iPeace

With grateful thanks to Peter for an excellent job of packaging and shipping, I am ready for an O-III shootout between Lumicon and Astronomik. I have read accounts of this one being used as a "do it all" filter, so it should be interesting. If so, it will be a prime candidate for my airline travel kit.

It's from my TV-85, an original TeleVue job. Mr. Nagler had the tapped holes in the dew shield conveniently drilled at exactly the same distance. Knowing him, that's no coincidence. I did need to use a pair of rubber washers as spacers between bracket and dew shield to keep the screws from protruding too far through the dew shield, preventing smooth operation. The rubber also protects the finish on the dew shield. The finder bracket is offered separately by TeleVue. http://agenaastro.com/televue-quick-release-finder-base-qrb-1002.html

No, it won't take a camera. But small scopes don't get much better than the TV-60. It goes everywhere and gives great views day and night. So glad I finally got one.

I rather suspect that I just wasn't ready for it. Tried 41mm Panoptic, 31mm and 26mm Type 5 Naglers, and all the Ethos. But then again, how many actual attempts - in viable conditions - would that make? In any case, I'm not saying I moved from the heavy ordnance down to the 24mm Panoptic and Type 6 Naglers for this reason - I just wanted to go lighter and smaller. That's probably closer to the mark.

Ironically, it never happened for me with the 31mm Nagler, a big, beautiful eyepiece which I have since passed on to a more deserving home. No fault of the eyepiece, I'm sure.

Management Summary: My first ever sighting. TV-85, 24mm Panoptic, 1.25" Lumicon O-III (likely to be one of the last good ones). Very slight trace of the Western Veil off 52 Cygni; faint but very clear view of the Eastern Veil. I have done this often. Deploy the scope, point it at the Swan's lower wing, and slowly trawl around the area where everyone else insists the mythical Veil Nebula is to be found. I've had lunch with the Yeti - and his aunt - and been water skiing with Nessy up in Caledonia, but the Veil has always eluded me. Aperture, aptitude, light pollution, whatever; it just never happened. Until last night. Before dusk, Jupiter, as always, was first to appear and so out with the scope. I know seeing is bad if Jove insists on wearing a colored edge out of focus, and a bit later even Luna was hardly worth any serious gazing. Saturn tends not to be especially bothered by the conditions and is always worth a peek, but on the whole, this was not going to be a great planetary session - it would have to be found outside the Solar System, this night. I packed up the short Naglers and the Vixen HR, loaded up the 24mm Panoptic with its top cap on and sat down in a garden chair to wait for what would have to pass for true darkness. I dozed awkwardly, waking a few times to check the time and the sky until finally at 01:30 the show was on. Clear sky, Milky Way. All I need, really, and it always makes me forget about faint fuzzy stuff. Or wispy remnants. Traveling through Cygnus with the Panoptic was very satisfying and as fatigue set in, I was contemplating chasing out the bed bugs. But it was in my mind to try for the Veil again. So I ligned up 52 Cygni, inserted the O-III, and approached the eyepiece, expecting nothing, for that had been my tally so far. At first, I needed some focusing - strange, I was sure that I had been in focus before applying the filter. Oh, well... HEY! A very slight wisp had appeared, extending upwards from the star. I kept checking, averting my eye, even switching eyes, and it was most definitely there. Nothing close to what SkySafari suggests, but so much more than ever. As I very carefully scrolled around looking for other bits, it seemed that I had seen all I would, until Stanley, my all-seeing, long-suffering TV-85, lost all patience and roared at me: IT'S RIGHT THERE. And it was. Slowly emerging into my pitiful vision, faint but very, very clear. The Eastern Veil. Finally. I gazed for the best part of an hour, experimenting with averted vision and comparing eyes until the clouds finally rolled in to salvage the remnants of my night's sleep. A good night.

The ongoing debate; are we paying for the silk-lined box, but not getting it? Or are we paying top money for top eyepieces? Or are they just overpriced? In any case, I feel confident that whatever you get, you have truly paid for - including the bolt case from Pentax and the posh box from Explore Scientific.

All of the TeleVue eyepieces which came to me in their original boxes were quite adequately packaged; the box is always very sturdy and if there's no foam cradle there's plenty of bubble wrap around it. It would seem all of the Ethos except for 6mm and 8mm come with a foam cradle, as did my 26mm T5 Nagler and the 41mm Panoptic; none of my Nagler Type 6 came with one, nor did either of the Nagler Zooms, nor the 24mm Panoptic, nor the 16mm Nagler Type 5. And guess what? No issues whatsoever. The sight of an open TeleVue box has always brought great joy. Edit: Even my TV-60 came boxed in oversized bubble wrap. It really does work.

Well this is a very personal thing. I have used Ercole and Ercole Mini, GSO, Vixen Porta and Losmandy AZ8. All have worked well without mechanical issues. I do like slo-mo for high magnification but also for the fact that it keeps the scope immobile - no surprise loss of balance. You can of course engage the clutches to keep the scope from moving, but this then requires that you disengage them again in order to move the scope. The Ercole Mini was the nicest one without slo-mo, perfect amount of resistance to keep the scope on target but still very smooth - obviously suitable for smaller / lighter scopes. And now, the scope I use most - the TV-60 - is so compact that I don't need slo-mo at all, just an alt-az mount by Gitzo, designed for birding, with a single clutch knob which locks both the altitude and the azimuth axis at once. Pretty much ideal - use one hand to loosen and tighten the clutch and the other to aim the scope. Very relaxing.

PM sent.

This is what it's all about.

As reported earlier here, these arrived end of April from TS. Entirely unburdened by knowledge of filters, I guess I will just have to see what the O-III does for me over time...

On Jupiter again. Will never tire of this.

If it came to this for me, I guess I would use something on a photo tripod with an extendable center column to help keep the eyepiece (rotated diagonal) at the same height as the altitude shifts. Something short and light - I like that anyway - would be best for carrying out and mounting this way. I probably have the ideal scope for this in the TV-60, but if I didn't have that I would try it with the much more budget-friendly Mak 102. Or indeed with the TS INED70 which I foolishly passed on to a more deserving home. My thoughts and hopes are with you.

I'm fine, really. The path I'm on is better value for my money than mental health care. I've responded much better to the green letter treatment than to any of the others. I can almost come out in daylight, now. P.S. Only ridiculing myself, here.