Louis D

I guess eyepieces have gotten chunkier over the years just like their owners. 😉

I made Baader Solar Film filters for two scopes about 20 years ago when it was first introduced. Both are still going strong. I followed the instructions and used sheets of craft foam board, double sided tape, strips of poster board, and clear packing tape. It wasn't difficult at all. Larger scopes do seem to make for a brighter solar image, but a moon filter or colored filters can be used to cut down the brightness. I've taken to adding an IR-cut filter intended for imaging because it seems like there is an excess of IR energy causing discomfort to my observing eye.

I looked at the C90, but decided to pick up a second hand 127 Mak for about the same money as a C90 new. It's actually about 118mm of clear aperture, so only a bit bigger than the C90 in the big scheme of things in both aperture and physical dimensions. I've found it to be good for solar system views and planetary nebula as well as the Orion nebula and Trapezium. Pretty much, it excels at small, high contrast objects. It does best paired with a short focal length ED refractor or 50mm or larger finder scope given the Mak's super narrow field of view.

After attending a star party 24 years ago and looking through most telescope types, I determined that the Dobsonian Newtonian was the best starter scope for me. As I recall, I was most unimpressed with SCT views as being soft in comparison to those of Newts. APO refractors simply lacked aperture to compete with the big Dobs. I don't think there were any Maks on the field. It's funny that everything you describe about SCTs from your experience correlates very well with that single night of "comparison shopping" I did so long ago. I am thinking about getting a 6" or 8" SCT just see if things have improved any over the last 24 years. I was super impressed with the views of Jupiter through an 8" EdgeHD a couple of years back at a star party, so it got me to thinking they might be worth another look.

Have you turned off live view and taken an image to verify a difference in behavior? I know that in live view on my Cannon T3i, I can't trigger an on-camera flash for some reason. Once I turn off live view, it works fine.

That's why I set up my grown daughter with a 127 Mak on a DSV-1 mount and Manfrotto tripod for her camping trips at dark sky sites. With the camping gear, SO, and dog, there isn't a whole lot of room left in the back of her CUV for an 8" Dob.

To improve on the 8" commercial Dob's view while keeping the weight down, you could go with a custom 10" or 12" Dob such as the Sumerian Alkaid line. You wouldn't have goto or AP possibilities, though.

If you like the long eye relief of the Morpheus line, I'd recommend the 24mm APM UFF. At 30mm, I'd recommend the 30mm APM UFF. If you are budget constrained, the 22mm Omegon Redline SW (or other brandings) is a slightly lower cost 2" option that also performs very well and has long eye relief.

If you can store your filter bare and vertically, they're fairly easy to grab without worrying about touching the optical surfaces. As far as attaching them, I generally screw the eyepiece onto the filter so my grip on the filter never changes to minimize the chance of putting a fingerprint on the glass. I align them by grasping past the filter with fingers so the tips of my fingers guide the eyepiece barrel into position above the filter threads. I also work slowly and methodically to avoid cross threading anything.

You could try to locate a case similar to the one below for eyepiece kits and dedicate it entirely to filter cases stored on edge:

Most landscapers around here use cut rock or concrete edgers to demarcate the path and then pave the path with gravel and/or pavers of some sort rather than pour concrete. I would think these would have less heat build-up than poured concrete and look much nicer.

Since most of my filters were purchased used, only a few came with cases. For instance, I have some vintage Optica b/c filters that were NOS, but were simply packaged in plastic baggies folded over and stapled shut with a cardboard hanger tag for shop display.

Some are kept tucked into a pick-n-pluck foam slot in my Doskocil case along the outer edge. Be sure you're using a high grade of foam that neither crumbles nor becomes gooey over the years. After 20+ years, no issues so far. The rest are kept in a Tamrac 5329 filter wallet. Unfortunately, it has been discontinued. Two 1.25" filters or one 2" filter will fit in each pocket.

I was super busy over the Holidays with the kids all back in town with their significant others, so I'm just now able to post images of my astro Christmas present: I'm still evaluating it relative to my venerable 40mm Meade 5000 SWA.

