F15Rules

Cheers Alan,

Yes, all the eps have bottom caps on them.

The binoviewing Ostara pairs didn't come with any caps as they came new in bolt cases. They weren't expensive so I'm not precious about them, same for the Halloweens..that said, they will always be kept in the box with the lid closed when not in use.

I use a small table located next to the scope when outside to keep the my eyepiece box handy, and have a large Berlebach accessory tray on my tripod on which to keep a few eps safely when being used.

I must say I'd be more nervous using some of the bigger and more valuable eps I used to own though!

Dave

52 minutes ago, Ags said:

I like the stain you chose, very retro. I have to ask: what is a Halloween Plossl?

Hello Ags,

See image attached..

The Halloween range of Celestron plossls took their name from the black and orange "spooky" livery. They were made in Taiwan, and said to be comparable with contemporary good quality Japanese plossls of the time such as Meade 3000/4000 plossls.

I acquired my 26mm pair recently for binoviewing but haven't yet tried them both together. The Cyclops views (solo) are very nice though, very sharp and with good contrast.

Dave

1 minute ago, JeremyS said:

Are you looking for suggestions, Dave? 

SGL'ers are always happy to help their chums spend their money 🙂

Looks to me like you need some 1-inch Pentax eyepieces.....

 

Sadly, Jeremy, my wallet doesn't need any further spending at the moment😪..much as some baby Pentax's might appeal..

Actually, I've been really impressed by the little 18mm Tak MC Ortho, so much so, that if I did have spare funds available I'd probably chuck them in that direction..or maybe the Morpheus's..or the Pentax XW's.. or..

Dave

I've now put 11 eyepieces in the box, 4 spaces left if needed.

Back row, left to right:

Carton Gen Japan 7-21mm zoom,  Carton Gen 10.5mm , Takahashi MC Ortho 18mm 0.965" in Vixen 1.25" sleeve with Baader Zoom 2.25x Barlow attached (the zoom converts the Tak Ortho to 8mm), Sterling 25mm Plossl, Carton Japan Gen 28mm.

I can also use the Hyperion zoom Barlow with the zoom, to convert it to a 3.1mm - 9.3mm high power zoom (delivering 111x - 335x in my FS128).

Middle row and Front row L/R:

Ostara 15mm plossl, Celestron Halloween 26mm plossl, Ostara 30mm plossl

The middle and front row pairs are all used for binoviewing

That's my lot.. I also have a nice Televue Japan 10.5mm smoothside plosslwhich I will be selling soon as the eye relief is just to tight for my ageing eyes.

Dave 🙂

Hi John,

Here's another link to a past thread..

ClassicPentax Refractor..

In the pictures the acoope was definitely set up for 1.25" diagonal and eyepieces. If I recall correctly, the scope originally had 0.965" eps, but like Vixens, the thread on the end of the focuser tube could accept a Vixen 1.24" visual back adapter.

I think you can still get these online.. 

Is it the J60 on fleabay that you're referring to, at £300? If so, I think it is well overpriced..a price of c £150.would be much nearer the Mark, maybe a bit less if it has no eps with it?

I think I sold my bigger J80 for around £280-300..

Cheers

Dave

Hi John,

Pentax made both 80mm (J80) and 60mm (J60) achromats in the 1980s, made in Japan of course.

I owned a J80 and it was a truly superb achromat..we all say we have scopes we regretted selling, well the J80 was truly one such for me. Mine went to Ant McEwan in Scotland back in 2012.

Here's a link to a post by Ant soon after he acquired the scope, with some nice photos of the scope..

If you search SGL for both Pentax J80 and J60 scopes you'll find a fair few references, quite a number from myself!🙂

HTH, John.

Dave

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

Hi Chris,

This one is F8 rather than F7.4, which from an observer's point of view makes virtually no discernable difference. The F7.4 version is simply fantastic. I just suffer from an insatiable curiosity, that so far has cost me a lot, but for very little difference in actual performance other than a cooler tone. I have only had three hours at the eyepiece so far though, so its early days. And the three hours I had last night were far from perfect, being very turbulent. Wharever the future performance of the DZ proves to be, I very much doubt the difference between any of the FC100D series will be wider than a hairs breadth! Time will tell, and when the planet's are better placed I'll be in a better position to discern the advantages of the DZ, if any, over the others.

I needed to sell my DC to fund the purchase of the DZ, so I'll include a pic of it for old times sake.  I can still do a compare though, as a friend owns a DC.

