6.3 Reducer and 10mm luminos

[NosyTrader]

Hi all,

Just wanted to say that I used a reducer on my Nexstar Evo 8 for the first time last weekend. I bought it initially for imaging but I have to say that for DSO's I really, really enjoyed viewing with it.

I'm still pretty new to all things astronomy but I feel it really made a difference to my enjoyment. Some of the open clusters just looked magnificent!

I also used my new Celestron Luminos 10mm. So happy with this too and the combination of both was immense. I was also using my 40mm plossl. I'm tempted to upgrade this to a wider FOV eye piece after my experience with the luminos 10mm.

[Dave In Vermont]

Ah yes - a good focal-reducer that takes an F/10 (or F/8) SCT down to a F/6.3-ish can be a wonderous thing. It's like buying a whole new telescope - for around $100US! Good luck on your eyepiece-hunt. Another great plus+ for these scopes is they aren't picky about what eyepieces they'll work with - unlike those super-fast scopes that have become so popular.

Just beware of one trap: If a little's good - More is better? Due to this sort of thinking, many thought they'd buy a F/3.3 focal-reducer and then have 3 telescopes. It didn't work. It does photographically, but visually the stars all look like comets. The complaints came pouring in to the seller of the most popular F/3.3 reducer - Meade Instruments - that they took them off the market altogether. They should have just done some outreach to tell would-be buyers what works and what doesn't. Instead they stopped production.

I have one of the last ones before they vanished in the 'Used' marketplace.

Dave

[alan potts]

There is a limit as to what you can do with a focal reducer, I have one that I thought I could use on my 12 inch SC scope with a 2 inch 40mm eyepiece. I just thought I could load all the bits and pieces on and almost see my feet with the enlarged field of view, you can't.

I found and I am sure these are about your limits, with a 1.25 inch it is 32mm or 40mm as they show the same amount of sky but at different magnifications, the limit here is the field stop of the eyepiece.

With 2 inch eyepieces I found I could use the 28mm Meade series 5000, 68 dgree eyepiece without vignette or blackening at the edges if you like.

I also tried the 24mm Meade 82 degree eyepiece and this worked well too but the 26mm TV Nagler was too much and the edges were blackened . So the limit is around this area, I do not have a 30mm 68 degree eyepiece to try but the 34mm Meade SWA was too much again.

I now do not use it as I have found that there is nothing really to gain visually between a 2 inch size 28mm eyepiece with reducer and 40mm without, apart from different power.

Alan

hope this helps you a little

[jetstream]

Congrats! the 10mm Luminos works well I find, they are a nice eyepiece.

[Dave In Vermont]

I figure I'll toss this Pdf. out in case you're interested in the way focal-reducers can be employed photgraphically. Written around the MallinCam, the principles of spacing and distance apply across the board:

http://www.mallincam.net/uploads/2/6/9/1/26913006/focal_reduction_for_dummies.pdf

It's a fun read - not a technical-journal requiring an Oxford Dictionary and bottle of aspirin.

Dave

[NosyTrader]

Thanks for your comment guys and thanks for sharing the PDF Dave. Much appreciated!