Littleguy80

Thank you. I’ve been able to pick it up in my 10x50 bins so going for a walk with bins or a small scope is a good plan!

Great image. I love all vibrant colours in the stars. I had my own attempt last night. I’m very much a causal imager so not up to your standards but was pleased to get M52 in there.

About a year ago, I became a keyholder for my local dark site which has led to me being there alone a couple of times. It's very eerie. Last August, I heard people moving around nearby. They then proceeded to climb over the fence behind me. Turned out to be another member of the site and his son, coming to look for Perseids. Did leave me wondering how useful a weapon a 10" dob would be. I've also heard of a tale of a sheep finding it's way into the site which caused alarm to those observing and imaging that night! Sheep can sound pretty big when it's dark!

Thanks John. It certainly is. Tough to spot in the 80mm frac. The dob brought it out much better with the extra aperture. Nice bonus that the Nova occurred so close to it.

I had a decent clear spell tonight and took advantage of it to observe the Nova again. First in the frac again and then the 10” dob. In the dob it was great to see M52 clearly in the same FOV. Had a crack at imaging it too using the 80mm frac and my DSLR.

After a long evening of cloud watching through the window, I gave up and went to bed to read around 12:30am. 10 minutes or so later my eyes were feeling heavy. Decided to have one last look out the window and was thrilled to see stars. Dashed outside with the 10x50s and quickly found the Nova using @Pixies excellent sketches as a guide. Then grabbed the 80mm refractor. I had an APM UFF 30mm arrive yesterday. I managed a brief first light with it last night. Was very pleased to use it to get my first telescopic view of the Nova. It’s only the third Nova I’ve seen. The first was in Scutum in 2017, followed by one in Perseus in 2018. The clear spell lasted all of 10 mins but that’s all I needed. I really love these type of events and their accompanying threads on SGL. I enjoy the sense of a shared experience that will pass most of the world by. Thanks to @JeremyS for the heads up,@Pixies for the sketches and everyone else for sharing the experience!

Had a brief go at this but was beaten by cloud while I was trying to figure out the star field. Scope is still outside in case it clears out again. Great observing @Waddensky, your description is very helpful!

All excellent, that helps a lot. Thank you both very much! Looking clear early on this evening so hopefully will get a chance to try and spot this

Thanks for the heads up, Jeremy. Could I ask how to use the chart in the link? I’ve often tried and failed to translate those type of charts into something I could relate back to SkySafari. I struggle to identify the larger stars to the find the equivalent star field.

I personally really enjoy reading the reports of people starting out. It’s easy to take seeing these objects for granted when you’ve been doing it awhile. It’s a great reminder of how lucky we are to be able to see the night sky like this

Ace report. I love the sense of excitement at seeing these galaxies for the first time

For an introduction to affordable high quality eyepieces, you can't beat orthos. If you want to push your observations to the limits on faint objects then orthos are the way to go. I did some comparisons of my 5mm Baader Genuine Ortho vs my 5mm Pentax XW. The BGO had a very small edge in contrast but felt much harder work to use with the small FOV and short eye relief. The result is that the XW is my first choice in most cases. However, if I'm struggling to pick something out then the orthos come out. That's why there's a 9mm BGO that sits next to the 10mm Delos.

My frac has only really been used for white solar in recent months. It was still clear around 11:30pm when Mrs LG went to bed so decided to take the frac out. Started out playing around finding the Messier clusters in Auriga, then the Eskimo. Had a real battle to see anything of M51 but thoroughly enjoyed that challenge. After that I decided it was time for the Moon. Used the Nag zoom then switched to the Vixen HR 3.4mm as the seeing looked good. Really lovely crisp views. I’d forgotten how good this little scope is. It was only when I went inside for another eyepiece that I even realised it was foggy. The Moon was still showing well through the haze. Have a real nice buzz from a happy hour or so with the scope.

