IB20

Wow wow wow. The seeing is exquisite tonight. For the first time I’ve had the Starwave ED-R take the 4mm TOE on Saturn. The Cassini division is beautifully clear at each ansae. Titan, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus and Tethys all visible along with HD211841. The image is just perfect, the banding and colouration a joy, the darkening polar hood clear and adds real depth. What a fabulous telescope! My wife came out and had a look, she even gave out a little “wow”. She no longer thinks I’m a weird nerd or a peeping Tom. 😅😅 The double double looked incredibly sharp in the 5XW, you could drive a bus through the gaps. Very, very, very impressed.

Does anyone have any dates for favourable positioning to spot Enceladus? Having never seen it I think I’d be very keen to give it a try!

Not seeing any love for the stock 10mm that comes with SW scopes. 😅😅 That’s one for the “Dog eyepieces of our time” thread that I must start.

I think they appear on the 2nd hand market often enough to be warranted a shout. Vixen LVs the same. Something like the ZAOs, Monos, XOs and BGOs not so much though; those ortho fans are real hoarders. 😅

Again the Delos range, seem to have more fans on the other side of the pond than here but seem like they’d be outstanding EPs. Perhaps it’s just that us Japanese glass fans make the most noise?!

I did mean the older Japanese made ones but if you have had good experiences with the Edges then nothing wrong with that! I still see the older lines pop up in the 2nd hand market from time to time. Not seen a 30mm though…

I’d forgotten about the BSTs. Most of us have tried those, I still have the whole set and they’ll be passed on to my kids (like it or not) for when they show an interest. IMO the 15mm is a cracker, followed by the 5mm. Excellent low cost eyepieces with a very XW feel and eye relief mechanism. 👍🏻

One range I’m very fond on is the Ultima and its iterations. I have the 12.5mm Celestron and the 7.5mm Orion Ultrascopic. Find them exceptional glass, any consensus on the “best” of the range? Read great things about the 30mm!

I understand, but there’s usually a consensus. The 10mm BCO is pretty much universally loved. I think I’ve seen one poor review of it but out of its own range it is widely regarded as the best out of the others.

Don, you may have an answer to this, any idea why eyepieces in ranges have variance in quality? Is it the physics of the light path and lens design that makes it excel at a certain FL? I can’t believe it would be something like polish or manufacturing process but perhaps I’m wrong?

John, it was your review of the Hyperions v LVWs that made me hold off from buying a used 8mm Hyperion. I know if a LVW came up i’d try to get it. One did in fact on SGL but I missed boat due to other Astro priorities. 🙄

Is the StellaLyra UFF the same as the APM UFF? I think that has to go in the list if so!

Superb post Don, thanks for your input. Do you know of any eyepiece ranges that really excel at 8mm?

See I’m OCD enough to need an eyepiece at every FL but don’t care about what eyepiece range it’s from. 😅

I’ve found with the XWs that at night I like the twist mechanism down and in the day I like it fully extended. 🤷🏼

Yea, let’s keep this to - the best EP of each range, but we have an LVW instead of the Hyperions 😉.

I have 3 fracs f7-f12.75, a Ha scope and a f5.9 dob, so ideally they are the best in their ranges for those scopes. Maybe exclude the Ha scope, the TV plössls are the best I’ve used so far. I guess if an eyepiece range doesn’t work as well in a faster scope, like Hyperions, then they probably won’t be in the mix.

That’s what I meant, loved by all!

I think that’s why there are hardly any unfavourable reviews about the XWs! Eye relief, comfort, great ergonomics and awesome optics! Loved by glasses and non-glasses wearers alike.

So far we have: 3.3mm TOE 5mm Pentax XW 6mm Televue Ethos 10mm Baader Classic Ortho 12.5mm Noblex Docter 17.5mm Baader Morpheus 22mm Vixen LVW Nice set so far!

What about the Vixen LVs and SLVs? I have the 6mm LV and it’s great, are all the others just as good or better? What are the stand outs of the SLV range?

Dione is quite bright and has been a real pain to observe recently when close to Saturn, even with the closed angle of the rings. Think Enceladus will be extremely tough, however at favourable elongation, I’d be disappointed if my 8” dob didn’t show it.

Think it was the late, great Johninderby that used to say half or even third a tripod max capacity for great stability. I may take a punt on the StellaLyra carbon fibre and see how it fares with AZ75 and 76Q!

Fabulous set! I paid for a Vixen HR 3.4mm on eBay but the seller had already sold it elsewhere. So it’s eyepiece I am actively pursuing. Love my TOEs though so I may just get the 3.3mm.

What’s the payload of your current tripod? I’ve looked at the SL Carbon Fibre tripod and that says 40kg. I guess there’s quite a large difference between holding the scope and keeping it still, mind. When I contacted FLO about a tripod for the Tak 76Q (~2kg, 900mm) they said the 312 and Castor mount would be a great fit. The DF is slightly heavier than the DC I think, but OTA length is also important. I’m thinking of swapping my steel SW tripod for a Berlebach and to cover all bases think I’d go sturdier than the Report, as have a 5kg 4” frac too.