What did the postman bring?

[Dantooine]

On 21/02/2021 at 19:39, HollyHound said:

I did... your APM 20 hooked me in, the Ethos 13 last week completely grabbed me and so the triumvirate of 21/13/8 beckons. Now, don't get me wrong, the APM 20 is superb, but I do see astigmatism in the outer edge of field (which I'm learning to use effectively now) and so the Ethos 21 is a logical step, then the 8 when it's back in stock. I'm also hedging against price rises from TeleVue, which I believe will happen quite soon and so the Ethos 21 increase would be an even larger rise as a percentage and make it close to a £1k eyepiece. So call it sensibly thinking ahead 🤔or madness... either works 🤣

It does mean, that after a short period of comparison... your APM 20 will be moving onto a new home with some other deserving home quite soon 👍 Which also offsets the price.... you may also note that I'm (finally) selling off some of the eyepieces I've experimented with and no longer use... you see how I'm trying to justify it to myself here... is it working 🤣

There will be some happy people out there as you will be moving on some fine optics. 

[Dantooine]

On 21/02/2021 at 18:29, Stardaze said:

I don't think I need the extra FOV from 5 down too. Have the XW 5 so just the 3.5 to add. Typically favour 20/13/8 for most things I enjoy at the moment. That could change I guess. 

Nobody need the fov from 5 down but it is sure nice to have👍

[Dantooine]

3 hours ago, HollyHound said:

Ok, the Ethos 21 is a big eyepiece... I knew that when ordering, but still a big old lump when seen for real 😮

Hopefully should give superb wide field views in the dob though 🤞

That does look good. Here’s my version of it 🤣

[HollyHound]

18 minutes ago, Dantooine said:

That does look good. Here’s my version of it 🤣

I’ve had a Nagler 13mm, it was a lovely eyepiece...only moved it on because at the time I wasn’t getting on with 82 degree FoV. I bet the view from that 22mm is lovely 👍

[Dantooine]

3 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

I’ve had a Nagler 13mm, it was a lovely eyepiece...only moved it on because at the time I wasn’t getting on with 82 degree FoV. I bet the view from that 22mm is lovely 👍

I find it similar in use to a Delos but wider. It’s the same weight as the APM 20 which is about my comfortable limit. I does sit very nicely above my 13e and when I get a chance for some real usage... well. I think it was a good choice with my telescope and my other eyepieces. 

[HollyHound]

33 minutes ago, Dantooine said:

There will be some happy people out there as you will be moving on some fine optics. 

The APM is a superb eyepiece and I’ll be glad for someone else to get enormous viewing pleasure from it 👍

I will be doing a comparison first, as I’m curious how close they are to each other in performance, particularly near the edge.

[HollyHound]

10 minutes ago, Dantooine said:

I find it similar in use to a Delos but wider. It’s the same weight as the APM 20 which is about my comfortable limit. I does sit very nicely above my 13e and when I get a chance for some real usage... well. I think it was a good choice with my telescope and my other eyepieces. 

Just had a look on Astronomy Tools... the Nagler 22mm has the same magnification and exit pupil as the Ethos 21, with only a slightly smaller FoV, so I think it fills the same role and I bet is a gorgeous view👍

I still have and love my Pentax XW30, which is significantly lighter and will remain in use with my other scopes, such as my StellaMira 80mm or StellaLyra 6”. Bizarrely it has exactly the same FoV as the Ethos 21, but of course with lower magnification and larger exit pupil (too large for the f/5 dob).

[Adam J]

9 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Why is it always the last one you try that fits? 🙄

 

Because after you find the one that fits...you stop trying lol. 

[johninderby]

Courier dropped this off early this morning. Suppose I’ll get round to opening it sometime today. 😁😁😁

[Saganite]

On 20/02/2021 at 19:52, laudropb said:

  a long focal length refractor and I have always liked the Vixen livery. 

I also love the Vixen livery John, and I was sorely tempted when I saw the ad.  A beautiful scope at a great price, congratulations !

[Basementboy]

27 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Courier dropped this off early this morning. Suppose I’ll get round to opening it sometime today. 😁😁😁

Where'd you buy this from, if you don't mind my asking?

[johninderby]

2 minutes ago, Basementboy said:

Where'd you buy this from, if you don't mind my asking?

From Astrograph. They are shipped from Italy to Astrogaph when you order. Prices are going up on Monday though. 😢

http://astrograph.net/epages/www_astrograph_net.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/www_astrograph_net/Products/AGTEC125F78

[Basementboy]

4 minutes ago, johninderby said:

From Astrograph. They are shipped from Italy to Astrogaph when you order. Prices are going up on Monday though. 😢

http://astrograph.net/epages/www_astrograph_net.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/www_astrograph_net/Products/AGTEC125F78

Nice. Any major delay crossing the Channel? And did you pay much in customs? 

[johninderby]

12 minutes ago, Basementboy said:

Nice. Any major delay crossing the Channel? And did you pay much in customs? 

Ordered on Sat 13th so not long. Astrograph is the importer so they handle all the paperwork and then ship it on. Price shown is the total you pay including delivery.

Scope is bench tested by Tecnosky before shipping then Astrograph checks it again including collimation.

