The60mmKid

Thanks for the advice, Russ 😉 I've owned and enjoyed a Binotron 27 and found the powerXswitch a wonderful feature. With that said, the self-centering Clicklock eyepiece holders on the Baader Maxbright II make it my preferred binoviewer since those reduce the difficulty of merging shorter focal length eyepieces. By playfully commenting on the silliness of binoviewers, my intention was to make friendly banter welcoming you back to the hobby 😎 Clear skies!

Did you use the words "binoviewers" and "silly" in the same sentence? 👿 😉 Welcome back 😊

Hello! Are you based in the US, as your username might suggest? If so, you could post a wanted ad for the RV-6 spider on cloudynights.com. Stargazerslounge is based in the UK 😊 If you don't have success with that, or even as an alternative, you can get a new spider per your specs here: https://www.astrosystems.biz/spiders.htm

I understand. Hence the 😉

Well, you won't have to rebalance if you use a set of them 😉

Are you open to 2" eyepieces? This one could fit the bill: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p7142_TS-Optics-XWA-20-mm-100--x-treme-wide-angle-eyepiece---2-inch.html That would open up the FOV while keeping the exit pupil smaller. Do consider the weight, though. I had a full set of those at one point and would have kept them for life had I not transitioned to binoviewing. Amazing eyepieces.

Agreed. For me, one of the beautiful aspects of observing is the reemergence of objects as seasons progress. Keep at it and you'll see what I mean. In the fall, it's a joy to see the Pleiades on horizon for the first time in months. "Hello, old friend!" Seeing Izar again in the late winter... "Hello, old friend!" And so on... Friends for all seasons, and so many of them, and they keep coming back. I suggest finding a beginners' book that breaks observing down into seasons. One that I like is Star Watch by Philip Harrington. It includes various objects and simplified star charts for each season. Then you won't have to figure it out on your own... It's certainly not a wheel that you need to reinvent. By the time you're comfortable with that book, you'll be able to use a more detailed star atlas along with observing lists... And then you're set for life 😊 A decent book (and friends to observe with, if possible) can take you a long way!

Perhaps, then, we'll agree to disagree... or at least forgive and forget 😉

I recommend the refractor over the Mak in this case. A quality, thermally acclimated, well collimated Mak on a night of good seeing is a wonderful instrument. But that's four qualifiers... First, the Mak needs to be of good optical quality. Thankfully, most current mass produced scopes are. Second, it must be thermally acclimated. This is where it's easy to go wrong. Mismanaged thermals can be mistaken for poor optical quality and/or poor seeing. If you want to be able to go outside and split doubles immediately with your scope, I don't recommend the Mak unless you're storing it outside or planning ahead to acclimate it to the ambient temperature. Not good for spur of the moment observing, probably... A poorly acclimated scope yields fuzzy, warped stars at the eyepiece. Third, the collimation needs to be dialed in. The good news is that it will probably hold for a long time. But this can be difficult if you haven't done it before. A poorly collimated scope yields fuzzy, warped stars at the eyepiece. Fourth, the central obstruction of the Mak throws more light into the diffraction rings than with an unobstructed scope. The less concentrated image is more visible impacted when seeing is poor. A star appears as a sharp point of light in the refractor vs. a (slightly) larger target in the Mak. The difference at the eyepiece can be significant when bad seeing is making all of that light sway here and there. A friend of mine put it well... "When all the conditions align, a (larger) Mak will pull ahead of a (smaller) refractor. But on the other 29 days of the month..." In my experience, refractors offer real advantages when the conditions aren't ideal. I'll add: There are so many doubles to observe that one doesn't necessarily need a 4" (or larger) refractor. An 70-80mm ED could keep you busy indefinitely. My 60mm refractor is a wonderful doubles scope. These are merely my opinions, based on my experience, and we live in a beautifully subjective reality.

Sitting there at the dark site with $5,000 worth of equipment, all but thwarted because I forgot my $10 red headlamp at home... again 😭

(Case in point: I've been observing Izar and Algieba often lately with my 60mm refractor and perceive the colors so differently than those in these lovely sketches.)

If you own another scope or have access to one, I'd be curious to know if you perceive the colors differently with the different instruments. I find that my perception of double star colors varies significantly depending on which scope I'm using. One of the reasons I love observing doubles with my binocular telescope is that I'm struck by how colors seem to pop. I'm not a big fan of the Sissy Haas double star book, but one point that it clearly demonstrates throughout is how different observers (using different instruments and under different conditions, of course) report such different colors.

I've owned pairs of both and do not consider the Morpheus optically superior to the Panoptic. The Baader has greater eye relief, which I think contributes to the immersive experience that some report. I am content with the tighter eye relief of the Panoptic and find it no less immersive and certainly no less sharp than the Morpheus. I much prefer the ergonomics of the Panoptics, so I sold the Baaders. If your experience is similar to mine, this may be quite a qualitative/subjective decision. I just find I like the Panoptics--both in terms of handling them and observing through them--more than the Baaders. My suspicion is that you'd have a clear preference if you could try them both.

I love mine because it disappears in use. Optical quality is an important criterion for me, and so is enjoyability. I find the Nagler Zoom beautifully unfiddly... compact size, adequate (for me) eye relief, smooth zooming action, clear click stops. The optical quality is excellent enough that I find myself fully occupied with what I'm observing rather than thinking about the eyepiece... Exactly what I want!

Thank you, Everyone! We aren't yet sure where in London we will land. My job is in New Cross, so I'd like to be able to commute via walking and/or train. I'd be most grateful for any suggestions!

Hi Everyone, I'm thrilled to have agreed to a job offer in London. Thus ends a long chapter of my life in the US, opening to a new and hopefully fulfilling journey in the UK. My wife and I will make the move this summer, and we shan't (see, I'm already picking up the British vocabulary) be unaccompanied. Here are my friends who are coming along: I look forward to spending more time on this forum now, weaning myself off of that other astronomy forum which I shan't name. Thanks for letting me in, The Kid