F15Rules

42 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Darn, you sussed it, Dave! It's normally mistaken for a septic tank .

Er, I thought septic tanks were only for effluent people??🤭🤔

Dave

22 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Just making a few adjustments, so thought I'd do a quick photoshoot on the Takahashi FS 102, on WO EZ Touch and Berlebach Planet tripod

Looks fabulous Jeremy👍😊..

..and I particularly like the camouflaged Handle Bulk Storage unit in the background!🤭😂😂

Dave

On 03/08/2020 at 15:04, Xsubmariner said:

On 03/08/2020 at 15:04, Xsubmariner said:

Just to get back on topic a picture of my latest  Frac 😍 and yes it came with a handle should you be interested. 😏

 

 

...but did it come with enough counterweights??😊🤭

Dave

What a bunch of stars!! Jeremy, Nicosy and Mike - thanks very much indeed, I'll post a pic when it's done😊👍

Dave

Hi all 🙂,

I need to get around to fitting the above to my FS128 soon.

However, the instructions are all in Japanese and I'm not great at following just diagrammatic ones (I can follow a video ok), and can't use Google translate (I don't think) from a photograph of text?

If anyone can help I'd much appreciate it ☺️!

Many thanks,

Dave

51 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

53 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

That’s plane amazing, Dave!
 

I wonder if those pilots have handle bar moustaches.

No doubt they got a handle on you as they flew over.

 

🙂

 

Can't compete with that Jeremy.. you're far too fly for me, I just try to wing it as I go..yes, the pilots saw us (I'm on a roll now), and fired off their afterburners in thanks for our admiration of their handling of all the levers and handles they have to pull whilst piloting their wonderful machines, what?😎😁

Dave

...and of course, after wall to wall blue skies all day, it's now wall to wall cloud..

On the plus side, we were this afternoon treated to 4 RAF Typhoons going right over us in right banked formation no more than 400 or 500 feet up (we have the RAF Coningsby base nearby 😊).

Dave

Yes, I was surprised when I went out at c11.15pm to lock up, and saw a lovely sky with moon and Mars prominent.

Forecast tonight looks promising (there, I said it!), I hope to get out if it is indeed clear..

Dave

On 05/09/2020 at 19:51, Barry-W-Fenner said:

I may be swayed to purchase either the 12mm or 17.5mm next but that's for another thread 😁

Hi Baz,

I think you have saved the best two til last!

I have a pair of 17.5mm for binoviewing and they are just excellent. They barlow really well too.

I don't have the 12.5mm ( not 12mm 😊) but have looked through one and I thought it better than the 14mm (which I did own at the time).

I suspect that if you get a 12.5mm you will either sell the 14mm and keep the 12.5mm or vice versa..the two seem to me to be too close in power for most scopes to make it worth having both?

As the Yanks would say, I think Baader really hit a "home run" with the Morpheus range!

Dave

3 hours ago, Rich1980 said:

Update from retailer, they'll refund if I return it to them and reaffirming that I'll "never get a refractor telescope that is completely free of dust particles". 

I do hope that when you have your refund you will name this retailer for the rest of us - so we can avoid them in the future!!

Dave

Rich,

That "returns window" clock is ticking. Just send it back, get a refund and order something else, from someone else.

Better a bit of inconvenience now than a lot of regret later.

Good luck.

Dave

I would send it back for a full refund or replacement.

If other brands can supply clean glass in their new scopes, why can't Skywatcher?

I hope your retailer does right by you.

Dave

1 hour ago, Louis D said:

It really depends on the quality of the Barlow.  Those in the list below consistently get high praise for "getting out of the way":

1.6x 1.25" Nikon EIC Barlow

3.0x 1.25" Televue Barlow

2.4x 2.0" Vernonscope Dakin Barlow

2.0x 2.0" AP BARCON (BARADV) Barlow

2.5x 2.0" Siebert Telecentric

2.0x 1.25" Carl Zeiss Abbe Barlow

2.0x 1.25" & 2" Baader VIP Barlow

If you can use a longer focal length more comfortably than a shorter focal length for a longer period of time by using it with a high quality Barlow, you're more likely to tease out fine details by being more relaxed.

