cajen2

Interesting! So that's what happened to the StellaLyra 6"! Good idea to have a lower-spec range to appeal to the financially disadvantaged and beginners. Good to know that the optics are the same as the SL range too. I wonder what I'd have chosen if they'd been available when I bought my SL 8".....

Great bit of work, Robin.

Yes, all I can say is that I'm extremely impressed with the 20mm 80° version that I tested. https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/392135-stellalyra-80°-20mm-2-eyepiece-first-light-report/

Wow - an off-road version! 😄

Nice and organised. I have only one case but it's packed solid with EPs!

I know you (, @Mike Qinterested in buying one and assures me that the Orion brand one (USA) is identical. I hope you're right as I'd hate for someone to be disappointed.

^^^ @OK Apricot and @bosun21, you asked for a second look.....

Ok, report number 2 on the StellaLyra 80° 20mm EP. I had the chance to have an extended view tonight but chose relatively few targets. As I said before, there's no point in evaluating an 80° 20mm EP on its ability to split, say, Sirius...🤔😄so I looked for something which would suit its qualities. I came up with the open cluster M41 in Canis Major. The SL gives 60x mag in my scope, and the cluster is interesting, with a wide range of star types and magnitudes. I loved once again the huge FOV and looking 'into the corners' to spot stars right at the edge of the stop. In view of recent posts on Newtonian / EP coma, I was careful to check for that, but the EP is so well corrected that stars at the edge of the FOV were indistinguishable from those on axis. I double checked this with the Pleiades. If ever a target was made for an eyepiece, this was it! Superb view. Had a look around a few more targets, like Ursa Major and Cassiopeia, but I was getting frozen by now so packed up. Ok, so this EP is not a famous name, but if it had been made by one of the top-reputation companies, I honestly think everyone would be raving about it.

I think ants would be useful in astronomy. "I gave my new 50-ant apo its first light tonight using my 3-ant Baader EP, splitting a double with only 0.3 of an ant separation...."

Sounds crazy but try a large aquarium algae magnet. Both halves are padded and can be slid easily up and down the scope without scratching it.

Had any 'fun with astronomy' recently?

She was asking me to tell her which star it is (and we're 85 miles apart).....

Guiding my daughter through her first observation via WhatsApp.....when she can only see the moon and one star! 😄

I was hoping someone hated his Morpheus, so (s)he could sell it to me! 🤑

Do you need any form of spacer or extension with it, Mike?

It must take you two half an hour just to select the right EP for the job! 😛

These are made by GSO in Taiwan and marketed under various names: StellaLyra, Orion (USA), Zhumell and Levenhuk. They're all basically the same scope, though accessories can vary. Mine has the same spec as the one you're looking at, I think, except the SL has a rather better RACI finder. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellalyra-telescopes/stellalyra-8-f6-dobsonian.html

That looks to me to be identical to my StellaLyra 8". Available from FLO for a similar price. I'm extremely pleased with mine, if that holds any weight for you. It is 'genuinely good'!

But I'm old and poor.....!😄 Not strictly true, or I couldn't afford to have the hobby at all, but I do feel more than a twinge of envy when I read posts of people spending four- or even five-figure sums on astro gear.... But I'm not really sorry for myself....I have the chance of enjoying glimpses of the universe. 👍

My problem too..... The only thing is, by the time I see an EP that I want in the classifieds, it's been snapped up!

Which says a lot for the Vixen: £49 v the Panoptic at £323! 😱

I don't think you're alone on that one. Others have had negative reactions too, which is possibly why the SSW range seems to have been discontinued. I can recommend the Pentax XW 5mm, though - it would address all those problems.

I've always loved my Vixen NPL 30mm: it gets more use than any other EP in my case. I've briefly considered upgrading it because I had the feeling that anything that cheap can't be that wonderful, but I'm now sure that it can be improved on. Having tested the StellaLyra 80° 20mm, I realise what I've been missing on FOV. The problem is, it's four times the price! I also think I should be able to improve upon my 6mm Svbony and 8mm BST Starguider, but again, they're both very competent EPs and will cost a lot of money to upgrade. I've always fancied a Morpheus or two but they seem out of stock everywhere. Why aren't I rich? (Because I like astronomy, I suppose!) 🤔😄

That's right.. FLO gives an 'assembly manual' on their website but it's just a list of parts and an exploded diagram - no instructions. Having said that, I managed without difficulty and I'm not the world's most practical person.....

I thought the collimation on my SW Heritage Flextube was stable, but the SL seems far better.