What did the postman bring?

[bosun21]

Yet another addition to my Morpheus collection. This time it’s the 4.5mm courtesy of a nice gentleman called @Gogleddgazer. I have the 17.5mm en route which just leaves the 9mm to complete the range (Hint-Hint)

 

[Stu]

Many thanks to @Piero for this lovely Moonlite, complete with 8” fitting kit which will be ideal for my 8” f8. I’ve been planning on fitting a Feathertouch, but sorting out fitting just seemed beyond me so this is an easier option, will do the job very nicely.

[Pixies]

And more LVW's! This time not quite so pristine condition, but optics appear good.

They came as a set, so now I have 2 x 22mm LVWs - and can try them as a bino pair. The 3.5mm won't get a lot of usage, but hopefully some planetary action later tis year, if the seeing is good. 

Now just needing the 17mm....

[bosun21]

And my 17.5mm Morpheus has turned up courtesy of a nice gentleman named @scotty38. Along with a couple of weighty magnets 🧲 for my Dobsonian. I’ll track down the last Morpheus now.

 

[chrispj]

The postman delivered this just now:

 

 

which (alongside the 2x FE and a 2.5x Barlow) gives me 2x, 3x and ~4x magnification for the 18.2mm Delites in the binoviewer,  for an equivalent 9mm, 6mm and 4.5mm or 89x, 133x and 177x in the 80mmm f10 StellaMira.

 

I can't remember last time we had a clear night with a moon to look at but given the forecast I'm hopeful for tonight....

[Ratlet]

1.3kg IOptron Weight so I can finally get the camera and lens on the mount!  5Kg was too much.  Needs the extension bar to get the weight spot on.  I'm hoping to mount the NUC on the end of the counterweight shaft so that should drop the extension off.

Wife also made me some nice geeky vinyl decals for the mount.

[bosun21]

Just bought a starsense telescope to hack the unit onto my Dobsonian. Don’t know what to do with the scope though 🤔

 

[PeterC65]

On 31/05/2022 at 14:40, PeterC65 said:

Geoptik Nadira Observing Chair from RVO.

The seat is smaller than I'd expected, at around 8.5" square, and the back support bends at the higher settings under my not inconsiderable load (18 stone, but that is still within spec).

It was delivered less than 24 hours after I ordered it, so amazing service from Adam at Rother Valley Optics.

 

The Geoptik observing chair has spent the last week in the woodwork shop undergoing some modifications ...

It no longer bends under my considerable load and the wider seat is much more comfortable, although it would probably benefit further from some padding. I've taken the opportunity to widen the front leg spacing a little which has improved stability. The seat can still be stowed away via the magnetic catch. I changed the rear leg mostly for aesthetic reasons and because the hinge mechanism of the original was a rather loose.

I'm now much happier to sit on it and to put my full weight on it, even with the seat at the highest position. It does weigh a lot more though! A foot rest would be useful for the higher seat settings if I can find some suitable plywood.

For those of you who have correctly identified the additional timber components as being Mahogany, it came from a salvaged patio door sill.

 

 

[Alan White]

8 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

The Geoptik observing chair has spent the last week in the woodwork shop undergoing some modifications ...

 

 

 

Now that is a very different chair to how it comes, hope it works for you now.

[Alan White]

DPD not postie with a delivery from Auntie @FLO

Another XW7mm, will not sell this one in a moment of madness.
So now again have 10, 7 and 5 XW, just the 3.5 under consideration now.

Will sit well with the LVW 22mm I returned to the fold a few weeks ago 🙃

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by Alan White
Added pictures

[DaveL59]

20 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

Just bought a starsense telescope to hack the unit onto my Dobsonian. Don’t know what to do with the scope though 🤔

 

is that the LT70?

all in all it's actually not bad, tho the plastic focuser isn't the best it can be improved some, I'd detailed some of what I did on the thread where we'd explored hacking the starsense setup if that helps. Likewise the tripod/head but if you can fettle it makes a fairly reasonable light grab n go, or pass it on to the kids to use 😉 

Oh yeah, and use a 'proper' star diagonal rather than the erecting one supplied which is pants.

Edited June 8, 2022 by DaveL59

[bosun21]

10 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

is that the LT70?

all in all it's actually not bad, tho the plastic focuser isn't the best it can be improved some, I'd detailed some of what I did on the thread where we'd explored hacking the starsense setup if that helps. Likewise the tripod/head but if you can fettle it makes a fairly reasonable light grab n go, or pass it on to the kids to use 😉 

Oh yeah, and use a 'proper' star diagonal rather than the erecting one supplied which is pants.

Yes I have already thrown the supplied diagonal in the bin, and fitted a little 1.25” dielectric that i had spare. I will fettle it where I can and will probably pass it down to one of the grandkids.

[cajen2]

17 minutes ago, Alan White said:

DPD not postie with a delivery from Auntie @FLO

Another XW7mm, will not sell this one in a moment of madness.
So now again have 10, 7 and 5 XW, just the 3.5 under consideration now.

Will sit well with the LVW 22mm I returned to the fold a few weeks ago 🙃

 

No 14? Mine is one of my favourite EPs.

[Alan White]

Just now, cajen2 said:

No 14? Mine is one of my favourite EPs.

Not sure on that, was more at 12.5 or 13 as the step if I feel is needed if at all.
But I tend to have the 10XW in the focuser quite a bit.

[cajen2]

Just now, Alan White said:

Not sure on that, was more at 12.5 or 13 as the step if I feel is needed if at all.
But I tend to have the 10XW in the focuser quite a bit.