Agreed. And to the above list from my own experience I would add the Baader Hyperion Zoom 2.25x Barlow I quoted..😊

Dave

On 29/08/2020 at 14:59, Ships and Stars said:

the 10mm BCO is my go-to eyepiece for PN (once I've located them) and would be great on planets I'd think. 

Correct, it's a cracking eyepiece - but the trade off is not the best eye relief. In your Mak, an 18mm BCO wi with a 1.6x Barlow nosepiece such as W.O. or Antares would give you 11.25mm effective focal length, and the Baader Hyperion Zoom Barlow (2.25x) would get you down to 8mm EFL with the 18mm BCO - but with better eye relief than the 10mm. Worth considering?

Back to the zooms, bothe the Leica and Pentax XL 8-24 are excellent. The Leica wins on field of view (much wider than the Pentax), while the Pentax is much cheaper, especially used. The Pentax build is outstanding, as good or better than the XWs, and sharpness and contrast are very very close to the XWs - but the zoom can't match the XWs 70 degree fov.

Decisions, decisions.."you pays your money and you makes your choice!" 😏😊.

Good luck with whatever you go for.

Dave

Regarding the Orion Megavista 16.8mm eyepiece referred to in this thread:

I read this thread when it was first posted, but only today read the latter parts of it..when I did so, I was frankly outraged..

On 28/07/2020 at 16:27, Robindonne said:

I received a dm immediately after posting that photo. That certain person/member told me,  no matter how much John wants to pay for it, he pays more.

On 28/07/2020 at 16:38, Robindonne said:

Oh and that certain person’s name starts with an F.🤔.  

I believe that "That certain person/member" whose "name starts with an F" was me...(F15Rules).

Having read the original post, I was interested in the Orion Megavista 16.8mm eyepiece, as I already have the Carton branded versions in the other sizes. This is exactly what I said in my private message:

"Hi there (Robin?),

I saw your post on "leftover eyepieces", and noticed that they included the Orion Megavista 16.8mm.

I wondered if you might be interested in selling it? I have the Carton branded versions in 10.5mm and 28mm (I think the 28mm is the rarest of the range).

I paid c £40 each for mine, so if yours is in very good condition (does it have both lens caps?), and you are willing to sell it, I would be happy to offer you £40 for yours, plus reasonable postage.

Thanks for reading my message, and whether you decide to sell it or not, I wish you congratulations on finding this little selection.

Best wishes,

Dave"

At NO STAGE did I state, as claimed above, that  "no matter how much John wants to pay for it, he pays more." I would NEVER try to outbid another member for an item, as anyone who knows me will attest.

John is a highly respected senior member and Moderator on SGL, and he clearly stated he was not interested in buying this eyepiece.

I also offered some advice/thoughts as to the identification of other eyepieces in the OPs' photo, to try to help him.

I did not pursue my interest after I was advised that postage would be c £20, and also in between registering my interest in the Megavista and receiving a costed reply on shipping, I had found a second Morpheus 17.5mm for binoviewing.

I can provide the full transcript of the full exchange of messages I had with RobinDonne if required.

I hope this sets the record straight and I hope that no false statements will in future be attributed to me.

Thank you.

Dave

Hi Geoff,

How weird is our world and our climate these days!

Good to hear your enthusiasm at being able to get the scope out at long last..if it's any consolation, we in Blighty have had some really lousy skies in recent weeks, and the few clear nights we've had have often been very unsteady with quite poor seeing.

I've always felt that August isn't a great month, weather wise, day or night, whereas September can be a lovely month and more settled..here's hoping both hemispheres can get an extended spell of clear, dry atmospheric conditions - especially for Mars! 😊

Dave

4 hours ago, Deadlake said:

Lack of posts, so here is a new Vixen SD103S. Have been enjoying it this summer. 

Lovely scope, Deadlake, thanks for sharing..👍

Dave

Thanks Mark. Sorry for the late reply, have been doing lots of garden tasks for a couple of days..

