait for my 140 (delivered Sept 2019) I did a bit better with the 105 : Rupert supplied that in a couple of months. Timed it right i guess.

Top man is Graham. Highly recommended 👍🏼

@JTEC quite interested to see the above image, but i'm afraid it won't open, and shows a file not found error message.

I've tried Delos Martin, but they were just too big and cumbersome for me Balance was problematic, eye placement was difficult to get right, and the cost was prohibitive. My personal opinion and others may disagree, but i much prefer something smaller and compact for two eyed viewing. As mentioned both the Panoptics are well thought out with their conical tops and one of the things that make them so well suited to binoviewing. Heres one of the Deloi in situ. I brought 2x 10mm, both second hand, tried them, and then sold them on without too much of a hit in the wallet dept.

APM flat field 12mm / 60º fov (with their twist up eyecups)

I've been happy with my own APM Ultraflats (15mm) Good value and performance. I thought i'd try the 10's but decided on the 12mm version which are a slightly different design. These are 60º fov rather than 65, and have a different eyecup design that twists up. I think i paid £89 each for them as they were reduced and end of line. But when the seeing cooperates, they've impressed. More often than not i find my 24 and 19 Panoptics + the 15 APMs cover most of my magnification requirements. Magnifications of 106, 134 and 169x If i need more power, the seeing is unusually good and that doesn't happen often !!

Setting the bar very high there Vin. 👍🏼

Excellent work 👍🏼