Stardust1

Thanks Richard! That makes sense. I was aware of the ir filter built in the ASI2600 camera. The QHY268C doesn't come with the built in ir filter. I went for the ASI2600 among other because of the additional usb ports. I will probably get the Baader IR filter as well, I could use it for planetary imaging/visual as well. I'm planning to get the Optolong Dual-Band L-eXtreme Filter for narrowband. I noticed your images don't have bloated stars, that's good news. Looking forward to your images...

Thank you Richard for your help! Much appreciate it. I have almost figured out the adapters. Are these the filter drawer and the filter that you are using? ZWO 2" Filter Drawer: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo_fd_m42.html Baader ir filter (2" mounted): https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/filters/planetary/visual-photographic/baader-ir-pass-filter-(685-nm).html

Hi Richard, thank you! I didn't want to hijack your first light with all the questions, no you were not dreaming 😀 I was wondering about your imaging train, distance and the adapters that you used with the ASI2600. Your stars look to me nice round all the way to the corners, you have dialed it well...

Beautiful images, love the color.

I'm curious what your preference are, bino or mono and why? Do you see more with binoviewer then mono? Which objects (planets, moon, deepsky) are you observing. Are you using glasses when observing with bino or mono?

Adam, really nice comparison. Which camera did you use?

For the planets and the Moon 5mm is my most used eyepiece. For comfort, no question about it, the XW 5mm hands down. When you want the extra pop and detail, one needs to get a little uncomfortable and reach for the XO 5.1mm. The XO is an amazing eyepiece, no eyepiece that I have tried comes close to the XO 5.1mm. The only eyepiece that was close to the XO 2.5mm was the Vixen HR 2.4mm. I haven't tried the Tak TOE, I'm waiting for a 4mm. Still the XO 2.5mm had a tiny more contrast compared to the HR 2.4mm with a FS-102NSV. The HR is more comfortable in use then XO, so there is a trade off. I tried three different focal lengths of the Tak Abbe, 12.5, 9, 6mm. These eyepieces didn't gave me the satisfaction to keep them around. They are not cheap, but they are also not that expensive compared to a ZAO. A few years ago I compared the Tak Abbe 9mm and a ZAO 10mm with my FS-102NSV. Among the objects that I observed was Saturn. The ZAO was a little sharper and the colors was more vibrant. The Tak abbe colors was more muted. The differences are small, but noticeable in a side by side test.

My smallest scope is my most used scope, that is Takahashi Sky-90. Love this little scope, gives sharp views, it's compact. One needs to grow to love this scope. Bought a new Sky90 15 years ago, sold it within a year or three. After more then a decade of having tried different scopes, I have come to appreciate the strength and weak of different type of scopes. A few months ago I found a well cared used one, bought it immediately, it's a keeper. I use the little scope on a Tak Lapides or these days on AZ-GTi.

Who will get one of the new Pentax XW 30mm and 40mm? Do these two eyepieces have a place in today's eyepiece market?

Gerry, I haven't used the Nikon with a Paracor in the dob. I might look for a Paracor soon (as soon as I recoup from the docter 😉). Seeing Orion nebula at a dark site with the Nikon HW 17 in a 16" (F/5) dob is a unforgettable experience. A friend of mine was peaking through the Nikon, the only think that I heard from him is, I wan't one 😁

I have used the Esprit 150ED, build quality was good. Not the quality of the tier 1 (Tak, TEC, AP), but close. Sorry can't comment on the smaller sibling Esprit 80, but if it's as good as the 150ED, then it's a winner. Can't comment on the WO, I haven't used those. Good luck!

If you want to stay with Ethos, I would add a lower power eyepiece to your list. Seeing the moon in a low power eyepiece is something to behold. It's stunning seeing small bright moon floating in space.There are some beautiful DS objects in low power eyepiece as well. My preference would be choosing the Ethos 21 over the 17. The 17 is close to 13. Or add 31 Nagler to the list. I have Nikon HW 17 and 13 Ehtos, and can say these two are close, even in my 400/2000 dobson. I for one have eyepieces from TeleVue, Nikon, Pentax, Vixen, Tak, Docter (soon to be), Zeiss. Love them all, each of these companies have some nice eyepieces. The Nikon NAV HW 17 gets more praises then the Ethos 17. The Docter 12.5 gets also more praises then Delos or Ethos. There are also a lot of happy users of Pentax XW 30 and 40. But I wouldn't mind having a box of Ethos only. But I'm glad that there more vendors out there. Good luck!

I bought the Docter 12.5 from Astromarket.org, they work with Astroshop.eu: https://www.astromarket.org/oculairs/docter-uwa-ultragroothoekoculair-12-5mm-1-25l-2l/p,22974 I have bought in the past from Astromarket. Their after sale is top notch! They have solved all the issues that I had with items and are friendly and fast with communication. I looked for years for a used Docter, I didn't find one, glad you found one. The Baader pushfix adapter looks interesting, I will look in to that. But first I need to recover from the Docter 😀

Ever since the Docter eyepiece came out I wanted one. I finally broke and ordered one. It should be delivered within a few days. Gerry, Piero, thank you for your help!

Gerry, Piero, thank you for the pictures! The Zeiss 20-75x and Doctor 12.5mm are now on my bucket list. Sadly the Zeiss 20-75x is Discontinued, I will keep my eye open for the used market. Are these two eyepieces close in performance to the ZAO? are they sharper and more contrasty then Tak abbe ortho? By the way how is the performance of the doctor with the Baader VIP? I have one as well, I like the VIP a lot, it's a versatile barlow.

