IB20

Thanks John. Yep seriously impressed and ready for a good summer at the eyepiece. I’d be very interested to see some comparisons of the DeLites vs some premium EPs (Pentax etc) and others in the TV family!

Last year I purchased the whole set of BSTs in a relatively short time frame. Using them throughout the summer and autumn left the impression with me that the optimum use focal length eyepiece sweet spot for my 200p dob was usually the 15mm, sometimes the 12mm, for a number of targets with the exception of Mars. I’ve always wanted to try a TV eyepiece since starting the hobby and was particularly drawn to the DeLite range as I had read a lot about how they excelled in sharpness, definition and contrast as I find that more important than FoV. Luckily I came across a second hand 13mm DeLite in the SGL forum and decided to try it out, after all it was my favoured focal length. Last night I finally got the opportunity to try it in my scope after a few weeks of ownership and many clouds. After several quick visits to M42 (exceptionally defined trapezium), collinder 89 and M35 both showing pin sharp star fields, it wasn’t until I started comparing eyepieces at NGC 2392 that I got a sense of my new eyepiece. The nebula showed a bright white point of central light radiating a faint green shell. I had never seen it before last night and it’s left a lasting impression. Barlowing it with a 2x TV barlow also resulted in an extremely crisp and clear image. In comparison to the 12 & 15mm BSTs the image appeared as a somewhat blurrier shell, reduced contrast and not as sharp a central point of light. I also compared my 10mm BCO and although a lot closer to the DeLite, didn’t match or best it, yet still a great result for what I already knew is a fantastic eyepiece. I went back to the DeLite to soak in some more views of the planetary nebula - it’s worth noting that the moon was rising at this point and it was quite bright! I moved on to try for the Leo Triplet but just couldn’t cut through the brightness of the sky so tried for the double of Algieba. Again the TV lead the way, two perfect golden orbs clearly separated, a feat not always achieved in the BSTs and the BCO seemed to suffer from increased star glare compared to the TV. I tried waiting for the moon to rise as have read that the DeLites are exceptional lunar viewers but it was another 90 minutes before it cleared the houses. Although it’s early days and few targets so far I’ve been genuinely impressed with the 13mm DeLite. I’m very much looking forward to my next opportunity at the moon and some more DSOs, and even more excited by the prospect of Jupiter being in a more favourable altitude later in the year. Don’t get me wrong, the BSTs are wonderful upgrades for the money and we are talking margins here but I was surprised that it was a fairly noticeable margin! Yes I know there are 2 x 18mm DeLites for sale in the for sale section, I think I want a 9mm though 😅.

I have 8x42s and 15x70s and find they complement each other really well. I love my 8x Helios Mistral ED WP6s. Fantastically light and great colour contrast.

Hope there’s not too much Astro kit tied up in the Suez Canal currently. 😁

Think I managed to clock this in the 15x bins tonight thanks to all the maps posted in here. Located 4 Cas which is handily placed and hopped to HD228019. Closely to the right there’s a definite point of light. I’d say it was somewhere between mag 7.2 HD220167 and mag 7.8 HD220770, closer to the mag 7.8 end of the range. Really pushing the limits of my eyesight with the moon’s brightness! Incredibly cool though.

I’ve not had much time recently for practical Astronomy but have found tracking Vesta with a pair of bins has been manageable and pretty thrilling. Really satisfying seeing it move across Leo and knowing I’ve located the correct point of light!

Thought I'd pump this data through R for lols (yes I'm that sad). Not sure what happens when the clocks change 😅.

Due to the recent arrival of a little one I’ve been holding off from the Astro bits, but this arrived just now. Supremely well packaged by @HollyHound who was a Delite to purchase from. Weather forecast for the next few days is blustery gales and rain, of course it is!

You can even tell what day it was knocked off the window sill. 😅

Stood in the garden for half an hour and clocked about six. A lovely show!

I love this style, such skilled work. Well done. 😊

Excellent. We look forward to reading his first light report with the new scope!

