HollyHound

I wasn't aware of this test, thanks to you both👍 I'll give it a go. I'm still interested to see how it performs on the refractor though (which is what I bought it for), but got caught up testing the new dob with the limited clear skies we've had.

Oh, that's disappointing... I haven't had a chance to try mine yet (still back in it's box for now, as had others arrive), but if it is that much smaller then regrettably I might have to do the same. Will give it a quick go in the StellaMira on the next clear night and see. Would be interested in any feedback if you do get to try it too.

Nice one, this upgrade does make a good difference in usability... make sure to read this thread though before trying to fit it and note that there are TWO grub screws that need removing from the current focuser knob (the instructions are poor and don't show this!)... Good luck 🤞

Odd isn't it, how some just work for some but not for others 😬

Perhaps when all this lockdown is over properly, we can arrange something (you're only just down the M5 from me), as it would be good to get your comparison between the Pentax XW5 and DeLite 5mm 🤔

I've always had good results with DeLite 13mm and 18.2mm and they work superbly in the refractor and also got best ever of M42 with the 13mm in the Bresser two weeks ago (pre Pentax arriving). Yes, the Hyperion 2.25 zoom barlow works perfectly with the Hyperion zoom, unsurprising I suppose as they're designed to work together. Good to hear you have the same results with your zoom. I did (briefly) have the Nagler 3-6mm, but although it was a lovely eyepiece, I just didn't "bond" with it's form factor... maybe it was FoV, eye relief but never felt right too me, hence why these new eyepieces. Although they are slightly heavier than the DeLites (which may or may not be a factor balancing the StellaMira), I still think I can see the XW5 and XW3.5 in my future, as I am loving their comfort and relaxed viewing with the dob. I also quickly tried the XW10 and XW7 in Mak127 last night on the planets and was impressed with the easy viewing on those too... something about these XWs just seems to "work" for me 👍

After fiddling with my Hyperion 2.25x barlow the other night with the XWs and having issues with the focus changing significantly and being fiddly to attach/remove in the dark, I've decided to go with shorter focal length eyepieces and look to get a Powermate at some point (as I understand they don't mess with the focal point as much). The Hyperion barlow still works well on the 8-24mm zoom though 👍 So I've added the TeleVue Delite 5mm initially, which should work well in all scopes (as it's quite light)... the Bresser 10", StellaMira, Mak 127 (just) and C5 🤞

After much deliberation, I decided to go for a shorter focal length eyepiece, rather than a barlow/extender (for now)... a TeleVue Delite 5mm. There seems to be little (if any difference) between this and the Pentax XW5 (except for slightly narrower FoV and arguably "slightly" better resolution for lunar/planets 🤔), but I want this primarily for the StellaMira 80mm f/10, to give it's max theoretical magnification, whilst remaining light for balance. I have DeLite 13mm and 18.2mm and they work very well too, so this should be a good addition to the range 😃

Another little mod for the Bresser 10"... a Telrad 2" Riser Base, should be more than enough to keep my eye/face off the OTA, without sticking out too far as the 4" riser does 🤞

