Space Hopper

I read this and thought i'd get some too. I live near a park and with all the rain really need some when walking round there. They arrived a few days ago (officially a Xmas present) Not worn them out and about yet, but tried them on. They are a touch on the snug side, and i went up half a size. (They don't do half sizes) I won't be wearing extra socks in them. They are nicely made and look great, but they should be at £115 !! My main worry so far is getting them off. Be warned, once on, they are a devil to remove.

You have a similar set up to me JTEC. Your experiences mirror mine. I've never used a C11, but had a C8 edge for a while. As long as you keep the lightpath short, SCTs binoview superbly. I have a 2" Powermate, but must confess to never using it with my Mk V. I have 2 Baader prisms and keep a 2.6x gpc permanently in one of them for high power use.

I tried to spot it last Friday evening, Nov 29, up at our darksite to the north of Derby. I spent a good 30 mins trying to spot it, but no joy that night. i was using a 140mm refractor and hunted high and low for it. It wasn't a very good night though transparency wise : i know that because M1 was hard to spot. Its currently listed as Mag 10.1 on Sky safari I've not given up the hunt yet though, and will return to it soon.

The Denks / Earthwins initially use a 2" barlow type lens which amplifies 2 - 3x They call it an OCS (an optical corrector system) It just enables you to be able to focus with any Newtonian (or refractor) The OCS in my Earthwin gives me 2.4x Using a 'Powerswitch' adds a reducer lens into the view to give 2 lower power options ; in my case 1.2x and 1.9x so you then move it in to place and refocus. It gives you 3 different magnifications with just the one set of eyepieces. I've spent many a session using it with only my 24mm Panoptics, getting 60x, 90x and 120x which is ideal for most objects.

Hi, Despite being accused by some on here of 'making sweeping statements' regarding the perceived benefits of two eyed viewing, I too, have found my results to be the same as your own with regard to brightness with what i see through the eyepiece. Admittedly i'm only using a 12" mirror compared to your 20". The dark sky views you have there must be fantastic ? I always found the showpiece objects looked better for me personally, and have been rewarded with my best ever views of objects like M42, M27, M11, M13, M35 Getting by without the 1.6x multiplier is a tricky one. I used a Denkmeier / Earthwin system, to get the minimum amplification down to somewhere around 1.2x - 1.3x I was getting 60x magnification at my lowest setting : pretty much as low as i could get. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying binoviewing with the 20" : the views must be amazing with it on a good night 😀

Possibly yes ; I'm over cautious with mine being a new scope. But this product here comes with a warning......in Red ink. https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/accessories/optical-accessories/barlow-lenses-coma-and-glaspathcorrectors/fluorite-flatfield-converter-(ffc)--3x-8x.html Apologies if i'm going off topic a bit. I think the real danger with Fluorite (if you're not careful) is if the front exposed element is Fluorite. I think some Tak refractors are configured like that. Fraunhoher designs ? Some Borgs too.... But it is certainly fragile and will degrade in moisture.

A precautionary warning with refractors......and more so if it has a Fluorite elememt Be careful not to induce 'thermal shock' ie taking a refractor outside from a warm 20ºC house into sub zero temperatures, and then vice versa afterwards. My routine is : 1. Take scope in its closed case outside 2. Leave 30 mins 3. Open case an inch or two and leave for another 30mins 4. Mount scope and begin observing (Leave case outside in cold. Not closed, just ajar to stop interior getting dewey) 5. After session put scope back in cold case and close it up. 6. Return case indoors to a cool room and leave for 30 mins 7. Open case an inch or so and leave for another 30 mins 8. Open case some more, let scope gradually reacclimatise and then check the objective for dew. If it is still dewey, i'll remove the covers and let it evaporate off. 9. Always let the scope dry out completly. Don't leave a wet cold dewey scope in a locked case. Never rush the above process. Maybe i'm being a little over cautious here, but its better to be safe than sorry. Its only an issue really if its winter and you have a 20º to 30º temperature differential. Enjoy your new scope ! Let us know how you get on with it ? Clear skies 😀

Ok for the price. It does the job, but out of that and the Rigel, i'd probably pick the Rigel. The Baader Skysurfer iii is a bit plasticky, and i accidentally broke mine. That was my cue to upgrade it to the all metal Skysurfer V and i haven't looked back.

Just have a shorter session before you get too cold. Simple. The scope will be fine. Use it, enjoy it. I am at an age now where i feel the cold. I was out at our darksite on Friday evening ; just a 3 hour session, but it was plenty long enough to see all that i needed to see. It was great. Wrap up warm 😀

I envy your skys, and warm sunny weather, but i guess theres one thing you can say about living here is that all of our summer and autumn insects have now gone for the winter. All of them be it wasps, mossies, houseflys and moths. If they've not been frozen to death, then they'd most likely have drowned in all the rain.

