runway77

I have just bought one as well. I should not have read this thread 😉 what should help as well is a twist lock adapter. It centers a laser collimator inside a focuser tube. I have tested it and it works perfectly.

if you have a f/5 or faster telescope you might not necessarily be able to see the clips. this is the case for my 150 pds. In my f/6 dob I can see all three clips in the cheshire eyepiece.

I do have the 4mm one. I was pleasantly surprised with the view of the moon and of the planets with this eyepiece.

I bought the Baader fine-tune T2 rings. Instead of the recommended 55mm distance from the CC to the sensor I tried 56mm. The stars in the corners are noticeably better corrected now. Perhaps the optimal distance could even be more than 56mm in my case. That is yet to be confirmed.

I think the most important factor affecting the views are the seeing conditions and the altitude of a planet. You can have the most accurate collimation and use perfect eyepieces, but I think the atmospheric conditions have the most profound effect on what you can actually see. When observing, there are moments when the atmosphere becomes suddenly stable and one can see much more details but usually just for a while. Quality of a planetary eyepiece certainly plays a big role here but I think it's effect is secondary. And certainly a tracking mount helps a lot, on axis views are always sharper.

God bless < 70 degree eyepieces and f/6 and slower scopes

I have a very good experience with the XCel LX eyepieces as well. I can recommend the 25mm and 18mm. I have 7mm Nirvana as well. It's a great planetary eyepiece with a nice wide field of view.

I have an 8 inch Dob Orion XT8. I replaced the red dot finder with a telrad and a 9x50 RACI finder and I can say that I am able relatively quickly find whatever object I want to see. I think it's fun, one can learn to navigate the sky, and it's simple, no complicated alignments, leveling., etc. Just consider this alternative as well before you buy a scope with a goto / push to system. I can highly recommend it.

Galaxies really need a dark location and the seeing conditions need to be good as well. The sky might seem to be clear but there can be a thin layer of clouds or haze in the air and it makes a huge difference whether one can see spiral arms or just a hazy patch of light.

this doesn't look like coma and I don't have this problem with any other eyepieces. I have not noticed anyone as well to have similar problems with flats field eyepieces in newtonian telescopes. I will probably return this eyepiece and ask for a replacement. Thanks for your response.

I have tried it already in two f/5 newtonians with the same outcome. I will try it in my 8 inch f/6 dob as well, but it's cloudy. The best test would be with a refractor but unfortunately I don't have any ;)

skywatcher 150 PDS and the eyepiece is APM 24mm ultra flat field. But as I say, it might be that this eyepiece is faulty. Hence my question to fellow observers whether these flat field eyepieces work for you with the newtonian reflectors or do you have similar experience? Thank you.

Hello, I am having a problem with a relatively expensive flat field eyepiece in a combination with a newtonian reflector. I am unable to achieve proper focus with that eyepiece because when I focus it on axis, the edges are blurry. When I focus it at the edge, the center field is out of focus. I don't want to mention the concrete type of this eyepiece because I received it with a spot on the bottom barrel, therefore I cannot be sure whether it has been dropped. This eyepiece has very good reviews on this forum. Optically it looks good and there is no rattle. My question is whether these flat field eyepieces are usable with newtonians as these telescopes doesn't generally suffer from the field curvature. Many thanks for help.

Hi, have you managed to solve this problem? If yes what would be your recommendation? I have the Baader MPCC and I use it with a 150pds and a Sony mirrorless camera, distance of the MPCC from the camera sensor is ca. 55mm. I can observe a similar effect on my photos but I would say it's not so noticeable. I have just bought some fine tune T2 rings, 0.3mm, 0.5mm and 1mm but they are yet on the way.

I don't know if it helps but I think that this camera doesn't have a built-in IR/UV filter. Without it you probably get blurry images. Try to use an IR/UV filter next time.

a focal reducer moves the focal point further inwards. Using focal reducers on fast newtonians doesn't make sense. What you need is actually a Barlow lens to move the focal point further away from the focuser. However, the best solution is to use a low profile focuser so you can reach focus without a Barlow lens.

I recommend to use a fan set to minimum while taking photos and a dew heater that wraps around the stalk of the secondary mirror holder. The heating power need to be set only to such a level that the temperature of the mirror won't fall under the dew point.

a lot of more? this hobby is finished. what is musk doing with his private corporation is a criminal activity. They literally for their own profit are destroying astronomy and the night sky!

This must be stopped. A private corporation for their own profit is destroying astronomy and polluting the night sky which belongs to everyone. This must end right now. How can this be, please do contact newspapers and show them the videos how would the sky look like when all the satellites would be put on the orbit. It is literally a catastrophe. What they are doing is illegal.

Hello, I was struggling with the balancing as well. I could not balance it, especially after I put an eyepiece into the focuser. However, then I tried it this way: before I started to balance it, I put the focuser in parallel to the counterweight axis, basically in upwards direction. Then I locked the declination clutch, moved the telescope along RA and balanced the counterweights. Remember, there are two counterweights, they need not to be together, you can move them separately. When one is locked, you can precisely balance the telescope with the other. After you balance the telescope for the RA axis, lock the RA clutch and release the Declination clutch. Unscrew the screws of the tube holder but leave them there. Move the tube so the focuser is pointing in parallel with the counterweight (declination axis). Put an eyepiece in the focuser when you are doing that. Move the tube forwards or backwards until it is balanced. This worked for me. I suggest you to replace the red dot finder with a Telrad. Refer to this manual: and you NEED a laser collimator. Hopefully, there is a center doughnut on the primary mirror. If not, you have to put one there. https://garyseronik.com/centre-dotting-your-scopes-primary-mirror/ Refer to this video as well. Hope this helps!