Moonshane

Vaseline on the bearings? Seriously? It's really not that difficult to make a scope that works well if you apply a bit of thought. If you are set up to create this sort of thing then it should be even easier to make it with bells and whistles that all work as you (presumably) have the machinery. I have made things in my back garden with hand held routers and saws. It's just takes longer. Compare what you have with this. OK it's a different scale but they really are simple things in essence and it's annoying when companies cut corners. Stainless screws add almost nothing in the scheme of things.

Personally I'd go for a 100ED Skywatcher over a Tal any day of the week. The Tals are good value but in my experience even a good achromat is bettered by a good ED. I really don't like CA though.

Small but perfectly formed

Well the scope is a rich field killer :0)

Very nice! I doubt I will be taking mine overseas much for the same reasons as John.

All my kit stows under one of the sofas on the van so happy days :0)

I have a caravan and space is at a premium so I bought this little Meade 80mm triplet apo for this purpose. Since paid more for the focuser and rings but what can I say, it's worth it. In the box is squeezed a Lunt wedge and filters, solar and two optical finders, a 2" diagonal, Oiii and UHC filters plus 24mm, 15mm Panoptics plus Barlow element and a Nagler 6-3mm zoom. Along with my Giro iii this gives me a few options for quick sessions. Let's see other solutions :0)

You'll like the 72 mate. my 80 is a lovely rft and for me white light scope. I just grabbed it and went just ands the cloud rolled in so I grabbed it and send came back ins. looking forward to it being moonlited :0)

Talk about slumming it.

Personally I think the 24mm Pan is one of the best eyepieces ever made. Certainly one of the best I have ever used. My 26mm Nagler gives a wider view but I feel the 24mm Pan provides a sharper view. Of course you can borrow it for a while mate.

The good news is that the cost to change is not a lot given I seem to have developed a reducing number trend.

Here's my latest iteration. I am pretty much there but might replace the 8mm Delos with a 9mm Delite when released. and here's my July 2014 case and September 2013 The only constants are the 26mm nagler and 6-3mm Nagler zoom (plus collimation tools of course!).

At this sort of quality it's all really down to preference and conditions differences rather than quality variables.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/261074-15mm-panoptic/

so's my 15mm Panoptic

To get your revenge, you can remind me about my comments above when the new Delites are announced (hopefully not too soon as I need to save for a bit!). Then again if a Moonlite frac focuser comes up sometime or a Newt dual speed etc when I have the money available, I will be like space - no resistance....................

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!

I'll upload a pic once it arrives next week. I think I am more or less there though now: 26mm Nagler widest field/2" 24mm Panoptic widest field/1.25" 17.3mm Delos 15mm Panoptic 11mm Delite 8mm Delos 7mm Delite 6-3mm Nagler zoom Looking again though I may eventually replace the 8mm Delos with a 9mm Delite (yet another assumption!). The Delites really are excellent. I prefer the 7mm to the 8mm Delos for sure.

I have just 'completed' my eyepiece set yet again with the purchase of a 15mm Panoptic. I have wanted to try one of these for a while and feel it will fill a genuine gap (I actually feel like it's too big a jump sometimes from my 17.3mm Delos to my 11mm Delite). Will be interesting to see how it performs. Reviews suggest the eye relief is tight but I suspect probably will be about the same as my old 15mm TV plossl. Worst case scenario will be keep my eyes open for a 14mm Radian or maybe even a 15mm Delite (if TV release one) in the future if it's not a good match.

There was a solar imaging one but not quite the same! Here's my pair. PSTAL Ha mod. Now has a monorail focuser. Also a 120ed withe lunt wedge. Now has a moonlite focuser. Both now also have cnc rings.

very elegant.

Great

Totally agree! In fact one reason I bought the DeLites was that I liked my old Radians so much. I did feel though that for some reason 11mm and 7mm fit better with my scopes and unfortunately Radians don't come in those focal lengths. You'll be welcome to try them at SGL11.

hi mate yes indeed it is. I use is as my main check on the primary as it's just so simple. The normal Cheshire I use for the cross hairs to adjust the secondary only - I use a ring of neoprene foam to block the angled face for this although I sometimes use it for everything too. The Delos are as I suspected very similar to my old Radians although I was a little surprised that they feel a little lighter in the hand to me. Could be my memory being selective. Not had a chance to use them though as I only got them today. I think my travel kit (for the 80mm f6 apo) will be 24mm Panoptic (20x 3.4 deg.), 11mm Delos (44x 1.4 deg.) and 6-3mm (80x-160x) Nagler zoom. This is the main reason I am thinking about selling my 16mm Nagler t5 (30x 2.7 deg,) is that it does not add much to the travel set up and at home, I'll be more likely to use the 17.3 Delos.

Mine is looking a bit more full again now! Just a 14mm and 8mm Delos to go and likely to sell the 16mm t5 that I have only recently bought as I feel it's an unnecessary addition.