Paul73

Looks great Garry. Tell us more about the Solar Tak? And, how do the vows compare with the Lunt DS? Paul

Great to hear. I'd be trerrified of ordering a scope like that, just incase the views didn't live up to expectations. I'm loving my SW ED120. But, still dreaming that one day..... Paul

Amazing! I'll definitely be having a go at this one. Great post Harrym. And thanks for wrecking my plans for the morning. It is going to take me ages to work through the "19bn ly" bit!??? Paul

Result! Hope that the views are 'as new. Paul

It's a tough one really. We need to know about the "bad" guys. But, how to make it objective/fair?? I guess that word gets around..... Paul

Treated myself to this little gadget from HoTech. Should make life a lot easier!!!

??????? Hericy !!!! The E21 not Top Dog!! Facinating findings. And, an enjoyable read. Looking forward to your galactic findings. Maybe Lunt have done something clever with the coatings? Paul

Errrrr. Am I allowed to say that I think that my black Moonlite is great..... Possibly, a tad over complicated, but for visual observing it does the job nicely. It is most certainly a good step up from stock focusers. The Bresser stock r&p is so poor that I'm tempted to shoehorn a stock SW Crayford effort onto the tube. Part of my work is in Value Management of design solutions. Which looks at how to best meet the real requirements of a customer. ie. Most Value / £. A lot of us won't admit that, for us, small constituents of value are items such as aesthetics / feel / exclusivity....... This is fine if we admit that this is part of our definition of value. But, when we ignore this and obsessively defend brands from a point of pure functionality, we get overly excitable postings and conflict. I might have to try a Steeltrack (with a bag over it ?). It'll save me from the Feather Touch money pit for a while. Paul

I did look through a PSTx2 Binoscope. One was naked and one double stacked. The views were good.... @garryblueboy. Nice setups. Which scope gives better surface detail? Paul

Glad that you are enjoying the PST double stack. Even with the increased image scale (100mm plays 40mm), I can't get that level of detail. The proms are great though! It goes to show that, unlike with Dobs, size isn't everything. Paul

Here's a bit of an update. My PST has been at the Gym. It had its Poper Maiden Voyage today. i.e. Got it working properly! ??? The gear is: 1/ Sky Watcher ED120 with a Lunt 1/4" wedge (white light) 2/ Bresser 102mm PST Mod (Ha) On a Sky T ii atop a Berlebach 26C Uni tripod. I can revert the PST to standard spec in a matter of minutes for travel. Paul PS. I'm still hankering after a little Lunt 50 DS'ed (of course) for the fine surface detail.

Agreed. So much of the observing experience is down to ergonomics. Eyepieces with similar optics can make for a different viewing experience. ie, the Delos range with their endlessly adjustable soft eye cups are a delight, but try them with the cups down and they are near unuseable. Paul

Don't get me wrong, the ES is a very fine eyepiece. The view just wasn't quite as immersive as the Ethos. It also lost a tiny bit on contrast. As expected, the narrow gap between the two got narrower in scopes slower than f5. Paul

Sounds like it may be a keeper! There is a lot of Astro budget tied up in 21E's..... I tried the ES 20 100° for a while as an alternative to the capital hogging E21. Good, but not quite close enough. The Lunt/Myriad might be a very attractive compromise. Paul

One of these ? ? Sorry OP.

Could be internal reflections? It looks a bit like the image from a double stacked scope where the DS hasn't been tilted enough. I also got similar effects when the ERF in my PST mod was not tilted and positionined correctly. Re. The original question. I would take a double stacked PST over a naked Lunt 50 every day. The lower band pass of the PST DS shows noticeably more detail than the Lunt (0.5 vs 0.75). Sure, image is darker due to the reduced PST aperture, but well worth it imho. The other nice thing about DS units is that you can take them off and enjoy enhanced proms.?. My 100mm PST mod is awesome on the proms but only 1 angstrom so surface detail is a bit limited (needs more fetling to get it bang on). When the money allows I'll be heading for the Lunt 50 with DS unit rather than a naked Lunt 60. Paul PS. I am visual only.

Faciating thread chaps. Basic basic question though... for visual observing, what is the difference, other than a heap of cash, is there between BF500 and BF600 and BF1500? Paul

Thanks I'll try and remember my CN login details. Wouldn't mind reading a direct Myriad / Lunt comparison. I've tried a couple of "optically the same" eyepieces and found them to be subtly different. Could be coatings? Could just be natural variations in the production progress (something that TV quality control seeems to tackle well)? For the moment, I'll probably stick with the ultra sharp 24mm Panoptic as my goto wide field. But, as I am missing my old Ethos 21mm, and hell will be getting a bit chilly by the time I will have the funds to replace it; I'll be watching with interest. Paul

These Lunt 100° only came to my attention today whilst reading this month's Astronomy Now magazine. A nicely written piece, but testing them on only one scope, and f10 at that !! Has anyone tried one in something about f5? I guess that the ES 20mm 100° would be the direct competitor. Which while performing very well for the money, can't live with the E21. Paul

I'm a big fan of these. I sometimes take mine off the mount and observe with it tucked under my arm. Lovely on the wide fields!?? I use Televue Plossls on in mine. Not cheap, good fun. Paul

This little beauty arrived this morning. Splendidly wrapped and as new!?? Paul

Alfian - Your wallet has my deepest sympathies. Pack them up. Send them back. You are not hooked/beyond help yet! Paul

My children had bamboo nappies. They were lovely and soft. Washing them was a fragrant chore ???. By sprog number three. Disposables all the way! (Compostable of course). Nice socks Helen. Paul

As mentioned, the postie has been a busy boy: - Bresser 102mm F10 - AE energy rejection filter in holder! (Thanks Morningboy) - 2" Nosepiece adaptor (any guesses what I'm building?) - wheels for my DIY Dob mover - Televue Delos 6mm (thanks Charic) That will do for a while.... Paul

The postman, other that HMRC letters, has been a popular sight lately. Will update with photos in the next couple of days when it has all landed.....??? I'm rubbish at waiting. Why isn't everything here now!!!?????????? Yes! Ten frustrated emojis!!! NB. All sellers have been gray. I'm just massively impatient. Sorry Chaps. Just venting. Pauk