Eyepiece Turrets

[emadmoussa]

John, save your money, but fit a sliding bar and weight system, then if you change from say an ortho to heavy ep such as a televue, just slide weight forward

Would be very interested to see what this looks like and performs...

[F15Rules]

Hi John,

I've only just come across this thread, so would like to offer a few belated thoughts ..

Turrets: I have used Unitron and AE Optics turrets and enjoyed using them - IF the eyepieces are parfocal (or almost parfocal). It's great to be able to just move the turret round and vary the magnification significantly with minimum adjustments. If you have a set of parfocal-ish eps such as BGOs or the new Lyra Fujiyama Orthos (I believe the Hutech equivalents are not parfocal), these would be ideal. 

The other important factor I believe is weight. The orthos and some plossls are fine as they aren't too weighty. Others such as the big widefield TVs are very large and heavy and also at much higher risk of costly accidents! Using orthos on your big long refractor would seem to me to be an ideal combination, and the other benefit of course is that in cold winters nights you can swap magnifications easily in the dark without risking knocking your eps off the accessory tray or having to take your gloves off!

The AE Optics turret is no longer made but they do come up for sale used every now and then for around £60-£70..I think I paid £65 for mine (sadly I don't have it now). In another thread I discussed the benefits of the compression ring securing system of the Takahashi Prism Diagonal and I think one of these would be superb for holding your turret safe and secure. I thought the AE turret was very well made and of good quality. The Unitron was superbly engineered for 4 0.965" eps and one single 2" 40mm ep - quite a difference in weight.. when you think these were only secured by a slip fit on the eyepiece holder, it's a testament to the quality of the engineering of the time. I used my turret for several years with no mishaps at all and dearly wish I still had it (I could have used 0.965" to 1.25" adapters in it to use modern eps). It was called the Unihex and was a lovely piece of kit.

If you look at the zoom route, I'd heartily recommend the Baader MK III zoom and barlow. The barlow is the best I've ever used and the zoom itself is of very nice quality - it also comes with 2" and 1.25" barrels so is very versatile. I hear that the Pentax zoom and Nagler zooms are also very good, but I've not had first hand experience.

Speaking personally, I'd pursue the turret route and the Baader Classic Q model might just fit the bill for the kind of eps mentioned above?

Good luck whatever route you decide to take 

Dave

[John]

Thanks Dave and the others for the further thoughts on this.

My thinking would be to use small light, par focal eyepieces with a turret so something like TV plossls or HD orthos of a suitable brand.

Good to hear some really positive feedback on the Baader Zoom and the matching barlow too as that might be a good solution as well. I have owned one of the Mk 2's but I used that almost exclusively with the PST I owned at the time. I do recall using it on Jupiter once with a refractor and being impressed with the views despite my usual reservations about zooms.

[emadmoussa]

Thanks Dave and the others for the further thoughts on this.

My thinking would be to use small light, par focal eyepieces with a turret so something like TV plossls or HD orthos of a suitable brand.

Good to hear some really positive feedback on the Baader Zoom and the matching barlow too as that might be a good solution as well. I have owned one of the Mk 2's but I used that almost exclusively with the PST I owned at the time. I do recall using it on Jupiter once with a refractor and being impressed with the views despite my usual reservations about zooms.

Go for it. If you are willing to ignore the little claustrophobic 24mm bit, then it is all right. On a slow scope like yours it should work absolutely fine. It is one of my eyepieces that I can see myself keeping forever.. well..hopefully forever