Show me your eyepiece/accessories case, please.

[badhex]

Slightly off topic, but had a chance to give the Lacerta 40mm a bit more of a workout in my F5.9 ZS73 and I suspect it actually does not perform as well as the 35mm - im sure it's worse at the edge. I haven't had a chance to try them side by side in this scope but maybe F5.9 is asking a bit too much, whereas the 102mm is F7 and therefore a bit more forgiving. 

[Ags]

Found this old pic from 2011 - my eyepiece case from way back in 2011.

This was my NexStar 4SE collection. At f13, the Hyperion 24mm seemed like a perfect eyepiece. The Hyperion 17mm was ideal on most DSOs, While the 9mm did planetary duties. More experienced heads had advised the 6mm was too much in an f13 scope, but it worked pretty well on the Moon and Saturn. 

I have more and better eyepieces now, but am somehow less satisfied with them!

[Dave scutt]

Just completed my first ep case.

I think I've got the fever and want to collect more, but what next

[apaulo]

room for 2 more morphs filters are just sitting there for the time being, i like them flat i can see where my money goes better lol

[Louis D]

On 15/07/2022 at 04:39, Dave scutt said:

Just completed my first ep case.

I think I've got the fever and want to collect more, but what next

Perhaps swap the 18mm and 24mm UWAs for a 20mm XWA from APM/Lunt/Stellarvue/Astro-Tech/etc?

[badhex]

Okay now I've upgraded my Barlow to a Powermate, so my EP case is definitely finished(!)

[Dave scutt]

1 minute ago, badhex said:

Okay now I've upgraded my Barlow to a Powermate, so my EP case is definitely finished(!)

That one is finished,  what you going to put in the next one

[Alan White]

My new case with some familiar friends
They may have some additions at a later date and may go all 1 1/4 for simplicity of kit.

[badhex]

48 minutes ago, Dave scutt said:

That one is finished,  what you going to put in the next one

Well I also have another case the same for my 2" stuff, but I can't source a third case of the same type and OCD won't let me get a different one so I'm afraid my hands are tied! Definitely no more EPs. Definitely not. Nope 😂

[Floater]

24 minutes ago, badhex said:

Well I also have another case the same for my 2" stuff, but I can't source a third case of the same type and OCD won't let me get a different one so I'm afraid my hands are tied! Definitely no more EPs. Definitely not. Nope 😂

OK. Anything you say … 🤔

[badhex]

Although now you say it have started to pick up enough 0.965" EPs to merit their own case 🤯

[TheycallmeRiver]

The case I ordered from Amazon arrived a while ago, but i've been holding off on populating it until I'd acquired another couple of eyepieces I wanted.  I'm almost ready to go now, only need one more eyepiece before I can figure out the best foam plucking pattern in order to fit them all in.

Anyway, I do have a question.  Other than making some space for silica gel in the case is there anything else I need to do in order to keep my collection safe?  I read something a while ago about certain types of foam 'outgassing' and potentially damaging optical equipment.. Don't really know what type of foam is in this case but it does have a pressure release valve on the front.  Picture attached.

Edited July 20, 2022 by TheycallmeRiver

[badhex]

Upgraded my 2" GSO barlow to a Powermate! 

[Louis D]

7 hours ago, badhex said:

Upgraded my 2" GSO barlow to a Powermate! 

Let us know how it interacts with your 2" eyepiece collection.  I have a poor-man's 2x 2" Powermate, a 2" 2x GSO ED Barlow + TV PBI.  It works well with most eyepieces, but not all.  Here's my findings back on July 9th:

Next, I tried them all in a GSO ED 2x 2" Barlow with a Tele Vue Panoptic Barlow Interface without the GSO CC since I don't have enough in-focus for both at the same time.  Surprisingly, the 40mm Lacerta didn't improve very much at the edge.  The 35mm ED improved a bit more, but was not perfect.  The 40mm Pentax didn't play well at all with it.  The outer field wasn't sharp anymore.  The 40mm Meade SWA worked exceptionally well with the Barlow, showing a sharp edge and flat field.  The 35mm Scopos and 26mm MWA both worked well Barlowed, but there was a bit of exit pupil instability with the former and no change in SAEP with the latter.  The 40mm Lacerta was a bit tight in the TV PBI, but not as bad as in the GSO CC.

