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Show me your eyepiece/accessories case, please.


Leegsi

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40 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

What are the little pouches/sleeping bags for the eyepieces, Mike? I.e. where did you get them from?

They are neoprene pouches meant to hold the tiniest of compact digital cameras, gadgets now hopelessly outdated. A local supplier seems to have tragically overstocked them. I ordered a box full of the things a while ago and the supply has lasted me.

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They are by Lowepro and are called 'Melbourne'. They do only fit eyepieces up to a certain size.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I realised I hadn't posted an updated shot of my "high power" eyepiece case, with the latest Vixen HR.

Bottom row L to R: Vixen HR 2.0mm, 2.4 mm, 3.4 mm and TeleVue Nagler Zoom 3 - 6 mm

 

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9 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I realised I hadn't posted an updated shot of my "high power" eyepiece case, with the latest Vixen HR.

Bottom row L to R: Vixen HR 2.0mm, 2.4 mm, 3.4 mm and TeleVue Nagler Zoom 3 - 6 mm

Very nice, Jeremy! :)

Out of curiosity, could you tell me what case you use, please? It seems very compact.

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10 minutes ago, Piero said:

Out of curiosity, could you tell me what case you use, please? It seems very compact.

It;s a CamKix case designed for a GoPro that I bought from Amazon. You can customise the foam insert, by plucking out little blocks of foam. I actually have two  of these lovely cases. The ones I have are only suitable for standard size 1.25-inch eyepieces, like the Vixen HRs and the Tak LE's. Eyepieces like the TV Panoptic 24 are too fat (although maybe CamKix/AN Other make thicker cases)

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I have been so pleased with these. I am not sure (as have no access to TV etc as of yet) as to how much I might be missing out on with the Tele-Vues and the like. To my 50 year old eyes, the Morpheus are an absolute delight.

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Edited by steveex2003
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The problem I've found with my previous eyepiece cases is that the damn things keep multiplying, and as they vary widely in external shape and size, so foam cutouts are frequently too big or the wrong shape when I change them.

Also, the space lost between them with foam is considerable, so there's a lot of wasted space overall.

I noticed in some photos of amateur observatories that the owners had very neat wooden cases with wooden cutouts.  This wouldn't be as protective for travel as foam lined cases, but the semi-permanent location minimized carrying and tipping up.  Although I don't yet have a permanent dome ( 😥 ), my eyepiece collection is only carried carefully within my property, so I decided to use the same rigid spacing method myself.

I thought about how to make it as versatile as possible for my frequently changing eyepieces, so I made a wooden spacer base with standard 1.25" and 2" holes in groups of varying spaces, to optimise the space for both slender eyepieces and bulky ones.

The large eyepieces sit comfortably just in the holes, held down by the foam lid lining, but for the short eyepieces I stuck female end caps to the lower base, which grips them nicely.  The Peli case was very good value, from CPC Farnell, for less than £30, delivered, and it's extremely strong and totally watertight.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This week’s arrival of a Nagler Zoom has pretty much filled up my eyepiece case. Most of these were bought with my 10” dob in mind. 

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My travel case with Equinox 80, Baader zoom and ES68 24mm. I have a 2” Williams Optics Diagonal and 1.25” TS Optics Herschel Wedge in there too. The Nagler Zoom will be added to this for trips away. 

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I’ve determined that my next astro purchase should be renewing my Norwich Astronomical Society membership in August! Let’s see if I have the willpower to resist buying anything else in the meantime!

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6 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

This week’s arrival of a Nagler Zoom has pretty much filled up my eyepiece case. Most of these were bought with my 10” dob in mind. 

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My travel case with Equinox 80, Baader zoom and ES68 24mm. I have a 2” Williams Optics Diagonal and 1.25” TS Optics Herschel Wedge in there too. The Nagler Zoom will be added to this for trips away. 

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I’ve determined that my next astro purchase should be renewing my Norwich Astronomical Society membership in August! Let’s see if I have the willpower to resist buying anything else in the meantime!

Very nice Neil - the Nagler zoom complements the Equinox very well. I’m currently in Marrakech with my Equinox - have had three days of temperatures around forty degrees, which has so far put paid to any stargazing, but much fresher today so hoping for a couple of decent nights - and an opportunity to see Jupiter/Saturn and the summer Milky Way through the little Skywatcher. Might even be able to glimpse Omega Centauri above the horizon this far south....

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Amazing how these threads develop a life of their own and often an extended one, even after the OP has long stopped following them.

I can't remember when I last posted in this one so here are my 2 cases. The 1.25 inch case includes the Nagler 2-4mm zoom rather than the 3-6mm that Neil has just bagged. I think the 2-4mm is out of production now ?. The filter in the 1.25 inch case is a Japanese made Meade 4K Narrowband (UHC equivalent). The filters in the 2 inch case (2nd photo) are a 2 inch Lumicon O-III and a 1.25 inch Astronomik H-Beta. There is some overlap with these eyepieces which I explain by reasoning that some are used for outreach purposes but is really explained by the fact that I'm still an "occularholic" :rolleyes2:

 

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I think that having two sets depending on barrel size makes completely sense in order to facilitate balancing. Sometimes it is also necessary if a focuser accepts only 1.25" EPs.

In my case I'm planning to use my 1.25" with the Tak100 most of the time apart from when observing large DSOs or 'travelling' around the milky way. One or two 2" EPs can be handy for that purpose.

