McNewt

I have a 41mm Panoptic on its way from FLO and I already have an 80mm f/6 triplet APO.   If you haven't pulled the trigger on an eyepiece once I get to take it out for a spin I can check back with a first impressions report.   My main use case with this combination, plus an UHC filter, is to find nebulae.

The view with the APO and the Nagler 31 is very sharp throughout most of the field, but slightly less so closer to the edges due to field curvature.   The sky is very dark uncovering zillions of otherwise invisible stars.  Very impressive and addictive.  On first light I pointed the scope to Altair and panned toward Deneb.  In seconds the Dumbbell nebula came into view.  Seeing was so-so and under Bortle 5 skies other objects in the area were hard to detect.   I'm patiently waiting for the darker autumn and winter months as in the summer the sky doesn't get truly dark here.    Anyway, these wide field views are intriguing and makes me want to search and discover rather than fiddling with alignment and hand controllers.  

3 minutes ago, Paul73 said:

What an amazing coincidence! Some Green & Black arrived a my house too. I had also “forgotten” to discuss the purchase with my better half....

Paul

I'm constantly talking telescope gear with my better half which, admittedly, must be very tiresome.      However, due to the information overload she has stopped being surprised when the postman arrives with a new packet.  At least when it comes to eyepieces and other small gear.   Not sure what would happen if I order a big dob though.

That shadow must be keeping it upright acting as a support to the rightmost leg.  

7 minutes ago, Stu said:

Very nice! I like the TS fracs, I have the 72mm myself. I'm sure you will have fun with that, very versatile as you say. Do you have a Herschel Wedge for solar?

Not yet.  It is certainly at the top of the list.  I've had a peek at the Baader 2 inch Herschell prism, but then someone posted some feedback on one made by Lacerta which is quite a lot cheaper.  However, the Baader wedge comes with a solar continuum filter included in the price that is quite expensive to buy as an option.  Need to scratch my head for a while on that one.

4 hours ago, johninderby said:

Has anyone actualy seen one of the ES 30mm 3” eyepieces. Now that looks like a real monster.

Focal Length 30mm

Length200mm

Width107mm

Weight82.9oz; 2353g

Barrel Size3.00

When you need a wheel dolly to get your eyepiece out into the backyard.   

Joy!   My first refractor.  A deluxe-finder-grab-n-go-solar-guide-apochromat to be more specific.  These 80mm scopes are really ubiquitous.

I got some accessories too.

The mirror in the diagonal is so well made that I first thought they had forgotten to put a mirror in it, until I realised that it was the back of the white dust cap what I was looking at when staring down the barrel on the scope side.

The scope has a really nice finish and judging by the short moment of daytime viewing I’ve managed to get it is very sharp with no hint of color fringing.   I hope to be able to put it to the test soon. It doesn’t get really dark here in the summer so the moon will be the first target.

And now a weather report.

Thank you for the explanation.

I really need to try a zoom out.  Every time I lug around my eyepiece sets I start to thinking about getting a zoom eyepiece.  ?   Maybe it is an excuse to buy yet another eyepiece. 

On 23/04/2019 at 19:00, Miguel_EA1HTA said:

EDITED: Here it is my main case:

 

Do you prefer zoom-eyepieces over fixed focal length?  Obviously you cover a lot of ground with very few eyepieces.   I've been having my eyes on the Leica zoom for a while, but since I've spent too much on eyepieces already I haven't pulled the trigger.

5 hours ago, Miguel_EA1HTA said:

Just curious... what´s on the bottom of your pentaxes ?

Thanks

PS: great collection, by the way...

1.25" to 2" twist-lock adapters.   

Normally you have only one adapter and you keep it attached to the focuser, but I also have a bunch of 2" eyepieces.  Frequent switching during sessions made me misplace the one adapter that I had.  Now it is 2" all the way.

I finally managed to find some time to fix the case for my Pentax eyepieces.  I bought the case on last black Friday so it has been gathering dust for quite a while.

