HollyHound

On 14/02/2021 at 06:55, Nakedgun said:

Pity you were not using a Pentax tripod adapter as they have a threaded hole to store the cap when removed from the binocular.

On 14/02/2021 at 08:21, JeremyS said:

I never realised that. I got a Pentax adapter included with my binos and you are right. Thanks!

The Nikon adaptor for my binoculars does too... again I didn’t realise this until after months of use 🤣

55 minutes ago, Carl Au said:

That tripod is amazing, insainly expensive I imagine. Does it come with the head?

It's a very good solid tripod... not quite "insanely" expensive, although not super cheap, but it's build quality is top notch... it's the Berlebach Uni 28 (EQ5 head)... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/berlebach-tripods/berlebach-uni-18-tripod-heq5-eq6.html

The mount head is also separate, and again arguably not cheap, but also very high quality and allows both smooth free movement and slow motion control simultaneously (without locking and unlocking clamps).... max payload is 7kg... it's the Scopetech Zero... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/alt-azimuth-astronomy-mounts/scopetech-mount-zero.html

Other mounts and tripods are available of course 😀

2 minutes ago, Carl Au said:

I ended up buying the StarView 102 ED-R fl7in the end. I am so glad I didn't buy the Stellamira. As pretty as they are, and they are very pretty it would have been a mistake I would have regretted and I kinda had sense talked into me in here. 

In the end I have kinda come home, I started out with a refractor in the 1970's with a Towa 335 and I have ended it with a 4 inch ED refractor in 2021.

It seems aperture fever got me in the end, this one is my forever scope. 

That's a lovely scope, nice amount of aperture and will likely be a really good "one scope"... good decision 👍

10 minutes ago, SiriusB said:

Whichever you get, buy or make a dew shield~ pretty important IMO.

Oh yes, definitely get a dew shield 👍

6 minutes ago, GazOC said:

It's an amazing looking scope, Holly but a little pricey for me to consider. I'd definitely be interested in a cheaper "bare bones" version that had the same optical specs with less of the extra trimmings. Obviously that wouldn't fit in with the premium StellaMira badging but maybe it could be done under a different label?

Agreed, they are pricey.... Certainly worth mentioning those thoughts to @FLO 👍

Cheers

Gary

32 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Why do you need a towel rail on your new telescope?

James

Get's cold at night... it is a heated towel rail you know 🤣

On 16/01/2021 at 17:40, Carl Au said:

The other thing which concerns me a little is it seems hardly anyone has bought one, two people as far as I can tell. FLO have 8 with r&p and 10 with a Crayford. I guess that tells it's own story about the limitations of a 80 mm visual scope? It's very pretty thou isn't it. 

Bit late to this, but being one of a relatively small number of owners of the StellaMira 80mm f/10, I can confirm that it is quite a specialist scope... however, what it does do, it does supremely well, that being lunar, planetary and double stars. It's also still quite portable and functions as a grab and go (just). My Mak 127 doesn't beat it on those targets except it gives a little brighter view, but the view is (this phrase has been used before) "scruffier", whereas the StellaMira has a cleaner image. 

However I wouldn't want it to be my only scope... the aperture does limit it's capability and I would suggest a quality 100mm if that was the criteria. I've not owned one, so can't comment on quality, but the StellaMira does have exceptional optics... it is my most flawless scope. I have considered replacing it a few times, but won't do that now unless I can retain the quality whilst increasing the aperture. A potential upgrade for me is likely a Takahashi 100mm (DC or DZ), but these are not cheap. I'm sure other 100mm APOs can provide decent quality too at somewhere between the price of these and mine 👍

I don't think that FLO have sold too many of these, and although recently re-stocked, they are not flying off the shelves at the moment... I think this reflects the specialist nature rather than the quality of these scopes. Certainly mine will be staying until replaced by the afore mentioned Takahashi, but even then I may still keep this around, as it's also an incredibly lovely thing... daft I know, but it is... inserting obligatory photo 🤣

I can't comment on the Bresser, but I have the Mak 127 and it is a superb scope, particularly for lunar and planetary... it's super sharp, doesn't take too long to cool down (I leave mine out for about 30mins anyway) and is light enough to mount on a grab and go mount. I have mine permanently mounted on the Scopetech Zero, with binoviewer and Hyperion zooms, ready to go for the moon.

It's also fantastic for double stars and pretty decent on most DSOs. You're not going to get wide fields with this, but then that's a known part of long(er) focal length Maks anyway.

I've had mine almost a year, was superbly collimated out of the box and has remained so ever since.

I did briefly have a Mak 150, which was also extremely good, provided just that tiny extra edge in resolution, but it was significantly heavier and I really couldn't find enough of a difference (at the time) to justify keeping it, so retained the Mak 127 👍

7 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I’m still trying to get to grips with this 🤔:

You could almost mount that scope IN that handle 😮🤣

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

What mods and add ons do you have in mind John (apart from the obvious one, of course 🤣)?

