michael.h.f.wilkinson

Not an acquired taste as much as addictive

Superb collection. The Pentax XW 30 is a bit of a rarity

I also note that my posts with images in them tend to gather more likes posts without.

Likes were only implemented a comparatively short while back. So if, like me, you had many posts to your name before the introduction of likes, your L/P ratio is inherently going to be lower (although asymptotically it will approach some platonic "true" value). There was even a brief period after introduction when a bug gave everyone ten likes for starters, hence some single-post members with a L/P ratio of 10. People who effectively left before or just after the introduction of likes will have a dismal L/P ratio. Just for the record, mine is currently 0.356

I have Stellarium running under OpenSUSE, no probs. I think I will try running AS!2 within WINE. My main issue is with capture software (I must test oaCapture one of these days). ImageJ (and AstroImageJ) work fine in Linux, as does GIMP, of course. ImPPG is developed under Linux.

Awesome set of glass! Do you feel you need counselling now all your EP buying is done?

Nice set. I got the same 20mm Plossl for my kids mini-Dob and it is a surprisingly good performer even at F/4.3, which is quite a severe test. The Vixen (S/N)LVs are also very nice in my experience.

I use ImageJ quite a bit, but haven't heard of AIJ before. I will certainly be giving it a spin

A Delos 8mm perhaps? That gets a lot of use in my C8 under good conditions. I would first see if the Delos 6mm doesn't work well on the moon (I sometimes use the XW5 on the moon to great effect in the C8.

They are superb, aren't they. If ever I get that fast Dob, I might well get the XW3.5 as well. Really comfy, and superb image quality. I did recently see a TMB Paragon 40mm second-hand, and was tempted to replace the LVW 42mm with that. The LVW might have a tiny advantage in terms of edge sharpness, but the Paragon was definitely better in terms of viewing comfort. The Panoptic 41 is a similar temptation, but I use the LVW 42 so rarely, I had better invest in a Delos 6mm with parfocal ring to snuggle in the "gap" between the XW5 and XW7.

Some great, droolworthy cases and green-and-black collections. I am not going to replace the XWs to turn my collection pure green-and-black, however, especially since a couple of parfocal rings means my Delos EPs play nicely with the 3 XWs I have. The LVW 42 is safe as well

This is exactly why I got my cheap Chinese triplet from a retailer who checks everything is in perfect alignment before shipping. Very good idea from FLO.

Forecast here very good. Hope you all get lucky!

Quite possible. I wanted one with as wide a field stop as possible to squeeze as much true FOV as possible out of the finder. I finally had my first use of it as an illuminated cross-hair EP last Sunday, and it was excellent (I used it before without illumination).

Nice collection. I have one of those Antares WA 70 deg EPs (a 25mm) which does sterling work in my 70mm F/5 finder scope. I recently modded it to illuminated cross-hair EP. Nice little Erfle, does show some seagulls at F/5 at the edge, but great as a finder EP, and very nice indeed in slower scopes. Comfortable regarding eye placement too

Regarding imaging the event, I think I have settled for a dual scope set-up, imaging the sun in Ca-K with the 80mm F/6, and using my ST80 guide scope with Herschel wedge and Solar Continuum filter (plus IR block). The narrow band of the SC filter will remove all chromatic aberrations. I will either swap the ASI174MM from scope to scope, or attach the ASI174MM to the Ca-K set-up, and the ASI224MM to the ST80 WL and use two cameras. I will see if running two instances of FireCapture gets me into trouble. If so, I will just use two laptops

I would personally prefer putting Baader film over the objectives of the 10x50s. Safer

Very nice cases indeed

Lovely cases!

I occasionally just have a look at them, especially when I haven't been able to look through them for a while

Nice collection. We do not see many Luminos and Axiom LXs here. I would be interested in your opinion of them

In faster scopes you really notice the difference. My F/10 SCT is pretty forgiving, and the MaxVision 24mm 68 deg works brilliantly in it. The APM 80mm F/6 is a bit more demanding, but the MV 24 still does a good job, but in Olly's 20" F/4.1 dob the MV fell apart, mainly at the edges. The Nagler 22T4 works better in all scopes I tried. I never tried BSTs because the eye relief is too short for me.

Interesting result. I might try that some day with my ASI224MC and APM 80mm F/6 with TRF-2008 reducer (at F/4.8). I have a TEC 12706 Peltier cooler lying around somewhere. Might even try adding that to suppress noise

I have always found this an interesting comparison, concerning size, weight, and price. The 20mm Plössl cost just €15 (new!), and is really nice in the kids' mini-Dob. The Nagler 22T4 wouldn't fit. Regarding green-on-black: I have quite a few lacking that colour scheme which, if they want them, they can take out of my cold, dead hands. If somebody forced me to work only with the complete Pentax XW and XF range, I think I could live with that.