Panoptic 41mm and Meades 40mm SWA

[AlexB67]

   I wonder how many of those tv plossls you can stack up before you reach the height of that baseball bat. That is HUGE indeed.  Makes me think twice if I did get a 2 inch powermate somewhere down the line to use them with a 2 inch eyepiece. I think there is even an ES 3 inch, but at that rate the eyepiece and a barlow for that, we are talking telescope size eyepiece solutions.

[alan potts]

That I could use from inside the kitchen with the window open, even with the work surface in the way.

Don't we do some funny things. I guess it would be OK in the Moonlite of the Feathertouch but I wouldn't trust it in the others. In fact If I were to put that or similar in the M/N 190 I would need a mount upgrade for sure.

Alan

[Joves]

Hmmm... I think I may have not paid quite as much thought to my plan as I probably should have. I did consider the size of the eyepiece and Powermate together, but.... HOLY MOLY... That's ridiculous!

Ok, looks like I should just stick to dedicated FL EP's and forget the Barlow/Powermate.

Thanks for the reply, Alan. Made sense. I'm leaning toward just completing the Ethos set, after having considered the above great advice. Just quickly, aside from cost, is there a benefit to shooting for the 6mm and 8mm Delos over the same FL eyepieces in the Ethos range? I'm thinking, if I'm swaying away from the Barlowing scenario (which clearly I'm going to have to) then I'll probably just get the 3.7mm instead of the 4.7mm, allowing for 130x, rather than only the 102x.

[alan potts]

Joves,

I have the 6mm Ethos and I had the 6mm Delos before it got smashed, which was rather careless of me to say the least. Late this year I will have the two 6mm's together and I will do a repoert. From memory is never good but I did prefer the Delos 6mm but that is just me. With having with having 6 scopes I like the Delos in more of them than the Ethos, at this focal length 6mm is not a great deal of use in the Mak and the LX. I have the 8mm Ethos as well and I can use that in the LX, it was the eyepiece that I saw the centre star of the Ring Nebular with.

As much as I would like the 4.7mm Ethos it just seems, as with you, a great deal to spend to use with just the one scope, or in my case two scopes.

People have writen reviews saying the Delos range can see just that little bit deeper the Ethos range but I have not so far been able to confirm this. I tend to think the massive FOV that is offered by the lower Ethos eyepieces is just a little wasted and there are a good few that agree. However Joves if money grows on trees in the garden and I have planted enough coins, must be the soil, buy the 4.7mm and the 3.7mm, I am sure they will be fantasic eyepieces. I will buy the 4.7mm one day, just not today. 

If you were the owner of a Dobsonian I may well think different but yours is a driven scope much the same as mine and in the LX I find the Delos and even Radians offer plenty and have a flat FOV.

Alan.

[Joves]

Great explanation, thanks Alan. Makes all the sense in the world and your advice is greatly appreciated. As you say, money doesn't grow on trees... And, to be honest, I never ever thought I'd spend more on eyepieces than the telescopes they are used in. I guess it's just one of those things whereby I figure that if I get the best I can afford now, I'll not have to think about it again in this lifetime... Wishful thinking, I know... The next better thing is always only ever just around the corner.

The greatest thing I'm thinking of now is size and portability. Which throws the lower power (smaller size and lower weight) Naglers into the mix. These would purely be purchased as 1.25" lighter "companions" to their heftier 2" counterparts. Wow, this eyepiece choosing gig is a lot tougher than I ever gave it credit for... Thank god I'm happy enough only considering the one particular brand... I'd be completely buggered otherwise!

On another (lighter and more enjoyable note) I managed to give my 13mm Ethos it's first run last night. What a magnificent eyepiece. Easily my favorite, so far. Seems the perfect combination of mag and FOV. I only managed to have it out (amongst the mosquito's) for about an hour, but am extremely happy with what I saw. Was using it in the TV-76 and managed to view a number of nice enough objects, but finished up on ol' trusty, M42... WOW... It was perfectly framed in the EP and the detail/contrast was amazing. What set it off was the inclusion of a number of beautiful stars included in the periphery of the FOV. I must say, I've never taken note of just how rich the star fields surrounding M42 are, prior to having it captured in the same FOV of the object itself. Made the observation more about the entire scene, rather than simply the nebula itself (which was absolutely stunning, I might add!). I should also point out that, after observing without a filter for about 20 minutes, I attached the Astronomik UHC 2", which darkened the sky to an almost jet black and almost doubled the visibility of M42. Sure, it took away a little bit of the impressiveness of a few fainter nearby stars, but it certainly turned the view into the "M42 Show"!

Such a beautiful eyepiece... I can't wait to get to look into it again. Oh, and manually scanning the skies with Sky Tour on the Gibraltar mount was such fun. Total setup time = 20 seconds. Total time under the stars=about an hour and a half. Amazing how getting some decent quality eyepieces can remind you of the joys of visual astronomy and that every session need not be an arduous task involving power supplies, video cameras, focal reducers, go-to controllers and the like...

[alan potts]

Joves,

A very nice report in itself, not had a scope on M42 yet this year. I got up very early one morning some time back doing another review but it was mainly for M45. I see you have a mosquito problem as well, my blood type it high on their dining out list.

Good luck,

Alan