I'm looking forward to being the recipient of one of the famous Inderby handles, mounted on his CC6... these things will become collectors items one day... the handles I mean not necessarily the scope 🤣

23 minutes ago, Stu said:

Which scopes are you selling John?

Well the StellaMira 80mm f/10 has just been sold... having one myself, I know how much of a wrench that must be deciding to sell it 😢

However, this new one looks like a well specified upgrade 👍 Really interested to hear how it performs and also perhaps what sort of increase in performance you see over the StellaMira 🤞

12 minutes ago, John said:

Nope - I lost it

 

Ha... I knew it, I was right... you'd seen my form for favouring eyepieces around the 70 degrees mark and selling on the 82 degree ones and figured that I'd not manage with the 100 degree. As I said in one of my posts from a few weeks back, I hoped that you'd win your bet because I didn't want to go down that slippery Ethos slope either 🤣

However and much to my great surprise, whilst I found 82 degrees (at the time) not too great, I was really blown away by the 100 degree view. I think as mentioned, it's because I wasn't even trying to see everything (too wide), just relaxing and letting the view surround me, so that the edge disappears and it's just a "view".  Possibly I had the wrong technique or the wrong scope when I first had those Nirvanas but interestingly I didn't find the ES 4.7 82 as compelling last night, but that could have just been the high magnification 🤔

All I can say is that I get the reason and desire now for the ultra wide view in these dobs and it was most odd to swap back to an XW20 and see the edge of field again 😬

I'm very happy to be in the ultra wide camp now... I'm sorry you lost your bet and my wallet is certainly sorry you lost your bet too 🤣

23 minutes ago, Stephenstargazer said:

When I want a larger field of view, I put in a longer eyepiece and get my fill of immersion and setting. After a while I change to something shorter and go for detail, as far as murky sky allows. I am not as keen, or capable?, on high powers as I used to be. I am not knocking widefield eyepieces just giving a view from the sixpenny seats! 🙂

Fair comment and it's totally true to say that any of the eyepieces we choose are likely worlds better than were used years ago to make all the major discoveries we take for granted today 😀👍

21 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

Just for the record, whilst I am sitting on the GAS at the moment, rest assured, I will have an EP collection like Dale's some time in the not-so-distant-future.. 🤣

He's already trodden the path and settled on a lovely set of Ethos 👍I resisted, have a great set of XWs and some others, but now that I have the dob, it seems the lure of the Ethos is also proving too great 🤣

Looking at all the varied collections of eyepieces in this thread, one thing is for sure, it can get very expensive very quickly so if you can buy used do so. I've picked up half of my stuff on here, but the rest from new. Unfortunately, a lot of the desired eyepieces (not necessarily better, but desired) don't often come up used and go quickly when they do. 

20 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

It's a great comparison for me, given you have the same setup. Another big investment, so how much of an effect does it have? Is it all very bulky top end?

I was initially unsure, as quite a few report it not being needed for an f/5 dob, but I found (that with a decent set of eyepieces), I was seeing distortion in quite a significant portion of the outer field. Initially I though that was astigmatism from my eyes, but then learnt that I was actually looking at coma (they are quite different but can be confusing at first).

The Paracorr (when adjusted correctly) removes pretty much all the coma and then you're left with usually just field curvature (e.g. XW14) or astigmatism (e.g. APM 20). The Delos 14 is essentially perfect in my coma corrected dob, and I'm anticipating that the Ethos 13 will possibly be close to that too.

Does it matter... not necessarily as most of the central FoV is fine, but if I can correct the whole field (or most of it) then I will, as it just makes discerning detail near the edge a little easier. It is quite an expenditure though, but then it benefits every eyepiece 👍Other coma correctors are available, and likely just as effective, but the Paracorr wins on ergonomics for me. There are various threads discussing the benefits (or not), but feel free to start one if you'd like some fresh feedback 😀

3 hours ago, Stardaze said:

Was out last night using both the APM 13 and 20 only again whilst thinking about these comments. I can't help wonder how the E13 betters the APM. It clearly does from reports but the APM is no slouch. The APM 20 is definitely a goldfish bowl and a good 30% from the edge doesn't render that well, all stars suffer with astigmatism. So if you are someone overly concerned with that, then probably not for you, But it does provide quite a deep viewing experience which I like. The 13 starts to suffer around 15% of the way Ito the edge but certainly has a flatter field - it's a very good EP. One day I will probably buy the E13 to make that comparison no doubt.

Not sure if you're using a coma corrector, but although I did find astigmatism with the APM 20, it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be and (to me) it seemed like only the outer 15% at most was suffering. It is possible you're also seeing coma too. I will say with coma corrected, I'm amazed how well the stars remain in shape given that this is a 100 degree FoV 😮👍

Just now, Stardaze said:

Please don't tell me how great the E13 is! You have the same setup there as me, what skies are you working with? The trapezium is clear as a whistle for me (bottle 5), though spectacular with the APM 13. 

