badhex

Thanks Paul! It's a great kit. Have been slowly refining it for the last year, I think it's pretty much perfected now!

Had a crystal clear night to test out two new purchases - a 2.5x Powermate and Gitzo Series 2 Traveller. Able to kill two birds with one stone, I opted for some higher power views of Jupiter and Saturn, and observed enough earthshine on the moon to see mares in the unlit portion! Lots more words here:

Hello all Perfectly clear night last night so I used the opportunity to try out my new Gitzo Series 2 Traveller with my travel kit setup (scope is a ZS73) to test the improvement over the previous CF tripod I was using. I also recently acquired a TeleVue 2.5x Powermate, as high powers will be the real test of the tripod I was able to kill two birds with one stone. I started out with the most obvious choice for this test, Jupiter. After locating in the Lacerta 40mm ED (11x) I switched up quickly to the BCO 10mm + Powermate (108x). It was an exceptionally clear night with reasonably steady seeing. Jupiter's disc was very well defined, and the NEB and SEB were also very distinct. To push the limits a bit, I switched up to a BCO 6mm + Powermate (179x). Views were a bit soft but still surprisingly good. So far, as per its reputation the Powermate was completely invisible in the optical train, essentially giving me a 2.4mm ortho with a tiny 0.4mm exit pupil to match. I have found sub 0.5mm exit pupils to be a bit of a challenge in this scope, more so than my TS102 F7 for some reason, so not surprised that pushing beyond this becomes a bit less comfortable. Even at the highest power I'm ever likely to use this setup, I found the Gitzo to be more than capable and a significant upgrade on the previous TS-Optics CF tripod. It was not without some wobble when adjusting the axes or focus, but even deliberate, repeated taps to the scope settled down very quickly, 1-2 seconds. Despite the moon still not showing, there was some annoying local LP behind me (try not to leave your bathroom light on all night please neighbours!) which was enough to cast a shadow, and so the lack of eyecup on the BCOs disturbed my viewing a little. I moved on to the Pentax 10mm partly to see the effect of a heavier / longer EP combination on the tripod and the effect of the Powermate on a much glass heavy EP, and partly to keep my eye shrouded better. Views were very crisp. Possibly better even than the ortho, thanks to the contrast from the eye shroud? Extra FOV was also very helpful, meaning extra time at the eyepiece before adjusting. Could also be the additional ER that the Pentax provides. Moving on to Saturn. Same routine of trying the BCO 10mm up against the Pentax. The Pentax again seemed to provide better views. No cassini division was evident, which could just be that the smaller aperture of this scope provides just not quite enough resolution to reveal the division under my conditions. I then realised I'd tracked Saturn through the EP for a while and not seen that some nearby scaffolding was partially block my view, and causing issues with resolution of detail. I waited a few minutes, and the view was much better once it was clear of the obstructions! Still no cassini division visible, although possibly some atmospheric banding was now just about evident. Pretty happy with the stability of the tripod at high power and the performance of the Powermate, I decided on a quick bit of widefield viewing, with a thin crescent moon rising in the background. I couldn't recall if I'd viewed the Double Cluster with my APM 24mm UFF (18x) in this scope so I started there. The 24mm seems to always give very fine, sharp views and I find it an excellent eyepiece especially given how well priced it is. In this case I do think there is a touch too much background lightness in the city to fully appreciate the double cluster at this magnification so I switched up to the Morpheus 17.5mm (25x) and then to the Pentax 10mm (43x) to find the right balance. The view through the Pentax was super contrasty with really beautiful pin point stars, and although there was some atmospheric shimmer it added a certain twinkling aesthetic. At these lower powers, the Gitzo was very stable and steady, any small vibration damping out almost instantly. By this time the Moon was only a little higher and I was getting tired and cold, so it would have to do. I pretty much went straight in with the Pentax 10mm, and was stunned that there was enough earthshine to see the detail of mares on the unlit portion! Very surprising. On the lit portion and terminator, there was lots of crater, mountain and rille detail even at this low alt. I tried the Powermate and found that the whole moon just fit in the field of view. I don't observe the moon that often so it was nice to change things up a bit, especially to see such strong earthshine. I've included a couple of shaky phone pics. Unfortunately the sharper photo didn't not capture the earthshine, but I also took one with the exposure blown out to give you an idea of the effect. All in all very happy with both purchases and a decent observing session!

