Saganite

1 hour ago, josefk said:

you remember Steve i hate hate HATE dew - it just feels so wrong getting astro optics wet! A birding scope i would use in the rain but unsealed/unpurged lenses - ouch.

It was a bonus to be out though - it's "nip and tuck" for clear spells isn't it! .. and M57 'in colour' sounds fantastic!

It was superb Joe, and I feel the same way about telescopes and wet water ...🤣

I

Hi Joe,

I had the same problem.  I was at our Society Observatory looking through a 30" Dob, 10pm until midnight, quite an experience, and saw colour in M57 for the first time in my life. I had left my 12" dob cooling in the garden and when I returned to it at about 12.30 am I thought it must have been hit by a shower of rain it was so wet.  The sky stayed clear until about 2.30 am so I had a good long  but very  damp  overdue session.......

Hi,

If you believe the scope to be well collimated and you have enjoyed powers up to 170x then I should imagine your problem is simply one of poor/variable seeing.  Late last year I recall over several nights being unable to use more than 100x on Jupiter, the detail going soft, and the desirable power of 150/170x being quite impossible, and then it improved.  I would though recommend doing as David suggested, and compare what you see against the diagrams.  If you see something like the top left hand corner, then be sure that all is well and and enjoy whatever power gives you the sharpest image.

I think the image was taken by Clarkpm4242....

It looks like I didn't Piero as I have just checked the 22mm Nagler and it comes out at 656 gms.........my apologies to Neil.....

14 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

Out of curiosity this thread had me looking up the Nagler 22mm as I have the APM 20mm. From specs that I saw, the Nagler weighs the same? I’m assuming it’s physically smaller. Just thinking about the OP wanting to reduce size and weight. 

Hi Neil,

I have just parted with an APM 20mm 100 deg in favour of the 2" Nagler 22mm and the weight difference was 30 ounces to 24 ounces for the Nagler 22mm .  I weighed them both.

Funny you should say that John.  I had the 20mm 100 deg eyepiece for several weeks and used it quite often.  No complaints, a fine eyepiece but ultimately I could not quite take to it much as I didn't the 13mm Ethos seven  or so years ago.  I now have a Nagler 22mm by exchange on this forum and here I'll stick...

I have had the service back for a couple of hours but still it fails at odd times, briefly.

Seems to be down again. I know that they had a hosting problem last week and was down for at least a day.  Anyone else not able to access it at the moment?

Superb images, thank you.  I wish I could have seen it..

4x binoviewing pairs

1x 2" widefield 82 deg

1x 7.7-15.4 mm  zoom

1x 3-8mm  zoom

1x 7-21mm zoom

Three or four inexpensive eyepieces for outreach in a separate small case.

For a long time  I had 20 to 30 eyepieces which included Orthoscopic pairs but with advancing years eye relief has  dictated which eyepieces are  to be used. Instead of three hard cases I now have just one and a couple of small Vixen cases/ shells with the zooms and a barlow......

Great job Harry, last forever now ...

When it is all varnished it will look awesome, so show us the finished product please.

What a cracking job there John, excellent.

19 minutes ago, carastro said:

It wouldn't suprise me if the very first response they got was enough to put the OP off ever visiting here again.  

Well said.

On 03/04/2024 at 17:52, Littleguy80 said:

Couldn’t believe my luck when this came up on ABS on Easter Sunday! I have a birthday coming up so I’m putting it away for that. Should give some time for the clouds to clear 😉

Hi Neil,

After our discussion on the riser for the Berlebach Castor, I thought of you when I saw this up for sale, and I am pleased that you got it.  What a result.....

8 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Thanks to my good friend Steve (@Saganite) (and Tim, @Franklinof course), my recently acquired Vixen LVW set is now complete..

The new to me 3.5mm will give me 254x in my Vixen SD115S, and with the 1.6x barlow, 406x.

Here's the full set.. (L-R, back to front) - 3.5mm, 5mm, 8mm, 13mm, 17mm, 22mm, 42mm..

Plus decloaked 2" Axiom LX 23mm & 31mm 84 deg UWAs at bottom right..

Scope and Cyclops Eyepiece wise, I'm now done!! 😂

Dave

Very nice Dave, I feel much better now.....

Not particularly early publications,  The Mysterious Universe being 1931 , but I have had these three since the early 1960's when my interest in Astronomy began.

20 hours ago, Highburymark said:

Nice choices Steve.

I tend to use the amici when I’m panning around the surface, and looking at features on a wider scale. I use binoviewer and Nagler 13s for an expansive view, and I do prefer a left-right orientation for this. Think it’s because I studied lunar maps from a young age and still find it more natural. Then for close up lunar details I more often use a right-left prism or mirror. It just involves a little thought before I set up.
To be honest, everything looks so great on the Moon - including pretty much every eyepiece, telescope and diagonal I’ve ever used - that it’s not the best target for distinguishing critical performance differences. So for those who prefer correct orientation on the Moon, a quality amici is well worth considering. 

Yep, bino and 13 Naglers for me also Mark , on Lunar and planetry, the perfect combination in my scopes.

I use the Baader clicklock and Baader Zeiss T2 prism diagonals in my refractors, for the best image I can get, and wrestle with Lunar orientation...

Fine sketches Joe , well done,,,,,

So far Al, so far.....🤞😂

Thanks Joe. 

Your payment to me for the Berlebach Nix II , of course, went into the ' pot ' to purchase the Vixen 115....

My collection at PAS , of a beautiful Vixen SD115S means that I am done, happy, and contented, for sure, and for the rest of my natural etc,etc

At the moment I still have my ED103S and felt the same with that, but I was always aware of the bigger sibling.  I had a hand in Dave's ( F15 Rules ) acquisition of his , quite without knowing it, and he has reciprocated because he had suggested how good  it would be to find a discounted one at the show.  On the strength of that I rang Bresser and asked and to my amazement they did, at a tremendous discount.

They are both in perfect balance and a spell of decent sky will allow me to  align them accurately.

Dave liked it, even the ' blingy thingy ' on the Vixen, he said , but I like red, my car is red, unfortunately not a ferrari red ferrari....🤣

3 hours ago, tomato said:

Certain telescope brands just love their red anodising, but as far as I am aware it doesn't improve optical performance one iota.

Perfectly correct ,but...

Ferrari red Ferraris don't go any faster than other colours either but if I could  afford one that's the colour for me....

5 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

What a scope I can only dream of something like that.

Thanks Paul I appreciate your comment and it was a great shame you couldn't make it, but one of these days.

It is a lovely scope and I count myself fortunate to have got it , but the reality is that I almost certainly see no more than you do with your scopes.

Take care