Another good option is the Baader Sky surfer V Its the Rolls Royce of red dot finders. It wont dew up like a Telrad either. Telrads are great, for me its just the dew issue with them. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/baader-40mm-super-sky-surfer-v.html I know its pricy, but for a lot less, they also do another much cheaper alternative : the Sky Surfer iii. I've used them both. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/baader-30mm-sky-surfer-iii.html

-2ºC when we packed up at 22:00hrs. Scope was covered in frost and is currently thawing out.

I'm only on the bottom rung of the ladder on my imaging journey. This is only a Prime Focus one shot image. Slightly iffy focusing, but at the time i was quite happy with it. No guiding, not even a motorised mount. The scope was my old WO FLT132 refractor, and i used a Sony A7s (Mk 1) mirrorless camera

Pm'd

Thats correct. They had become very difficult to get hold of.

.......and not Catadioptrics either. Don't be tempted to use one with something like an 8" SCT or it will be wrecked. As already stated Herschel Wedges are for refractors only !!

A lot of the premium ones do. Look at the LZOS stuff from APM etc and they do offer that. I'm sure you could have whatever focuser you wanted ; its down to each individuals choice.

The TEC140 is $6600 USD and it went up $600 or so when they switched to a Fluorite element in 2018. Its the weak UK £ that means we take it on the chin pricewise. I see its gone up in price over here ; mine was around £500 less than that. This new scope is air spaced rather than an oil spaced design like the TEC so it will take some cooldown time.

I have the Baader HW with filter kit, and used to routinely use my old WO 132mm with it. I never had any issues, but i only usually observed for a few minutes at a time, then moved the scope away from the sun for a bit. The objective was fine, and the window at the back of the wedge never got hot at all ; luckwarm and nothing more. I always used it with binoviewers, often with only the ND3.0 filter in place. Of course, the ND3.0 MUST ALWAYS be in situ. It can actually be unscrewed, which i think is a serious issue. They should have designed it so it could not be removed, or cemented it in or something. Sometimes i added another of the ND filters to the 3.0 : the 0.6 if i remember, to dim the view down a touch more if it was a really bright day. I tried the green continuum but always found it a rather odd, artificial sort of view like a HA scope. I primarily brought the HW for the March 2015 eclipse and the May 2016 Mercury transit and to my amazement it was clear for both events ! 🤗 I've not really used it much since ; the sun at present is pretty bland. Its stored away in the garage, and i'd thought about selling it , but i think i will keep it, as its a nice thing to use, and what is nicer than observing in warm sunshine ?? 😀 When i do use it again, it will be with the APM scope rather than the TEC. The 140 has a Fluorite element, and i don't want to risk 'thermal shocking it'. It would almost certainly be ok though.

I have an update from Richard, The mount is in full production and they're making excellent progress and are on 'the home straight' if you like. Ok, there's been a few delays, some mechanical and some electrical, but all is now well, so i'm told. One has to expect one or two delays with a new product like this : i for one am happy to wait. I'd much sooner they took the time, and iron out any faults, then rush it through only for there to be unforseen problems further down the line. Richard has sent me a photo of the new drive units awaiting assembly (i won't share it on here) and the quality of the machining looks excellent. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in the flesh and putting it through its paces 😀

Well you could, but odds on you'll be disappointed with the results.

Its on my hit-list Matthew. If it ever stops raining here that is. I'm hoping my 140mm refractor will be able to tease it out. I'm also after the E & F stars in M42 a bit to the right.

Thats a shocking story and i'm sorry to hear you've lost out because of it. If ever i've sent anything abroad (which is a rarity) i've always used DHL and in certain cases paid the insurance fee just to make sure.

I don't John. As i said earlier : Quote "But thats just my own £0.02p on the subject, and i appreciate that others don't necessarily agree with me." I will end it there thankyou.

An important thing to note is that when you go down the route of bino-viewing you have an optimised set up to begin with. Most (not all )refractors won't come to focus without some form of amplification. A Newtonian won't focus at all without it. This amplification means having a longer focal length which = more magnification + a slightly dimmer view and that higher power is at the mercy of poor seeing conditions. You have to be really careful with any sort of Catadioptric. Focusing is not the issue here, but if you have too long a lightpath (read visual back and 2" diagonal, then binoviewer and eyepieces) ) your scope will then lose aperture as you end up racking the primary way too far in to try and focus it. This in turn increases the focal length (sometimes by quite a bit) , makes the secondary obstruction as a percentage much larger and also introduces spherical aberation in to the mix, which all results in a dim, over magnified and poor contrast view. A lot of observers are naturally disappointed by these sorts of issues, and blame the binoviewers, look at the outlay, the views and say binoviewing is not for them. Its not a fault with the binoviewer at all ; and a bit of forward planning can make the difference between liking them or quitting on them all together which i think is a shame, because once everything is optimised the views are so much better, and then the full benefits to two eyed viewing can be really enjoyed.