cajen2

Tonight here there was a bit of high cloud but the seeing was excellent - rock steady, so I got the SL 8" out to cool. After a few minutes, I went out to find more cloud but the moon, Jupiter and Saturn still in relatively clear patches. I started on Jupiter - the best target for me to align my finder. Looked superb tonight so I started experimenting with different mags and comparing the view with and without the Baader Contrast Booster filter. Interesting. It cheerfully took all the EPs I tried, up to and including the Pentax 5mm (240x). It was definitely better with the BCB too, with several belts in view but no GRS, unfortunately. I thought I'd push it a bit more, so put my Morpheus 9mm in an ES 2x focal extender (=Barlow!) for 267 mag. That was fine too but doing the same with the 5mil was too much! 😱 (480x!). All up, the best seeing I've had on Jupiter. I turned to the moon, as Saturn had been swallowed up by cloud. Had a lot of fun trying different mags on that too. Happy bunny: my last two astro purchases performed brilliantly - the Contrast Booster and my Berlebach Observer's Chair....very comfortable. Edit: just been out again to catch Saturn briefly. Wonderful sharp image in the 5mil Pentax XW but definitely getting smaller two months after opposition. Clouds rolled back over, this time for good 😥

Tell her it was on special offer....they like that! 😉

Naah....far too much trouble. Lego bricks are all standard and it took me two minutes to make! 😉

What did you use?

Wow, two Morpheus 17.5s! That should give you a fantastic view. You can always mess around with Barlows to find your ideal mag.

How about this, if you could stretch your budget? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescopes-in-stock/starfield-102mm-f7-ed-doublet-refractor.html Give you a whole lot more aperture, good quality optics and still come in under the AZ-Gti's weight limit.😉

Could do, Mike, could do.....but the biggest problems are its lack of brakes and narrow track. Think I'll stick with the static version....😄

Very true....

Just to throw another filter into the range of options, I have just bought a Baader Contrast Booster specifically for planetary work. It's an interesting one: I was expecting a dimming or colour change, but that just didn't happen on Jupiter. There was a subtle but marked increase in detail. I haven't used it on Saturn or Mars yet. All you people complaining about Jupiter being too bright, remember it's at its closest to us for 70-odd years. Consider yourselves lucky! 😄 No doubt in a few years, people will be complaining that it's too dim.....

There shouldn't be any CA as your scope's a reflector......😉

Also a good idea....if the bottles are identical. If you then drink both of them, you'll stop caring whether your collimator is correct! 😉😄

The mobile version: Warning! This is not quite as stable! 😄

How's that?

For interest, mine turned out to be exactly right! 👍 Spot on, you might say....😉

Do you doubt the accuracy of your laser collimator? Are your woodworking skills as bad as mine? Instead of measuring and cutting bits of wood, why not use Lego? 😄 It's an ideal substance as it's absolutely uniform. Here's my test bed: The V-shaped bricks allow the tube to settle at exactly the same height and make it easy to turn. For anyone unfamiliar with the process, aim the laser at a distant white wall and rotate it in the jig. If the spot doesn't move, it's collimated. If the spot rotates too, it needs adjusting with the little screws. Simples! 😉

Good buy. I love my Morph 12.5.

A word of warning, though. All the EPs so far mentioned have been comparatively cheap (but good). Once you've looked through a good-quality wide FOV EP, like a Baader Morpheus, an ES 82 / 100°, a Pentax XW or some of the Televue range, you'll be hooked. It's then a very slippery slope and your bank balance will suffer.....

+1 for the Vixen NPLs, at least at longer focal lengths (the eye relief gets a bit tight below the 11 mil). They're sharp and very cheap! Their only problem, which they share with other Plossls, is a narrow FOV (50°). People nowadays want a wider view. There are many companies making EPs with 70°+, at a price of course. 'Goldlines' are a cheap Chinese range of EPs under various names which do the job for little money, though I think the NPLs and BST Starguiders are much better.

That sort of thing, yes. Careful, though, some of them are still pretty heavy. Sorry, but you can't access that yet - you need a minimum number of posts (I think it's 50) and a minimum time as a member. It's just to reduce the chances of scammers coming here to make a quick buck.

@Ivan has it right. The perfect scope for everything hasn't been invented. One for visual and one for imaging is a good compromise.

They're great in both my F/5 Heritage 150p and my SL 8" F/6 dob, too....

You're of course quite right on all counts. The Ritchey-Chretian 8" that I suggested before may solve some of those problems: at F/8 it isn't so bad for FOV, shouldn't need an FF/FR and has a fixed primary, so mirror shift wouldn't be an issue.

Sorry to say, you're a bit between a rock and a hard place if you want a wide-field scope that will materially improve on your 150p, be portable and good for both visual and imaging of all targets....😄 The only option would be a very very good ( = expensive) refractor with a tracking mount - a large Takahashi et al. At this point, I bow out, as I know much less than others here about fracs. 😉

Have you a preference for particular targets? The F/8 RC StellaLyra seems to be a good all-rounder for this type of scope, but if your particularly interested in lunar/planets, the F/12 Classical Cassegrain might be a better option: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellalyra-telescopes/stellalyra-8-f12-m-lrs-classical-cassegrain-telescope-ota.html Do be aware that both would give you a narrower FOV than you're used to with your dob. By the way, my 8" is significantly better than the Heritage, especially because of the light-gathering capacity and the focuser.

Yes, my other dob is the 8" StellaLyra version and it's excellent. I'd say I wouldn't want to go any larger if like me, you have to carry it out into the garden and back every time. I don't know about go-to dobs for AP, though they may well be fine. You'd certainly have a problem with field rotation as the mount would be alt/az.