bosun21

I took it outside about an hour before sunset to let it reach equilibrium temperature. It was a very strange night as I swear I could actually feel the moisture in the air on my face. I have experienced dew many times before and like you said, it could be dealt with without too much fuss. However this was just a freak night in my opinion.

My first venture into the refractor world was an Evostar 120/1000 on an AZ4 with a steel tripod. This was a great introduction to refractors, and the lunar and planetary views were also great, especially with a 2” semi apo filter to remove most of the chromatic aberration. Refractors can be addictive, and as already stated you will end up wanting to buy an apochromatic (apo) refractor, as did I. The 120 Evostar served me well and the AZ4 was a solid enough mount which taught me the art of star hopping. Good luck with whatever you choose. Ian

I was talking about removing the clicklock from the diagonal and directly attaching the binoviewer by the T2 connection. The 102 Starfield already has a low profile twist lock. I have now decided to get a new Baader prism 32mm diagonal and a 2” Baader nosepiece and connecting with the same method. This seems to be the way to save on focus travel. Am I wrong?, as I haven’t placed my order yet.

My Baader Maxbright II binoviewer arrived a few days earlier than they said. I was going to use my new Baader 2” Clicklock diagonal for them but I have decided to buy a separate Baader 32mm prism diagonal for it instead. It looks as though @josefk has snapped up the last 1.7x GPC so I have to wait 7-10 days for it to arrive. Now for the eyepieces.

Hi 👋, welcome to SGL.

Yes I will probably be doing much the same thing as yourself. I will start off at the 50% as you recommended and tailor it from there. All I know is that next time I’ll be better prepared for it. It just totally KO’d me last night and was indeed a lesson learned.

Read the negative reviews on Trust pilot. Some horror stories.

Last night was the proverbial nightmare session to be forgotten. I set up my achro this time out (Evostar 120/1000) on an AZ4 with steel tripod as it had been relegated due to the acquisition of my 102ED Starfield. I could feel the dampness in the air but had no idea what was in store for me. As I was sitting on my chair letting the last vestiges of light disappear, I was surprised to see that the metal armrests on my chair was wet with dew. I reached up to my telescope tube and it was soaking wet. My eyepiece was wet also. I changed eyepieces and tried to set my focus on Altair, but it was just like looking through a goldfish bowl. I then saw that the dew shield on my Evostar had lost its battle against the dew monster. This gentlemen/women was my first proper introduction to bad dew. I packed up without observing anything and had to leave everything open and uncapped to the warm indoors to dry out. I guess it’s time to purchase some anti dew equipment. for my scopes. Is it dew bands or dew shields? 12v or 5v. I am hoping for some advice from folk who have battled and slain the dew monster. Thanks

They have a poor reputation and also trade in eBay as “Optics land” with a 20% mark up. 3.5/5 in Trust pilot.

I bought the last one from the Widescreen centre and they were shipped today for delivery on Tuesday. HTH Ian

I have just ordered a set of the Baader Maxbright which will be delivered on Tuesday, however I need to wait 7-10 days for the 1.7x GPC. I am directly attaching it to a Baader T2 prism diagonal with a 2” nosepiece. Are the clicklocks 2”? Do I need to buy the clicklock adapter to 1.25” if I want to use the smaller diameter eyepieces?

Hi 👋, welcome to SGL

Thanks for your findings with the MBII. How do I find the back focus for my telescope? It’s a Starfield 102 f7. I am also going to attach a Baader prism diagonal by means of the T2 connection.

Thanks. That’s what I wanted to hear as I bought it primarily for my 102 f7. Have you directly attached the prism diagonal by means of the T2 connection? This may sound like a silly question but where have you inserted the GPC? I think you can tell that these will be my first binoviewers.

I have just ordered a new Baader Maxbright II binoviewer and was wondering which corrector to get for it. I was thinking the 1.7x purely for the magnification purposes. With me using a 1.7x corrector is it still desirable for me to attach a separate prism/ mirror diagonal directly to the T2 connection on the Maxbright? to shorten the light path? I had no clue of these complexities.

They are still tack sharp with my old eyes! I was literally taken aback by just how clear and sharp they are.

Were the type 2 an inferior eyepiece in some way? Did it have an inherent fault? I ask because I was considering buying a 12mm type 2. Thanks Don.

Almost forgot to include my little Japanese wide field binoculars. I bought this great pair of Tasco circa 1972 8x40. They are in great condition considering their age. The views are crystal clear and mostly aberration free. I needed these to complement my Pentax 20x60.

How are you going to mount this to your Tal?

I don’t like the fact that it has 3D printed gears. I much prefer the one that I bought which fits both the 44mm visual back threads as well as the SCT one. It also uses a metal pulley and is belt driven.

Hi John 👋 a warm welcome to SGL

Thanks Stu, for that oddly comforting post 😂

I totally agree with you. I am retired now so no longer work. I had rekindled my love of astronomy last September so a good part of this was buying my scopes, mounts etc. I can now no longer afford to spend so much and now save for each substantial item. I am happy to have joined the astronomical ranks once again, even if it’s considerably more expensive than before. (Technically)

5K in the past 11 months!😱 And that’s purely visual.

If I remember correctly the triplet 115mm has one lens of FPL51 and not the FPL53 that the 102 doublet you are considering. I know this because I was in the exact same position as yourself a short time ago. I ended up buying the 102 FPL53 doublet (Starfield) and have been more than satisfied with its performance. Not a hint of CA that I can detect. The combination of FPL53 and Lanthanum in the doublet definitely pays dividends.