Littleguy80

I understand. It can be challenging using the small FOV. Have you considered using your Myriad with a Barlow? I use my 9mm Lunt XWA, same optics as your Myriad, with a Baader VIP Barlow. The Baader VIP is excellent as you can add or remove T2 extension tube rings to vary the magnification factor. Removing the two 15mm extension tubes included with the Barlow makes it a 1.53x Barlow instead of the default 2x. The 9mm Myriad would then effectively be a 5.9mm. My Baader VIP was another secondhand bargain costing under £100. The three variations of the Baader VIP, using supplied T2 extension rings, would give you 5.9mm, 5.1mm and 4.5mm options with your 9mm. I tend not to use this option a great deal as I prefer the sharpness and contrast of my orthos and Nagler zoom. Might be a more cost effective option until the planets are higher.

I recently purchased a secondhand 3-6mm Nagler Zoom. I paid around two third of the new price. A saving of over £100! It has 50 degree AFOV across all focal lengths. Very good quality and the ability to match the magnification to the seeing. A pricier option but I think the versatility justifies the cost.

Just last night I was out until 1:30am observing with work to get up for in the morning. Sometimes I'll take a power nap in the early evening. I sleep 10pm-11pm and then go out to observe until the sky gets too light (2-3am). I find I normally enjoy it a little more when I do that as I'm refreshed from the sleep. I even do split sessions where I'll observe, sleep for a couple of hours and then get up and observe some more. I'll normally do this if I need to wait for something to rise. I tend to just grab the opportunities that are there and catch up on sleep when the cloud returns.

I had a similar question recently. Apparently the question of distilled vs de-ionised is controversial! You can get it off Amazon but it’s pricey. I’m sure it’s cheaper from pet store if you have one nearby.

Fab. Thank you very much

I went out with the intention of having a go at Antares last night but cloud stopped that plan. I did split the double double and then Izar with the Equinox 80 and Nagler Zoom. I hadn’t expected to get Izar in the frac and was very pleasantly surprised. Chris’ comments on splitting Antares at 90x gives me hope of getting a split with this setup.

Hi Piero. I tried this last with the 9mm but didn’t have sufficient back focus to reach focus. My extension tube method setup will only work with 2 of the 15mm spacers. If I add a third then I also run out of back focus. I’ve ordered the Tak adapter for further experimenting. I’m not sure if that configuration with help but worth a go.

I did do a fair bit of experimenting prior to getting the extension tube. I’m not sure if I tried it like that or not if I’m honest. It does make sense that it would reach focus like that though. I’ll give it a try next time out. Thank you!

Some pictures. Long arms are recommended for reaching the focuser 😉

I have the APM/Lunt in 20, 13 and 9mm. I used my Baader VIP Barlow successfully with the 9 and 13mm on my 10” dob. I had to buy a 80mm extension tube and use both of those EPs in 1.25” mode to reach focus. The Barlow slides down the extension tube up to the eyepiece adapter. Even so it’s still quite a stack. It does give me a very nice 100 degree 6.5mm and 4.5mm EPs though

This week’s arrival of a Nagler Zoom has pretty much filled up my eyepiece case. Most of these were bought with my 10” dob in mind. My travel case with Equinox 80, Baader zoom and ES68 24mm. I have a 2” Williams Optics Diagonal and 1.25” TS Optics Herschel Wedge in there too. The Nagler Zoom will be added to this for trips away. I’ve determined that my next astro purchase should be renewing my Norwich Astronomical Society membership in August! Let’s see if I have the willpower to resist buying anything else in the meantime!

Great post, John. I’ve so far failed to split Sirius but will spend some time this season on Antares. Sounds like a good challenge

The wedge comes with everything required. I was just looking at options to try it without the stacked ND/Continuum filter. Solar is new to me so am having a play to see what I like best

This will sound really silly but I'm honestly not sure if this is a serious suggestion. Are yellow filters good for Solar? I wasn't sure if it was a joke due to my fussyness on Sun colour. Really don't mind if it was joke. As my wife says, I have a face for comedy.

The ND3 filter arrived yesterday and I managed a quick 2 minute trial this morning before work. I now have a white sun instead of a green one. Not a lot to see. I possibly had some macro granulation though not as clear as with the continuum filter. I think this setup will be great for the Mercury transit. I’m also keeping an eye out for any ISS solar transits. I’m also looking forward to the next AR to see how that compares with just the ND3 filter vs ND3 and Continuum stacked.

Looks great. My wife makes fun of me for the joy I take in removing foam blocks to neatly fit new eyepieces into the case.

I'm pretty confident that I'm seeing macro-granulation (thanks Stu/Ken for correcting my terminology!). I used my 6mm BGO with the Baader VIP. The VIP has an extra T2 extension tube added so I think the magnification was around 186x. I wasn't able to pick anything out that appeared as individual cells. Could be seeing, could be inexperience. Either way, at least I have a better idea of what I'm looking for now

Thanks Dave. Found some good close ups from Freddie on AR's where you can see the granulation around the AR. Now for another look through the scope to see what I can see!

Brilliant. Thank you for the explanation. That's exactly what I needed. I'll pop an ortho in see what I can pick up

I'm still new to Solar observing and am only observing in white light. I've heard the term granulation which makes me think of lots of small points. I've been observing over lunch and what observe is more like subtle variations across the disc. Lighter and darker areas as opposed to fine points. I don't think is coming from poor seeing. Is this what's described as granulation? My Herschel wedge includes a continuum type filter which I've read makes the granulation more obvious.

Thank you. I only have a 2" diagonal so wanted to know if I needed to factor the cost of 1.25" diagonal into the price.

This looks great. I'd like to jump into the world of H-alpha observing at some point. Am I right in thinking that this only takes a 1.25" diagonal. Adapters are required to use a 2" diagonal? I wonder how the performance compares to use a Quark eyepiece.

Once I get the ND3 filter, I can try this with the TS wedge. It has an ND3 element stacked in the same cell as the continuum filter. It’s relatively easy to remove that ND3 element though. With the separate ND3 I can reverse the order and try this.

Funnily enough that’s one thing that does go through my mind when showing friends and family the Sun. I’d rather have more natural views for them. No one but me seems bothered though so I probably shouldn’t worry. I’m the same with planetary. I was never keen on coloured filters. The Neodymium filter is useful though.

I’ve only ever seen the Sun through the TS Wedge so a green Sun is all I know. I quite like the white light images taken without a continuum filter through the eyepiece. Once I’ve tried it, I’ll have a better feel of what I’m losing through not using the continuum filter.