In that case, I can heartily recommend the Baader Morpheus 12.5mm. That IS my favourite EP. I suppose if you have OCD it wouldn't match the XWs but I have all sorts of different makes.

[DaveL59]

7 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

Yes I have already thrown the supplied diagonal in the bin, and fitted a little 1.25” dielectric that i had spare. I will fettle it where I can and will probably pass it down to one of the grandkids.

I built my own holder using a spare prism so that I could pass the OEM setup to my daughter/grandkids once they've moved house. But I've used the scope here and there, showed nicely on the moon with no CA using both regular and zoom EPs. I did replace the legs with wood ones tho, bought an old tripod off the bay and swapped them over, much more stable that way 🙂 

[Zermelo]

I picked these up for under a tenner on an auction site.

They appear to be the same as the ones that Celestron sell, in which case I'm happy for the price.

[F15Rules]

4 hours ago, cajen2 said:

No 14? Mine is one of my favourite EPs.

I've had two completely different experiences with Pentax XWs..

I owned the XW14(and XW20) a few years ago I bought a Morpheus 14mm to compare them.. I found the Morph to be better than the XW14 in field of view (76deg Vs 70), contrast,  and less field curvature (although it still had some).

The XW20 I had was even worse for FC. All that said, the XW range at the shorter focal lengths are all superb (3.5, 5,7 and 10), especially when you consider they were originally designed for spotting scopes.

I bought an XW30 in last year's Christmas sale from FLO and was incredibly disappointed with it..I have a wonderful Celestron Axiom 31mm 82 Deg, but it is very heavy, and I had thought that perhaps the XW30 could be a lighter replacement for the Axiom. Unfortunately, I found it to be again beset with Field curvature in my Tak FS128, and stars near the edge were elongated. So it went back to FLO who of course refunded me without question. I have kept the Axiom and am very happy with it. Of course, it's possible I got a poor example..and others may draw different conclusions in other scopes.

But I would happily recommend the shorter FL XWs to anyone, just great eyepieces 👍.

Dave

[F15Rules]

5 hours ago, Alan White said:

 @FLO

Will sit well with the LVW 22mm I returned to the fold a few weeks ago 🙃

 

Now then, Alan..can you please stop slipping into every post a mention of your recently re-acquired LVW22mm?!..😂😂😂

Dave

 

[markse68]

Worlds smallest spotting scope?

(I didn't realise it would be so tiny but it's very cute and surprisingly sharp!)

[F15Rules]

On 07/06/2022 at 12:35, bosun21 said:

Yet another addition to my Morpheus collection. This time it’s the 4.5mm courtesy of a nice gentleman called @Gogleddgazer. I have the 17.5mm en route which just leaves the 9mm to complete the range (Hint-Hint)

 

I'll be interested to hear what you think of the 4.5mm Morph..and how it does with a Barlow for Uber high power?

I've used the 9, 12.5, 14 and 17.5mm but not the 6.5 and 4.5..

I still have the 9mm (sorry, not for sale 😁) and 17.5mm, I think they are the pick of the 4 I've used.. I had the 14 too but sold it after I got the 17.5 (the last of the Morpheii to be launched- 3 years after the rest of them), as I found the focal lengths to be too close together. I tried a friend's 12.5mm and really liked it, but I already had a very nice Nagler T2 12mm, and to be honest there was little to choose between them to my eyes, and the Nagler is even wider at 82 degrees.

But I do think the Morpheus range has been a real game changer and has brought true high end performance to the market at very competitive prices👍.

Good luck in finding a 9mm Morph, it's a cracker, just as good as the superb XW10mm IMHO..but wider😊.

Dave

[bosun21]

7 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

I'll be interested to hear what you think of the 4.5mm Morph..and how it does with a Barlow for Uber high power?

I've used the 9, 12.5, 14 and 17.5mm but not the 6.5 and 4.5..

I still have the 9mm (sorry, not for sale 😁) and 17.5mm, I think they are the pick of the 4 I've used.. I had the 14 too but sold it after I got the 17.5 (the last of the Morpheii to be launched- 3 years after the rest of them), as I found the focal lengths to be too close together. I tried a friend's 12.5mm and really liked it, but I already had a very nice Nagler T2 12mm, and to be honest there was little to choose between them to my eyes, and the Nagler is even wider at 82 degrees.

But I do think the Morpheus range has been a real game changer and has brought true high end performance to the market at very competitive prices👍.

Good luck in finding a 9mm Morph, it's a cracker, just as good as the superb XW10mm IMHO..but wider😊.

Dave

Thanks Dave. I will let you know how I get on with the 4.5mm on the first proper clear night i get blessed with. I don’t know about Barlowed. I suppose I could throw approximately 400x-440x at the moon (skies permitting) though. I’ll keep you posted.

   ATB

       Ian 

[Guest]

7 hours ago, bosun21 said:

Just bought a starsense telescope to hack the unit onto my Dobsonian. Don’t know what to do with the scope though 🤔

 

I want to see pictures of this operation.   I have been mulling this idea around too

[johninderby]

I sold  the scope and mount from mine.  Not a bad cheapie scope really.

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by johninderby

[bosun21]

2 minutes ago, Mike Q said:

I want to see pictures of this operation.   I have been mulling this idea around too

I’ll take photos along the way through the process and I’ll create a post/thread showing each step i took. I’m waiting for some parts to arrive that are needed. I’ll message you as soon as I post it.

        Ian