SiriusB

Yes to stop dew, or in my hazy recollections of 80's Winter observing, i actually had a eyepiece or two frost over 😟 Back then the EP case was pretty minimal so effectively end of session! .... & I actually stuck to the EP one night. (rubber eyecups were then not the norm) I guess Stateside it still can happen?

A Good link Dave. .....& for all those who store their FMC Apo's in the shed...... sounds like that's a big no no. ....& for those with less sympathetic other halves, now's the chance to explain why it needs to have pride of place in the dry living room.😉

Ok, cheers Alan & Dave, SGL on the ball as usual. Only 4 elements but sounds like best to return in this case & only try remedial work when you're already stuck with the EP? It's the potential spreading part i think is of most concern.

Been a bit of high haze here few nights recently, so maybe haze, probably some light pollution also, give it a bit more time to see if you get some better/ worse nights first. I think there's probably better & maybe cheaper filters to use for planet contrast than a UHC, but as i only own 3 filters maybe someone better aquainted might chip in. FWIW, i live in a town, it's not great skies but could be worse. If i lived in a city a big refractor would be my first choice of instrument. Others might disagree.... but it's certainly not a bad choice for urban Astronomy. Ps, when the moons about, i think a look at that might clarify the haze situation .

Anyone suffered from this in an eyepiece? If so, what did you do? .....& For those of you who don't know what i mean, apparently there's a fungus that will grow on lens coatings with the help of moist conditions. Sounds bizzare i know, but true. ( So don't forget the silica gel in your storage box folks.) Only ever seen it on camera lenses, where it can be pretty pretty bad, & i think pretty much junks the lens. Reason i ask is i received EP in post i rather fancied would be a keeper, but has internal fungus,(not that bad but noticeable) Will send back for refund unless anyone thinks it's a practical & longterm proposition to clean it off?? I could be looking a fair while longer for another example, but logically best to return. I'd always assumed lens fungus could jump from lens to lens, so even if i could clean it i'd be worried about an occular fungal pandemic in the future. Any thoughts? Hope I've not given anyone nightmares or sparked an OCD cleaning & checking frenzy.😟 I doubt you'll ever see a problem unless you pack away damp after observing or store in damp conditions. My question is what if anything can/should be done should the problem arise? Thanks.

Not sure i followed all that,😉 TBH, i'm a bit lazy with all this polar aligning. If i had a permanent setup, i'd make the effort,sure~ but unless your doing astrophotography (sorry, i'm showing my age~ "Astro imaging" 😄)...it's overkill?? All i do is set my latitude scale right, plonk the mount down roughly facing north & away i go..... & it does well enough for visual stuff. Not actually used a polar alignment scope in years. Though,I guess if you've got goto, you can't take the lazy option.

Depending on your budget... A 4" Achro or Apo,will be much more satisfying than a 3" apo for planets. IMO I've found an 80mm ED very close to a 4" achro on deep sky, but for planets, i'd pick even the 4" Achro every time,(resolution) So much the better if you can stretch to the 100ED previously mentioned.

Good sketches Lee. Found M71 by accident a couple of nights ago in 150mm. Not The 1st time ever, but certainlynot seen for a while as i had to consult 'Nortons' to determine what i had seen.. A somewhat underated globular? To me it looks more like an open cluster than a globular @ the eyepiece? ~loose. Worth a look anway.

"is there a chance of differences among filterthreads, like e.g. the m49x1 and m49x0,75 thread? Or do i have to use some force?" No don't use force. there's supposed to be a standard ~M48x0.75 for 2" Ep's & M28.5x 0.6 for 1.25" Ep's. But as Merlin stated it's a bit hit & miss. Manufacturing tolerances, some manufacturers using a different thread.....etc Read somewhere that Baader somehow make their filter threads a bit non standard such that they will fit pretty much anything. If it's any consolation, last night a 1.25" filter wouldn't thread onto the EP i was using, has fitted all other Ep's to date including ones from the same manufacturer! This was more down to lack of thread length on filter than a different thread pitch. So yes,it can be a bit frustrating.

You must be a perfectionist if 20 thou makes all the difference? 😜😜

Ps. still working on my spelling. 😉 Should be "Psychology" in the title~ I should know, did a year's evening course in it. Doh!!!!

"Do any of you have your own asterisms? " No, i must be lacking in the imagination department! Couple of my fav's though~ "ET" star cluster in Cassiopeia. The "Coathanger"( in Vulepecula?)