Yes, I'm pleased to be able to get from fairly low to high power with just the Morpheus pair, a lot less fiddling about than having to have three pairs of different EPs..

Actually, I do have a pair of 26mm Celestron Halloween plossls as well, but one of them isn't right..I suspect it may have been disassembled at some point and put back together incorrectly. I'll take them both apart when I have time, to compare the internal layout to see if they differ (taking pictures first so I don't forget which way around is correct! 😊. It would be nice to get them working well as they would give x40, (x60), x112 (x140) and x160 (x240) using my barlows,  (Morpheus 17.5mm figures in brackets).

Dave

Me too!!😔

Dave

23 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

If you mount tracks, then a narrower eyepiece would work fine.

If your mount doesn't track, a wider eyepiece will help keep the planet in the field.

If you wear glasses, you have no choice and need more eye relief.

If you don't wear glasses, eye relief only gets annoying when your eyelashes brush the lens all the time.  A 12-12.5mm Abbe ortho won't be an issue there.

If you want an eyepiece ONLY for planets, then the narrow high resolution eyepieces work fine.

If you want an eyepiece for multiple kinds of objects, then a wider eyepiece would be better.

You can sort of get the best of both worlds with eyepieces like the TeleVue Delite.

 

But, if looking for a planets and deep sky eyepiece, I'd look seriously at the Baader Morpheus 12.5mm, TeleVue Delos 12mm, and APM Hi-FW 12.5mm eyepieces.  All are 1.25" eyepieces.

+1 for the Morpheus, superb eyepiece with great comfort too. I'm sure the Delos is excellent too, but you may not want to take out a second mortgage to buy one..(£342 shipped new in UK..the Morpheus is  £195 new shipped in UK, source FLO).

I can't comment on the APM as I know nothing about them. I'm sure they will be good eyepieces though,😊.

Dave

Nice, interesting report Bob, thank you.

Good clear nights have been hard to come by lately, and I would gladly accept some sheep nearby to get some skies like the one you described 😊.

I showed my wife Jupiter and Saturn briefly last night as it was just getting dark and we got back from a walk. The cloud had already obscured the Moon in the west, but I got the scope out and quickly swung over to Jupe and Saturn. Jupiter was just boiling, impossible to see any detail, although we saw the 4 main moons, two either side of the planet. Saturn was better, strangely, and the rings were clearer than I'd expected but no Cassini Division. 

The Jetstream is just so active at the moment, we could really do with some calm, quiet skies such as we had back in April and May in early lockdown..

Enjoy the rest of your holiday and hope you get another session...sans sheep!😁

Dave

David,

Lovely scope!👍🤘

A few questions for you if I may..

1. Is MikeDnight earning a commission on this scope?🤭😁

2. Is this scope a threat to your FS128 - or just a more grab and go alternative?

3. If the answer to (2) above is "yes", can I have the FS128 to pair up with mine to make a giant pair of Fluorite Binoviewers? 

Dave

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Sorry Dave, I had left it in Newt view (unusual for me!), here it is in refractor view, left-right reversed. Does that look right?

Yes Stu, perfect thanks! That's just like what I saw..👍😊

Dave

Thanks John.

I believe it will get up to about +5 degrees, or halfway between Orion's Belt and Betelgeuse, so views weather permitting should be good!

Clear skies

Dave

43 minutes ago, Stu said:

Spot on Dave, you were right!

Great report, sounds like a winning combination. I’ve yet to try the Morpheus but they do get excellent reviews so maybe I should

Thanks Stu, that's a relief! What's the software your screenshot was from? Is that shown as "normal vision" orientation? - my view was the same, but reversed east and west as per  normal frac view with a diagonal? So the gibbous side was on the opposite side to your screenshot..

When I first saw the dark features it reminded me of the continent of Africa or India in shape.

What I really like about the Morpheus range is the comfort in viewing (and the M43 extension and screw on eyecups make it easy to get the eyecup height that suits you best), the large eyelenses, and the fact that the eyepiece just seems to "get out of the way". I think for the cost they are one of the best ranges I have ever looked through and I can understand why Bill Paolini waxed so lyrical about them.

Dave