Well finally yesterday as it was just starting to get dark, the sky cleared and moved the Bresser back out again (took 2mins) for its "second light". Since I got it two weeks ago, and was fortunate to get first light the night of its arrival, I've made some changes (including some recommendations from other forum members)... I've changed one of the finder brackets for a Baader bracket (Synta type) and fitted my 9x50 RACI finder... much more intuitive to use when moving around the sky. I've put this currently under the eyepiece, but am going to fit another bracket on the top and will likely move the finder up there, but for now this works and also doubles as a handle! Fitted a Telrad finder on a 4" riser... this allows initial positioning and the riser means I don't have to my face flat against the scope tube. Focuser has been upgraded with the Bresser 1:10 fine focuser knob... bit fiddly to fit but well worth it. Rotated the focuser through 45 degrees (as recommended by others) to improve usability. Replaced the supplied extension tube, with a Baader 2" Clicklock which maintains a similar amount of extension and makes eyepiece swapping so much easier. The standard three screw with compression ring is perfectly good, but I've got used to ClickLock adaptors on other scopes. I've also added a 2" to 1.25" Clicklock adaptor as well. Mounted a small foam block inside the mount base unit, as I found that the tube kept banging into the base when moved back to vertical for storage and didn't want to tempt fate with alignment/collimation. I'd bought a collimation cap and Cheshire eyepiece, so following some online instructions, gave the collimation a quick once over. It's pretty close as delivered, so didn't adjust, but I will spend a bit of time learning the process and checking it regularly. Around 6pm, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars were all visible, although fairly low in the sky. Having quickly setup, popped the Pentax XW10 (127x) in and had a look. It was very easy locating Jupiter with the Telrad and RACI compared to the original supplied 9x30 finder and the required only a minor tweak to calibrate them (after my daytime calibration a few days ago). Jupiter gave a reasonable view and bands were visible, but also some colour fringing most likely due to it being placed quite low and thus subject to atmospheric effects. Saturn was significantly better with both the XW10 and the XW7 (187x), quite sharp (given the low placing) and (I think) a "shadow" visible on the ring. Mars was quickly located and being a bit higher, gave a nice view, hint of polar ice cap and dark markings as expected with the same eyepieces. I wouldn't say the view was massively better than my Mak127 to 80mm ED f/10 but given the time/position, still very pleasing. I'm learning to live with the diffraction spikes on planets and bright stars, but still think my other scopes will be used more for planetary observation, but will revisit again next year when they're higher again. Although the moon was too low by now to observe, my first night gave me awesome views of the moon, so I think this scope has lots to offer there alongside the others. I left it outside for a few hours and was waiting for Orion to appear, so popped back out around 10:45. It was getting a little windy and cloud was coming in, M42 was still just behind the trees, but I had enough time to observe Pleiades and M31. Swapped in the Pentax XW30 and had look at Pleiades... stunning view, really fantastic, absolutely blown away by the number of stars visible and it was framed almost perfectly with this eyepiece. These Pentax eyepieces are really good, relaxing view (love the adjustable eyecup) and sharp to (almost) the edge of view. I spent a few minutes just cruising around the stars with this eyepiece and it was almost literally a "big bucket of stars" 😃 Finally swung up to M31 and there it was, immediately visible, with the expected elongated oval shape, but this time it extended much further and more was visible without resorting to averted vision. I'd first seen this back in January in my Mak102 and since in ST120, 80mm and Mak127, in all those scopes it was good, but really just a "smudge" of grey. Last night I saw much more shape and brighter too... of course it's still not "Hubble" like or any of the really good astrophotograpy images, but it was a completely different experience to any of the other scopes... just like M42 was on the first night. It's companion galaxy (M110) was also very visible as a bright grey shape, whereas I'd previously struggled to see that as anything more than a "hint". The clouds rolled in at this point, so M42 and others will have to wait for next time, but all very impressive and confirms (for me) that as a "visual" scope, this 10" dob is fantastic. I remain impressed as to how easy it was to track objects, even at those higher magnifications, seems quite intuitive to gently push or pull the scope to keep things moving across the frame of view as required. With the XW40, even that wasn't necessary, as I could just it drift very slowly across the view and then make a small correction every 20/30 secs 👍 One issue I did encounter, was that (of course) the Pentax XW30 is quite a bit heavier than all my other eyepieces and so the dob became nose heavy when lowered to around 40 degrees. I solved this by dropping a small beanbag on the tail of the OTA, but I've now ordered a magnetic counterweight. I did try moving the tube in the rings, but given it's such a small change required really, the counterweight should address this more elegantly. In addition, this was the first time using my new Berlebach NIX II Observers chair... this made a massive difference in terms of comfort, as I'd previously been using a guitar stool (non adjustable) and then bending over the eyepiece or moving the chair away to compensate for eyepiece height on all my scopes. Being able to quickly raise/lower the seat and then sit with an (almost) straight back, was not only more comfortable but meant observing was just more relaxed. Long term, I suspect this will also ease any back issues, something to consider as I'm edging into the middle 50s now 😬 The scope also was packed away again, quicker than my iOptron AZ setup and almost as quick as the "grab and go" scope, which still amazes me. It now lives near the back door in the coolest part of the house, so can be outside and ready to go in minutes. I had planned on attempting to put this OTA on my iOptron, even bought a dovetail for it, but that's not happening now... firstly, it's too heavy (and will likely be unwieldy) and secondly, I like the Dobsonian system and am happy to keep learning how to use it to get round the sky. I'm also very impressed with the Pentax XWs, these are definite keepers for this scope and I suspect will be great for the StellaMira and Mak too, except possibly the XW30, which is quite chunky. Test that next time... I read about dobs back last Christmas and dismissed them as looking a bit unwieldy and clunky, even though everyone said they are the best "bang for buck". I am now firmly in that camp and will now be bringing this scope out for pretty much anything deep sky and some lunar. Still favour the Mak and StellaMira for planetary and lunar too, but will have the Bresser out much more than I initially thought I would 😃 Thanks again to all for their advise and suggestions 👍 Gary