I thought it would be fun to find all the iterations of my eyepiece case on this thread. The first version for my first telescope, a SkyWatcher 130M on EQ2. There was even room for a red light torch in those days. The arrival of a 10” dob led to the first major rework and a couple of 100 degree eyepieces. There was still room for the Telrad though. Things really took off after that. It became a world of widefields and orthos. A decidedly fuller case now! Finally my most recent rework. I don’t think there’ll be anymore major reworks but never say never!

Thanks Piero! The 2” conversion resolved all the issues I’d had with my eyepieces reaching focus with the VIP in my both by Dob and Frac. Big thanks to you and @YKSE for this great tip.

Hi! Thank you Yes, it’s threaded for 1.25” filters. If you put the filter on the Barlow then you have the advantage that you can change eyepieces without needing to moving the filter between eyepieces. I actually use a similar trick with my dob. I always screw my 2” filters onto a Clicklock extension tube. This is a great way to experiment with finding the right magnification/exit pupil for a target without a lot of screwing/unscrewing of filters.

I would think it worked very well with the Leica zoom, John. I actually created a spreadsheet for calculating the magnification factor and what that gave me with each of my eyepieces. I also struggled to remember what values I’d get from each of them.

Glad you enjoyed the review. Look forward to hearing how you get on with it

The Baader VIP Barlow is one of the most versatile barlows out there thanks to the T2 system it uses. I've owned mine for awhile now and have been really impressed with it. There's lots you can do to tailor this barlow to work optimally with your setup. The following are a few of the ways that I've customised mine. Before I start out, I want to credit @Piero for all his help and advice, much of what I've done has come directly from him so big thanks to Piero! The Standard VIP Barlow In its standard format, the VIP is a 2x 1.25" Barlow. Excellent optical quality with no discernible impact to the optical performance of the eyepiece it's used with. The clever part comes from the T2 system. The VIP is made up of 2"-1.25" reducer, M48 to T2 adapter, two 15mm T2 extension tubes and a T2 to 1.25" adapter. The T2 extension tubes can be removed to reduce the magnification factor or additional T2 extension tubes can be added to increase it. The exact amount of magnification can be calculated using a formula provided by Baader. Full details can be found here: https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/downloads/dl/file/id/240/product/1062/calculating_different_magnifications_with_the_vip_barlow.pdf The exact magnification factor is dependent on the field stop of the eyepiece but if we assume standard configuration is giving 2x then the table below gives an approximate guide to how this changes. There is of course a practical limit to how many T2 extension tubes you can add before things get a bit too tall. Clicklock Adapter One nice upgrade for the VIP is to replace the supplied 2" - 1.25" reducer with a Clicklock version for quick and easy eyepiece changes. Use as a 2" Barlow With the purchase of the Baader Tak Adapter (2458199), the VIP can be converted to 2" mode. I found this helped with some eyepieces that couldn't reach focus with the VIP and my dob. The barlow element screws into the Tak Adapter (the top of the barlow element should cover the text on the adapter). Both parts can then be screwed into the bottom of the supplied 2" - 1.25" reducer. At the eyepiece end, the barlow can either be screwed onto another 2" - 1.25" reducer, such as the Clicklock or directly onto the filter thread of a 2" eyepiece. The supplied 2" - 1.25" reducer is quite heavy. To reduce weight, a Baader T2 2" nosepiece can be used. This is particularly useful when using it with small fracs to keep everything balanced. Baader Pushfit Adapter One final adapter to consider is the Baader push fit 2" - 1.25" reducer (2408151). This can hold a 1.25" eyepiece in place using nylon threaded screws to hold it tight but allowing eyepieces to be pushed in and held firmly. It can be semi-permanently attached to an eyepiece using a grub screw onto the compression ring. In 2" mode this adapter can then be screwed onto the VIP. This adapter has only a 1mm optical path! I keep it semi permanently attached to a Noblex UWA 12.5mm and then keep the VIP setup to barlow that eyepiece down to an approximately 7mm eyepiece. Astrophotography use I have also found the VIP to be useful for astrophotography, connecting directly to the Baader T-Ring for my Canon DSLR. I consider the Baader VIP Barlow to be one of the most useful items in my eyepiece case.I hope this guide will prove useful to anyone who owns the VIP or who is considering buying one.