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John I know you like to use the 7.2-21.5, but it doesn't have a home in either case?

A key "design principle" of my eyepiece case is that they all have to be 1.25". The size of my Speer WALER 10mm is already mind-bending, I don't need to add any 2" ballast to my case! 😀

Edited by Ags
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first case contains only 1.25" eyepieces and the second 2" eyepieces. The 1.25" get a lot more scope time than the 2". When I bought the 21 Ethos I thought that would get more use in the 12" Dob  but it hasn't turned out that way, I prefer my 38 Panaview instead both in the 12" Dob and 120ED. The Ethos shows comet like stars in both scopes. I bought the Ethos second hand and it was pointed out to me by the seller that there was a little dent in the body of the eyepiece. I bought the eyepiece anyway as it was a good price. I'm thinking of sending it to Televue to see if they can do anything.

Avtar

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4 hours ago, Ags said:

John I know you like to use the 7.2-21.5, but it doesn't have a home in either case?

 

It's at the very top left of the 1.25" case. It's rather long top dust cap has disguised it !

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5 hours ago, Ags said:

A key "design principle" of my eyepiece case is that they all have to be 1.25". The size of my Speer WALER 10mm is already mind-bending, I don't need to add any 2" ballast to my case! 😀

My limit is 700g. Above that I feel the eyepiece too is bulky and tend to dislike it. I like 2" eyepieces though.

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On 06/06/2019 at 08:57, avtaram said:

When I bought the 21 Ethos I thought that would get more use in the 12" Dob  but it hasn't turned out that way, I prefer my 38 Panaview instead both in the 12" Dob and 120ED. The Ethos shows comet like stars in both scopes.

Are you using a coma corrector in the 12" Dob?  You may be seeing the coma inherent in a fast mirror if not.

Can you refocus for the edge to a sharp focus in the 120ED to account for its inherent field curvature?  I use a TSFLAT2 field flattener in my 72ED to get nice pinpoint stars from edge to edge.

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17 hours ago, Louis D said:

Are you using a coma corrector in the 12" Dob?  You may be seeing the coma inherent in a fast mirror if not.

Can you refocus for the edge to a sharp focus in the 120ED to account for its inherent field curvature?  I use a TSFLAT2 field flattener in my 72ED to get nice pinpoint stars from edge to edge.

Hi Louis, I am not using a coma corrector in the 12" Dob. I was just a little surprised to see coma with the 21 ethos especially as I don't see it when using my other TV eyepieces. I will have another try when seeing permits, at the moment theres nothing  but rain and clouds for the next few days.

Avtar

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On 05/06/2019 at 18:27, Littleguy80 said:

This week’s arrival of a Nagler Zoom has pretty much filled up my eyepiece case. Most of these were bought with my 10” dob in mind. 

 

My travel case with Equinox 80, Baader zoom and ES68 24mm. I have a 2” Williams Optics Diagonal and 1.25” TS Optics Herschel Wedge in there too. The Nagler Zoom will be added to this for trips away. 

 

I’ve determined that my next astro purchase should be renewing my Norwich Astronomical Society membership in August! Let’s see if I have the willpower to resist buying anything else in the meantime!

Lovely equipment, Neil! :) 

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On 08/06/2019 at 11:06, avtaram said:

Hi Louis, I am not using a coma corrector in the 12" Dob. I was just a little surprised to see coma with the 21 ethos especially as I don't see it when using my other TV eyepieces. I will have another try when seeing permits, at the moment theres nothing  but rain and clouds for the next few days.

Avtar

Coma increases linearly the further off axis you get.  Thus, it looks considerable worse in 100 degree eyepieces than in 50 degree eyepieces at any given focal length because more of the field is being shown where coma grows to a noticeable amount.

When a 50 degree and a 100 degree eyepiece have the same true field of view, the coma will again appear worse in the 100 degree eyepiece because the 100 degree eyepiece is magnifying the coma in the outer field roughly twice as much, making it much more visible.

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Once upon a time, I had just one scope, 1500mm focal length, and three eyepieces, 35, 18.2 and 10mm, giving me what I thought was a reasonable range of magnifications. I had a case for them, all neat and tidy.

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Now I have 4 scopes, ranging in FLs from 2700mm to 650mm, and have added a 55mm and a 6mm to the eyepiece and accessory collection, along with collimation tools and a couple of reticule eyepieces. I plan to add a 3.5mm before too long.

So my case now looks like a complete dog's breakfast. I think I need a case-upgrade...

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Cheers, Magnus

Edited by Captain Magenta
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Some absolutely cracking eyepiece cases on show. 

I have taken some inspiration on the Camkix case for the 102mm f11 kit.  Thanks to @F15Rules for the 22mm LVW, I am really looking forward to trying it out under some dark skies.  

The second case is a maplin special.  The 32mm plossl was an impulse buy a couple of weeks ago from astrobuysell. Early test with TV-60 was promising.  

I have some overlap in the 18-25mm and 32-35mm range. I may need to thin out eventually.  Ultimately I will probably keep the 19mm panoptic and 22mmLVW and the 35mm Baader.  

The next target is a high power 4mm for the tv-60/76.  Early thoughts are a vixen slv or a delite.  No immediate rush though, and if anyone has done a comparison I would greatly appreciate feedback.  

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