badhex

Drifting back to the topic, the M43 extensions have been super helpful for me with eye placement on the Morpheus. The 4.5mm in particular has been tricky to get right, but I eventually solved it using a combination of extension plus rubber eyecup plus 2x rubber hairbands. I need to replace them with proper o-rings when I can but they work well enough for now.

Sorry to hear that Jeremy. Oddly enough I have been having this creeping suspicion that I might have astigmatism as well. Jupiter's fault, it looks like a seagull to my naked eye which I'm pretty sure it didn't used to.

17.5mm Morpheus. As very recently mentioned on another thread it's a good size and weight, comfortable to use, and a good balance between TFOV and background darkness.

+1 for a 70mm-ish scope on the zero plus CF tripod. I've used my ZS73 in this setup with both the Gitzo 5 which is super solid, and the Gitzo Traveller Series 2 which is still very good and also fits in the side of a Thinktank backpack 🤘

This is the current status: The MaxVision is a bit too big for it! As you can see below, there is always a bit of the EP barrel visible due the inner lip I mentioned. I've also found a source for tube rings that fit flush to the tube adn attach to a standard dovetail, so I'll be able to cut down the awkward shape a bit as well as save a few hundred grams by removing the block etcm in this picture.

Agreed! However, at the present moment TeleVues are definitely outside my financial reach 😅 I would quite like to try a T6 Nagler, but I had envisaged this travel kit to be a lower cost alternative to something like the Borg 55FL so although it works from a weight perspective, not sure it would be in keeping with the projects budget! I'll post a picture shortly of the current setup.

Oh and one last thought - I have let's say, a fan theory, that the EvoGuide was actually supposed to be 250mm FL instead of 242mm making it F5 instead of F4.84, but for some reason (perhaps a manufacturing issue) the objective's FL became 242mm instead. This loss of 8mm would account for the minimal available in-travel, and my theory is supported by the instruction manual having a sticker over the FL spec, which originally said 250mm. Possibly the instructions were all printed up and ready to go, and the FL was later changed to 242mm.

A bit more of an update. I've done some more research and it turns out that I do have a couple of EPs that will come to focus, just, but generally they are either too bulky for a travel kit (MaxVision 24mm SWA) or only provide a small FOV (Celestron 25mm Plössl, BCO 10mm and 6mm). Since I will tend toward low power views with this this scope, I do want to maximise FOV where possible. Which brings me to my next point. I have frequently used Ernest at Astro-talk's reviews when researching eyepieces but had never paid attention to the fact that he measures what he refers to as "parfocality" i.e. the distance of the EP's focal plane from the shoulder of the EP body where it joins the barrel. He gives either a positive (closer to the objective) or negative (closer to the eye) number in mm, where the higher positive numbers = better for my use case. It is not a perfect test of course, because the barrel is longer in some EPs which could potentially add optical length to the path. Having now looked at a good number of EPs that he has reviewed including all the ones I own, it turns out that almost all TeleVue EPs have a significant positive number (in most cases, at least +6.5mm) - so I could basically solve my issue without deconstructing the tube etc if I just invest several K in a few Naglers 😂😱 It seems that EPs with about +3mm or higher parfocality *should* work in my system, so it is progress in that I have some reference data, but I don't know of anyone else measuring parfocality in this way. I will keep at it!

Haha in fairness I personally have not compared the Morphs directly to any TeleVues but I am led to believe that a rough rule of thumb might be that TeleVues in general favour correcting for field curvature at the cost of more rectilinear distortion? (Please note actual eyepiece experts, this is just my rough understanding). At some point I would like to try a T6 for a direct comparison however! I am fairly sure that the 10mm XW is generally sharper/better well corrected than the Morpheus, and if anecdotal reports are to believed the 10mm is possibly a standout from the rest of the already excellent XWs - somehow managing to find the sweet spot of minimal aberrations all round, and performing well in most scopes. Perhaps, then, it is counterintuitive that I slightly prefer the 17.5mm Morpheus - although similarly I have read that some people think it's the best of the bunch, maybe the slightly different design from the other Morpheus? I think for me it's also about a few other things as well - not too bulky, nice eye lens size, comfortable to use. It occupies a nice mag/TFOV range in my two main scopes with a decently wide field of view and sufficient background darkening to give good contrast, which is very useful in my heavy LP skies. All very subjective of course!

I own a Pentax XW 10mm and Morpheus 17.5mm and 4.5mm, which I consider to be my best three EPs. The 4.5mm generally gets a bit less use than the others, and while I suspect that the Pentax is an overall "better" (better corrected etc.) EP, my favourite is definitely the 17.5mm.

Good tips, thanks. Agreed on the sideways observing! It's obviously very useful if you have a rotating focuser for objects lower on the horizon, but I don't really like it.

Thanks! Super useful. When I am back in gainful employment and can afford it, I think I might pick one up. Sorry @RobertI for hijacking the thread, normal service can now resume!

Not sure if this is a stupid question but could (at least some) floaters be helped by using some basic eye drops before an observing session? I have noticed occasionally when I have a floater directly in my vision that a few vigorous blinks can sometimes help, and I wondered if eye drops might help.

Thanks @Louis D - nice solution. I have been toying with the idea of an FF for one (or both) of my fracs, but always seen a lot of mixed opinions about how useful it is for visual. How crucial is the placement of the FF in the optical path (i.e. distance from objective or EP)?

Haha whoops sorry! Maybe a Christmas present to yourself?

I haven't used the StellaLyra so can't directly compare but the Morpheus 17.5mm is indeed a fantastic EP. Had a bit of a break from astronomy but returned to the hobby a few years back, and the Morpheus 17.5mm was the first EP I bought to replace my knackered 18mm Meade UWA. The Morpheus is a far better eyepiece and probably my favourite of all the EPs I currently own.

