HollyHound

I've been looking at this Baader VIP Barlow, as it looks like a good quality and flexible piece of kit... I'd be looking to use this with the Pentax XW 10mm and 7mm and possibly the DeLite 13mm and 18.2mm. Can't see myself using it with any 2" eyepieces, as they're all longer focal lengths and I have eyepieces covering those ranges already. My only concern/question is whether I could potentially run into focus issues with this on my Bresser 10" dob, as I've read about possibly not having enough in/out focus travel... did you run into this issue on your dob ? I do currently have to use the supplied focus extender tube (37mm optical length), which then allows focussing for all my current 1.25" and 2" eyepieces. I think there is sufficient flexibility in the VIP Barlow to allow me to find something that will work, so willing to risk it and give it a go. I can always return if doesn't work 🤔

We have a simple arrangement at home... I have telescopes etc and my partner has horses... if you think astronomy can be expensive, try horses 😬🤣

Oh I fully intend to not even bother resisting 🤣 Went onto @FLO website yesterday intending to get the Pentax XW 30mm and before I knew it, ended up with XW 10mm and 7mm in the basket too... drawing the line at the 5mm for now though😬 Slightly regretting selling the XW 40mm few months back, but it wasn’t being used and I didn’t have this dob then... but I think the 30mm works out better for both this and the StellaMira 👍

No worries. Actually it's set me looking at barlow options now... quite interested in this VIP Barlow and also having a look TeleVue PowerMates... more decisions 🤣 The important thing I've established is that there's no reason why a good barlow should affect the view too much and realistically I can barlow the eyepieces I have and others incoming first to see what magnifications I require and then (maybe) look to expand into these shorter focal lengths sometime if required 🤔 Thanks again to all for suggestions and advice 👍

I’ll look out for this. I should really have a decent Barlow, beyond the 2.25x one that came with the Hyperion Zoom. Thank you 👍

Mine is the one that was sold with the Hyperion Zoom as a bundle, so might be different indeed. I am now actively looking at Barlow options, and so any of these suggestions are good thanks to all 👍

That's what I was hoping would be the case... I do use this Barlow with my DeLites (18.2mm and 13mm) on the StellaMira quite regularly and don't notice any degradation of image quality, but wasn't sure if there would be an issue once you get right down to the very short focal lengths (5mm etc) and also that there's no optical reason why a dob/newtonian would suffer either... thanks👍

Hi, Seen a separate thread looking for choice of 5mm eyepiece and I'm in a similar decision process right now too. However, I've just ordered a Pentax XW 10mm (along with XW 7mm and XW 30mm), which I intend to use in the Bresser 10" dob. My question is would it be as effective to just barlow the XW 10mm, using my Baader Hyperion 2.25x Barlow (giving a little less than 5mm, but close enough) or would having the separate XW 5mm give me anything better ? I'm thinking that if the view with the Barlow would be almost as good, then might as well save some money, but not sure if that's a valid assumption 🤔 Thanks Gary

Thanks. I was quite literally gobsmacked with the view, such a huge step up in light gathering ability and I was also very surprised how easy and quick it is to setup and pack away again... so I really do see this getting an awful lot of use 😃 On that basis, I've pushed the boat out slightly and ordered a bunch of new eyepieces, which should maximise it's effectiveness too 👍

Yes, there's been a shortage of eyepieces for a good while... I did sell a few some months back (PanaView 32mm and 38mm, Nirvanas) as I don't seem to get on FoV that's too great (this may change again with a dob now🤣) and I've been looking for something to use as a "sweeping" eyepiece in the StellaMira... this may be ideal, as it's lightweight too. Also there's a 2" ED Barlow in the range too, which looks intriguing 🤔

Finally managed to get a 5" dew heater strap for my C5, thanks again @FLO. I've got plans for an EEVA rig, using my iOptron AZ Mount Pro and the recently bought ASiair Pro, but was concerned that the dew shield on its own wouldn't provide enough protection... hopefully this will help 🤞 Also a Baader Clicklock 2" to 1.25" reducer for the dob 👍

StellaLyra 50mm 2" SuperView Eyepiece from @FLO Nicely made and lightweight, which will be important for balance with the StellaMira 80mm f/10 mounted on the ScopeTech Zero 👍 Just need some clear skies now 🤞

