jetstream

It is huge but the easiest most visible portion is a "streak" and not a huge nebulous glow. The area has patches of nebulosity floating around to see however. For the Little Veil a tight, top notch OIII like you have is the only thing to use. My 24" will show it faintly with a UHC and detectable with no filter, only because I have observed it so many times IMHO. Does the Monkeyhead show well for you? I love that one.

So then the zones would all be in the same place relative to the optic making them identifiable ?

I have seen it with my 10" too and its as you say. The 15" adds a bit of filament, not much and not fine. It reminds me of a stubbier, larger Little Veil nebula- have you seen this one, SH2-94? If you try finding it dont let the little chain of stars fool you... There were more very faint patches of nebulosity seen , more of the JF visible I believe. The Little Veil is an excellent test of sky, scope and observer IMHO.

I tried the Skycommander last night - which did not work well, so I shut it off. About the only thing that can really affect its accuracy is an unstable base for the telescope. It doesnt matter if the scope is level with the SC... I love this DSC. Because of the ice on the concrete pad that I didnt chip off again the scope had a tiny bit of movement when panning, throwing the SC off. No big deal- I just went from memory in the favourite hunting grounds.

Thanks David- so for a DPAC flat do you think it would work then? the "might" is not too reassuring - so the 1/10 would then be 1/5 pv for DPAC? I'm interested in the reason why this would be, thanks Gerry

After overworking my brain on some optical testing stuff it was sure great to get back observing.NELM was between 6.6 and 6.8 using averted flick vision on HIP 74818 @ 6.6 and 17Umi @ 6.8 , the latter flicked in just once so conditions vg but not the best here. The 15"/20mm APM/Nikon 14HW were used. Galaxies- how many does one list in a report? A guy could fill the page with them so I'll just mention a few. A real win tonight was cruising around M101 looking at galaxies and found a nice 12.2 mag -NGC 5485 but the prize was averted bringing in a mag 13.8- NGC 5488. Pretty happy with this one. Back over to my test nest in Uma and got 4 out of 5 NGC 3972/3982/3977/3998 but no 3990 at 13.6. Should have had it but I didnt spend much time on it. This area is a great place to hunt. Over below the Owl a bit lies 2 easy mag 12ish galaxies, NGC 3756 and 3738 and the view was nice after viewing M108. A big prize again was to revist the Jellyfish @PeterW might remember my flailing away on it -in the wrong spot- years ago Seems so easy now to see the streak- not unlike the Little Veil, but chunkier and easier. Finishing up brought the HH to revist and the Stonehenge looking Flame neb, huge in the 15" and over to the Flaming Star - a beautiful goto object, dazzling. Piles more seen in my point and shoot approach to galaxy hunting but I didnt figure out all of them for designations, doesnt matter anyway- I just had fun out there!! Which is the main thing to me. Gerry

Hmm, I'm noticing you have some vg equipment Mark- nice! Questions will be coming re solar lol Great idea and this is from Alpines site: D-ERF filters use a high grade BK7 optical glass which is free of any internal defects. The thick substrates are polished plane-parallel, smooth, and flat to 1/10 wave p-v over the entire surface. Only by using thick substrates can a high surface accuracy be achieved and held in use (for example, the 90mm ERF is 5.5mm thick. Thinner substrates are not capable of holding such high surface accuracy). This is a vg idea. Now I'm checking Solar Spectrum out... thanks for the heads up, Gerry

Well Im kinda wore out from all this but I do appreciate all the info provided. I'm going to kick back, reflect on DPAC and its requirements and wait for an affordable but good flat to wander by. In the meantime I'm going snowmobiling today and then observe in some nice skies- and I dont even really care what scope I use.👍 Gerry

I wouldnt think it to be that hard for the makers at any price point to give whats needed for vg views ie .8 Strehl, 1/4 PV or the equivalent MTF profile of 1/4 wave spherical aberration. This level of scope will provide nice sharp views. However, I think many do not which is a shame . If a scope can have an MTF plot like the lower left in the image that includes any optical consideration ie central obstruction etc the scope will be sharp. Not too much to ask IMHO.

I dont know? how about this? Apparently from SV facebook page? Is this correct- I dont know

There are many tests out there but one thing is for sure: DPAC testing will show spherochromatism, and much more.

Out of my league and I really have no use for one, but great you mention it. There is no end to spending on nice equipment These are extremely well made from what I hear . I did call DSP about the Rowan but no answer and I like to chat to check stock before any mouse clicks. I'll probably end up with a Rowan and a DM6 in the end but I would really like to try a Half Hitch, for many reasons including the history behind them and its interesting inventor/fabricator. The DM6 would be nice for my TSA120 as a dedicated set up and the Rowan could serve two scopes well. I guess at heart I'm an alt az guy. I did put a different GPS on recommendation for the AZEQ6 and it just finds itself and is very easy to use with it. The mount is good but needs different grease and I'm not motivated to do it.

Thats the thing- is this a batch test of one scope of your type or is it your actual test report. I think but dont know many of these tests are marketing tools... all this doesnt matter if your happy with it.

We are on the same page Mark- this same thought crossed my mind ie how to test etalons. The variation in them is why I'm waiting for a while before plunging in- I need more education on them, before blowing a wad of cash one one.

Lets throw 'er on the DPAC and see what she says I am very interested in how LZOS handled a 130mm f6 spherochromatism wise... seriously- you in?

I dont see an aperture on the test? How come the fringes are all hooked in one direction? A testing mis alignment maybe?

@TakMan @Space Hopper- I can see whats going to happen here- I'll end up with a few different mounts to try- and I thank you guys and the others for giving me information and direction in my pursuit.

Why would you even consider that it could be a mediocre scope given the views? My 120ED might have hope as I believe collimation is off a bit and also wonder if the lens assy is decentered a squeak. I dont know but I hope DPAC illustrates the issue which can hopefully be rectified. I bought the TSA120 as a scope to which others are compared to and to my eyes its vg in its role. I can see what @mikeDnight is talking about I think- and I believe it to be resolution with respect to contrast ie MTF resolution. The TSA 120 showed this on a set of crater features the other night- while both the apertures should have shown the distinct features because of their size only one did... I believe that what we are going for here is contrast- actually contrast is everything to me- and having a balanced colour correction of high spec in a smooth set of lenses greatly adds to this.IMHO.

Yuris response to the recently tested TEC 140 on CN was very professional and validated the tester and his DPAC results. An excellent response which is noted- as I might be looking at a large (ish) refractor and TEC is top on my list.

The beauty of DPAC is that it doesnt care about the tester- no fringes will be seen if the flat isnt square to the objective, so as long as the flat is reasonably flat the results say it all... You want to get your LZOS DPAC'd?

DPAC will tell us both how good our scopes are

Thats all great and interesting info to hear! Definitely not hijacking - I'm very interested in the nuances of different mounts. Anyone can bring their thoughts and experiences of mounts here to chat about. You just made me want one all the more lol! Being a craftsman doesnt necessarily mean being a businessman IMHO. I think that some who are into innovation and are craftsmen place a lot of the money issues aside to try the continuing evolution of their product.

Looking at these mounts Charles must have been doing this out of passion for the hobby, the work involved to make them belies any profit making motive. I wish I had one.

I wouldnt pay $18000 to get fringing on Jupiter - I paid a lot less to get it with my SW120ED.

Excellent! Going to order one soon as I do like the 42mm LVW for some things. edge astig and all.