Thanks Gerry! Do you mean this Zeiss zoom: https://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/OffersOfProduct/812353_-okular-vario-d-15-45x-20-60x-zeiss.html I have never tried the Zeiss zoom, would love to try it. The focal length is great. What is the FOV across the range? I assume you would need an 1.25" adapter. Is the Zeiss zoom sharper then the Leica 25-50x WW? I have at the moment a pair of Tak LE 30 and one LE 7,5. I loved the LE 5 as well, but couldn't justify keeping it as I had already the XW 5, XO 5. The LE 5 sample that I had was sharper then XW 5 sample.

I have had most of the eyepieces for years. The Eyepieces that didn’t work for me was the Tak Abbe ortho, I tried 12.5, 9, 6mm. They are for sure sharp, but the eye relief and the color representation didn’t work for me. I do love the Tak LE’s, love the color representation of these eyepieces. I foolishly traded a Zeiss ZAO 10, I compared the ZAO 10 with the Tak Abbe 9, the scope was FS-102, the color rendering of Zeiss was vibrant, there was a pop. Side by side the colors of the Tak Abbe looked flat.

I bought most of my eyepieces new. If you wait long enough one can find used eyepieces as well. I would love to try the docter 12.5mm. I haven’t seen one used. What I like about the XW is they are like Swiss knife, they perform well, it doesn’t get fogged, which is very important to me, they are comfortable, and they can be used with glasses.

My favorite eyepieces are dependent on the object and scope type. My favorite objects from home are the Moon and the planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Mars). When I'm in south of France at a dark site, then I observe DSO objects, galaxies, globular clusters, planetary nebulae. My favorite eyepieces in order for the Moon with FS-102NSV, Sky-90, TEC-140: - Tak LE 30, Nikon NAV HW 17, Pentax XW 20-3.5, Ethos 13, Pentax XO 5.1-2.5, Vixen HR 2 My favorite binoviewer eyepieces for the Moon with FS-102NSV: - Zeiss ZAO II 16, Tak LE 30, Panoptic 24 My favorite eyepieces for the planets with FS-102NSV and Sky-90: - Pentax XO 5.1, Tak LE 5-7.5 , XW 5 My favorite eyepieces for DSO objects with 16" dobson: - Nikon NAV HW 17, at a distant Ethos 13mm If I had to make a choice that I can keep only 3 eyepieces it would be: - Nikon NAV HW 17, Zeiss ZAO II 16, Pentax XO 5.1

The Pentax XW 10mm is really a nice eyepiece. It’s comfortable eyepiece to look through. It’s sharp and I have never had fog on the lens unlike some other eyepieces.

Congrats with the TEC140! Wish you many clear skies! It's a beautiful scope. I love my TEC140ED.

If choosing a Tak finder for the FC-100D, I would personally pick the Tak 6x30 over the 7x50. The reason behind this is the Tak 6x30 is small and light compared to the 7x50. The 7x50 is huge when compared to the 6x30 finder. Overall the FC-100D is a portable scope, no need to add a bulk finder as 7x50. Regarding the optical quality, the Tak finders are excellent. Very sharp and contrasty views. One can't go wrong. Especially if you add a Tak quick release. I use one Tak 6x30 finder with two Tak scopes, Sky90 and FS102NSV. Both scopes are equipped with Tak quick release. This is off topic, regarding taking care of the Tak scopes and durability. Both of my Tak scopes are from 2004 or so. The FS102NSV is still in good condition. The startest is text book. The Sky90 is in mint condition. My experience is that Tak scopes are durable, if one handles these scopes with care, I guess that goes with other scopes as well.

Would like to give an update regarding the AZ-GTi. The first sample of the AZ-GTi that I tried for a few nights had issues with tracking and goto. The mount wouldn't track an object more than a minute of three in the FOV of 0.5 degrees. The goto was also off. I tried one star, two star, three star alignment, without success. I sent the mount back to the vendor for a replacement. As I was advised by the vendor that opening the mount would void the warranty. The new mount works excellent. It tracks an object more then 10 minutes in the FOV of 0.5 degrees. The object would then just move maybe 1/3 or so, or less in the FOV. The goto works excellent as well. Not 100%, but close enough, depending on the object in the sky. Overall I'm very pleased with the AZ-GTi mount. The mount is a winner in combination with a small light scope.

Thank you! Mind you, I have used the AZ-GTi for an hour or so outside. The weather has been terrible since I got the AZ-GTi. What I have noticed is that there is some backlash in the DEC. Not sure if degrades the Go-To accuracy. Stu, has written a nice how to fix the backlash tutorial. I need to test first the mount a few times under the stars before pursuing to open the mount. I haven't heard from the vendor if one tries to fix the backlash voids the warranty. In the SkyWatcher SynScan app there is a backlash compensation feature. Not sure if this helps. Would love to hear if somebody has played with this feature to reduce the backlash. So far I like the mount. If it tracks the planets and the moon without glitch then I would be very happy. The GoTo will be a big bonus. I try to relative the price performance in this case, the price of the AZ-GTi is comparable to one Tele Vue Delite eyepiece. In my book the mount is a bargain.

Here is Sky-90 on the AZ-GTi. First impression, the mount can handle the Sky-90 well. The Sky-90 uses the same clamshell as the FC-100D. The whole scope setup, is just over 4kg.