Ah ha, another arrival... for the Bresser 10" this time... Pentax XW30, XW10 and XW7... thanks @FLO 😃 Love the bolt cases these come with, but I've got spaces ready in the big eyepiece case for these! Now we just need clear skies, although I fear I may have jinxed it all again for a few days 😬🤞

A 6x30 finder (illuminated if I feel the need 🤔) to sit beside the Rigel on the StellaMira now that my RACI has moved onto the Bresser dob...

Wow, that must have been a sizeable box... 100+ Telrads 😮... glad you've got stock of these again, as I had to go to "the other place" for one last week... at least some stuff is getting through again 👍

Quick update... had a rethink after ordering this set and decided that whilst it’s a good set of eyepieces, I would in fact be duplicating focal lengths I already have (Pentax XW10, DeLite 18.2mm), plus I’ll retain both 6mm BCOs I already have for binoviewing... so it makes more sense to stick with my plan now to get a good Barlow/Powermate instead to use across the range of eyepieces and then acquire the other shorter focal lengths over time. @FLO have very quickly responded to my order cancellation this morning, thanks as always 👍 So there’s still one of these Baader sets in stock now, if anyone’s looking.

That like was from me... been reading through reviews of the XW range and the particularly the 10mm and 7mm... which I have ordered this weekend 😃 I had noted you sold the XW10 and then reacquired again, so that in itself speaks volumes about its quality and place in your collection 👍 I did a similar thing, bought and sold an XW40, a few months back, due to not getting on with it (weight and balance only!) in my StellaMira. Now that I have a 10” dob, I had to have one back... although this time, I’ve chosen the XW30, as I feel the exit pupil of 6mm vs 8mm and slightly increased magnification, should offset the slightly reduced FoV (which is massive enough anyway) vs the XW40.

Ah brilliant... don’t feel quite so guilty now 🤣

Mine has the same design... long thin central tube (not mounted flush)... hopeful it's an improvement 🤞

Yes, I'm leaning towards a tele centric lens for serious increase in power at some point in the future for lunar and planetary, but I think it's very likely that I will enjoy the view comfort, ease of use and quality of the Pentax XWs (I did briefly have the XW 40 but had the wrong scope at the time!) so much that will just end up getting the XW5 and possibly the XW3.5 too later. In the meantime, I want to explore higher powers for lunar/planetary in the new Bresser, so have got some orthos (BCOs) plus a simple (but quality) barlow on the way now, which will give me that to experiment with 👍

My apologies to @Second Time Around... I've just realised that I've in fact ordered the last one of these sets, in stock at @FLO 😬 It does however state that it's back in stock in "1-2 working days" and I noted that the 6mm BCOs were back in stock shortly after I ordered mine 10 days ago, so hopefully available again this week🤞 I will update everyone with observing reports once I have it and can get some time observing with the set.

