Show me your eyepiece/accessories case, please.

[Dantooine]

Well there’s enough there to do the job for sure. 

[badhex]

Back at home so have access to my case to add the new Pentax XW 10mm.

Not as much room between the Pentax and the Morpheus 4.5mm as I would like but it's a bigger gap than it looks, and once the lid is shut it's nicely held in place by the top foam. 

Edited December 17, 2021 by badhex

[Zermelo]

3 hours ago, badhex said:

Back at home so have access to my case to add the new Pentax XW 10mm.

I suspect you won't be the only one re-jigging their cases to make room for new Pentaxes!

[cajen2]

I've got loads of room.....but no sign of my Pentax yet....😥

[badhex]

22 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

I suspect you won't be the only one re-jigging their cases to make room for new Pentaxes!

The sale came when I was away from home and I'll be honest I was not totally sure if it would fit!

[John]

I guess you can fit more Pentax XW's in an eyepiece case if you put them "head to toe". I'm not overly OCD but somehow that doesn't seem right 

 

[mikeDnight]

On 03/12/2021 at 13:47, Mr Spock said:

I know I keep saying this is the final version, but, I think this is the final version...

When I saw this pic of your eyepiece's  Michael, my heart skipped a beat. If perfection could ever be attained then this is pretty close to perfection.   

[HollyHound]

Talking of Pentax XWs… although not bought from the recent sale 🤔

After much experimentation with many eyepieces over the last 18 months, I now have a set that work well across my main scopes (Ethos and the heavier 2” XWs stay primarily with the Dob!).

They are relatively lightweight (but importantly within 1oz of each other, for balance), ergonomic, and give superb relaxed views. The XWs also don’t get too cold in use either😀

The Masuyama 26mm is the only 2” in the set, it replaces the Panoptic 24, and although it has some aberration in the outer 25%, the usable field is superb. It’s also half the size and weight of the XW30 (thus matching the 1.25” XWs) 👍

Edited December 17, 2021 by HollyHound

[paulastro]

6 hours ago, John said:

I guess you can fit more Pentax XW's in an eyepiece case if you put them "head to toe". I'm not overly OCD but somehow that doesn't seem right 

 

Mm, perhaps I shouldn't  be carrying my eyepieces around in a cloth bag with a drawstring then John?  🤔

Edited December 17, 2021 by paulastro

[John]

21 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

Talking of Pentax XWs… although not bought from the recent sale 🤔

After much experimentation with many eyepieces over the last 18 months, I now have a set that work well across my main scopes (Ethos and the heavier 2” XWs stay primarily with the Dob!).

They are relatively lightweight (but importantly within 1oz of each other, for balance), ergonomic, and give superb relaxed views. The XWs also don’t get too cold in use either😀

The Masuyama 26mm is the only 2” in the set, it replaces the Panoptic 24, and although it has some aberration in the outer 25%, the usable field is superb. It’s also half the size and weight of the XW30 (thus matching the 1.25” XWs) 👍

Very nice !

Have you found field curvature an issue with your XW's above 10mm in focal length ?

I went for Delos eyepieces at 14mm and 17.3mm rather than XW's because of the reported FC in the longer XW's but maybe it's not such an issue in the real world ?

 

Edited December 17, 2021 by John

[John]

2 minutes ago, paulastro said:

Mm, perhaps I shouldn't  be carrying my eyepieces around in a cloth bag with a drawstring then John?  🤔

Like the old "dap bag" we used to have at school ?

 

[HollyHound]

1 minute ago, John said:

Very nice !

Have you found field curvature an issue with your XW's above 10mm in focal length ?

I went for Delos eyepieces at 14mm and 17.5mm rather than XW's because of the reported FC in the longer XW's but maybe it's not such an issue in the real world ?

 

Hi John,

Yes there is FC in both the the XW14 and XW20, however it’s only (mildly) an issue in the FC-76DCU and even then only the outer 10/15%. Daft as it might seem to some, I’m no longer overly concerned with 100% sharpness across the whole field.

The ergonomics and comfort of the XW and Masuyama, just make the observing experience so much more enjoyable for me. I have had both Delos and Morpheus 14 and just didn’t get on with them ergonomically, but would agree that Delos 14 does stay sharper across the full field, so fully respect the decision to use these in a set 👍

[Louis D]

15 hours ago, badhex said:

Not as much room between the Pentax and the Morpheus 4.5mm as I would like but it's a bigger gap than it looks, and once the lid is shut it's nicely held in place by the top foam.

If you have a bit of loose P&P foam saved from this case or another case, just wedge it between the two eyepieces to guarantee they don't bump each other.  I do this with some of my eyepiece cases that aren't well organized.

It comes in handy to hoard those P&P foam bits in a grocery bag at the back of the closet for this reason.  I also sometimes use them to shim holes when a new eyepiece is narrower than the one it replaced.

