cajen2

The Orion looks like a good piece of kit. Advantage over the Heritage: normal rack and pinion focuser. Disadvantages: more expensive even than a full-sized 6 or 8", and bulkier to store or carry. If the second-hand one is in excellent nick, go for it.

My point precisely. "IF the manufacturer quotes the eye relief correctly..."

I'm sure you're right - all I can say is there's plenty of ER for me and I sometimes wear glasses. What concerns me more is that quoted ER in manufacturers' official specs is very often the distance above the lens, not above the eyecup.

Sigh. I sit at the eyepiece, using an adjustable stool. Here: I have no idea if it'll fit in an MX -5 boot but I wouldn't be surprised.

I believe the Zhumell is the same as the (U.S.) Orion, which here is the StellaLyra, all made by GSO. They differ only in the accessories they come with. So I have the same scope (SL) and you're right: it's excellent.

The manual can be put on a mount/tripod: it has a Vixen dovetail. You're right about the focuser on the solid-tube 150, but with the AZ4, it's £410 v. the £249 for the manual Flextube. Much cheaper and more useful to go for the Virtuoso go-to version. You don't need to make anything to put the Heritage on: as I said before, mine's quite happy on a solid stool.

Funny for me, as my 8" lives under the stairs! It's often under the stars too, mind....

If you like the Hyperion, you'd love a Morpheus! Another 8° FOV, even sharper stars and no edge of field aberrations, whatever the focal length. When I first started out with an f/5 scope, I was warned off the Hyperions too. Interesting to see it works for you at f/6.

I believe you're just waiting for the parrot and tricorne hat to complete the ensemble, Mike? 😉

The StellaLyra already comes with a RACI finder, Mike. The setting circle and angle gauge are a good shout if you have the patience! 😄 Mike lives in a very humid area, so try a few nights out first before shelling out on a complete dew heater system. I have the 8" SL and don't have many dew problems.

As usual, it depends how much you can spend. The cheapest option is definitely a 2x barlow, which with the BST would give you about 188x magnification - good for planets and double stars if the seeing is good enough. On the 25mil, you'll get 30x, good for wide field and finding stuff, and Barlowed, 60x. I'll pass over the 10mil freebie in silence!😄 Personally, I rarely use my barlow as I prefer fixed-length EPs, but that can also come later.

As I said, I have both types of scope. If you decide you can't transport the 8" safely or easily, yes, return it and get the 150p. I don't think you'd be disappointed with how good it is. Then maybe later, when you've finished your studies, you could go for something like the 8". That's the order I bought both my scopes, and I never get disappointed with using 'only' the 150p.

If the poor guy could afford a mount and tripod, he could afford the Heritage. Come on folks, be real here and help him out without his having to spend more. There's nothing wrong with the Heritage and its mount.

I have a small wooden three-legged stool (more stable than four legs). Other people use storage boxes, water butt stands, all sorts. It just needs to be 100% stable. To me, the difference is that the 150p makes an ideal grab & go scope, while the 8" can quite possibly be all the scope that I'd want. I have no chance to store anything larger.

Blurry? No, not at all. For planetary viewing, the only difference is that you need shorter focal length eyepieces to give a similar magnification to the 8" (or a good Barlow). So both scopes give excellent images. The 8" will give you more at extreme faintness, so a faint nebula/galaxy in the 8" may be hardly visible in the 6". However, the headline stuff like the Orion nebulae, Pleiades, etc are wonderful in both.

You always were weird, Mike! 😉😄😄 Any number of manufacturers use the same system: it gives fine control of the eye relief.

Perhaps I can help, as I own both types of scope: the Heritage 150p and the equivalent of your 8" dob, a StellaLyra 8". I completely understand your problems with the larger dob in a small car. I bought an Oplong carrying bag to protect it while transporting it but it's in a van. I use the 150p for exactly this reason: it's small and portable enough to carry in one hand (so it would sit on your passenger seat with its seatbelt quite happily). Optically, it's excellent but of course you are losing some aperture and thus some light-gathering capacity. Any chance you could buy both scopes? The 8" for the best possible views from home and the 6" for easy transport. That's what I do....

The eye relief is 20mm. Even taking the slight recess of the top lens into account (which EP manufacturers strangely often don't 😉) it's well long enough even for glasses wearers - I estimate about 17mil. The 'screw on end cap' is a normal screw up and down eyecap, which Mike doesn't like for some reason!🤣

These EPs have been replaced by the Luminos range, I believe? Are they as good? Anyone wanting a wide FOV 20ish mm 2" EP should also consider the StellaLyra (= Orion = Long Perng) 80°LER/UWA . I have one and it's one of my favourite EPs. Because it's 80°, it has almost exactly the same FOV as my 30mm Vixen NPL - the EP I used to start every session as a finder. Of course, the SL has more mag and is thus more versatile. Stars are pinpoints across the whole field and contrast is excellent.

My Pentax XWs (14 and 5mm) are very very good. My Morpheus are excellent! If anyone out there isn't getting on with their Morphs and want to do a straight swap, I'd do it in a heartbeat (14 and 4.5mm).

Pentax £279, Morpheus £237, Delos £349.

Hmm. Pentax prices especially are much higher here.

It depends how you compare them. I have two Pentax XWs, which are fine EPs, but my Morphs are better and cheaper.

Don't have that problem! 😄

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