[badhex]

55 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Let us know how it interacts with your 2" eyepiece collection.  I have a poor-man's 2x 2" Powermate, a 2" 2x GSO ED Barlow + TV PBI.  It works well with most eyepieces, but not all.  Here's my findings back on July 9th:

Next, I tried them all in a GSO ED 2x 2" Barlow with a Tele Vue Panoptic Barlow Interface without the GSO CC since I don't have enough in-focus for both at the same time.  Surprisingly, the 40mm Lacerta didn't improve very much at the edge.  The 35mm ED improved a bit more, but was not perfect.  The 40mm Pentax didn't play well at all with it.  The outer field wasn't sharp anymore.  The 40mm Meade SWA worked exceptionally well with the Barlow, showing a sharp edge and flat field.  The 35mm Scopos and 26mm MWA both worked well Barlowed, but there was a bit of exit pupil instability with the former and no change in SAEP with the latter.  The 40mm Lacerta was a bit tight in the TV PBI, but not as bad as in the GSO CC.

Interesting combo! Was not aware of the PBI until you mentioned it - I must have missed your post. Will let you know once I've had it under the stars, I can try the 40mm Lacerta in it to see how it compares to your notes. 

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, badhex said:

Interesting combo! Was not aware of the PBI until you mentioned it - I must have missed your post.

Well, the TV PBI was discontinued over a decade ago, so I wouldn't expect you to have heard of it.  I think I bought the last one in stock at Adorama in 2010 for $60.

Since the intended Barlow for it, the TV Big Barlow, has basically the same focal length as the GSO ED 2" 2x Barlow, the latter works well with the PBI.  On the other hand, I tried it with my 1990s Japanese made Orion 2" 2x Barlow which has about a 50% longer focal length, and the combo is horrific.  I have no words for the very odd distortions going on with those two.  It hurts the brain trying to focus on objects when viewing through that combo.

Thus, serendipity for the GSO/PBI combo.  That, or GSO simply copied the TV BB optical design.

[pavel_s]

My Giro Ercole in B&W Outdoor case 4000, with ADM saddle and ADM rossette knob hand tool. I enjoy this setup a lot!

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by pavel_s

[JeremyS]

[Franklin]

Waiting for Mars.........

 

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by Franklin

[Floater]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Beautiful … but a frightening amount of space waiting to be filled?! 😬

[Ags]

Tonight's mission is to find the perfect Jupiter eyepiece for my C6 at f6.3, and the case has been loaded up with the candidates. Out with the wider eyepieces and in with the SLV 6 and NLV 9 and 12. My money is on the NLV 9, but maybe the ES 6.7 or even the SLV 6 might snatch the title.

[Saganite]

I have slimmed down to just one case of eyepieces since I last did this, and these are my pairs and the important singletons....... 

[Franklin]

8 hours ago, Ags said:

the case has been loaded up with the candidates.

My money is on the SLV6mm.

[Ags]

The NLV 9 won it. The SLV 6 and ES 6.7 were ok too, but the 9mm had the best contrast and the best focus "snap". A shadow transit was in progress and it was clearest in the 9mm. I started with a Speers WALER 10, but that had far too much scatter.

I think an SLV 8 would be perfect, if only they made one 😀

I repeated the experiment on Saturn with similar results.

Edited August 24, 2022 by Ags

[markse68]

10 hours ago, Saganite said:

I have slimmed down to just one case of eyepieces since I last did this, and these are my pairs and the important singletons....... 

Why is the Ultima the only one in its box Steve? Lovely looking collection!

Mark