Paul73

Thanks for posting. Fascinating stuff and a great way of comparing eyepieces. I’ve just got in trouble for spending the last 20 mins staring at my phone when I “should be doing useful stuff”..... Paul

Don’t worry. I did the same. The eyepiece case will slowely recover. Paul

Or, Pentax....

To my eye, the views were identical. Ergonomically I preferred the heavier MK3. Paul

Don’t worry. I’d be excited to try anything that knowledgeable SGLers recommend. One thing that doesn’t seem to have been touched on is “X Factor”. ie. the some venerable Plossls or the Panoptic 24mm. Technically they have flaws, but you can’t help smiling when you use them!?. Or, the technically wonderful eyepieces that leave you cold. This includes most of the Nagler range for me. Pentax is a brand that I trust from using their binoculars for years. Next star party where there are actually some stars, i’ll seek some out to try. Paul

This is a cracking eyepiece for the sun. I had both the MkIII and the MkIV. One for the white light scope and one for the Ha scope. ? They also got used for the travel setup. Paul

Scary stuff..... says the visual only chap. As mid life crisis go, imaging the heavens is pretty innocuous stuff. Your wife is a very lucky lady. Good luck with your journey to the dark side. We will miss you. I’ll get back to the observing section now. Paul PS. I’ve just acquired an EQ Mount..... But I know that I’ll always be Dob at heart.

But then we still won’t know what the Delos is like! ?. John seems happy to have examples of both ranges in his collection. So there is unlikely to be much to choose between to two. Unless you spend time lovely stroking your eyepieces rather than looking through them, your choice should be a good one! Paul PS. I am a self confessed Delos fan and would probably spend the extra for the more engineered feel of the Televue...... I’d really like to observe with the Pentaxes one day so that I can make a more informed contribution.

Yes, for £50, Televue will send you an adapter to make the 14 & 17.2 parfocal with the rest of the range. However, the Ethos 21mm is parfocal with the 17&14 Delos (without the adapter). The 24mm Panoptic is parfocal with the adjusted Delos and the rest of the Delos range. Paul

My little flowery tent just folded down on top of me every time we got a big gust. Popped right back up and shook off most of the water into the bargain. More of a problem was a damaged head from pub based antics..... at least we got to talk Astro b&@£&ks in the dry over a couple(ish) of beers. Paul

Good upgrade. A no brainier when you picture your lovely scope crashing to the ground ?? ADM must make a fortune out of Skywatcher upgrades. Paul

A first visit to Pencelli for me. What a great location. The 30mins of clear sky (midnight Fri/Sat) showed that this could be a great observing location. Catching up with a few old faces and meeting some new, made the trip for me. Discovering a friendly pub 5 mins walk away was a bonus. I’m so so glad that I resisted the vodka..... Many thanks to Tony for organising. Paul

So much for getting there for 17:30!!!! Just leaving now. Will be getting there late. Spoken to reception and normal star party protocol will be observed.....(in the unlikely event of stars) Paul

Good choice. I have one on my Orion Optics UK 16” Dob. It is of a similar vintage to John’s. Paul

Sounds a bit hardcore! Starting the packing now. So should be there for 17:30. Paul

I’d pop along to a couple of the larger star parties to get a look to some examples in the flesh. The Sumerians are a lot more robust than they look. Agreed re Mapstar’s big Dob. Damien’s attention to detail is phenomenal. Paul

Re Adapter plates. You will have no real weight on the plate. So just use a piece of plywood with a couple of small bolts. This is how I mount my little PST on an AZ3. To be honest, the AZ3 is pretty hopeless for mounting anything more substantial. Paul

The Leica 88° is a new one on me. Has anyone tried one? The write ups for the ES 100° 25mm aren’t great. The 30mm 100° is heroically expensive and given that most manufacturers don’t push their 100° past 20mm ish, it would be one hell of a risk. I’m sure that their are some reviews on CN. Could be that you are asking your scope to be something that it isn’t. Maybe a. Dedicated wide field scope would give better views for similar outlay. Although, I’d be tempted to try the 41mm Panoptic anyway. Re. The kidney beaning mentioned earlier. Televue make extenders to raise the eyecup for the longer eye relief eyepieces which may help. Paul

The little scopes are getting everywhere! I’ve been fracless for a while, so when I spied this on a popular auction site ....... I found the ED80 a bit big & heavy for easy grab and go, so hopefully this will fit the bill. This is the cheap version without the thermometer! Paul

I’ll be bringing 48 young ladies, all called Stella! And some Vitimin G incase its cold....

Nearly didn’t hit like as there were already nearly 30!!!! But, that is a very fine image. Nice to see the wider field view (regardless of the lovely tidal stream). Paul

Why go to F4 when you don’t need to? At >16”, yes, otherwise you need a set of steps. But, 4.5 to 5 is much more forgiving on the Eyepieces. At f4 (my 16” OOUK) you need premium eyepieces. Even the well regarded TV Panoptics were not acceptable without correction. The £££!Delos range worked well. But it isn’t all bad news; mid range 82° Eyepieces in the £120 to £220 range work fine with a Parracor...... At f4.7 (my 10” pea shooter) you can get away with less exotic glass. In fact, I have a set of ES 82°‘s heading my way as we speak, for use with the f4 16” with Parracor (Ml1b). Paul

How about something like this? https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p8401_Sumerian-Optics-Alkaid-12--f-5-Dobsonian-Telescope.html @garryblueboy was selling similar with Zumbato mirrors. I can’t remember the exact details, but I do remember that it was a serious scope! It was a couple of weeks ago so it may have found a new home. Might need a bit more than £2k, but you are used to quality gear...... Paul

How will it perform? Its a 21mm Ethos! King of the eyepiece pile! You’ll climb in and fall into the view. That, and the 17.3 & 8mm Delos, are the eyepieces that I’d buy again in a heartbeat if finances allowed. Enjoy. Paul

Some great work there. For the rest of us, who don’t have the requisite skills, there are alternatives to Feathertouch products. I consider the Moonlite unit on the side of my Dob to be really pretty good. But, I can’t help thinking that I could make some improvements ??.