Highburymark

For travel abroad I'm using an 80mm Equinox (with photo tripod and mini giro - pictured), with 2 eyepieces (Leica zoom, Panoptic 24mm from pictured case) and Baader VIP Barlow, which gives range of 20x to 111x. If conditions are particularly promising, I can add the Nagler 3-6mm, which pushes magnification up to 166x. In terms of simplicity as a travel scope, the Meade ETX 105 takes some beating. Meade ripped off Questar's 50-year old design with the ETX, but it's still the easiest and most flexible format for grab and go. Whole scope and accessories pack into cabin baggage on aircraft. Just need a zoom and the nearest table top. 105's optics still unbeatable for lunar and planetary. Just as long as you're not expecting to study diffuse nebulae.

Nice one Shane. Can I express my support for the concept of this thread, but delay my full response until after 'Astrofest' this weekend, when final additions may be made to my travel kit.

Derek, I agree that the Pan 24 is not at home in the Lunt 50 - it's the only time I've been disappointed in its performance. One of the things I love about it though is the size means it's incredibly useful for travel - hopefully going to Morocco in April, and the only EPs I'll take will be the Leica zoom, VIP Barlow, and Pan 24.

The best views I have ever had in the ETX 105 have been with Meade plossls. On a good night, the moon is jawdropping. It is no respecter of ocular exotica.

Alan, You were an inspiration behind my Delos purchases a year or so ago - and now I've added the Ethos 13 and the Leica zoom, I am going through the same comparison process that you have obviously spent a long time going through. I change my opinions as to which is best on a nightly basis, though I've only had a fleeting chance to test the Ethos under darker skies, where it performed superbly. But it's all fun and fascinating, and I'm very grateful for all the advice and intelligence I've picked up from SGL over the past 18 months.

I may well come round to your way of thinking Derek when I've had chance to use the Ethos more in dark skies. But it's going to have to prove itself against the Delos to which I have become emotionally attached. We have shared too many memorable nights together.

The Panoptic's fabulous, but not fab enough to dislodge a 17.3 Delos (which is probably my single favourite eyepiece, though am slowly absorbing the charm of the Ethos 13).

Shane - I had the opportunity to spend half an hour with the 15mm Panoptic on Friday night. The eye relief is fairly tight - same as the Plossl at 10mm - but it felt more comfortable than that. With the eyeguard turned down - and the extra 18mm AFOV and superb optics - it wasn't a problem.

John - you set the standard to which all us junior gricers aspire - your eyepiece gricing abilities even extend to end caps.

Scope is hibernating at the moment, and don't have a single picture to hand. But if you take the eyepiece and LS50 from one pic (ignoring the Nexstar mount) and put it on the mini giro/manfrotto mount in the other one (ignoring the Equinox), that's my solar set up.

Very nice cases Jeremy - out of interest which eyepieces do you use for solar with your Lunt?

Wow - impressive Michael - an education in itself, that case.

Thank you sir - shame that my OCD doesn't really extend beyond eyepiece cases.....

Nice case. I have had a slight feeling of indulgence every time I've added a new EP over the past year, but after spending the previous 15 years with nothing more exotic than a few Meade plossls, I've learnt to get over that hurdle. It hasn't been cheap, but then if you are committed to the hobby and you are able to acquire decent kit, you may as well do it now and enjoy it for longer.

I wonder if sales of eyepieces and accessories go up when we have a prolonged period of bad weather? They certainly do in my neck of the woods. As the cloudy days have turned into cloudy weeks and months, the only things that have kept me sane have been SGL, and completing the eyepiece project I started ten months ago. Today I added the Ethos 13 - the final piece of the jigsaw - and although the chances of me being able to use it at the moment are practically nil, I can at least look forward to some fantastic views if ever the skies clear.

They're excellent eyepieces - adaptable, competitively priced, and superb in slower scopes.

Drat.I was afraid someone would say that. :-)

Thanks - and maybe it is blasphemy to the astronomy gods to only have one eyepiece for a 2" diagonal....

With thanks for the recent advice, yesterday I added a 2" WO diagonal and TV Panoptic 35 to the arsenal. Worryingly, I'm moving dangerously close to the point when I can say I have all the eyepieces I need.

Am waiting for someone to post a pic of their powermate/ES 120 degree combo.....

Is it obvious from the above that it's a cloudy Sunday afternoon/evening here in London?

And the Nikon 17mm/Powermate combo just outweighs the TV60 as the Ethos is about 80g heavier than the Nikon.

By my (notoriously untrustworthy) calculations, the powermate/Ethos 21 combo outweighs your TV60 by about 100g.

Not the first person to say this but what an excellent report John. A lot of work but the number of views this thread has attracted shows how much it's appreciated.