The FC100DC.  A truly superb refractor by any standard. 💔

Mike - maybe it's time to change your SGL handle..

How about MikeDFC&DZnight? 🙃😂

Dave

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Nice job, Dave @F15Rules!!

So that's 15 x 1.25-inch EP's you can fit in?

Did you add a handle in the end?

Hi Jeremy

Yes, the box will hold 15 eps in theory. I don't have that many anyway but I do use a binoviewer, so have a couple of pairs for that use, and also a Barlow and couple of other 1.25" bits I may put in there..

I haven't fitted a handle so far, but will aim to do so. As Ags said, the lid section is probably a bit weak to carry the whole box fully laden.

I'm absolutely NOT a handy person, I just fancied "having a go", knowing I wasn't risking much cash if I completely fouled it up!😊

Dave

I've now painted the box with mahogany stain x 2 coats and added pluck foam for eyepieces.

Also added map of the Orion area of the night sky (my favourite)..

The box isn't perfect by any means, but I won't need to be precious about the box getting scuffed or damaged, and it will keep my old Japanese eyepieces safe.👍

Will still change hinges when I can source some better ones🙂

Dave

On impulse, after reading this thread, I placed an order with Hobbycraft for this box..it cost £8 plus £4.50 shipping! (See below).

I don't kid myself that this will last for ever or be of top quality, but it is giving me a small diversion from "The List"...(that self propagating piece of paper containing various tasks to be done during Lockdown, and assigned to me at the start of Lockdown by my other half, and which seems to add 3 new tasks to the bottom of the list for every 1 task at the top of the list which is successfully completed!)..

I've done the first coat of mahogany stain (too sticky to photograph yet), and added some pluck foam for the base. This will give the box a capacity of up to 15 x 1.25" eyepieces.

I will probably upgrade the hinges and clasp to more robust parts.

My thanks to MikeDnight for his advice and practical tips, especially his technique for making the holes in the pluck foam to seat the eyepieces

Dave

Oops! 

Phone crashed and lost text..will redo soon 🙂

Dave

Hermes called this evening with an impulse purchase I made a few days ago, having read the thread about wooden eyepiece boxes. It's this one :- 

Ordered Items:

Item	Description	Quantity	Price
	Wooden Storage Box 35cm x 25cm x 17cm Product code: 617374-1000	1	£8.00
Postage Cost:			£4.50
Total Amount:			£12.50

Cost me all of £12.50 posted from Hobbycraft! Very lightweight, but seems reasonably well made and I've fitted some pluck foam this evening and done the first coat of mahogany stain. It will take up to 15 x 1.25" eyepieces.

I'll probably upgrade the hinges and front latch, and maybe add a carry handle..something to keep me occupied during lockdown (when not doing endless gardening, crazy paving repairs, painting etc etc!

Dave

13 hours ago, Stu said:

Good stuff. I tried mine briefly last night and it does just what I was wanting it to. Nice accurate focusing and much less vibration 👍👍

Yes, great little bits of kit, a (very) "poor man's feathertouch!"🤣🙃

I must have bought about 8 or 10 of these over the past decade, kept selling them on, but always eventually realised I need one again. The one I have now isn't going anywhere, and as I write is outside, attached to my FS128 via my Baader T2 prism awaiting full darkness in the next half hour or so..

Dave

3 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

Very subtle Paul, and very true. And there is a thin green UPS tracking line snailing its way across the country to my house as I type.  

Aahh..that does explain a few things recently...😊 Congratulations!!

Dave

On 23/04/2020 at 19:49, Alan White said:

Hello to you as well Dave.

That's made me chuckle .....''sorry about the GPDX'', what's to be sorry about.
Out of interest, how did it handle the f15?

 

Hi Alan,

The GPDX handled the long F15 OTA beautifully. It's a good deal more solid than the standard GP and has a load capacity of around 10.5kg (for visual I think it would take a little more if the scope was shorter).

I do sometimes remove the dewshield if sky conditions are very good, that takes almost a foot off the scope's length!

On 23/04/2020 at 20:32, Dave1 said:

@Alan Whitee

@F15Rules The Vixen GPDX looks brill and I've heard they are very good. Mind you I'd imagine that a Tak EM2 to be out of this world!

David

Hi David,

Yes the Tak mount is superb. The build quality and smoothness is amazing and it tracks beautifully. (There is actually one very similar for sale on UKABS at the moment, very unusually).

What I like is that it is so simple to operate..no go-to, no declination drive, just a very reliable R.A. drive, that when visually aligned with Polaris through the supplied illuminated polar scope, just keeps the object centred for at least 20-30 minutes, much longer if I do a proper alignment.