I won't... I guarantee it will be a horrible eyepiece, I'm only buying it out of spite really 🤣

Same here, Bortle 5 and the Trapezium E/F were easily seen last night again (they haven't always). I am finding that for my 10" dob, a focal length around 14mm to be ideal for an awful lot of my observing too. If the APM 13 is like it's brother the 20, then that will be a fine eyepiece 👍

1 hour ago, Dantooine said:

I think sometimes we just go looking for faults in views to justify the next purchase/fix. I used to keep trying to find fault at the edges etc when in reality and normal observation I wouldn’t be concentrating on that part of the fov. Now I find I’m only really looking at about 60/70 degrees and that portion is surrounded by a massive field of stars. 

I agree with Dale here, especially after finally having used the APM 20mm XWA last night, that I bought from him recently 👍

I've been very happy and comfortable with FoV around the 70 degree point, hence going XW and Delos. I'd previously tried various eyepieces at 82 degrees (Nagler, Nirvana, ES) but couldn't quite make it work for me... I think I'm subconsciously trying to take in the whole FoV and can't, whereas at 70 degrees, I see the edge and am content, but 82 is just tantalisingly close 🤔

However, comparing the XW 20 and APM 20 last night, I finally "got" this immersive experience that many have been talking about. With 100 degrees FoV it's impossible (for me anyway) to see the whole field, without moving my head around slightly and when I did, it was extremely useful to be able to see "context" stars at the edges of view to help move the dob around. When just observing however, then I am also only really concentrating on an inner 60/70 degrees too, but as the edges are no longer visible (and I'm not even trying to see them), voila... the view feels more immersive 😀

It felt strangely "constrained" returning to the XW20 for comparison, however these still remain excellent eyepieces and will still be used extensively, particularly on my refractor and for lunar/planetary.

I have to say the APM 20mm is also very sharp, contrasty and showed stars as well as any of the XWs or Delos. I did notice a tad of astigmatism at the edges (I was using all of these with the Paracorr, so no coma!) but not really obtrusive. It helped that it was so cold and clear last night... I was able to see the Trapezium E and F stars again with ease using XW14, XW10 & XW7 and "just" make them out in the APM 20... that was a revelation!

It's been discussed elsewhere and in fact I think @Johneven has a little bet on with himself, but I have to finally admit that I am convinced of the merits of 100 degree eyepieces, for the dob at least... the APM 20mm works beautifully at that focal length, but I have today succumbed and an Ethos 13mm will be winging it's way to me from FLO very soon 😮 I resisted, I really did... but the immersive nature of that view last night was just too much...

On 04/02/2021 at 04:44, Voyager 3 said:

Arch rivals.... Who came out victorious ? 

Still both in use with no clear winner... Morpheus has the edge in FoV, but DeLite is very close (slightly longer focal length) with excellent ergonomics 👍

With more clear skies it is possible one will emerge, but maybe they both end up staying... I will update when a decision (or not) has been taken 😬😬

5 hours ago, reezeh said:

Going by the rules it's where the ball is in the logo! 

Good point... it didn't say spot the "missing" ball 🤣

Just now, Dantooine said:

Pleasant but expensive, however apart from work, bath, eat and sleep I’ve been nowhere and done absolutely nothing.. this is my social life 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Likewise... I think that's been part of it, lots of time on my hands to absorb into this hobby... apart from a brief gap of pub dinners in August (perhaps not such a bright idea in hindsight, but there you go) it's been my unwinding from work too... the geese and horses are the closest we get now to a social gathering with others too 🤣🤣

4 minutes ago, Dantooine said:

Even if you settle at 70deg, it’s going to be great having 100deg at 20mm for sure. I tried the nagler last night and the APM is up with it I thought. 

Actually you’re right, I was thinking the same thing. Some nights I do just like to “soak in the stars” and having an ultra wide field would do that 😃

What I want to try and avoid us having a wide and ultra wide complete set... impressive though the sets @John has are.

I think at this level, they are all very decent eyepieces 👍

6 minutes ago, Dantooine said:

I was happy with the Delos at 72deg and could have stopped there I suppose. At the time I couldn’t find a 4.5 Delos anywhere so I got a 4.7 ethos.. the rest is history. 

Well I think it’s fair to say, that it’s probably been a most pleasant journey 👍

Just now, Dantooine said:

Yes I think so.. it’s got to stop somewhere and it may as well be with this shabby bunch 😉

Totally shabby lot I agree 🤣

I didn’t get a chance last night to test the APM 20 unfortunately, but will do asap. My secret hope is that I remain more than happy with the 70 degree FoV and then my set is XWs and a Delos 🤞

Very glad you have “your” set now... got there in the end... despite our jovial ribbing about eyepiece purchases, I’m looking to settle on a set too and think I’m very close now 😃

8 minutes ago, Dantooine said:

Not needed 😉

Fair enough... that is a lovely set of eyepieces there and seems you have found your ideal mix 👍

12 hours ago, Dantooine said:

I think these are all I should ever need 🤞

Whispers quietly... "Coma Corrector" 🤣