I find doubles are great targets when the the light pollution is bad or in summer sessions when we have lighter skies. Most recently splitting Rigel and its companion was fascinating for me, a proper wow moment. Splitting one ends up leading to a whole session of observing and attempting doubles and triples usually!

Couldn’t agree more. The 15mm BST and the 200P work brilliantly together, certainly my favourite pairing. They all are really exceptional EPs for the cost. My least used was the 18mm but I’ve found this is my preferred EP for the Orion Nebula, looks amazing with a UHC filter.

Fantastic report John. Certainly have struggled with viewing Mars recently, a combination of poor seeing and smaller incomplete disc. I must have a go at the E & F stars of the Trapezium on my next session. I nearly took the scope out just now but was up at silly o clock this morning, so although the spirit was willing, the flesh was weak. 😴

That light looks like it illuminates your bedroom and disrupts sleeping. You should probably notify the local council.

I’m only visual but I own an expensive astronomik UHC and a cheaper skywatcher Oiii filter. I’d say the UHC filter was better, just, it threads better, is of higher quality and I’ve had some very nice contrasting views through it. Is it £50 better? I’d say probably not in my bortle 6-7 skies. Perhaps in darker skies it would be.

If you have an iPhone buy the nightcap app, it’s very good for low light photos, it works best when paired with a phone tripod.

If you can access your roof get the 8” (or 10”)!

I think if you bought the 8” dob you would carry it your observing area once or twice before you started actively looking for excuses to not take it out. It’s a hefty item to carry for 15 mins and I would look at something lighter. The heritage 150p gets good reviews and believe can be mounted onto a tripod easy enough.

Had some lovely views of the moon with the 10mm BCO, Mars not so much, the features looking a bit washed out but occasional glimpses of the SPC and albedo features. Neptune was easy to find but very grey, maybe an effect from the moon’s brightness? Have moved onto double viewing now with the Hyperflex zoom, gamma arietis is a belter.

Got crystal clear skies tonight so pushed the dob to my door and finally got to see M42 through the 200P. What a fantastic object, I’ve had UHC & OIII filters for a while but never really got much out of them, until now! The depth the filters bring to the dark rolling nebulous clouds is quite stunning. Enjoyed dropping down to the 15x bins and sweeping across collinder 70 too, such a fantastic constellation packed full of targets. Managed to grab a quick at the EP iPhone shot of M42.

So first go with the Hyperflex 7.2-21.5 zoom EP; gave the 200P scope a good hour to cool but the windy conditions really made observing difficult including making my eyes water continuously. Quite obvious that tube currents were also affecting the image but persisted and managed to get some acceptable views of Mars with a polarising filter. Could make out the Mars phase and a Southerly low albedo feature, occasionally a tiny white spot of the SPC appeared. The conditions really hampered narrowing down which magnification was the optimum so I compared it at 10mm to my BCO 10mm, which gave much sharper views and presented the Martian features more often, quite astonishing given the seeing (I really love the BCO!). For a laugh I thought I try the Hyperflex with a 2x barlow and surprisingly it held up really well, in fact may have even been an improvement in sharpness of image at the high end, which has got me scratching my head a bit. Overall, really liked how smooth the zoom function is, and it only needs a slight tune with a micro-focuser to refocus the object. Didn’t ever feel the FOV was too restrictive, even on the lowest zoom. Certainly need better conditions and more viewing opportunities/targets, I look forward to the next session I get with the hyperflex.

New zoom EP for me to play with (probably in several weeks’ time!).

I purchased an 8” Sky-Watcher dob in May. It’s one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. It’s not too big to store in kitchen, it takes under a minute to set up and cools down in 30 mins. I can see this being my lifetime dob easily and have observed some amazing sights already including the moon, planets, a comet, DSOs, clusters, asterisms and double stars. Personally for me it’s the optimum aperture, portability and convenience to be worth while for visual. I can’t praise it highly enough but I would certainly check out the topic below to ensure your expectations are in line with what you’d expect to see.