Highburymark

59 minutes ago, Star Struck said:

Which type diagonal do you intend to use with it?

I had to buy a Baader prism (non-Zeiss) to get the required back focus.

I bought the dedicated WO 2.0 barlow from Agena Astro in the States, didn't cost much.

 

Star struck: I'm hopeful of reaching focus with WO binoviewer and T2 Zeiss prism in my C8 Edge - what's your set up? 

Think I prefer the stripped down look Bart. ES has certainly improved its design team since the original was designed

3 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

I thought it was about time that I posted a photo in this thread. My main eyepiece case has a collection of ES EPs. Starting on the left is a 24mm 68 degree followed by 18mm, 14mm, 11mm, 8.8mm, 6.7mm and 4.7mm all 82 degree with the latter being Nitrogen rather than Argon filled. In addition there is a 8mm-24mm Televue zoom + 1.6x barlow + 2" Televue Satin Dielectric diagonal + 20mm Skywatcher Myraid 100 degree EP. My collection of filters contain Astronomik and Lumicon O-III, Lumicon and Baader UHC, Thousand Oaks H.Beta, Baader Neodymium, Skywatcher UHC  and some colour and ND filters.

Very nice Mark. I know we're not supposed to be swayed by such frivolous things, but I do like the clean, 'family' design of ES eyepieces. They look smarter lined up together than pretty much any brand on the market in my  humble opinion. 

2 hours ago, Cometeer said:

I don't know if you guys saw this:

https://luntsolarsystems.com/product/1-25-feather-touch-focuser-2/

 

A feathertouch for the LS50. Looks like it's only single speed.

Very interesting - thanks for posting

4 hours ago, Waldemar said:

I use my DS Lunts on my TMB 92SS ... awesome!!! It is quite a deal to get things fine tuned... patience and perseverence are key elements in this.
Would like to buy a Baader Mark V binoviewer, but they are not available for the coming time...bummer. Instead I bought a 2nd hand Maxbright. 

I would like to get some suggestions for eyepieces, preferably zooms. Any advice is really appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Waldemar

waldemar - I'm a zoom lover and can warmly recommend the Pentax XF zoom for ha solar - originally designed for a spotting scope, it's a superb solar eyepiece. 

I've seen a thread somewhere else - very probably CN - where they did a best EP of all time poll. Almost an impossible question to answer (or result to determine), but I think that Leica ASPH, Ethos13 and Docter 12.5 all featured towards the top. I could quite happily list my favourite albums of all time (1 - George Harrison - All Things Must Pass. 2 - Love - Forever Changes. 3 - Beatles - Revolver. 4 Fairport Convention - Liege and Lief. 5 Television - Marquee Moon) but my favourite eyepieces? I've never even seen a Docter 12.5mm.

Nice Gavster - having two Leicas means you could also move them to your other case - as the world's greatest pair of binoviewer EPs. How do you rate the extender?  I looked at this option too but in the end bought a Baader VIP. 

Looks very a nice collection nightfisher. I survived for best part of two decades with half that number of Meade plossls, and they still deliver pinpoint sharpness in my 105 mak. 

Considering the speed at which we have to keep remodelling our cases, I wonder if we could persuade FLO to open up a replacement foam division. An thinking they could brand it FLOAM Inc. 

Or something.

With apologies to anyone upset by the poorly collimated EP case I posted yesterday. I've realigned the Pentax as you can see in the attached. 

Ok that's useful to know about the 8mm Michael. In the right scopes the Delos 6 is such a lovely eyepiece, and mine is virtually new, but with TV prices discounted at the moment it's not a good time to sell. Might see if anyone has a D8 they want to swap.

Arrrgh! And there was I worrying about exit pupil, parfocality and clean foam pluckage!  A whole new level of eyepiece collection to stress over.

Added a couple of 15mm TV plossls for binoviewing while the prices are discounted. But biggest change to eyepiece use in recent weeks has come not from new acquisitions, but from trading up scopes from C6 to C8 Edge. Now using Panoptic 35 a lot more. Ethos 13 is now a high mag eyepiece. Only drawback is that Delos 6 is too powerful to use with C8 - need to decide if it's worth holding onto purely for use with Equinox. And if not, what on earth could I do to fill that gaping hole in my EP case?

Very nice Zhao

I've finally filled the crucial 10mm hole in the collection - another Delos, though for about 20 minutes last week I did consider the XW to mix it up a bit. One thing I've settled on is that no matter how good the Leica zoom - and it is my workhorse eyepiece in all scopes - nothing beats the TVs. 

Mak - that's a very nice and diverse binoviewer eyepiece collection. Which EPs do you think best work for lunar/planetary binoviewing? I'm not necessarily talking about cost here - just which of your pairs brings out the 3d qualities of binos most effectively? 

Very nice Mike, 

If I had a spare £4,000, I might have considered buying a Questar at Astrofest over the weekend. 

4 hours ago, DRT said:

That's a fantastic set-up for holiday time, Mark - very nice

Thanks Derek. I'm still salivating over your eyepieces on the 'show me your eyepiece cases' thread.

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.

Mark,

I don't know if you ever read any of my comments about Ethos and Delos but I used to have all the Delos range and most of the Ethos range, only the two shortest ones missing. I got tired of trying to find differences between them so sold most of the Delos, the Ethos being better in my Dobsonian scope from a nudge point of view. I really couldn't see anything better, deeper, clearer or less scatter. Which ever you have it is very difficult to better them, maybe you need to be in Namibia or somewhere like that.

Alan

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.

If I ever find myself in a position where I have to sell my kit the Ethos 13mm will be the last thing to go. It was the first Ethos I purchased and I don't think I have ever pointed it at any target in any scope and been disappointed. A real gem

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.

Cool - I am looking forward to getting it. I don't have a problem with short eye relief and suspect it will be more comfy than a 15mm plossl which was always OK in truth. Always had a soft spot for Panoptics, maybe even my much used 17.3 Delos might be at risk via the 19mm!

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).