Have To Face The Facts. It could be a lot worse.

[TJExcalibur]

Getting headaches after 20 minutes of viewing with breaks to rest my eyes. So the optician advises me to resist using my telescope for night time viewing. I only have one good eye since birth and at 74 he tells me I have eye sensitivity with eye fatigue. Even TV and computer is restricted with a 10 minute break every hour. I down sized my kit due to its weight and got a C8 with a Sabre mount. Only used it once. I am still OK for the occasional terrestrial viewing. Remember, Look after your eyes, they are the best telescope ever.

[Uplooker]

Sorry to hear of your maladies. I hope things improve.

Good advice.

[Knighty2112]

Hope things improve for your eyesight.  

[Pippy]

27 minutes ago, TJExcalibur said:

Remember, Look after your eyes, they are the best telescope ever.

Ever ever ever !!!

[Pete Presland]

Excellent piece of advice, the MK1 eyeball is an unsurpassed optical aid.

[Linda]

I'm so sorry to hear this.

I hope you can entertain yourself with listening to the radio/podcasts/sound books/TED conferences, etc. Stuff that you don't need your eyes for.

 

[TJExcalibur]

Thanks for the good wishes. Yes it is not good news but I am still able to use my Olivon spotting scope so maybe I can spend some money on something a bit bigger and better. The problem is Swimbo likes viewing the planets and it is not very good for that. Plus it will always be me that sets it up for her so maybe something that is reasonable for both.

Now to list what I need to sell aka how to lose money fast, just like selling a car that is only a few months old.

[Davesellars]

Really sorry to hear this Tj.  After only one use of the C8 aswell...   Is there anything else than can be done to alleviate eye fatigue for astronomical use i.e, more comfortable eyepiece with good eye relief or only stick to long focal lengths?  Do you get the same problem while viewing bright objects or while straining to see much fainter ones? 

[AKB]

Could you use an eyepiece camera? Something like Starlight Xpress Lodestar or Ultrastar? With  Paul Shears' excellent 'Starlight Live' software you can get pretty impressive views in short order... things that anyone would struggle to see with a regular eyepiece.  Might bring a new dimension to the hobby?

 

[DaveS]

Might be worth checking the Video Astronomy forum?

Not the same as using an eyepiece and seeing things directly, but if it allows you to still pursue the hobby it might be worth checking out.

[ronin]

Eye fatigue tends to be caused by us using things a bit wrong, by rights the eye should be at rest when viewing so there should be no "strain" on the eye. Just a thought that maybe you are forcing or rather making the eye "focus" when you need to relax the eye then alter the focuser. I know people sometimes do this as I have a -4 prescription but half the time I set my scope up withoput my glasses on. Then someone looks through it and say they have no problem with the view. They must have or they are making their eye focus in compensation. Suppose they could be too polite to say they can see just a blurred image.

Another question is how long do you tend to look through the eyepiece for at one viewing? I seem to peer through an eyepiece for fairly short periods. When I see others using my scope and standing there for minutes I get to wondering what is so entrancing. Also when you view for a short time you end up looking around more and so the eye gets sort of "exercised" more and is not doing one thing.

A C8 is an SCT and will produce higher magnifications but that means a small exit pupil, is the exit pupil a problem/cause? Could you borrow say a 100mm f/7(ish) refractor and see if the same occurs.

A webcam to a laptop, well a notebook might be aless weighty option. A used notebook is around £100 and then a camera of some species should be fair. Assumes if you want to give it a go, it all costs to set up. However it seems that a fair few people are interested in this aspect.

 

[TJExcalibur]

7 hours ago, Davesellars said:

Really sorry to hear this Tj.  After only one use of the C8 aswell...   Is there anything else than can be done to alleviate eye fatigue for astronomical use i.e, more comfortable eyepiece with good eye relief or only stick to long focal lengths?  Do you get the same problem while viewing bright objects or while straining to see much fainter ones? 

Had a problem with the CPC 925 but put it to one side. It is focusing in one spot at close range as an eyepiece is. Even focusing on a spot in the night sky without a scope whatever I look at drifts off and i have to refocus. Not to worry I still have a few teeth left and a mop of hair. 

[TJExcalibur]

1 hour ago, ronin said:

Eye fatigue tends to be caused by us using things a bit wrong, by rights the eye should be at rest when viewing so there should be no "strain" on the eye. Just a thought that maybe you are forcing or rather making the eye "focus" when you need to relax the eye then alter the focuser. I know people sometimes do this as I have a -4 prescription but half the time I set my scope up withoput my glasses on. Then someone looks through it and say they have no problem with the view. They must have or they are making their eye focus in compensation. Suppose they could be too polite to say they can see just a blurred image.

Another question is how long do you tend to look through the eyepiece for at one viewing? I seem to peer through an eyepiece for fairly short periods. When I see others using my scope and standing there for minutes I get to wondering what is so entrancing. Also when you view for a short time you end up looking around more and so the eye gets sort of "exercised" more and is not doing one thing.

A C8 is an SCT and will produce higher magnifications but that means a small exit pupil, is the exit pupil a problem/cause? Could you borrow say a 100mm f/7(ish) refractor and see if the same occurs.

A webcam to a laptop, well a notebook might be aless weighty option. A used notebook is around £100 and then a camera of some species should be fair. Assumes if you want to give it a go, it all costs to set up. However it seems that a fair few people are interested in this aspect.

 

Not sure but I find it is the same with my Olivon spotting scope in the dark. No problems in the day light. 

[Stub Mandrel]

What about trying video astronomy?