Here’s my entry for the smallest eyepiece case. I’ve had some of my best planetary views with these orthos. In main eyepiece case, I’ve got some nice widefields (Delos, XW) which get close enough to Ortho performance to keep me happy. I can’t quite bring myself to part with these though. BGOs (5mm and 6mm) and the 7mm Meade Research Grade Ortho don’t come up often. I’ve given them their own little case that I can quickly grab when I went that extra edge when observing.

With my 10” F4.7 dob, I’ve been going through my own debates on these focal lengths over the past few months. Originally I had a 13mm and 9mm APM HDC. 100 degree eyepieces felt like the way to go. What I could never escape from was that my orthos gave better contrast and sharpness than the APM’s. In the end, I settled on sacrificing FOV for image quality. The 9mm APM was replaced with a 10mm Delos. When observing, I found that I was regularly skipping the 13mm and going straight to the 9mm. As Piero said, the 2mm exit pupil is the place to be for DSO’s. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve replaced the APM 13mm with a Docter 12.5mm which also Barlows nicely with the Baader VIP to fill the gap between the 10mm Delos and 5mm Pentax XW. In terms of real world performance, my 9mm Ortho (BGO) shows 4 cores in Stephan’s quintet. The 10mm Delos is a shade behind the Ortho but will still show the same 4 cores. I was never able to see the Quintet with the APM. 100 degree eyepieces are great, my 20mm APM is a keeper, but they are a compromise. I’ve not tried an Ethos but suspect that even they sit behind the Delos. To make your decision it’s really a question of what you value most and what you’re prepared to sacrifice in your observing...and bank balance

Hi Ant, I have a Baader VIP Barlow. It’s superb optically and the T2 system gives so many options in terms of adjusting the magnification factor or connections. Alternatively, for a cheaper option, the Baader Q 2.25x has an excellent reputation.

Lovely report and photos, Stu. Really captures that sense of fun and enjoyment without getting too serious. Had an enjoyable session with the dob this evening. Quite relaxed with great transparency. M51 was probably the best I’ve seen it from home. Definite hints of spiral arms. SQM reading around 19.7. Even got M101 which was once my nemesis. Would have been a great night for a dark site trip.

Ace report, Gerry. There was a moment where I thought you were going to say you got the HH too! The TSA120 sounds like a superb scope. The refractors seem to be giving a fun alternative to your big dobs. I’d love to see the Aurora.

My eyepiece case has been through several iterations since I first bought a case in 2017. The first iteration had space for my Telrad alongside an ES68 24mm, some BST Starguiders and a couple of orthos. They worked wonderfully with 130mm reflector. Then came the 10" dob and I entered the world of Hyperwides. APM/Lunt 100 degree eyepieces became my main eyepieces alongside an expanded ortho collection. One thing that I couldn't escape was the fact that the orthos gave noticeably more contrast and sharper views than the 100 degree eyepieces. The latest update to my eyepiece collection reflects a desire to balance FOV with contrast/sharpness. There's still a place for hyperwides at the longer focal lengths. The TFOV and large exit pupil are a must when using filters on large nebulae. This is why the Aero 40mm has a place in my eyepiece case. The 25mm TV Plossl is my Horse Head eyepiece. Time will tell if this proves to be the final update to my eyepiece case. I have used John's technique of pushing the foam down rather than cutting it....just in case Top row: ES82 30mm, APM HDC 20mm, Noblex (Docter) 12.5mm with Baader Pushfix adapter fitted (Badder VIP below, modded as a 2" barlow. Used with the Noblex to fill the 7mm slow. I have extra T2 spacers to allow use at different focal lengths), Delos 10mm, 9mm BGO (beneath Delos), Pentax XW 5mm. Bottom row: Aero 40mm, TV Plossl 25mm, TV Nagler Zoom 3-6mm, Vixen HR 3.4mm, Filters (Baader ND, TV Bandmate II OIII, Lumicon UHC, Astronomic HB)