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Do you get out regularly with yours John. Really looking forward to taking mine for a few trips, will just have to prepare a few things ready. Haven’t got an old suitable duvet really. A cheap kids sleeping bag will probably still work out cheaper than a dedicated bag.

It's not too much info John at all. I actually work within lighting to spectral wavelengths I understand.

Do you wrap the tube in a duvet? Remember seeing a dob with a seat belt mark in the classifieds and thought, there’s a warning right there.

That would be pretty good John 👍 How do you find carting your 12” around?

Going slightly off on a tangent now, but interested to hear about you dragging your dobs around to dark sites. Appreciate the 20” is a totally different animal, but how do you go about the 12”? Is it an Orion dob? Mines a Bresser and hoping to replace the mount with an Orion version which I’m hoping will make it slightly easier to cart to a site. Interested to know how you go about it.

Do you find a discernible difference between the two UHC’s Mark out of interest?

Bresser 10”

I'll probably go FLO as usual, might squeeze an APM 13 into the month too.. Think I linked the wrong one too @JohnJohn: https://www.365astronomy.com/televue-bandmate-type-2-oiii-premium-visual-nebula-filter-2-inch.html

Just clocked that, as it'a clearer on 365's site. That's next months present sorted then.... https://www.365astronomy.com/televue-bandmate-type-2-h-beta-premium-visual-nebula-filter-2-inch.html

So the current one (https://www.firstlightoptics.com/televue-filters/tele-vue-bandmate-oiii-filter.html) is not the best model?

And that's where my 'scrimping' falls down 😂 There's a Televue Bandmate O-III listed badly on a popular auction site. It's listed at 1.25" , at that price point, but, is pictured as a 2"? Only 'good' condition though, which puts me off...

That's interesting, because I've been sure of a 2" when maybe a 1.25" might get me by for a bit? I'm on the outskirts in a Bortle 5 area, 10 minutes south and I'm into a Bortle 4. I'm using a 10" Bresser dob, currently with mid-range EP's just to paint the picture. It's the skyglow broad band filter that I'm really unsure about. I may take you up on your very kind offer just to be sure 😊 Adding some real world use situations is really helpful, thank you. The veil looks to be at it's highest next month and so I had been thinking of the O-III first as that's my first use I'd like. My 16 gives me 79x so if scrimping, maybe a 1.25" could work here. I'm also thinking well ahead to December when I really want to study M42 with a decent filter for the first time. That seems to be where a UHC just edges it on balance and I'll probably need wider than my 16, so a 2" for that? UHC seems to be the usual recommendation, but most of the things I would like to see do seem to be slightly O-III biased so you're probably right with starting with one. Thanks Don, really helpful. The bandmate was the top of the list, just baulking at the initial cost following an expensive few months. Realise they are along time investments though, I'll stick to the 'buy once' philosophy I think. Thanks to everyone's input, very interesting and a great insight.

You'll have to move this John, sorry! Realised after I posted, that's it's in the imaging section here:

Sparked through another discussion, I couldn't see a suitable area in the equipment thread, so thought it might be a good topic to discuss here. Mods, feel free to move to the appropriate place. I've been reading up on filters and will be purchasing both a UHC and O-III this year. As I've had to buy plenty of add-on's, on top of the new scope purchase, and therefore feeling the pinch, inevitably I've considered options away from Astronomik. The 2" versions are preferable, so I've coonsidered the ES filters as an option to get me going, but, inevitably I'll probably end up with the expensive versions at some point, so could this be false economy? If I can wait, buying secondhand makes sense, so it may be that I just buy one quality 2" now, the other later. The DGM NPD gets rave reviews too from what I've found, but limited supply. I've seen these get recommended in one review as a budget option: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CSMH62L/ref=as_li_ss_tl?slotNum=22&s=gateway&keywords=astromania+uhc+filter&language=en_US&sr=8-3&linkCode=g12&linkId=b7906c23da3c7b308bdaaea3203e9a9d&imprToken=dZLR3aiQ2O2DBtR9beRKgg&tag=nightskyadam-21 I've also considered a broadband filter too. The Orion SkyGlow seems to get the plaudits but largely unavailable it appears? I'd be interested to hear thoughts on the above and whether holding back to spend on a top filter is really what I should be doing. PS. @John you mentioned that your O-III is in 1.25"? Whats do you use with your Ethos?

Please divulge your ‘must have’ filters of choice 😀 As for caps, FLO didn’t have any replacements last month when I tried to order, haven’t looked elsewhere, so where have you sources from?

I'll probably do that. Have a filter or two on the list, so slowly building up the gear in readiness for the winter months. You're right about darkness, end of July here and there's been no break in the cloud this week at all. Just looking at the specs, the EP's look huge - 157mm long? Is that correct?

I'm in no rush at the minute, there's a few other bits I want to get, to cover the bases first. If anything, I might get the 13 first (in stock too) to plug a gap I have there first. I bet the overall FOV of the APM 20 isn't too dissimilar to the ES 24 82 that I have, so it could render the ES obsolete in the process 🤔

I can certainly see more of a use for the 1.25" narrow field options with your fracs, but do you use any of those with the dob regularlyJohn or predominately the Ethos?

Well that's a very strong and interesting argument, thank you. Seems like a no-brainer then starting from scratch. Sure, who doesn't lust after a TV or premium marque! I do like the flexible eye relief but that won't be a deal-breaker. I'll add them to the list... I might get them a bit sooner now, given their cost too.

Thanks for the detailed feedback fellas. For the record I'm using a 10" f5 Bresser dob so the weight could be managed. The APM 20 sounds like a bit of a steal for the money! Interesting @jetstreamthat you don't go hyper wide throughout into the higher mags, as that's a question I'll need to work out too. @John clearly you do have a preference for this throughout? I had wondered whether a 12mm Delos might make a nice addition in the mid-range later on?

Having gatecrashed another thread, it's only right that this debate continues in it's own thread. I'm along way away from upgrading my ES 82's but me being me, I probably will buy myself a couple of higher grade wide FOV EP's, probably in the 17 & 12mm region at some point when I'm feeling flush. I'd love to dip my toe in the TV pool but the ES 92's seem to compare well against ethos. The ES 100 deg EP's don't ever get a mention? Maybe there's a reason for that? And lastly, there's the APM offerings, at a very attractive price point. So how good are these options, in your opinion?

I'll start a new thread here ...

I do see my logical upgrade path to the ES 12 and 17. I couldn't justify Ethos prices, but these are not silly money imo. I like the eye relief on my ES 82's, I'm not a fan of the less flexible eye relief. Fortunate that I'm not a glasses wearer too (yet). The Pentax look a similar relief to say a Starguider, solid rubber, which I didn't like with the latter. The ES 100's never seem to get a mention, so assume they're underwhelming then?

Sorry to gatecrash the OP's thread. How do the ES 92 stack up against the APM HDC's?

That Orion one was the ‘must have’ in a write up I read somewhere - interesting. You do build up stuff in time, for sure. I’ve nearly got most of what I think I need for the year ahead. There’s always something though...