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When The Ethos Beckons...


iPeace

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As I approached the front door, looking through the glass I noticed movement in the darkened hallway. The door opened, and my host said quietly: "The kids are asleep, so I wanted to keep you from ringing the doorbell. Come in." I tiptoed after him into the main room of the neatly-appointed dwelling.

The mistress of the house was seated at the dining table, and we made our introductions and exchanged pleasantries. "I very nearly missed your advert completely", I ventured, politely coming to business. "I was sorry to see that you had already sold your 13mm Ethos, but I'm glad that you still have the 8mm." The cash I had withdrawn was already blinking its eyes in preparation for the glare of blinding light it would endure upon removal from my wallet. "Ah," came the reply, "unfortunately that deal fell through. I still have the 13mm, if you're interested".

...

The eyepiece case was opened, and there they were, separated from each other only by a 10mm sibling. "You've caught me quite unprepared" I temporized. Thank Chas Messier for online banking. Having read so many accounts of the 13mm Ethos being your Desert Island Eyepiece, I was resolved to find out what all the fuss was about. And so it happened.

The local viewing conditions tonight were somewhat marginal - hazy, with some parts of the sky clouded out completely. But what the Halley, I had to try them out!

Luna had drawn its own bright, fuzzy halo about its nearly half-illuminated face. I selected the 17mm Ethos first - when comparing, start with what you know - and the view was, as always, great - hazy as it was. Then, the 13mm...

It was everything the 17mm was, only more so. Given the conditions, Jupiter was the only other target worth aiming for, and just happened to be in a somewhat clear part of our sky. Wow...

Time for the 8mm. "It's about time you gave me one of those" scope said. "Take a look." Observing Jupiter had just become a leisurely pastime, the expansive FOV offering plenty of time to look, see and enjoy before it was time to give the scope another nudge. And the clarity, the sharpness...

Back to the Moon. The 8mm drew our satellite in as far as I could imagine was possible, whilst keeping the entire disk (almost?) in view.

"Told you." Yes, scope, I thought. Must seek to upgrade the higher-mag EPs.

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Cash in the bank!! And a hugely entertaining write up. Who would have done anything else in your situation?

Enjoy.

BTW - A curse on Derek (DRT)! I had the misfortune to be pitched next to him last weekend. "Come and have a look at this" he called. Jupiter at about 200x floated crystal clear in the Ethos eyepiece with an eternity between nudges! Previously, I didn't mind nudging in much the same way that I couldn't see the point in TV remote controls....... Until I tried one....

Fortunately Derek is exceptionally good company so I bare him no ill will. 

Looking on the bright side. I already have the 21mm Ethos. So the others will seem cheap (gulp) by comparison.?

Paul

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Nice write up. I have looked through Olly's Ethos 13mm. Very sharp indeed, although conditions didn't show much difference between the Ethos 13 and my Nagler 12T4 (I almost wrote "humble Nagler 12T4", that's weird). Comfort-wise the 12T4 won by a sufficient margin that my bank account was safe(ish, I have a serious solar H-alpha/ Ca-K addiction that keeps cash levels low ;)).  If they had been able to add just one mm of eye relief, my EP case would probably look very different now.

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A really nice story, I like it. I have a few Ethos'sssss going from 21mm down to 6mm, I have always wanted the 4.7mm as well but John sort of talked me out of buying one then he bought one after not being sure for a good while. I personally find all of them as good as each other as i use them in my slack handful of telescopes, they all bring something to the table over and above others that I own, I think if I only had one type of eyepiece they would be my choice, I don't see how you can go wrong.

 

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3 hours ago, estwing said:

just need to powermate them now....:headbang:

That would certainly dash any remaining glimmer of hope of me appearing to be a Gentleman Observer...not that anyone cares, least of all me :happy11:. Still haven't gotten used to the idea of swinging the Almighty Baseball Bat around. If I can do without, I'll probably leave out the Powermate in favour of a couple more eyepieces which give me the extra mag - with the extra FOV - upon which, I suppose, I may be sorted? Surely not?

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11 hours ago, Paul73 said:

Looking on the bright side. I already have the 21mm Ethos. So the others will seem cheap (gulp) by comparison.

Ah, yes...that definitely lowers the mental threshold. And they are so very nice...

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18 minutes ago, iPeace said:

That would certainly dash any remaining glimmer of hope of me appearing to be a Gentleman Observer...not that anyone cares, least of all me :happy11:. Still haven't gotten used to the idea of swinging the Almighty Baseball Bat around. If I can do without, I'll probably leave out the Powermate in favour of a couple more eyepieces which give me the extra mag - with the extra FOV - upon which, I suppose, I may be sorted? Surely not?

adding the powermate to the chain doesnt affect the FOV  like a barlow does. You insert the 13 E in the powermate 2" x2 it becomes a 6.5 Ethos...and whats not to like about that?!!

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Just now, estwing said:

adding the powermate to the chain doesnt affect the FOV  like a barlow does. You insert the 13 E in the powermate 2" x2 it becomes a 6.5 Ethos...and whats not to like about that?!!

Agreed - it's just that it adds so much extra height between the diagonal and the eyeguard (baseball bat)...as I've stated elsewhere, I'm worried I'll lose track of which end of the assembly I'm supposed to look through...:happy8:

Aesthetics aside, I do appreciate what a Powermate does for one's eyepiece collection, so I'm not set against using one - I'm just not sure I'll need one once I get a 6mm Ethos and a 4.7mm Ethos :icon_biggrin:

However, if my thoughts are leading me in the direction of a huge mistake, anyone who wishes to comment will have my full attention. :smiley:

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3 minutes ago, estwing said:

how much is a powermate?...how much is a 6mm ethos...buy a 10mm ethos the powermate almost gives you a 4.7 ethos...

I wouldn't want to run out of gear to spend on so soon... please forgive me, I'm still high from acquiring two Ethos EPs when I thought it would be just the one :happy11:.

A Powermate is definitely the economically sound option. It's never too late to get one, I suppose...

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Entertaining write up ;)

Congrats on the EPs- that's a lovely set of focal lengths you have now - enjoy.  I had talked myself out of buying a first Ethos, deciding to go for a well priced 9mm Nagler, but haven't pulled the trigger yet: tempted still... The problem is buying one could lead to a dangerous cascade effect of wanting to replace my small EP collection.

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3 hours ago, estwing said:

adding the powermate to the chain doesnt affect the FOV  like a barlow does. You insert the 13 E in the powermate 2" x2 it becomes a 6.5 Ethos...and whats not to like about that?!!

I agree that a 2x Powermate makes sense. It gives me a set of 1.85mm, 2.35mm, 3mm, 3.7mm, 4mm, 4.7mm, 5mm, 6mm, 6.5mm, 8mm, 8.5mm, 10mm, 10.5mm, 13mm, 17mm and 21mm Ethoi :cool2:

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