Hello from the Laurentians, Quebec

[JamesM]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Clear skies

James

[steagathebeach]

Heya from Norway. We really didnt have any winter here, compared to previous years, and I`m one of those who really like those cold crisp winterdays.

Anyways I purchased a second hand Orion XT8i last week, and last night was the first proper test on moon and planets.

I only use the Baader Hyperion 8-24 zoom with the 2.25 barlow. Suits me fine, I dont care much for changing eyepieces all the time and

this combo gives me 50x - 336x.

The Hyperion Zoom, and the telescope, was very very good on Jupiter, Moon and Mars. Even a very very low Saturn

was an impressive sight, I finally managed to see the Cassini division and the "marble" surface on the planet itself.

 Zooming instead of changing eyepieces to find the best magnification increases my time of observing, which is why im out there in the first place.

However I have only compared it with stock eyepieces so I really dont know it performs compared to other quality eyepieces.

(And I must state that I am a total novice so I would not listen to my advice anyhow....)

But now I want to add a 32mm eyepiece wide field, so there you go, I`ve got the range of 3,5mm - 25mm well covered and I still want more.

Regards

Rune

Hi, i know i saw all winter Europe was bathing in warmth...lucky! I like winter too, hockey and skiing but it's nice to go to CUBA in february!

i considered a zoom eye piece, reviews on them were about 50/50. I ordered the 13mm Ethos to start and maybe next year perhaps a 30-40mm, or an 8mm Ethos i read is the way to go. I get pretty dark skies up here in the mountains, looking forward to the Ethos.

[Blind Pugh]

Welcome Rick and greetings from Tiree. I hope you enjoy the site as much as I do.

Richard

[sloz1664]

 Hi Rick and a warm welcome to the Lounge 

Steve

[todd8137]

Hi and welcome from me enjoy Sgl

Pat

[wookie1965]

A warm welcome to SGL

[Andrew INT]

Hello, and a warm welcome from South Lincolnshire!

Kind regards,

Andrew

[tony210]

Hi and welcome- Tony