HollyHound

Berlebach Castor with extension column... Having sold this a few months ago and then regretting doing so, it came back up for sale so I've bought it back again (thanks Dean)... it will now go back on the (modified) AZ3 tripod as an ultra light dual head grab and go rig 👍

Ahh, I got one of these last Christmas... lovely gift idea 😀👍

I’ve been specifically testing three 14mm eyepieces (Pentax XW, TV Delos & Morpheus) over the last month... fewer sessions than I’d like due to weather, so more testing to go still, but I can confirm my findings with regard to field curvature (FC)... StellaMira 80mm ED f/10 refractor (FL 800 mm), viewing Saturn and Jupiter in the same FoV: XW14 - Significant FC Morpheus 14 - Significant FC Delos 14 - No FC noticeable Bresser 10” f/5 dob (FL 1270 mm), viewing star fields and M42: XW14 - Noticeable FC from halfway across field, however coma is more significant Morpheus 14 - Noticeable FC from halfway across field, however coma is more significant Delos 14 - No FC noticeable, however coma is significant I also bought a Paracorr II a few weeks ago, as I was finding the coma obtrusive. This completely removed any visible coma. Probably the most significant improvement I’ve made to the views from my dob 👍. This has also had some noticeable affect on FC... Bresser 10” f/5 dob (FL now 1460 mm, due to 1.15x increase from Paracorr), again viewing star fields and M42: XW14 - FC still visible but only for outer 20%. It’s possible to focus midway and minimise it Morpheus 14 - FC still visible but only for outer 10%. It’s possible to focus midway and minimise it Delos 14 - No FC noticeable Don, I would agree that this probably says more about the FC in the scopes than the eyepiece. I haven’t yet compared them in my Mak127 (FL 1500 mm), so that might be revealing. I would also add that I find the contrast on DSOs comparable for the Delos and XW, and slightly better than the Morpheus, but this is as always quite subjective. Again, these are my findings with my (54 year old) eyes and my scopes only 😀 Gary

Given today’s information, I quite understand why 🤞

Another Ethos 🤔👍

Actually I do have this very thing, and it works better than the XW14... it’s an XW30 in an ES 2x 2” focal extender🤣 Very useful, but quite a heavy combination 😬

Agree with this... I tend to go 20mm to 14mm on the 10" dob, but I do also have the Morpheus 17.5mm and it's a really lovely eyepiece and I find it works very well, especially on my other scopes. I'm not so impressed with the Morpheus 14mm, as it exhibits quite a lot of field curvature, but then to be fair so does the XW14, hence why the Delos 14mm tends to be used for that focal length! Good to hear that the Morpheus 12.5mm is a great eyepiece for you and I would certainly consider pairing that with the 17.5mm on my Mak127 and C5, purely for the larger usable FoV. I don't think you would go far wrong adding it to your arsenal 👍

Arrived this afternoon from a fellow forum member... Explore Scientific 4.7mm 82 degree... solid, well made and compact 🙂 I haven't tried any eyepiece over 72 degrees since the Nirvanas I had in the summer and none in the 10" dob, so will be interesting to see how this works... I've certainly been very impressed with the ES focal extenders 👍

You and I can feel a lot better now... in fact we need to buy more eyepieces... not 🤣

Nice one, glad you've seen them at last... lovely aren't they 😀

I have both the Celestron C5 (SCT) and Skywatcher Skymax 127, and they both make excellent, easy to mount scopes. The C5 has an f6.3 focal reducer fitted permanently now, bringing its focal length down to approximately 800mm and makes a lovely grab and go scope. It gives a good deal more aperture than my 80mm refractor and is mostly used for DSOs. I am also going to try using this as an EEVA scope too. Collimating is very good and can be easily adjusted, but I’ve only had to do it once. The focuser is actually very smooth with minimal (if any) mirror flop. It’s also very lightweight and can easily be carried outside on ScopeTech Zero mount and Report tripod. The Mak 127 has a 1500mm focal length, superb contrasts views and I use it primarily for lunar and double star viewing. It arrived superbly collimated and hasn’t needed adjusting since. The binoviewer works well on this scope too. This is a little heavier than the C5 but can also be carried out on the same mount setup. There is a very good review/comparison here, which highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each scope: C5: http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/CelestronC5XLT.htm Mak 127: http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/SW127Mak.htm They complement each other very well... If I had to choose one, I’d go for the C5 as it’s more “general purpose” and with the focal reducer, is effectively two scopes in one 👍 Gary

