russ

Really nice report Ian. Amazing what you can do with an ST80. Since getting the ST150 I haven't touched my C6 or ED100. I have been amazed how well it does on planets. Bought it as a low power sweeper and now use it as a general purpose everything. So much so I sold the ED100.

The OIII is the only filter I have, for me its the only filter that makes a night and day difference. Obviously its a one trick pony, so only limited use but for the best views of the right object its essential. Once you see the Veil, especially under a dark sky, you'll know its money well spent. I just couldn't justify spending more. Perhaps if i looked through a premium one i would go straight out and buy one. I had the Orion Ultrablock UHC 2". It was okay and definitely improved the view as well. But i looked through someone else's Baader OIII and put the Orion UHC up for sale the next day.

If your budget won't run to one of the premium models don't discount the cheaper filters. I had the Skywatcher OIII (another cheapy version) years back and in the 12" dob it was epic. Great views of the Veil from a nearby dark site. Without the filter the Veil was only just visible with averted vision. With the filter, couldn't miss it. So with your 10" dob it should be good on the right object.

I read that the Optolong OIII and SVBony OIII visual filters are the same filter. They have a wider bandwidth than the high end filters, more like a UHC filter but work well. I have the Orion OIII which also has the wider bandwidth but I have found it works extremely well on the Veil, Dumbbell and Owl. Never owned a premium OIII like the Lumicon, so can't compare.

Only the 16mm Nirvana is showing stock anywhere. Trying to get the 4mm or 7mm is a nightmare. Same with most of the Explore Scientific ranges. The secondhand market is the best bet at the moment. Perhaps a wanted ad here or on UK Astro Buy'n'sell.

That was part of my reasoning for losing the 3.2mm. I used it so rarely, just better off barlowing the 7mm when the sky will take it.

I think you will be equally pleased with the 7mm I just need to stop myself buying the Helios Myriad 20mm whenever it comes back into stock.

I ditched my 3.2mm and 4mm eyepieces as I thought my 7mm and 8mm eyepieces performed just as well in the barlow. My barlow is only a lowly Celestron Omni 2x. Money saved bought an ES 24mm.

7mm is superb, miles better than the Hyperion 8mm. Holds up really well in my F5 scope. Only got the 7mm in the last week and been fortunate to use it on 3 nights already. Wanted to make sure it was good before selling the Hyperion and TMB Planetary.

We need those slightly better things to give us something to research and read about on the 350 cloudy nights of the year.

Just replied to the other "what planetary eyepiece" thread. Hyperion is nice as an allrounder in a slow scope. About on a par with the BST Starguider. For best planetary detail and excellent eye relief, the Vixen SLV gets my vote. I have the 10mm Hyperion and 10mm SLV, the Vixen is simply sharper. I always pull more detail with the Vixen. I keep the Hyperion for deepsky as the 50deg field of view of the Vixen is claustrophobic.

I was very pleased with my BST (I had the original Astro Tech Paradigm) but since discovered there are slightly better eyepieces for slightly more. Another nod to the Altair Lightwave 9mm (and all the clones). The Vixen SLV 9mm beats them all in my opinion. Razor sharp and so comfortable. Just ortho field of view as the draw back.

That was about the same for me. No inky black razor sharp shadow, just a dull grey, less defined disk. It just didn't want to play ball last night. But it was good to be out though.

Yes cloud starting to increase in Eastleigh. Seeing is pretty dire but getting some very short good moments.

It's technically clear according to BBC and Metoffice but only because they don't count high cloud as proper cloud. Transparency really poor and seeing, as others have said, wobbly. But looking forward to the transit nonetheless. Going to be using the Startravel 150, not the ED100 or C6.....madness but i love it.

That's a stunning look scope and setup.

Nice report. I use the 10mm SLV and its my best planetary eyepiece (and by some margin). Also been through a bunch of eyepieces (Pentax XF, TMB Planetary, Meade 5000 UWA 8.8, Orion Edge On) and some were okay, better than others but just like yourself i felt the C6 and ED100 were capable of nicer views. So replaced the Skywatcher Dielectric diagonal with a Baader T2 prism and bought the SLV 10mm (really wanted a TV Radian). What a difference. Tried the Meade 5000 8.8mm with the Baader prism and it was better than before but for fine detail on Jupiter the Meade just cannot compete with the Vixen. Surprised just how much of difference there was. I did see some blue fringing too on one night but not there the next. Put it down to the low altitude of Jupiter and poor atmosphere. I need to buy a second now as i'm having to barlow the 10mm to get the desired power in the ED100. So really need the 5mm.

Yes i found the Neodymium helped out with Jupiter last night and night before. Took away some of the glare and made seeing the finer detail a little easier. But seeing last night was pretty dismal. So just struggled to get anything like the previous couple of nights.

I was using the Orion OIII last night with the Startravel 150 under Bortle 5 skies. Transparency was poor. Without the OIII not even a hint of the Veil. With the OIII all parts of the Veil were not a problem. Not tried with the ED100 as I bought the 150 for this very reason. The OIII also worked incredibly well on the Owl, the downside is I lost the companion galaxy from the view. The OIII is an essential part of my observing setup. One of the first things I re-bought this year.

That was about the same for me too. Seeing was pretty poor to start. Could see GRS and Io shadow but little else in the way of detail. But by 10:30 things had really settled down and able to pick out fine detail on Jupiter. Also cranked the magnification right up to silly levels for the seeing but able to a distinct disk to Ganymede. All be it a fuzzy one.

That does look good. Why is everything always so far away. lol

That's a really nice image

I was watching one of those on Ebay for £99 but forgot to go back and bid...lol. Very nice Rob

It really gets on my nerves. It was worse last year with Mars. Not just the Beeb but all the daily rags too.

Yes i think you are right. Although sometimes you get an itch for something different even when you are totally satisfied with the scope you have and it meets all your expectations. Mine was for more aperture with the C8. Plus getting spare parts for the Intes, even from the UK main dealer, was not easy. I sold my M603 for a low price because of the course focuser and let the new owner know the trouble i had trying to get the part needed. And failing to do so.