bomberbaz

This also cures your astigmatism but costs around £4K 😳 (per eye)

Thanks Stu, much appreciated. Sadly the only paired eyepieces I have for my binoviewers are SW basic plossls. Even with barlow I am not hitting enough magnification. Although I think my neighbour has a 2x barlow so could borrow his and stack to see how that pans out. Mag 145 ish with two. Also a good idea to pan the surface as this may also help with losing the floaters distraction and at the same time pull out the surface detail. 👍 Steve

So I am using a frac and lunt solar wedge. I am finding focus fine, getting some lovely crisp and sharp results but my issue is as per the title eye floaters right in the central view of my eyepiece. Obviously the higher the magnitude, the more this becomes an issue. I am trying to pick up granulation but always my eye focus keeps picking up the floaters and so eye focus is way out for picking up surface detail. I have never had a problem with any other viewing so this is really being a pain. I am using a F10/90mm frac btw. Cranked up to x180 to try to get the surface detail. I have tried viewing the solar edge but obviously the detail is much harder to pick out at the edge. So what does anyone do to get around floaters, any suggestions greatly appreciated. Steve

Just checked their website and the place is fully booked out so looks like I will pass over on this people. Hope you all enjoy.

Thanks for that Neil, great report there and I am certainly going to give a bash as soon as opportunities allow. I think 3c273 will be my first to have a go at. It's the relatively easy mag 13 in virgo I mentioned above. I have printed off a number of charts in increasing magnification to allow me to home in on it. They work on the same star hopping basis as yours. Cheers, Steve

There is a quasar that is also 2.5 biilion light years away in virgo I think, however with the current situation of lockdown, the likely hood of me getting to see it are fast disappearing. I think it is the designation 3C 273 for the quasar. Mag 13 There are others and 1 is 4.5 billion light years away. Don't think my 10" dob would get it at 14 mag but always worth a try.

bump

Have you not tried the Televue DIOPTRIX Don. I use one now and I love it. Very easy to use too.

Thanks Mike, good to hear they deal with you direct. How good were they to deal with direct. Were there any language barrier issues or misunderstandings

A review here S&S. https://www.taurustelescopes.com/test_EN.pdf TBH it might be a sponsored type review but never the less it is a very positive one. The pricing seems a little unclear. According to the specifications on the TS website where I initially found it, the one they are selling comes with reflectivity of 96% (IE professional specification) at a cost of $2250 where as on the manufacturer website same spec costs $2911. This would need clarifying. Steve

Hadn't even thought to look to be honest John, silly me really. Looking at the specs and especially the mirrors, they look very impressive indeed. It appears from the TS website they are advertising the supremax mirrors. I would have that confirmed though. Thanks for the link John, much appreciated. Steve

Hello all. I have been pondering getting a larger dob for a while. Although the current situation means any plans are on hold, however it hasn't stopped me looking around at options from time to time. Damned itch. I was considering the Orion pushto 14", I like the pushto idea but what puts me off to some extent was the 60kg total weight. Price wise when available around £2000 Anyway, I came accross this at teleskop express: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p11432_Taurus-T350-14--f-4-8-Classic-Dobsonian-Teleskop.html This is the one I am interested in finding more about. Taurus 14" Truss dob, F4.8 giving a focal length of 1700mm and this means my existing glass collection can be retained, something I really do not want to change. Most impressive of all is the 23KG total weight, very impressive but also a slight concern Re: possible loss of integral strength. Again price wise around £2000 but no push to. The lack of pushto no longer concerns me, help locating used to be a serious consideration. Times change. Anyway, other than the obvious differences which are massive weight disparity and no pushto on the Taurus, what else does anyone know about the Taurus. I am thinking along the lines of it's structural integrity, quality of the optics & focuser and overall build. I guess that kinda means everything 🤣 TIA folks Steve

I have recently bought and then subsequently returned a Nirvana 16mm EP. I found that the starguider 15mm, which it was supposed to replace gave a brighter view and was easier to get a comfortable eye position with. And when the Nirvana was barlowed, it was awful with bad kidney beaning. A starguider EP does give a pretty good view for a very modest outlay. Drawback is fov is only 60 degrees and at faster speed ota's is likely to suffer towards the outer edges but that's the same for any eyepiece really.

Only just noticed this 🤦‍♂️

according to widescreen centre the 26mm nagler still for sale, maybe old stock. You would be best checking first. https://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/tele-vue-nagler-26mm-eyepiece.html

I looked at it and thought brilliant and noticed nothing extra until vlaiv mentioned the top. It looks a little stretched kind of to me.

I think you are right that it is about 1 degree fov but eye position is very tricky and can be quite frustrating. I think aboutx 30 to 40 is around as high as I have taken it, it might take a little more but as yet I havn't pushed it beyond as mentioned. I did make this post when half way through my 2nd box of golden ales so perhaps wasn't thinking as clearly as now. I think I shall keep my eye on the 2nd hand markets and make do with what I have for now.

Sold mate, nevermind, I shall have to wait and put up with the scope as it is until something comes along. TBH it's reasonable at lower mags but when you start to crank it a little is when it gets more challenging.

Hello everyone, I trust you are all keeping well and socially distancing. Ok so here is my question. I have a now discontinued LS35 fitted with a B400 blocking filter. I am enjoying using the 35 but the FOV is incredibly tight which detracts from some of the fun of viewing. SO would changing the filter to a B600 make a significant difference to the fov. I have been trying to get details online to help me figure this out but not having much luck. Cost around £350 for a B600. Up to around £650 for a B1200. ( both are direct from USA wth VAT added, may be slightly more) However at that cost of the B1200 I start thinking maybe another option might be new OTA altogether. Your help is much appreciated. Steve

You may be onto something Re: lockdown overload. I have also experienced an increased number of tech failures of recent for no apparent reason.

Good shout Ron, a lot of links available from a google search. Chose this one as it's animated with descripton. Not to everyone's taste but still informative. https://www.space.com/hubble-30-anniversary-nasa-cosmic-reef-image.html

Yes I think so too.

ZWO ASI224mc camera slapped onto an 80mm F7.5 frac. |Looking at getting a small 120mm F4.3 newt though, should improve results further

Thanks guys, I will bear all the above in mind although I am looking at a small newt (100 to 130) F4 or maybe F4.5 instead of the F7.5 frac so will hang fire for now. Cheers again, all this info really in so helpful. Steve

anybody watch it, found it to be better than i expected, even got a little emotional in places. Well done beeb.