I have to say I am eagerly awaiting the new printed version!

25 day old moon, 24/07/2022. William Optics ZS73, Pentax XW 10mm. Samsung Note 20 Ultra handheld over the EP, and image lightly processed with Google Photos.

Haha whoops, operative part of a diagonal being that it changes the image path diagonally, and this items obviously does not. Clearly I was not thinking 'straight'. I believe you are correct, it does look like it has prisms in there. Still, not much use for a newt so I'll set up a post to give it away.

Thanks Mark, will have a dig around.

Hello all, I picked up this 0.965" barlow recently, which came with 12mm Kellner and yellow filter, and rather rustic diagonal. The barlow and EP look of good quality, both apparently made in Japan and virtually if not completely unused. I would like to try and track down a bit more info about the maker. The makers stamp or mark is not present, only that they are of Japanese origin. I've seen the barlow branded as Celestron elsewhere and possibly the same EP, although mine only has a sticker saying JAPAN, where the other said JAPAN with a Circle-T for the legendary Tani-san. Could it be that later or earlier version simply did not have the Circle-T on the sticker, I wonder? Any clues to who may have manufactured these would be welcome!

Agreed. All my main EPs except orthos are in the 66-76° range and I personally find that to be the sweet spot for me. Not to say I'll never look further afield though 🙂

A selection 0.965" goodies from an auction site. I actually just wanted the barlow as you don't often see 0.965" Barlows aside from the plastic ones, usually also with plastic lenses, but everything came as a bundle. This one is metal construction with actual glass lenses, and I've seen the exact same one marked with Celestron above the barrel text. Very good condition with no marks, looks like it may never have been used. The EP looks also to be half decent, again very good condition with no makers stamp, just a 'JAPAN' sticker, as does the yellow filter. The diagonal was not actually listed in the bundle, and whilst it is nice to get free stuff, I unfortunately have no use for it (the 0.965" gear is for a newt.) I imagine I will make it free to a good home.

Sorry @Ags I guess we went a bit off topic! However, I think in short if you're happy to accept the shortcomings of these EPs it might be worth trying to find one second hand? Perhaps the Meades might be more likely to be available as they seem to be more common?

Well, that's not exactly what I meant. I don't think they are unreasonably priced per se but nor are they cheap - and what I consider reasonable may be outside other's budgets.i have not seen the XWAs for sale for anything less than about €275 through European retailers which is a good sum more than the €200 for the SWA. Regarding weight, the original post by Ags mentioned specifically an interest in the light weight of the SWA series, and I wouldn't really say 750g or thereabouts for the XWAs counts as light really.

It's a bit of a shame Ernest is quick to dismiss another's opinion, but honestly Louis, I wouldn't worry. From my perspective I think it's probably a case of a combination of translation issues, testing methods, personal experience at the eyepiece itself, and lastly just a differences of opinion. Frankly I always look at a number of different sources for trusted opinions and weight my decisions accordingly. Ernest, yourself, Don, John and a number others on SGL are always the first places I look for tests, but at the end of the day no one individual will necessarily be 'correct'. I highly appreciate the technical nature of Ernest's tests, but I also think they don't always really cover the true experience at the eyepiece. I love the ruler test that you do as well as your reports from time at the eyepiece. Don has a level of the expertise on the supplier/manufacture side that others may not. John is my goto for real world usage of eyepieces at every level of affordability. Yet other members will offer other opinions. For me personally, all of these factors are really important and I'm sure that many others both more and less experienced than myself feel similarly 🙂

Looking forward to your report on this once you're up and running Michael!