I'm sure many of you have experienced this: You've never seen an astronomical object or feature before. You see it for first time in an aperature of X mm. Subsequently you are often able to see it in smaller apertures. What exactly is going on? Are you training your eyes? Are you seeing what you know 'should' be there? Does the brain subconciously fill in the detail from memory? Or is it any combination of the above or something completely different. Just to give a couple of examples for nearly 30 years i'd never seen the GRS or the veil nebula. (I still view GRS as my nemesis 🙂) Cue Kelling Heath 10 yrs or so back, I had a mere 80mm with me, someone showed me both in a 150 ST. I was subsequently able to see both straight afterwards in my humble 80mm. Another example. Seeing m57 as a ring with a fainter core, i used to need 120mm to see, seems obvious (if overall fainter) in a 70mm now. So what exactly is going on? I know my eyes & sky conditions aren't improving with time. Just curious. As an aside, I'm sure too a small scope may have put many off Astronomy in the past, but i think for a 'seasoned' observer they can help hone your observing skills? Aperture can make you lazy if you haven't learned to appreciate it perhaps?? Welcome your thoughts.

Here's one for the list i made earlier, Blue Peter style. https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/359653-a-double-star-challenge-epsilon-lyrae/ TBH Rob, the best targets for comparison are those which interest you most. If you live & breathe planetary, there's your comparison objects. If you rarely look at doubles, it's pretty academic which scope's better for those. .....Though i suppose most of us like a finger in most of the celestial pies. 😉 So your rounded list is a good idea.

Some good suggestions so far. Manually finding....beginner... I'd say anything that shows up in your (9x50) finder will be easier to find initially than something that does not. The sword handle/double cluster in Perseus is another one, fairly bright & worth finding.

Glad you got sorted David.

Looks like Vixen paint in background... Vixen scope? Sorry i don't know what SP102M is offhand. The old Vixen focusers i've seen had a 36.4mm internal thread, to which either a 24.5 or 1.25" adapter with the male 36.4 thread could be screwed in. If that's the case the item in the FLO link should do you nicely & probably better than an original Vixen one. Is the black part internally threaded in 2nd photo? The drawtube @ around 40mm in 1st pic isn't going to work, unless that was a very cheap rule your using.😉 ....Or you know a friendly machinist.

Just to throw in a curve ball..... generally i'd agree with OP's observation regarding Jupiter & Saturn~ only the last few weeks i've been getting remarkably good views of Jupiter (considering the low elevation) whilst Saturn has been pants @ same mag! Why?

Funnily enough, i had a peek @ Uranus last night also. That's the first time in a few years. I'm not dedicated enough to sketch it though, so full credit for that Mike. Yes,it's a decidedly odd looking "star" at 50x, which does aid locating it somewhat for those of us still stuck in the last century. Then I bumped up to 160x for a more convincing disc~which was all seeing would allow at my location.

Sorry! Works for me though,my two soon come running. 😉

"I was planning to use for mainly planetary, lunar, doubles and clusters." You'll buy a 4" ED because that's what's in your head at present. Only ever owned one ED, the 80. Great little scope, i'm sure you'll enjoy the 100 version. An ED will be 'better' for planetary,lunar & (marginally) clusters IMO Call me an old romantic, but you can't beat double stars in an achro. Might not be an accurate rendition in an achro, but to me they look a bit anemic in an ED. FWIW i quite like the yellowed achro view of planets& moon, now, if i could just lose that purple haze @ higher powers.

Ps, don't buy an evostar 120 with eq3-2, needs a eq5 minimum IMO.

Happy with my Evostar 120,(actually an omni xlt) sold first evostar years ago, recently bought another. IF you could find one~ an old Vixen 102 f10. I briefly owned the lens in a rather heath robinson tube assembly( I wouldn't have put my name to that one, but someone had!). Thought the optics were spot on,minimal CA, I wish i hadn't sold it now but the rest of the DIY package was naff & i didn't at the time have the knowledge or skills or tools to make a better tube for it.

I think from previous post's it's the same stuff? Our local Wilkinsons doesn't stock it though. It's still cheap from FLO, plus they also do big rolls (for those with big scopes 🙂)

Ordered this stuff https://www.firstlightoptics.com/misc/black-velour-telescope-flocking-material.html last month, got round to using it today.( Couple of cheap 'toy' 70mm Fracs i'm experimenting with.) I think there's a fair few posts on the forum about flocking, so i'll simply say in my view, it makes a difference, even on Frac's & Maks.~ for further flocking info search the forum. I have previously used 'protostar' but it gets expensive importing this from USA. Now to the nitty gritty. Whether one or the other is 'technically' better i could not say, but both do the job IMO. I found the FLO flocking much easier to apply, Protostar seems to stick solid just when you don't want it to,(almost impossible to reposition) & i've experienced some post application peeling with protostar. The FLO material does allow for repositioning,it's too early to say if it peels, but somehow i think not . I will update if it does turn out to be a problem latter. Also, Protostar moults, at least initially, no loose hairs noticed with the FLO material whilst installing . 👍 Bottom line, I can heartily reccommend the product. I haven't flocking finished the 'fleet' yet, so will be ordering more very soon. Top tip: if you end up with any air bubbles, prick with a pin & squeeze the air out. Give it a go, Flocking a newt must be a breeze compaired to a skinny refractor.