Hello all, I'm looking for a company (or person) who could make a custom threaded adaptor, essentially a step down T2 with an unusual thread on one side - M53x0.75mm male to T2 male. Any leads that anyone is aware of? I have found a company in the Europe area but outside of the EU. The adaptor plus shipping is about 45eur so will end up being closer to 60-65eur once you add the import charges and tax etc., which is quite a lot of money for a small adaptor!

This zombie still has life - I hunted this down yesterday after reading this thread (and I agree, either ET or Johnny 5)

Thanks @happy-kat- this is indeed the thread where from where I gleaned most of my info and I'm following essentially the same process. Given that @DRT had managed to reach focus, I thought I might be onto a winner so I did some measuring. I believe part of the issue is that the televue EP he used also has its focal plane low down in the EP barrel or whereas mine seem to be further inside the EP.

Currently in darker skies, and for the first time ever I properly, unmistakably made out both the Eastern and western parts of the Veil! I was using my TS102 F7 ED along with an Astronomik Oiii filter and Lacerta 40mm ED. I've managed to just pick out the Eastern side some years ago but this was incredible. Really quite breathtaking!

Would love to see a couple of pictures of this setup Louis!

Arrived a few days ago but haven't had time to post - Baader T2 prism for my ultra lightweight travel kit (although unfortunately things haven't gone to plan)

Lots of tests and tinkering happening, but unfortunately not had time to write out a full update on the portable kit. In short, overall things have not worked out so well so far, and more work needs to be done to get this up and running 🙁 Firstly, the bag I bought is fine, but if anything it's a bit too large. I can fit everything in with no issues but it doesn't really fit in one side of my case so it needs to be about the same width and length but not as high. Secondly, I've found some tube rings that fit the exact tube diameter (without guidescope style adjustment screws) and attach to a standard vixen dovetail. This makes everything a bit smaller and less awkwardly shaped, plus I can remove the adaptor block as well savign a bit of size and weight. Lastly, the Baader T2 prism arrived just in time before I went away to darker skies for a few days and attached to the scope it looks great! As mentioned I used a Baader ultra short T2 EP clamp to keep the optical length down. I had been a bit concerned that this could result in EP barrels crashing into the prism if I'm not careful, and was initially pleased to find that there was a small lip to stop this from happening. This soon proved to be a problem, however, when I realised that this lip means the whole optical length which I had carefully calculated was longer by just a few mm - and means that none of my EPs will come to focus 😱 Not to be defeated, I had a brainwave that perhaps the male T2 thread could be unscrewed to reveal a female T2 connection, allowing me to use a different male-male T2 adaptor without this lip and reclaim a few mm - a part that I already have lying around. I did some investigation before applying too much force just in case, and found online that another more expensive Baader prism does unscrew on the male side, so I figured this would be the same. I eventually managed to unscrew it to reveal... A much smaller female connection. It seems that the lip mentioned earlier is in fact the inner part of the male thread which screws in here, so there's no way to shorten the light path of this prism any further. It's really frustrating as the BBHS version of has the possibility of a female connection on both side of the prism, so I don't know why the construction is different here 🙁 So, even though I only need to shave a few mm off the light path to make this work, at this point I have only a few options left. 1. Try some other diagonals, such as this BBHS prism, however the light path is a few mm longer and it's an expensive option with no guarantee of it working 2. Cut the tube down on the objective side by 5mm or so, but I'm not super comfortable with that plus I don't know anyone with the tools needed. 3. Remove the focuser altogether and put something together with a couple of adapters. I have found someone who makes an M53x0.75mm male to M42x1mm male adaptor (they might even make up a customer one to T2) and I've seen a few M42x1mm to T2 adaptors around. It would also potentially drop a bit of weight from the overall package. At the moment, option 3 seems the most feasible but I suspect I'll end up spending nearly a hundred euros on various adapters - the M53 is 45eur alone as it is so specialist. Once it's reduced down to T2 however, there are plenty of extension tubes and adapters to get the correct length, and I can use the T2 focusing EP holder which hopefully should be enough focus travel. So far so frustrating. Perhaps this was not the wisest gamble in my astronomy history! Any thoughts or other options I may have missed are welcome!

It's probably because of that muddy green 😂 No but seriously, I am not sure why it might be cheaper, but the Celestron is a lot more expensive than any of them, again for reasons unknown. As far as I know, they are all identical aside from cosmetic differences, but I suppose there could be small manufacturing differences, or just possibly import costs - APM are German. I personally chose the APM because I prefer the black body of the EP to the other designs, as well as the fact that this design was originally commissioned by APM so I guess just showing my support.

I went through a similar process a while ago looking for a maximum TFOV 1.25" EP - I settled on the the UFF in the end and I'm very happy with it, it performs equally well in both my usual fracs at F7 and F5.9. True to the name, the field is extremely flat all the way to the edge, and it seems that most real world tests show that the TFOV turns out to be very close to both the Panoptic and ES despite the AFOV being a few degrees less. The Pan is a bit lighter than the ES and UFF. The UFF also has quite long eye relief, so good if you wear glasses - I do not, but in another thread I discovered that I personally need *less* eye relief than some people, and the APM has an M43 thread under the supplied eyecup, so I replaced it with a Baader Morpheus eyecup plus extension. Helpful that you can tweak it if needed. The Panoptic has a lot of rectilinear distortion and I'm fairly sure I read the ES has some too - but an owner would have to confirm that. At any rate, the UFF has very little if any. One last thing that might be of interest: I have found that I much prefer EPs with large eye lenses from a comfort perspective. The UFF is about 30mm, approx the same as the Morpheus range (which I also really like).