[badhex]

9 hours ago, Louis D said:

If you have a bit of loose P&P foam saved from this case or another case, just wedge it between the two eyepieces to guarantee they don't bump each other.  I do this with some of my eyepiece cases that aren't well organized.

It comes in handy to hoard those P&P foam bits in a grocery bag at the back of the closet for this reason.  I also sometimes use them to shim holes when a new eyepiece is narrower than the one it replaced.

Thankfully the EPs seat more deeply in the foam than it appears and then "pop up" a bit when the case is opened, but I have been thinking if I can perhaps push the foam down further so they are more snug in their spaces. 

To be honest I might get a whole new piece of pluck foam at some point and start again, as I feel like I'm approaching a good "final" setup. Famous last words! 

[AstroKeith]

I use Festool Systainer for all my astro gear. They are meant for tools & accessories but I find them very convenient. They stack and lock together.

My EP case, includes a heater mat and red LED illumination. It is designed such that the EP ends are both covered so I dont need to use caps.

[Stardaze]

20 minutes ago, AstroKeith said:

I use Festool Systainer for all my astro gear. They are meant for tools & accessories but I find them very convenient. They stack and lock together.

My EP case, includes a heater mat and red LED illumination. It is designed such that the EP ends are both covered so I dont need to use caps.

Looks great that Keith 👍

I still keep looking at the 3.5mm Pentax, to complete my high power set of 5 & 7. Spent a bit lately on non-astro gear so think I'm going to sit on my hands. Plus there's not really room in my bag.

 

[badhex]

6 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

Looks great that Keith 👍

I still keep looking at the 3.5mm Pentax, to complete my high power set of 5 & 7. Spent a bit lately on non-astro gear so think I'm going to sit on my hands. Plus there's not really room in my bag.

 

You might want to rethink that, the "Pentax Fever" 20% off sale at @FLO ends Monday! 🙂

[Stardaze]

2 minutes ago, badhex said:

You might want to rethink that, the "Pentax Fever" 20% off sale at @FLO ends Monday! 🙂

Nooooooo..... must be strong... must be strong... 😆

[Ags]

1 hour ago, Stardaze said:

Nooooooo..... must be strong... must be strong...

The only way to get rid of temptation is to give in to it.

[Stardaze]

I’m not too bothered with the 3.5 at the moment, I don’t think it will get used much. 

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, Stardaze said:

I’m not too bothered with the 3.5 at the moment, I don’t think it will get used much. 

I have one, and you're right, it doesn't get used much.  I tend to transition to my binoviewer at very high powers instead.  The 3.5mm XW is faultless, though.  It's just that with my floaters, two eyes are much better than one.

[John]

My XW 3.5 does get a lot of use, mostly in my refractors on double stars, the moon and planets but sometimes in my dobsonian as well where it delivers 454x - useful for small point sources such as the moons of Uranus and Neptune.

I used the 5mm and 3.5mm XW's during this session for example:

 

[F15Rules]

I've posted a picture of my ep case before, but this time I've filled the last available space with a nice 2" Astro Physics Convertible Barlow (front row, centre right).

I'm looking forward to playing with it and my main eyepieces, 2 Morpheus (9mm and 17.5mm), Nagler T2 12mm, and Axiom LX 23mm and 31mm,.and a Carton 7-21mm zoom.

The AP barlow nosepiece has M48 and T2 male threads and can be threaded straight into my Baader Zeiss T2 prism diagonal, so some interesting permutations should be possible😉.

Dave

[Stu]

11 hours ago, F15Rules said:

I've posted a picture of my ep case before, but this time I've filled the last available space with a nice 2" Astro Physics Convertible Barlow (front row, centre right).

I'm looking forward to playing with it and my main eyepieces, 2 Morpheus (9mm and 17.5mm), Nagler T2 12mm, and Axiom LX 23mm and 31mm,.and a Carton 7-21mm zoom.

The AP barlow nosepiece has M48 and T2 male threads and can be threaded straight into my Baader Zeiss T2 prism diagonal, so some interesting permutations should be possible😉.

Dave

Looks great Dave. I hardly recognised it in one piece! Mine tends to always be separated with the optical element attached to a binoviewer or eyepiece, and the body used as an extension. Really should use it whole sometime! 🤪

[F15Rules]

Thanks Stu😉.

Yes, 2" Barlows aren't that common it seems, but I do think they can be useful.

I had a GSO Revelation 2" a few years back..it was quite good optically, but the aluminium tube was very thin and could "flex" somewhat in the focuser..I wouldn't trust it with a heavy 2" eyepiece!

The AP is so much more robustly made, and I'm looking forward to trying the various permutations with and without the main extension tube, and so on..

Dave