HollyHound

20 hours ago, Dantooine said:

To be honest I think we’re all starting another buying spree. I just bought a sw 200 pds to put in my az8 and try my ethos with. The idea of a lightweight set of eyepieces does seem appealing. 

I stopped for a while, due to being very busy initially on a new contract and having little time, so spent as mush as possible observing... but now I have a few more free hours, I've been doing that dangerous thing of looking at other options and browsing @FLO 😬

I've even bought a AsiAir Pro and camera to try some EEVA with the C5 and AZ Mount Pro... love visual observing, but the techie in me wants to sit in the lounge and cruise the skies from my iPad 🤣

You'll love that 200pds... I've stayed clear of Newtonians, for the wrong reasons, but am loving have a big aperture reflector now and it's my (second) favourite scope... nothing replaces the StellaMira just yet!

The DeLites are good, very crisp, loads of eye relief (for easy viewing) and weigh very little indeed so balance is easy on a sensitive (but lovely) mount like the Zero 👍

3 minutes ago, Dantooine said:

That looks very sweet. 

Thanks. I'm loving the Pentax XWs in the 10" dob, but I also love the DeLites for the StellaMira on the Zero mount, as they are so lightweight... so thought I'd give this 5mm a go in all scopes and then later on decide whether to expand the whole range in one/other or indeed both 😃

I find that 60 to 70 degrees FoV is the sweet spot for me, I didn't get on with 82 degrees, but never say never, I might end up with on of those 100 degree monsters now I have this dob 😬

1 minute ago, vlaiv said:

You can easily check AFOV of the eyepiece compared to another by looking thru it without a telescope - just hand held against white wall / ceiling.

That way whole FOV will be white while field stop will be black - swapping between two eyepieces ( even holding against different eyes and swapping eye that is open) will give you idea of size of FOV compared to another eyepiece. Magnification will not play a part there as there is no object to be magnified. Take any plossl and compare the FOV size - if it's less than that - it is less than about 50-52 degrees.

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.

53 minutes ago, johnturley said:

It is a nicely constructed eyepiece and quite lightweight, but the stated apparent field of view appears to be MUCH smaller than the quoted value of 60 degrees, probably about only about 45 degrees, and similar to what you get with most 40mm Plossl eyepieces in 1.25 in barrel diameter. I will therefore probably be returning this eyepiece, but may try it out in one of my telescopes first to make sure. 

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.

7 minutes ago, Neil H said:

Another speedy delivery from FLO omg they are fast 

Upgrade 1/10 focuser knob 

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 🤞

4 minutes ago, John said:

I've owned the 3-6mm Nagler zoom twice in the past and also found that I didn't "bond" with it either. A couple of years ago I picked up the 2-4mm version and found that I got on much better with it. Odd really because the two are very, very similar to use

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

14 minutes ago, John said:

I'd like to try one someday

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 🤔

4 minutes ago, John said:

Delites look delightful

I'd like to try one someday. I tend to only use my barlow with my zoom as well and use either fixed short focal length eyepiece or the specialised 2-4 Nagler zoom.

Good to have options at high power

 

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.

10 hours ago, Alan White said:

As this older post was just liked after some years, I thought an update was due.
The 10XW noted in this post was sold in a reshuffle and regretted after, but it sits with a fellow SGLer.
I bought another this year and it impresses again, but so does the Morpheus 12.5 and my other EP.
 

I now wear glasses to observe, so the longer Eye-relief is key as well as fine optics.
All those in my present Signature meet that double requirement.
In all honesty, the Morpheus is the XW's equal.

 

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.

2 minutes ago, Second Time Around said:

No problem as I ordered mine this afternoon!  There were 2 left then.😀

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

On 17/06/2020 at 12:16, markse68 said:

Hi John, I recently picked up a 6mm BCO and reading up about it found your early review. I noticed your image of the inside of the barrel and it’s quite different to mine. Mine has a long thin central micro ridged tube containing the optics and field stop but yours looked to be mounted flush. Looks like an improved design- it must surely help with eliminating reflections from the glossy anodised barrel interior from getting into the lenses? Sorry if this is already common knowledge- couldn’t find anything about it.

 

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

1 minute ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

For what its worth, I have used my XW10 in a Meade 2x TeleXtender (telecentric lens like the powermate), and that works very well. However, I since got an XW5 second hand, and it really makes life a lot easier. Switching between the XW10, XW7 and XW5 (and even Delos 6 and 8 mm EPs with parfocaliser rings) is so much easier than having to refocus seriously when inserting a Barlow or telecentric lens. I really use the telecentrics mainly for planetary, lunar and solar imaging

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 👍

On 15/11/2020 at 16:10, Second Time Around said:

However I'm very interested in the reports on both as I have the Hyperion already, and am just about to buy the Q Barlow as soon as FLO have the Baader Classic set back in stock.

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.

On 15/11/2020 at 14:56, John said:

I will have to try using my 2.25x Baader barlow with my XW 10mm and find out how it compares with my 5mm XW

I suspect the result will be pretty close as has been said.

I've been screwing the removable lens section of the barlow directly into the barrel of a 4mm HD ortho that I have which gives a 1.3x amplification (3.1mm effective FL approx) and the results have been rather impressive with the bonus of making the short ortho eye relief a bit longer. Good glass in the Baader 2.25x barlow.

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 👍

2 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Question about adjusting for backlash on the Zero’s alt axis. I want to minimise backlash when using the alt slo mo. Is this done by adjusting the tightness of the locking nuts on the end worm? Or is there another way (I see some screws on the cover over the alt screw thread, but not sure if they are for adjusting)?I think you have done this @Stu and @HollyHound?

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

2 minutes ago, John said:

The Tele Vue Big barlow is good for newtonians but I understand will not work well in many 2 inch diagonals due to it's length.

The Powermates that I've owned have been pretty much flawless in their operation. You just don't know that they are in the light path, apart from the amplified magnification.

The stack can get long though !

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 🤣

4 minutes ago, Don Pensack said:

One note about the VIP Barlow: it can be used in 1.25" or 2" focusers, but it only accepts 1.25" eyepieces.

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