badhex

Sorry to hear you are under the weather, I too am currently on day 5 of a mystery illness, COVID test in the post 😒

Thanks @John, hadn't seen this - looks very helpful!

Whoops sorry, missed @Mr Spocksaying the same thing!

Another vote here for the Baader clicklock 2" as a premium option, or the Revelation dialectric as a somewhat cheaper but still excellent second choice. One thing that might be worth noting is that a surprising amount of 2" diagonals have somewhat less than the clear aperture available in both the Baader and Revelation, which is around 47mm and the largest clear aperture you can reasonably have in a 2" fitting. There's a thread here with more info:

Gently does it!

Just got through reading the whole thread - many trials and tribulations but really great to see where you ended up! Lovely practical solution to tricky problem, and visually very appealing, Khazi included. One question though, does The Khazi come with slow-mos? 😂

Legend! Nice one @AstroNebulee 💫

Top tip, thanks! I'll look into picking some up.

Aren't they just? There's a few times I've hesitated over purchases from them in the past due to being really more than I'd like to pay, only to have the item snapped up by someone else. I guess that something costs what people are willing to pay for it!

Thankfully yes - each EP/Barlow worked out at £12.50 each including postage, so could be worse! I guess I could have asked more questions but I feel like if the seller was familiar with astro gear it would have had that info in the description, but as you said I suspect it won't really affect the views, and I really just picked them up because they were cheap, and it's difficult not to collect half decent EPs!

Roll on astro darkness! Unfortunately I've also discovered that one of the neighbours in my block not only a creator of noise pollution, but also generates significant LP as well - room lights so bright they fully illuminate the building next door and no blinds 😭 I'm sure I'll find somewhere on the grounds that has some darkness eventually, I've just not had chance to look around too much.

Look like it works very well! Plus it solves the issue of no dust cap on the eye lens end! Got some O-rings on order now, need to look for some dust caps that are the right size.

Hi Dave, hope you're well! I had wondered/hoped you might stumble in here as I recall some threads on vintage EPs we've participated on. I've always quite like the look of the Halloweens but in total honesty I bought them mainly because they came up, not because I was searching them out specifically. Still, looking forward to trying them out at some point. I haven't really had any opportunity to do observing in the last six months what with moving countries, but hopefully things are starting to settle down a bit so these will definitely be on the list of things to play with. It's probably time I made another post on your vintage EP threads from some years back, I've picked up a few since then! Also probably time I got some sort of small case for these vintage bits and bobs.

I guess that's better than someone wearing a dusty jumper in a fluffy room!

No, indeed a mystery. I wondered at first if it was sealing the lens assembly away from dust, but it really does just seem completely without critical function.

Yes both of mine are like that, although actually worse in the case of the 26mm as it is missing about 15mm!

The edges of the lenses in mine are actually blackened already, which is good news. I wonder if they came like that, or whether a previous owner has done that (and possibly why there was loads of dust and fluff between the lenses!).

Yep, thanks Don, I guess my question was more "why is it there" than anything else. Anyway I've given the lenses a gentle clean with airbulb and Baader fluid which has got the gunk off, but it seems like the 26mm was a bit too vigorously cleaned in its past life, as the coatings have worn away in places. Lots of dust between the lenses too, which necessitated unscrewing the lens assembly itself, along with more careful use of the air bulb and a soft bristled lens brush Interesting that you mentioned aluminium, it looks to me like the main body of the EP lens assembly has some brassy colour to it, as does the eye lens retaining ring/EP top. The interior barrel paint has also been worn away in places, again I suspect overenthusiastic cleaning.

Yes, I believe these were made under a number of brands although I couldn't say which off the top of my head. I'm sure I read that the Celestron version differs by having this o-ring where others do not. Having now had the things apart for a clean and thorough inspection, it does seem that the only reason for the o-ring to exist is to hold that outer sleeve in place. Seems a tad elaborate given that you can just give it half a turn or so more and it screws together snugly without the o-ring - as your Vixens would seem to prove!

Hello all, Picked up a couple of halloween plossls for not very much money on the auction site, and they need a little bit of refurbishing. I suspect the seller is not an astro person as there was no info on condition etc apart from the photos. What wasn't clear (ironically) from the pictures is that the lenses are very grubby and dusty, and the top o-rings that these EPs have are perished and partly missing. I'm happy cleaning the lenses up and hopefully they should be right as rain, but the o-rings are beyond repair. I'm not actually sure what - if anything - these o-rings are even doing, apart from maybe stopping the outer sleeve from moving around. The lens assembly is completely contained within the inner barrel. The whole thing can be tightened up without the o-ring, so it seems superfluous. Interested to know if anyone knows any more about this slightly odd construction, and how critical this o-ring actually is!

First post here in aaaaages! Well, technically first ever post on the V2 thread. As a person who has done my fair share of SaaS/platform admin I can't help but be mildly amused that this thread has brought the SGL index to its knees 😂 Whoops! Anyway, picked up a an older celestron Barlow plus 26mm and 17mm halloween plossls 🎃 for a very reasonable price on that auction site. There wasn't much info on their condition but for about £12 per unit including postage, I figured it was worth a punt. Turns out that they need a bit of love - the lenses are pretty grubby and the o-rings seem to have perished, so I'll start another thread about that as I'm not sure why they are even there.

I came late to appreciating doubles which may seem strange as I have lived with Bortle 7 or 8 for the last 18 years! As you mentioned, it's comforting to know that even if the skies aren't behaving, doubles will, in many cases, be there for you nonetheless. I can't say I have hundreds under my belt but I do maintain a list of doubles that I want to look at, and have used numerous sources to hunt down potential targets, including the excellent Discovering Double Stars book by @Ags

I was going to say the same thing - I've got scopes smaller than that 3" EP!

Just read about this in S@N magazine - bumping this for others to see. The quick link is also https://bit.ly/dark-law It would be good news if we could at least get the response to this. Perhaps even local MPs could be lobbied to raise this in Parliament.

Lovely shots @wookie1965 Are they handheld or did you use a phone mount of some description?