bish

I saw one for sale recently and considered it. I used to own an 11mm nag, which was a great ep.  However, after recently developing a lump in the top corner of my eye socket I prefer as much eye relief as possible. I have an 8mm radian which is just right for me as far as comfort goes. Shame as I would like to get some old nags but they are practical for me anymore.

Bish

The 5mm is similar quality to the 6mm in terms of image and comfort of use. However, in your 10", the quality of seeing/turbulence will make the 6mm more used than the 5mm.

Thanks Paul. I spend more time looking into the merits of various ep's than actually observing!

I have to admit to jumping in shortly before John's report came out (zero self control). It was something of a relief when he gave them the thumbs up. At that point, I had no reference point against which to judge performance. That is why these reviews are so helpful.

Paul

I've been toying with the idea of getting the 5mm. The lack of fov may be a worthwhile trade off for good performance and comfortable ER. As Spaceboy has said, it's good for the rest of us that you take the time to review and write up your reports. Must be very time consuming!

Ordered my 3rd telescope through FLO on Monday evening and it arrived today. All 3 times they have exceeded my expectations.

Couldn't put an exact time to it. I remember when I was 7 or so looking having a very old encyclopedia and being fascinated with the astronomy section. I mainly just looked at the amazing illustrations of nebula etc.

very similar to my first scope. I'll buy one if I see one going cheap. I never had any star charts as a kid so it was only ever pointed at the moon and bright planets.

Huge loss to the world of astronomy. Truly one of a kind and massive inspiration. RIP

Good stuff. I've not even got round to removing the old shed where my obs will eventually be. Going to be a very long term project.

Which is why, on the rare occasions of good seeing we need big aperture to make the most of it

I had almost convinced myself I don't need a bigger scope for a minute then.

I'm currently suffering "going out of my mind syndrome" brought on by aperture fever.

It just the nature of the hobby. I have a theory that the seeing has a lot to do with it. There are nights when the seeing and transparency couldn't be better and the time flies by. As the morning sun breaks the horizon and you realize you spent the last 9 hrs observing and you couldn't wish for better kit. A month later you find the skies finally clear and you look to get another amazing nights observing in. Only this time you struggle to make out half the stars in clusters and nebula's just don't seem as bright and after checking collimation for the 5th time you realize that your wife is snug in bed and your freezing your never's off looking at washed out skies. Giving up you go to bed pondering on the fact that your kit stinks and you need that 20" you seen listed in the classifieds.

The trick is don't look through a bigger scope, that way you haven't a clue what your missing. Wish someone would have told me that

Very true about sky conditions. Even at a dark site if there is alot of moisture in the air DSO's are a nightmare. Aperture comes way behind dark skies and sky conditions. Everything is against us in this country, big scope or not!

I was hoping that everybody on SGL would club together and buy me a 20" dob so at least one of us would be cured. That would surely make you all feel a bit better??

I have now odered 2 scopes from FLO (got my 250px yesterday), and both times they have managed to get it delivered in less than a week. Kit arrived all intact with no problems both times. I've ordered other things from them and they have always kept me informed over the telephone. Good job, especially as Mr Cox has been keeping them exceptionally busy recently.

I think because I am so aware of the floaters I find them difficult to ignore. A snowy really shows them up, and observing bright objects. General day to day indoors I'm aware but they don't bother me too much.

Glad I'm not the only one - but please don't take that the wrong way as I don't wish them on other people! Mars is very difficult because unless it's really magnified the floaters can obscure half the planet. When I reached my mid thirties my eyes just suddenly seemed to be full of them. Snow and grey but bright days drive me mad. Think I will try different filters like Chris. Binoviewers sound good too but I would probably have to save up for them. When I was a kid I lived in the countryside with completely dark skies and excellent eyesight. I loved the stars but didn't like going out in the cold! Now I'm middle aged I will spend all night out in the freezing cold surrounded by street lights and security lights trying to see small details with my rubbish old eyes. Sorry - gone off the subject a bit!

I'm probably not the norm. I have quite a few annoying 'floaters' in my eyes which make it very difficult to see detail on small bright objects. Because of this it is easier to magnify as high as possible (without the image getting too fuzzy) to see the details. Saturn always seems to stand high magnifications better than the other planets. despite being very low in the sky I was getting good views at x400 last night (200mm scope), whereas Mars was a fuzzy mess despite being much higher. Could have just been luck with Saturn, but I seem to recall having my best views with a 6" scope at x375. If my eyes were any good I probably wouldn't have to go so high. At least it doesn't affect my averted vision for the 'faint and fuzzies' I suppose.

A bit late. A couple of weeks ago I ordered a 200mm Skywatcher from FLO. It arrived the next day. Simple. If only everything could be that easy. I sent an e-mail as I had a question and got a reply straight away. How it should be done.