Thewalkingastronomer

Could anyone point me in the direction as to where in the UK you can get a Rigel quickfinder to synta baseplate (image attached is from eBay US). I don't want to stick the normal baseplate on my scope as it's been wrapped.

Thanks Adam 

On 10/11/2021 at 09:26, badhex said:

I bought a ZS73 version III earlier this year and it came with the small risers attached already as part of the dovetail assembly. Might be worth contacting WO directly (or asking a supplier like FLO) to see what they can do.

Thanks, I will give them a email if not @Skyline I'll take you up on your offer! 

Thanks both, I have tried rotating @varius21 but still couldn't balance with binoviewer. I'll look at the ADM items I think 👍

Hello,

Has anyone found any riser blocks for the tube rings to use on the ZS73 so the dovetail doesn't catch the focusser and can move further back for balancing? If so, if you're able to point me in the direction of someone suitable ones it would be very much appreciated.

Regards Adam

Just in case anyone is undecided on setting up tonight, where I'm based (south coast near Portsmouth) despite the breeze, the seeing is best I've seen for quite some time.

Having some spectacular views of lunar terminator at 288x in my LZOS 105.

Thanks Adam

Are you likely to have an excess of the az Pro mounts with tripod for new orders? 

Got a chance to use the BBHS mirror diagonal last night and with a bit of wind, the transparency was very good.  In use with the Denks I definitely observed a notable reduction in CA (relative to the prism) on brighter star's and in mono what CA I'd noted with the prism was completely gone. Perhaps it was the new gear bias but I had one of more memorable views of M42 with a Morpheus 4.5mm and even managed to resolve some stars in NGC 2158 which is a first in a 4" scope (which of course I'll attribute to the new diagonal!). Looking forward to some planet's reaching a more palatable elevation so I can put it's through it's paces on lower contrast features.

As an aside, the 14mm Morpheus might well be the best eyepieces I've ever used in a binoviewer, very comfortable and easy to see the full FOV.

Thanks Adam

Following all the helpful advice I've put in an order for a BBHS diagonal as feel given how fast my scope is and with the light path not a worry that'll be the best option for me (oh and another 14mm Morpheus to use in it!).

Thanks Adam

11 hours ago, Captain Magenta said:

I also have an LZOS 105/650, and on it I very recently directly compared a Baader Zeiss prism diagonal with a revelation dielectric mirror diagonal. Not with a binoviewer though, just single eyepiece (TV Delos). I used Venus during late afternoon as the target.

The Zeiss prism diagonal showed significant CA, the revelation mirror absolutely none. It was as simple as that.

More recent still, on my Intes Mak, f/10 (as opposed to f/6.2 for the LZOS), there was no discernible difference (no detectable CA) between the two diagonals. Both 2”. 

Cheers, Magnus.

 

Thanks Magnus, I'd read the fast f ratio of these scope's does cause the prism to introduce some CA and like you I see none in mono using a William optics dielectric so perhaps I'll get the BBHS

8 hours ago, Space Hopper said:

I believe what you are seeing is sphero-chromatism rather than chromatic aberration as such.

And this is primarily caused by the binoviewer as it has much bigger prisms. The prism diagonal will add a little but a much lessor extent.

With the Baader bino's the GPC's counter this issue. As well as giving extra lightpath they also correct the sphero-chromatism. 

They are also designed by refractor guru Roland Christen who knows a thing or two.

Looking at your system, i'm not too sure what the way forward is ?  You may be able to fit a Baader GPC into your diagonal, but that may tie you in to quite a high power ?

Do you have access to a Denkmeier Powerswitch ? This may be what you need.

 

Question : do you find this an issue only when high power viewing or is it there when using lower powers as well ?

I can use my own bino natively (i only use prisms btw) and i don't notice it (spherochromatism) when low power viewing. Maybe thats my 52 yr old eyes !  High power, using higher power eyepieces is a different story.

On something like Jupiter, its immediately noticeable, and not nice. But pop in a gpc, and its gone.

Beautiful looking scope btw  ; i love the Feathertouch on it. I have something similar, but it doesn't look as sweet as that ! 😃

 

 

Thanks SH, it is something I do notice when using the Baader prism on it's own so I wondered if it's due to the quality of the diagonal (hence if an upgrade to the Zeiss version would remedy the situation a bit). It's definitely something I only notice on brighter objects but don't see it to such an extent if using my William optics dielectric diagonal. I guess as most people seem to use prism's with binoviewers I wondered if there was another reason other than shortening the light path. Both the potential choice of diagonls are pretty much the same cost so perhaps I'll toss a coin! 

I have a Denk binoviewer which I use in my LZOS 105/650. At the moment I use it with a standard Baader prism diagonal but I do notice a bit of CA with it on brighter objects (this is more pronounced in mono but I still there in binoviewer). I think this may be due to how fast my scope is so am looking to get a new diagonal. Now the choice is between the Zeiss prism or the BBHS mirror. I don't have issues with focus so don't need the prism for the shorter light path so was wondering if anyone has any experience of using either in a similar set up to help me decide!

Thanks Adam

Yes reading the thread plyscope posted a link to, the amount of backfocus required is a bit of a concern as I don't want to have to use a gpc or Barlow

Thanks, I'll check that out

I was intending on getting the Baader Maxbright II for my second foray into using binoviewers but the release date has been pushed back from early Dec to March 2020 and given how long they've taken to be released, i'm not holding my breath this date will be stuck to. As such i'm considering the following https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p11593_TS-Optics-1-25--Wide-field-Binoviewer-with-30-mm-Prisms-for-Telescopes.html but wondered if anyone had any experience of these? The T2 connection certainly helps as i need to keep the light path as short as possible to reach focus in my LZOS 105.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.