Just spotted this thread... another option worth considering is the ScopeTech Zero Mount... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/alt-azimuth-astronomy-mounts/scopetech-mount-zero.html I use this as my primary “grab and go” mount and it works very well with my StellaMira 80mm ED f/10, Celestron C5 and Skywatcher Mak 127. More information here: I’ve also had the SkyTee II, and it’s a very solid mount 👍 Gary

I’ve tried to see them in an 80mm ED, Mak127, C5 & ST120... nothing. Second time out on M42 with the 10” dob and there they were, clear and repeatedly obvious (swapping between 14mm eyepieces). I have 54 year old eyes, admittedly quite good skies here (mostly), but limited experience... so I reckon it’s got to be that 10” aperture and if you’re planning on getting or making one of these, you should be able to see it at last 🤞😃

That’s not cheating, that’s using the right tool for the job 👍

Good point and actually that’s something I’d forgotten about... quite fortunate here that we have only one house (the farmhouse directly SW) anywhere within 1/2 mile of us, just some trees to the East, barns (full of cows) to the West, but pretty much open fields all round. When the lights in Thornbury go off towards midnight, I think it’s pretty much Bortle 4 here, as there are no streetlights at all. All these could help explain why E & F were so solidly visible I suppose 🤔

I would certainly agree that in my 10” dob, the E & F were very clearly visible that night, at the right magnification, whereas I’ve never seen them in any of my (smaller aperture) scopes. I did try, but not a chance of seeing these...will keep trying, although I suspect it’s beyond even this scope 🤞

I tried again (on New Years Eve) but this time with my Skymax 127... nothing at any magnification (XW 20 thru XW 7), apart from the four (A to D) stars, so I guess aperture is also important for these too. Keep trying, as you should have the aperture with the Skymax 180... good luck 🤞 I did work through a few doubles in Orion through and they all split nicely 👍 Had to stop after an hour though, as the scope body (including dew shield) were covered in a thin layer of ice 😮

I’ve just received this exact same one for Christmas (having seen previous recommendation on here)... really excellent, tall and the trigger grip is really easy to use 😃 I’m using it with Nikon Monarch 5 8x56, which although should be hand holdable, I find them so easy to use on this tripod and they make a good “spotting” binocular alongside one of my scopes 👍

I would certainly agree that I normally use the TelRad (very similar to Rigel) more than the RACI optical finder, in a typical session, but as I’m starting to do more “star hopping”, the RACI is getting more use... it’s good to have both options.

I found very much the same a few nights prior to your observation... managed to clearly see the E and F stars, using the both the Delos 14 and XW 14 in the Bresser 10” dob. With the TV Paracorr in place, the magnification was 104x. Going to either XW10 or XW20, the stars were not visible, so it seems a certain magnification is appropriate 👍 I’m just very happy that I was able to see them in my first session on M42 using the new dob 😀

As others I’m sure will agree... you will likely find both useful. TelRad to get into the right area and then optical finder for star hopping.

Oh yes, definitely get a right angle finder, otherwise it will be quite uncomfortable 👍

I'm still not really sure about 100 degrees, but keeping an open mind and wanted to try 82 degrees again in a cost effective way, hence giving this ES 4.7 a try first, before I just go ahead and get an XW 5. I keep reading good things about APM eyepieces, so really should give these a try at some point, the do seem highly recommended. Glad you've had good experience with them too, as I'm sure you've compared them with your Ethos 👍

I use an observing chair (this one... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-observing-chairs/berlebach-nix-ii-observers-chair.html), which allows sitting height to be altered quickly and increases comfort for long observing sessions. Before that I used an old guitar stool, which works well too, but wasn’t adjustable. I would think it would be uncomfortable standing and crouching over for too long. I’ve got the Bresser 10” dob (after recommendations on here) and it’s very well built and smooth to operate. I would expect the 8” and 6” to be similar. I carry the dob out onto the patio in two parts (base then tube), which takes minutes only and I can be observing almost as quickly as my “grab and go” setup (Celestron C5 on tripod). I would highly recommend a dob, as it provides very good light gathering capability for the price and weight, with a very easy to use mount 👍

I have the XW 10 and 7, which I love... tried the Delite 5mm, which was good but narrower FoV and a lot of nudging in the dob. I’m considering the XW 5, but want to try something different, and may just get on with the larger FoV 🤔