Edited February 24, 2021 by johninderby

[johninderby]

Box opened. 🙂

Will start a new thread I think. “Tecnosky 125/975 F7.8 FPL-53 Doublet APO - First Look”

Edited February 24, 2021 by johninderby

[Dantooine]

13 hours ago, HollyHound said:

Just had a look on Astronomy Tools... the Nagler 22mm has the same magnification and exit pupil as the Ethos 21, with only a slightly smaller FoV, so I think it fills the same role and I bet is a gorgeous view👍

I still have and love my Pentax XW30, which is significantly lighter and will remain in use with my other scopes, such as my StellaMira 80mm or StellaLyra 6”. Bizarrely it has exactly the same FoV as the Ethos 21, but of course with lower magnification and larger exit pupil (too large for the f/5 dob).

The 22 nagler is same fov as 27 panoptic but with the darker sky that was my logic. 

[Commanderfish]

Heinously expensive!

I am lucky enough to have bought most of the Ethos range when they were much cheaper a few years ago due to exchange rates and often with 10pc off on those Astro Festival weekends. I never bought the 17mm as with my existing shorter scopes there wasnt a need for an EP between the 21 mm and the 13mm.

 

Now that I have an 8" CC as my main high mag scope, with an FL of 2436mm, the Ethos 17mm is very useful as it produces about x150. Otherwise my closest choices were x116 and x187.

[HollyHound]

55 minutes ago, Commanderfish said:

Heinously expensive!

Agreed, however I have a feeling that they will likely become more expensive still if other recent prices rises are applied to TeleVue too 🤞

Hence my reasoning for getting the 21 now 😬

57 minutes ago, Commanderfish said:

Now that I have an 8" CC as my main high mag scope, with an FL of 2436mm, the Ethos 17mm is very useful as it produces about x150. Otherwise my closest choices were x116 and x187.

Sounds like it will be ideal for this. I haven’t tried either of my Ethos in my CC6 or Mak yet, but interested to see how they perform 👍

[Commanderfish]

3 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

Agreed, however I have a feeling that they will likely become more expensive still if other recent prices rises are applied to TeleVue too 🤞

Hence my reasoning for getting the 21 now 😬

Sounds like it will be ideal for this. I haven’t tried either of my Ethos in my CC6 or Mak yet, but interested to see how they perform 👍

Yep the Ethos 21 and 13 are great in the CC6.

I think they are a very worthwhile investment, since I got my Ethos EPs I haven't felt that there was any other EP I could get that would improve on them. The only possibility is the ES30mm 100 degree but that needs 3" focusers and diagonals and weighs a ton thus creating balance issues, and then using an adapter when you switch to 2"EPs, I don't think its worth it for me.

[Dean Hale]

Very happy chap today. Actually dithered quite a bit whether to buy the StellaMira 80mm (crayford focuser) or an alternative however circumstances deemed the StellaMira as the one to be. Ooh it's lovely. Plus a few other bits - Scopetech Zero, ADM clamp and a Baader finder shoe. Thanks to the contributors on the various posts at SGL as to suggestions for appropriate mounts and clamps.

[Stardaze]

1 hour ago, HollyHound said:

Agreed, however I have a feeling that they will likely become more expensive still if other recent prices rises are applied to TeleVue too 🤞

Hence my reasoning for getting the 21 now 😬

Sounds like it will be ideal for this. I haven’t tried either of my Ethos in my CC6 or Mak yet, but interested to see how they perform 👍

Im hoping not to see much increase this year but who knows. Most pressure from the additional shipping costs will fall on larger items and low-cost product, so fingers crossed. Well, till at least when I have both the 13E and 6E..

[callisto]

1 hour ago, Dean Hale said:

Very happy chap today. Actually dithered quite a bit whether to buy the StellaMira 80mm (crayford focuser) or an alternative however circumstances deemed the StellaMira as the one to be. Ooh it's lovely. Plus a few other bits - Scopetech Zero, ADM clamp and a Baader finder shoe. Thanks to the contributors on the various posts at SGL as to suggestions for appropriate mounts and clamps.

Ooh....that's nice...enjoy

[Jasonb]

Part 1 of my recent 'mid-life crisis' purchases arrived today. It's a second (or 3rd/4th) hand Meade Field Tripod I found for sale here in Ireland. It's a beast, the top plate that comes with it is huge (I don't have small hands!) but thankfully it also comes off. I swapped some email with Meade in the UK and then the US, and they say this tripod is able to take up to 30Kg. So it should be fine for my 130P! For the price I got it for, I couldn't resist, it should be a tripod for life. And quite a bit more stable than the aluminium SkyWatcher tripod I currently have. The fun part is connecting it to my mount, but that's another day's work. Thanks to everyone on here who helped with my questions about this tripod before I pulled the trigger and bought it!

Edited February 24, 2021 by Jasonb

[laudropb]

Hopefully the end of my spending for a wee while. A case to store and transport my newly purchased Vixen f10.7 frac and a second saddle for the AZ 100 mount.

[Tiny Clanger]

A cute little ST80, courtesy of  Commanderfish 🙂

I like the little 'scope, my cat very much appreciates the cardboard box it arrived in 🙂