2 minutes ago, Sky-searcher said:

Just completed my eyepiece/accessory case. Lots of room left for more goodies ? used supplied dividers for accessories . Pluck foam easy to work with. Just cut the desired amount of squares with a knife & then cut the extracted foam to required depth & reinsert. 

Cool idea using a divider.   I'll steal that one for future cases.

4 hours ago, Paul73 said:

Two eyepatches? What could possibly go wrong?

I gave it a try...  to my amazement all light pollution was gone.   ?

4 hours ago, John said:

I found this theory of why pirates wore eye patches which is QI (quite interesting)

"Actually, it looks like the only reason pirates wore eye patches was to keep one eye adjusted to darkness while boarding another ship. That’s right: If this theory is correct, they only wore the patch before and during a raid.

Think about it: Pirates needed to be able to fight and ransack both above and below deck, and since artificial light wasn’t a thing, it could get pretty dark down there. A guy could trip on a treasure chest or something. It takes the human eye several minutes to adjust to darkness — however, this way, pirates could simply swap the eye patch and immediately be prepared to fight in the lower decks without constantly running into walls, which is something you’d probably want to avoid if you’re carrying a cutlass.

Obviously we don’t know for sure that this was always the case, but this explanation does make more sense than “they all happened to lose one eye” or “they thought it would look cool.” True, you’re sacrificing your peripheral vision, but it’s better than having no vision at all. If you don’t believe us, it’s easy enough to try this yourself — just cover your eye with your hand for the next half hour and then walk into a dark closet.

In fact, this method works so well that it’s still used by the American military today. Nighttime survival guides recommend keeping one eye closed during bright lights to preserve night vision, and the same goes for military pilots. So all those movie pirates wearing eye patches all the time? Turns out they’re just being extra careful."

This does not explain need for the dodgy moustache, the parrot or the funny hat though

 

 

 

Indeed!  Mythbusters did an episode about Pirate-myths and the eyepatch was one they tested.   Plausible.  (It is possible to find it on YouTube by searching for 'mythbusters pirate eye patch'.  Not linking here since it may be a copyright violation.)

Ahoy thar fellow astronomers!  Nah all thin's 'ave t' be fancy 'n expensive.  These ones prolly 'ave some o' th' best performance t' price ratio thar be.
 

15 minutes ago, Paul73 said:

Either they are selling mini telrads now, or that lovely eyepiece is an absolute beast. I’ve never had a look through one of those, so am looking forward to the first light report.

Paul

Yeah, the Nagler 31 is a hefty beast.  I had planned to order just the adapters plus the dust caps, but ended up with this.   ?   I guess part of the theme is finding stuff.  The night before I ran out of patience with my tiny finderscope.   Porridge and pasta on the menu for a while.

First light is expected to be... (checking wheather forecast)  in February.  Not a single day with clear skies for the next coming 10-days.  ? 
 

Some unboxing to be done.

Dog helps out removing packing material so two-legged-one can take photos.

While furry-one plays with the big box on the floor, two-legged-one plays with the smaller boxes.

This is what was inside.  The round thing with concentric circles on it is a collimation tool for my newt.  The piece of electronics down right is a pulser for the Telrad.
There are three more 2"/1.25"-adapters to be delivered.  Telescope-express were graceful to do a part delivery at no extra cost since they ran out of stock of adapters.

11 minutes ago, John said:

Excellent eyepiece sets and welcome to the forum McNewt

I have similar sets with similar overlaps. I tend to use the 100's in my 12" dob whereas the 1.25" set get used with the refractors.

 

 

Thank you!

I noticed DRT's comment about overlaps and he has similar sets too.    Extreme wide field is bliss, but not suitable for all targets.   For planetary I tend to prefer the tighter field of view.

Full set of Lunt/APM eyepieces...

...and the Pentax XW gang.   I received the 10 and 20 mm today so I will be getting a case for these.

In terms of focal lengths there are overlaps, but given that most of my eyepieces are all over the place after a viewing session I apparently tend to switch back and forth between 70º and 100/110º to get the best possible views.  Naturally the 3.5mm eyepieces are the least used ones.