Stargazer McCabe

@Lister

I purchased one of these Observing Hoods. Does a double job of keeping me warm on winter observing nights and blocking extraneous light. Admittedly it doesn't adresss the torch issue, but I use one of the Celestron ones shown below the hood link. It can be used at varying brightness levels... 

The hoods come from Russia. But arrive quickly and Roman speaks / writes very well in English. Mine arrived in about a week. An excellent help to seeing those faint fuzzies you wrote about in your M31 thread...

http://r-sky.org/en/products/observing-hood

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/red-light-astronomy-torches/celestron-night-vision-red-led-torch.html

@wookie1965

It would be a pleasure. Will pm and then email as promised Sir...

@wookie1965 Noted

If you pm me an email address and the sort of lists you are interested in, Open Clusters, Globulars, Urban Sky DSO's, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced stuff, Small Scope, Medium or Large etc I can convert them to text lists and I'll email them if you fancy...

41 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

Thank you for that appreciate it, can you not get the lists to get on a desktop do you know.

@wookie1965 If you have SkyTools3 I can forward lists in that format... 

How exactly might you wish to use the lists on a desktop ??

3 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

How do you open these when I click it goes to save, i saved it to the desktop then when i click on it, it asks what program to use. Tried using 7 Zip says cannot open archive.

Those listed with the suffix .skylist are to be opened in SkySafari 

On 14/07/2017 at 16:07, jetstream said:

I'm very interested in your thoughts on this, actually on how deep the 9mm will go. If there is a 10mm BCO available to compare it to it would be nice.

Should you wish to provide said 10mm BCO I should gladly provide options on mailing addresses Gerry ?

I've been hugely impressed with it thus far. Even when used in a 1.6 Antares Barlow with the f4.5 Dob

19 minutes ago, John said:

My experiences with the supplier mentioned here are positive so a balanced view is important.

 

Seconded. Never had an issue. Whatever I've bought or wherever in the world I've had it shipped to or needed customer service...

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Great review Gerry. That gives me a good target for when I start re-investing. Ethos will be out of my range for a long time so this is a good alternative

It's not just the 20mm that's really good Stu. The 9mm is equally impressive. Loving using both in a f4.5 Dob

Very comprehensive and informative Gerry. I must say that I've been equally impressed by the 20mm and the 9mm purchased recently. 

Both exceptional eyepieces in all the scopes used, right down to f4.5

16 minutes ago, jetstream said:

Me, I'm thinking of a 24" dob atm...

That's one piece of advice of yours I might ruminate on for a bit longer than I did on the Lunt 20 & 9mm eyepieces !! ?

2 hours ago, jetstream said:

So far I really like this eyepiece.

Excellent insight... Thank you for taking the time to post and report back. Inspired by your comments the trigger has been pulled this evening on a 20mm and a 9mm. Appreciate the comments Gerry

Ed

While it's important to heed the advice given by others about resolution, image brightness and future proofing, may I just add that the sheer wonder of observing the sun through any solar scope is a magnificent experience. And to be able to do that as regularly as our weather conditions allow; to see the ever changing details with one's own scope is even better.

So if your budget is restricted be aware that you'll still get masses of enjoyment from wherever you enter on the "Solar Scope Sliding Scale". Clearly, a double stacked 60mm or bigger would be lovely. But not everyone has those funds.

The little Lunt LS50 we bought gave fabulous views that fascinated us. Even though it wasn't Double Stacked and had it's idiosyncratic Helical Focuser those things were forgotten as we observed. So, if funds allow, do consider the larger apertures. But be aware also that you'll get tremendous views from whatever you use, be it a White Light setup, a PST or a Lunt 80mm...

Ed