Your View, My Eyepiece

[Charic]

Almost there with my choices, but Im sure its gonna change again soon?

I fancy the following...

1.25" 9 mm 58°Degree TMB Planetary II (will possibly be the BO/TMB variant)

1.25" 30 mm (GSO SuperView) @ 2" might have to change that option,  trying to stick with 1.25" fittings

There are many clones!

BST Starguiders seem to get a good reference, for their price, Im also favouring Meade 5000`s over the harder to get Meade 4000`s (Japan) variants, and finally, Tele Vue Plossls, they have  a good reports, but maybe the above can better the Plossls ( Ive not had chance to test)
I think my budget is <£50 per eyepiece, and Im also going to order the Next Gen Laser Collimator soon ( I`m happy with my 35mm film cap effort, got the scope looking good, optically, but dismantled, into car, bumpy tracks to sites, I`m gonna need a laser to assist with reach and adjustment, especially if im alone. I dont want to be back and forth between adjustment and ocular. Just adjust from the rear and watch the laser dot) I`m aware my £50 wont cover the TVs?

So as you can see, Im still not there yet. Maybe I should sell the scope! Ive never had this much frustration upgrading photographic or Computer components?

[Charic]

First decision and first lens ordered  1.25" 8mm BST Explorer Dual ED eyepiece Branded "Starguider"   as a tester, and if ok, will purchase some more in the brand. I`d researched Explore Scientific, Vixen, Meade, Skywatcher TeleVue and Baader hyperions, but in the end settled for the BST.  Ive also ordered the "Next Generation Laser Collimator for Refractor & Reflector telescopes"

[Charic]

So My Collimator and new lens arrived today. I inserted the laser into the focuser, locked everything down( tried to apply electrical tape to barrel to prevent any slop, but was too tight)  and.........well out of alignment, yet last time I looked at the Stars, I thought I`d found perfection with my manual adjustments. But before adjusting the scope I  tested the lasers alignment, and noticed it was drawing a small circle at distance of about 2 feet. I then set about making a collimator stand using  PVC pipe connectors, and was able to correct the lasers alignment using only "two" of the Alan adjusters. The third adjuster  doesnt want to adjust anything, or so it seems? but I was still able to align the laser dot at 9 feet to an almost perfect dot without any circular travel during rotation, happy. So back in the telescope and things look better this time, but I feel I should still play with the setup and adjust a little more. After tweaking the secondary mirror to get the laser dead-centre on the primary`s centre spot, I then Barlowed the laser, and found it very easy to centre the primary`s centre spot image over the reticule. Job done. So much easier to adjust solo, without the help of someone else, or going "to and fro" from adjustment to eyepiece.

Now the lens. What a beast, 7 ounces on my scales, but alas the clouds are heavy and overcast tonight, so will have to wait for a clear night before I can assess its quality over the old Super 10mm its to replace.

[Charic]

I managed to get a peek through the clouds early this morning testing my BST 8mm eyepiece.
Firstly the Moon, although viewed through clouds, showed brilliant detail, I was very  impressed. The clouds helped to reduce the Moons brightness, but I was still left blinded in my right eye for a while. Must get a Moon filter! Then I managed to get the next brightest thing to pop through the clouds. Wow! Jupiter,  and clearly able to see the cloud belts, truly amazing, never seen so much detail in my lifetime till now! Im sure it will look better on a darker night with better seeing conditions. As for the lens itself. I dont like the eyelens cap, It doesnt really cap the eyepiece, more like rests on the eyepiece. Im sure it only sits there due to the softness of the two materials and their tackiness? Secondly, I`d prefer a bit more eye relief, seems my lashes/lids were in contact the the rubber eyecup. I cannot find specification for this lense, but a similar branded lens says...It has a usable eye relief of 13mm, excellent for an eyepiece in this focal length range. Combined with the twist-up eyecup design.... Well two things here, it feels less than 13mm of relief, and the eyecup does not have any mechanism that involves raising the eyecup like unscrewing a jam jar lid? There are no vanes or threads(if you know what I mean) The barrel is smooth and so is the inside of the rubber eyecap, apart from a hairline indent on both faces. I can rotate the eyecap all night long, and it just goes round. You have to raise the eyecap by pulling rather than just physical rotation, although rotation with one hand while holding the lens by the ribbed collar seems the natural way to `lift` the eyecap, but its not on any guide rail?

The scope took about 40 mins to cool down to ambient. Its wiered, but pleasant, watching the thermal effects in an out of focus star test. But hoping for better weather soon. seems like Monday night will be better, so here`s hoping.