Exactly what I was thinking. In fact, I typically jump from 30mm or 40mm right to 12mm to 14mm once the object is centered in most of my scopes. After I'm satisfied with that view, I might then try a 17mm or 22mm just to see if the change in context brings out anything new and enjoyable.

Maybe I missed it, but what is the focal length of the scope you intend to use these eyepieces in? If it's upwards of 2000mm, then having the 17.5mm and 12.5mm makes sense. If it's 500mm, not so much.

I'll give you $500 for that ultra-rare 15mm XW. I've never even heard of one before. 😉

From my understanding, SCTs tend to have faster f-ratios of f/10 or f/6.3, are easier to use with field flatteners/correctors, have larger central obstructions and thus lower contrast, and can be made in larger apertures because the corrector plate is fairly thin. The thinness of that corrector plate makes them more delicate for shipping (I've read reports of multiple SCT corrector plates cracking in shipment, but not of a single Mak plate). They don't seem to hold collimation very well, have both field curvature and off axis coma, and tend to suffer from mirror flop and focuser slop on direction reversal. Maks tend to have slower f-ratios and smaller central obstructions as a result yielding higher contrast, are generally limited to 7" for their largest apertures (although there have been larger such as AP's 10") due to the mass of their thick corrector plate. This thick corrector plate is difficult to break accidentally. They tend to hold collimation very well, often for years at a time. They don't seem to suffer from field curvature or off axis coma as much as SCTs. There don't appear to be any Mak focal reducers on the market, so you're stuck with f/12 or higher f-ratios. And lastly, mirror flop and focuser slop seem to be better controlled, perhaps because the primary mirror size tops out at a more manageable size.

What's your total budget for eyepieces if we're going to help you spend your money? 😄

I'd classify f/7.5 as mid-speed. f/10 and above is slow while f/5 and below is fast. That leaves f/5.6 to f/9 as mid-speed. Eyepieces that do poorly in fast scopes just off axis do better in mid-speed scopes, but are still suffering in the outer field. Those same eyepieces will look quite good in slow scopes across most of the field. By f/15, just about all eyepieces perform very well.

Have the seller use Mail Boxes Etc. or similar to do the packing. Most shippers won't cover in-transit damage unless they or an approved affiliate do the packing. SCT corrector plates are notoriously delicate and prone to breakage in transit. I second using a credit card via Paypal or similar to pay for the scope. Their buyer protections are very strong. Take photos of the package when it arrives and of the interior as you unpack it. Alternatively, video the process. That way, no one can weasel out of damage coverage or try to claim you swapped OTAs to scam the seller.

It's my pick for April. It's a much more arid climate there than the area north and east of San Antonio. Eagle Pass on the Rio Grande is another option for a day trip, but I wouldn't recommend staying overnight in the area. Overnight car theft along the border is a big problem. Uvalde is far enough away from the border that it isn't as much of a problem. If you want to stay overnight in a delightful tourist town along the path, I would recommend Fredericksburg. I'd book early, though. Weather there would have a slightly higher chance of overcast skies. Llano is another overnight option a bit further north as well as Kerrville to the south. You might even be able to get a vacation rental on Lake Buchanan and not have to drive anywhere since it is directly on the eclipse center line. If you want to camp overnight, Enchanted Rock State Natural Area between Fredericksburg and Llano would be an excellent option, but book very early.

I plan to travel down to Uvalde for eclipse viewing since their weather is predictably dry down there most of the year. April is normally a very wet month for large swaths of Texas and the central to eastern US. If the eclipse were in July, I could almost guarantee dry, sunny conditions all month long across Texas.

My best views of Mars during this last opposition were with Arcturus binoviewers, a Meade 140 2x Barlow nosepiece, and 15x wide field B&L microscope eyepieces in my Dob. The views were so much more detailed and easier to take in than in my 5.2mm Pentax XL or 3.5mm Pentax XW eyepieces. My point is, binoviewer views of the moon and planets with average eyepieces are generally way better than the best mono view. Two eyes allow for much better contrast and detail detection.

That's a very similar design to Starmaster's 7" Oak Classic which is very well regarded: Were you inspired by such designs?