Well the 50mm has arrived, thank you @FLO... unfortunately, might be a few days or so before I can test it as the weather is not playing ball at the moment 🤞 Looks well made and also (importantly for me) it's nice and lightweight 👍

Thanks for the tip... mine seems ok, but if I run into issues, then I will certainly try this suggestion 👍

I haven’t tested it in anger yet for observing (been cloudy here for a week), but I’m used to fine focus on my StellaMira, so thought why not. The normal focuser however is perfectly smooth in operation, so certainly wouldn’t say it’s essential, especially given the upgrade cost. @johninderby is the king of focuser upgrades, so he might have his own view on this 🤔

Instructions looked simple... reality was a bit more fiddly, but at least I know now and am able to adjust it whenever I need to 😃

I've finally got round to fitting the 1:10 fine focuser on my 10" Bresser dob... huge thanks to all on this thread, as the instructions are really not the best at all and it was a lot more fiddly than I thought it would be... especially realising there are two main grub screws that need removing and then two on the new focuser knob that need tightening (the instructions don't show this very clearly!). Also @johninderby is spot on, you need to get that small new grubscrew tightening to just the right amount... too much and the main focuser knob is sticky and difficult to move, too loose and the fine focuser doesn't operate at all... eventually just nipped it to the right amount and it now works perfectly 👍

Yes, I've been looking for this one for ages too, but as you say, no one has them in stock anywhere 🙁

Yes, even with reasonably dark skies, I get that with my Nikon Monarch 8x56, which has a 7mm exit pupil... the sky can become a bit "washed out". However, the advantage for me with those binoculars, is that you get a really "relaxed" view, difficult to describe but it just seems so easy to view with them... I guess it's the really large exit pupil. They are great for just scanning the sky and so I'm hoping the 50mm in the StellaMira does a similar job, but of course steady (being mounted) 🤞

Ok thank you for the explanation 😃 Given I've ordered the 50mm specifically for my StellaMira 80mm f/10, I'm probably going to be fine. When I started, I used to have both a 32mm and 40mm Celestron Plossl, but got rid of the 32mm as I found that in my Mak, I much preferred the brighter view from the 40mm, even though there was no increase in field of view. I suspect that the 50mm vs 42mm would be the same, I would have 16x mag and 5mm of exit pupil from the 50mm, which is likely the theoretical max for my age anyway and the skies around here are reasonably dark (Bortle 5, sometimes 4). I've got an Aero ED 35mm already, which works nicely in the StellaMira and is "ok" in the 10" dob (very brief test last Thursday night, been cloudy since!). I've also had both the 38mm and 32mm PanaView for a few months, which were lovely eyepieces, but very heavy and I found balance issues when using them on the StellaMira on the ScopeTech, so sold them and now just have the Aero ED 35mm (which is much lighter) and the Panoptic 24mm (love this eyepiece). Hopefully the StellaLyra 50mm is also light enough to work without (too much) rebalancing either🤞 I'm really just looking for an eyepiece that "sort of" reproduces the view/brightness I get when using my Pentax 20x60mm (3mm exit pupil) or Nikon Monarch 8x56 (7mm exit pupil) binoculars, for just general scanning of the sky, as I find that handholding the Pentax isn't very effective for me anymore... in fact they are likely going up for sale quite soon 🤔 Thanks all Gary

Does this mean that there is no real advantage to the choosing the 50mm over the 42mm, other than perhaps brightness ? Sounds similar to the 40mm vs 32mm in the 1.25” eyepiece size. I have a 40mm and it does give me a slightly brighter image compared to a 32mm, but no real increase in FoV. Cheers Gary

Had a similar thought, but I've already got the Aero 35mm and Panoptic 24mm, both of which worked well in brief testing last week (come on clear skies🤞), so wasn't sure if the 30mm (or 42mm) would add anything for me.... interested to hear how well the 30mm works in your Dob👍

The StellaMira 1.25" di-electric looks identical to the Skywatcher 1.25" di-electric, and the StellaMira 2" just looks like a larger version of these... no obvious manufacturing traits/styling similar to the WO, but can never be certain with these as there are only so many manufacturers... maybe @FLO would know 🤔

I've got the StellaMira 2" diagonal in my StellaMira 80mm... it's a very good diagonal, easily as good as the WO 2" it replaced 👍

Ordered... Going to give the 50mm 2" a go in my StellaMira 80mm f/10... just at the limit of usable exit pupil and a decent step up from the Aero 35mm 🤞