Also, I have now had the scope (FS128) and mount for 3 years, and have only had to replace the batteries once in that time.

In weight.and size I would say the EM2 and Vixen GPDX are very similar to each other: if you think of build quality, the GPDX is very noticeably better than a Skywatcher EQ5/HEQ5, and the Tak EM2 is very noticeably superior to the GPDX- but that is not in any way to talk down the GPDX, which continues to offer amazing value on the used market!

Dave

That's brilliantly inventive!

It really "Krak"'d me up

Great job, thanks for sharing.

Dave

Hi Alan,

Sorry about the GPDX pic, it was actually just posted to show David my ex Meade 80mm F15 OTA, which was turned into the polished aluminium prototype in the photo by Mark Turner at Moonraker about 5 years ago😃.

Sadly the GPDX went a few months ago, so the OTA is technically mount less at the moment, I will probably get an adapter to allow it to fit into my Tak EM2 equatorial, which would hold it nicely.

Dave

1 hour ago, Dave1 said:

I doubt you get any problem with dew with a dew shield that size! The rings look very beefy, the rings look like Moonraker build, perfectly matches the mount! 

Hi David,

Yes, the dewshield is a beast..if anything, a bit too long and heavy (it does significantly alter the balance point of the scope), but I think it does finish the scope off nicely in terms of aesthetics😃.

The rings are typical of Moonraker, very solid polished aluminium, and work well. My only criticism is that I'd prefer wingnuts or knurled knobs for adjusting them to rotate the tube, rather than the hex nuts which need an Allen key to be kept handy and is more fiddly at night😁.

Dave

1 minute ago, Louis D said:

I always like how my 5.2mm Pentax XL resolves globulars into sparkly diamond dust.

+1 for the Pentax XW5 or XL5.2, both very sharp eps with great contrast..

These days I get an equivalent view from my Carton Japan 10.5mm 65 degree with a Baader Zoom Barlow (2.25x), giving 4.66mm effective focal length (223x). Black background out of which lots of faint 11-12th mag stars pop out😊

Dave

Nice report Dave

The small CZJs are nice eyepieces. I especially liked the 10-0 (Ortho), which I found to be very sharp. The Telementor 60mm F13 refractor came in most cases with 10-0 and 16-0 orthos and the 25mm Huygenian as standard equipment, and all gave lovely views..with an easily available 0.965" to 1.25" sleeve, they perform well in modern scopes too.

I have a lovely vintage Tak MC (multi coated) 18mm Ortho in 0.965" with a good quality 1.25" sleeve, and in my Tak FS128 the views of the moon are just jaw dropping - every bit as good in quality the Pentax XW range, apart from the field of view. Also, the 1.25" sleeve is threaded to accept my Baader Hyperion zoom Barlow: this gives 2.25x magnification, so when used with my Tak 18mm gives me an effective 8mm eyepiece, or x130 power - a 1mm exit pupil and ideal for splitting close double stars with beautiful stellar images.

I must try this combination in my own Meade 339 F15 which had the Moonraker treatment a few years ago. I'm sure it will deliver superb views, at F15 the bottom of a Coke bottle would work well too!🤣

The Pentax SMC 5mm is indeed considered to be an all time great eyepiece of it's type (I've not had the pleasure of using one), however these days I find a 5mm Ortho to have much too short eye relief for comfortable observing, I would far rather use a longer FL and Barlow it, to retain half decent eye relief, as with my Tak 18mm mentioned above (see pics below).

Good luck with your search for an smc (or XO) Pentax if you do decide to go that route! 

Dave

Welcome Callum, you have a great set of decent eyepieces to get you started. If you do get the Baader Ortho pair you will get great results..unless you wear specs to observe, in case I'd suggest something with more eye relief.

Have fun!

Dave

50 minutes ago, JamesF said:

I'm not sure that isn't actually just urban legend.  It may not just be about, for example, creating an implement that will write in zero gravity.  There's also the consideration that you don't want "waste" from the process floating around where it might interact with electronics and other equipment.  Imagine, for example, if the pencil broke and the bit of broken lead shot off to disappear who knows where.

James

Well, literally true or not, it's still a funny line!

Just watching an episode of Grand Designs and heard a great comment in the context of avoiding over-thinking and overspending to solve a problem..

"In the 60s space race, NASA spent countless funds trying to develop a ball point pen that would work in space..

The Russians used a pencil".

Dave 

Welcome back Philip😊

Dave