Excellent work, thanks Ags!

Unsurprisingly S@N give a good review of the Omegon version, but then they give good reviews of everything so I'm not really sure how trustworthy it is. So, apart from the TS specs, other versions (Magellan, Omegon) seem to match with the Meade 100° MWA. @Don Pensack also wrote on CN that the Omegons have exactly the same specs as the Meades: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/654022-omegon-panorama-ii-meade-mwa/ If indeed this is the case then we can trust the reviews from the Meades. Ernest in Russia does a review of the 5mm, which he conditionally recommends for some use cases noting that the measured AFOV is more like 86°: https://astro--talks-ru.translate.goog/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=4076&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp&_x_tr_sch=http#p78487 I've found his reviews to be pretty accurate to my own experiences, but obviously it's not a given that one passable FL means the rest will be also be okay. A bit of digging around elsewhere suggests that they are generally not that well thought of. Bit of a shame as I do quite like the look and shape of the TS/Magellan version. Oddly enough TS also does their own version of the well regarded APM 100° XWA series, but these are 80eur more expensive and pretty hefty in comparison. Perhaps it's currently just not possible to get reasonably priced, lightweight and well corrected 100° EPs - an astro version of "cheap, fast good: pick two".

Maybe you've already seen this but this thread from a few years ago talks about them: Our good friend @Louis D mentions that they are also available branded as 'Magellan' from Kokusai Kohki: http://kokusai-kohki.com/products/magellan.html

Do we know who makes them? Might be possible to find other white labels with reviews?

Although now you say it have started to pick up enough 0.965" EPs to merit their own case 🤯

Well I also have another case the same for my 2" stuff, but I can't source a third case of the same type and OCD won't let me get a different one so I'm afraid my hands are tied! Definitely no more EPs. Definitely not. Nope 😂

Okay now I've upgraded my Barlow to a Powermate, so my EP case is definitely finished(!)

Yes, it's actually caused number of conversations on this thread previously! It came from a substation/electrical station of an old building in Berlin that was being demolished. They salvage yard we bought it from actually went to the building site and had to remove it themselves - they had two, and we had to talk him round into selling this one!

Delivery two of two - Gitzo Traveller Series 2 to hopefully replace the TS-Optics CF tripod in my travel kit. Need to test it first to check if its actually worth the terrifying investment!

Took the plunge on a few upgrades while I'm still working my notice and therefore earning money 😅 Hopefully this is delivery one of two today!

Bit of an update, I got a lens spanner and had a crack at removing the detritus. So it seems that thankfully the eye lens is actually inside a brass tube which is threaded both inside and out, and has its own retaining ring inside, so no need to touch the lens itself. With a bit of gentle pressure this unscrewed easily. I noticed that all of the threads on the on the brass tube seem to be painted or coated with a matt black paint or coating, which could be what caused the issue - although they look like they might be how the EP was manufactured. I then turned the EP upside down and tapped out what I could, and most if not all of the larger pieces dropped out along with some black dust. I then used an air duster bulb to try to blow out any remaining dust or dirt. After some checking for any more dirt I went over the parts with more airdusting and a clean microfibre cloth to removed any dust, and reassembled. A first look through the EP revealed more tiny bits of dust or paint flakes on the field lens! I did not see any whilst it was open, so possibly this happened during reassembly! I disassembled again, air dusted again, then reassembled - this time holding the EP upside down, in the hopes that any paint flakes/dust from the threads would stay there due to gravity, instead of dropping down onto the fields lens again. It seemed to work! I gave it a few taps to test if any dust was dislodged, but could not detect anything. I went over all of the non-glass outer surfaces with a tissue lightly dampened with water and a tiny spot of fairy, then again with a microfibre. I tested it out in my F7 TS102 and attempted a few rough shots through the EP with a phone. As you can see it is now nice and clean, as well as giving surprisingly good views in such a fast scope! Next stop is to try it under the stars.