Well after all the deliberations, I've decided to keep things simple for now until I have a better feel for what my exact requirements will be after using the Bresser dob for a while... unfortunately been clouded out since it's first light 10days ago, hence all this thinking about options 🤣 I've had good success with the Baader Zoom 2.25 Barlow when screwed onto my other 1.25" eyepieces, particularly on the StellaMira, so I'm going to continue to use that with those (DeLites, Panoptic and indeed the Hyperion Zoom itself). Just before I bought the Bresser, I also bought a pair of 6mm Baader Classic Orthos (BCO), to try in my binoviewer... I haven't had opportunity to do that yet, but did use one the BCOs in the dob to view the Moon and Mars and it gave a very impressive view, so given that and having read @John and others reviews of the Q2.25 Classic Barlow, I decided to give it a go. I'd also read very good reviews about the other BCOs in the range, so decided to pick up a 10mm & 18mm BCO as well to use in the StellaMira. Just went to order these from @FLO and happened to spot that they have a set... the Baader Classic Eyepiece Set with Q Turret (https://www.firstlightoptics.com/eyepiece-sets/baader-classic-eyepiece-set-with-turret.html) which includes not only the Q Turret Barlow, but also one of each of the BCOs (6mm, 10mm, 18mm) and a 32mm Plossl, along with a rotating turret... I'd read previously that these "sets" don't always make good value, but given that these are all quality items and it includes all the eyepieces I wanted anyway, plus the Barlow... seemed like a reasonable deal. I can return the unopened 6mm BCO from last week and have plenty of options to play with on both the Bresser and StellaMira. Plus, the turret does look like a useful idea when viewing the moon and planets 🤔 I'm still thinking that either the VIP Barlow or (more likely) a Powermate will be acquired in the future, or I may just end up getting the shorter focal length eyepieces when required, but for now, this (along with the Pentax XWs on the way) will give me plenty of options to experiment with for relatively little outlay. Thanks to all for their thoughts and advice, much appreciated as always 👍

Hi Jeremy, The only adjustment I've made to my Zero mount, is to slightly adjust the azimuth locking nuts (as described by @Stu in his first review), only because it was quite stiff out of the box. Maybe I got lucky with mine, but can't say I've had any issue with backlash... I know it was an issue with my Skytee II (now sold), as I recall thinking how much better the Zero was. Sorry can't help any more than that. Cheers Gary

Wow, that's a long setup 😮 I'm actually leaning towards only looking at a Barlow/Powermate to use in the dob, so the Big Barlow could be fine, although these Powermates do get a lot of respect optically 🤔 The StellaMira 80mm f/10 I use only manually on the ScopeTech and whilst it's a lovely mount, balance is critical, so I'm sticking to lightweight (and closely matched weight) eyepieces in that for now and I can use the Hyperion Zoom Barlow if needed. Mainly use the DeLites 13mm & 18.2mm, Panoptic 24mm, TMB 8mm and (occasionally) the Aero 35mm. I did use the Nagler 3-6 Zoom, but sold it as unfortunately I just wasn't getting on with it (eye relief, FoV, prone to dewing). Decisions, decisions 🤣

Hi Don, Thanks, I wasn't aware of that. I'm not sure I'd want to use it with 2" eyepieces but the option might be nice. I'm still researching and considering all options... the TeleVue Big Barlow and Powermate(s) are also under consideration now too, but I think the VIP still looks like what I need for now 👍 Cheers Gary

Hi, Lovely setup... these Bresser dob are great... just need some clear sky again now 🤞 I was surprised by the solar filter too. I've never used one, but will do sometime. I've done the focuser upgrade too (see other thread), it was tricky and took longer than expected. The instructions are not clear at all and I was careful with the Allen keys, as I was worried about breaking something. Sorry to hear yours broke, but hopefully it can be resolved. Lovely shots of the moon... I'm looking forward to spending a good deal of time on lunar with this even though my Mak is my primary lunar scope. Cheers Gary

That’s good to know thanks 👍 I’m still considering options for now, but may give this one a go, at least for the dob and possibly the StellaMira, can’t really see much need for barlow in the Mak.