rwilkey

Not really Louis, I have enjoyed your comments and interaction, so I thank you for this. I have also enjoyed Steve's defence of his actions. Thank-you everybody!

Hi Captain, the fact that you cannot find any reviews on the Opticstar 2" XS 70 is not a good indication, and its price is also a little low for this class of eyepiece. When we buy a telescope, we often say 'that's it,' but in truth many of us spend a lot more than the telescope cost in the first place! I have bought many of my eyepieces on the second-hand market with my criteria being that it must be around half-price of the new item. So second-hand is a good way to go, I have always had an excellent experience and all my purchases have been in pristine condition.

Hi there, that's an interesting find at a good price, the 5 element plossl is usually regarded as the 'super' plossl, I believe. I for one would be interested to hear any reviews. I notice it does not have a safety undercut on the barrel though its 542g weight should not upset too many telescopes. On the other ep you mention I have some experience, the PanaView 32mm is a great ep and the first 'upgrade' I ever bought and I am dead impressed with its performance at f/5 in my 200P, great and stunning on-axis views but suffers a bit of astigmatism at the edges, which for me, is negated by the superb overall performance.

Hi Apollo, it's great that you have found us and I am sure you will enjoy the community, we are a friendly bunch here as you appear to have found. Have fun and keep looking up!

Hi Craig, your pictures are unbelievable, I love the picture of the Clavius in particular, this is the most superb image I have ever seen of it, well done!

Hi Steve, I am very much looking forward to using them, and I shall report back here. Really, I published this post because I was so frustrated at not being able to use them and compare opinions, and I thank everyone for their kind replies!

Hi Julio, at the end of the day, the choice of one of the above options is down to you, you might want to catch up with an astronomy group in your area, the Baker Street Irregulars comes to mind (https://www.bakerstreetastro.org/). Whilst it is difficult to choose, portability is an important factor for you so build from this pre-requsite. You asked about where you can buy the telescope, it's always best to go through a specialist astronomy supplier such as the forum sponsors, FLO, whose banner is at the head of this page, just click on that. Good luck with your choices!

An Orion 10" scope is a big step up from a 6", and you will certainly see more, but not much bigger, planets will always look like a pea through any amateur telescope, but you will be able to see a lot more detail, particularly in Jupiter's cloud belts, for example. Taking Saturn for example, not only will you see Titan, it's largest moon, but several others besides, such as Rhea, Tethys, Enceledus, Iapetus, Hyperian, Mimas and Dione, so that's the difference in the level of detail. You will not see NASA or HST images such as colour or anything but you will be able to see a lot further into the cosmos and many fainter objects, stuff like the Leo Triplet and others will stand out dramatically. So if you consider the moons of Saturn and an easy Leo Triplet to be 'wow' factors then you will like a 10" scope.

Hi Tim, some great pictures there, well done!

Hi Louis, if it is the same guy as wrote 'Making Every Photon Count' then he is quite well respected over here, though his expertise is in astro-photography, I have also heard of abberations in the outer edges of this ep.

Hi all, at the recent IAS meeting I took a gamble on purchasing two Omegon Panorama ep's (15 & 21mm) from astroshop.de as they looked so nice and pristine, but sadly I have not had chance to use them yet, the 2" 15 & 21mm are parfocal, as are the 1.25" 5 & 10mm. The look of the ep's are very reminiscent of the Meade series 5000 MWA'a and with same focal lengths I would not be surprised if the Omegons were identical but in different clothing, here is a stock picture of one of mine: There is a positive review here: http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/review/eyepieces/omegon-panorama-ii-eyepieces The Meades can be found here: https://www.meade.com/series-5000-mega-wide-angle-eyepieces.html I caught a CN review of their performance which implied the AFoV was less than stated (as low as 82º) but that the ER was good at 20mm. They are made in China. So, I was wondering if anyone had any experience or thoughts on these, as the Ethos is way out of my budget range. I can't wait to use them but the weather here is a killer. Thanks in advance!

Hi there Emad, the Sky Watcher 32mm PanaView is a great performer I have found, but depending on your achro focal length, it does suffer a bit at the edges in fast scopes, however, the on-axis view is stunning at any speeds. At 70 º AFoV it performs well above its relative cost of £72, found here: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ovl-eyepieces/panaview-2-eyepieces.html

Hi Olli, another good one to consider is the Explore Scientific 82 series 30mm, a great eyepiece that gives good immersive views of the night sky, found here: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/explore-scientific-eyepieces/explore-scientific-82-degree-series-eyepieces.html

Hi Julio, there is no such thing as a perfect telescope, there is always a compromise and there is no such thing as a scope that will do everything, unfortunately. Visual astronomy and astro photography (AP) both have different demands, with AP being very much more expensive, especially if you want to photograph DSO's (deep sky objects)

Brilliant Dave!