Show me your eyepiece/accessories case, please.

[Alan White]

19 minutes ago, Ags said:

Gaps can be expensive!

Indeed they can, 😊, hence why we still have gaps,
mind you not having gaps can be expensive as well! 
 

 

[JeremyS]

34 minutes ago, Ags said:

Gaps can be expensive!

🤔

[JeremyS]

I didn’t intend my previous post to be so mysterious.

This is what I meant:

[Mr Spock]

2 hours ago, Ags said:

Gaps can be expensive!

Indeed. When I put my non Vixen eyepieces in my new case (they have a case of their own), there's a gap for the 5mm ortho I'm missing. Not a problem as I'm looking for one. However, when I line up my new Nirvanas, allowing for the two yet to arrive, there's an annoying space just the right size for another... 

[Alan White]

So in summary, 'Gaps are Expensive', best fill them to take temptation away 😉
I will let @JeremyS lead the way as his gaps are bigger and more expensive than my own....over to you sir 

 

 

[Piero]

Here is my current large set: XWA in, delos out.   Will sell the delos when I have some spare time.

This ep set is for Nunki, my 16" f4 dob, but it gets some use in my 4" Tak too.

 

[Louis D]

40 minutes ago, Piero said:

Here is my current large set: XWA in, delos out.   Will sell the delos when I have some spare time.

If you already swapped a Delos for an XWA, why haven't you swapped the 22mm NT4 for a 20mm XWA?  You'd have some extra cash in your pocket as well.

[Piero]

18 minutes ago, Louis D said:

If you already swapped a Delos for an XWA, why haven't you swapped the 22mm NT4 for a 20mm XWA?  You'd have some extra cash in your pocket as well.

I had a 20mm XWA in the past but decided to sell it as I tend to prefer a more comfortable eye relief at low powers. The 20mm XWA was also a bit soft at the edge and this is noticeable compared to the 9mm and shorter focal lengths whose edge is sharp. I find the N22T4 very comfortable and the AFOV presentation is similar to the docter, which is an outstanding ep in my opinion.

With my 16" I don't need that extra FOV at low power, particularly considering that I tend to use 12.5mm or 9mm for finding targets anyway.

The delos are fine eyepieces, but at ~230x, ~307x and ~415x a larger FOV helps, and the difference between 70 and 100/110 is massive.

I can also use the APM XWA in 2" mode.  The same can be done with the delos using a baader pushfix adapter, but this adds extra weight to an already heavy-ish eyepiece for what it delivers.

[Mr Spock]

Here we go - the full Monty 😜

Vixen case

Small eyepiece case

[Ags]

Verrry nice!

[markse68]

Going minimalist- see how long it lasts

Mark

[Barry-W-Fenner]

On 23/09/2022 at 18:56, bosun21 said:

This is my main eyepiece set, with my other one containing my Vixen plossl’s and barlow along with Explore Scientific 2x extender and wide field eyepieces.

 

Wonderful!

I must admit, Having them all but the 12.5 is constanlty on my mind. I dont need it, But want it 🙂

Baz

[bosun21]

3 hours ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Wonderful!

I must admit, Having them all but the 12.5 is constanlty on my mind. I dont need it, But want it 🙂

Baz

That 12.5mm will keep on itching until you scratch it😊

[Barry-W-Fenner]

9 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

That 12.5mm will keep on itching until you scratch it😊

How do you find it compared to the 14mm?

[bosun21]

On 11/10/2022 at 13:56, Barry-W-Fenner said:

How do you find it compared to the 14mm?

Same excellent clarity with a tad less brightness. 

Edited October 26, 2022 by bosun21
Typo

[Mr Spock]

On 25/09/2022 at 19:09, Mr Spock said:

However, when I line up my new Nirvanas, allowing for the two yet to arrive, there's an annoying space just the right size for another... 

Problem solved...

Just that niggly 5mm Ortho to go... lol.

[badhex]

I bought a Pentax XW 10mm last year and it came with a bolt case which was a nice touch. Another nice touch was the additional foam ring for the barrel end of the EP to stop it rattling around inside the bolt case, and I wished I had more of these for my other EPs which go into bolt cases when using my travel kit.

So, I finally got round to making some more out of excess packing foam. As seen on this very thread many moons ago, I used the "cut can" method - turns out a can of Tsingtao lager is the exact right size! 🙂 For the center hole, the closest match I could find was an empty plastic bottle from some hair product - a touch smaller than perfect but certainly close enough. 

In both cases (aha) it took a few attempts to get it just right. The can is very thin and deformed to an oval for the first attempt, so I had to use the sturdy bottom offcut of the can to start it off. The plastic bottle was not very sharp, so a couple of 1mm nicks in the edge help to provide a cutting face of sorts. 

It also paid to take things  v e r y  s l o w l y  as the foam tore rather than sliced if I was not careful. For most of my EPs, two rings seems to be the best thickness so I'll need to figure out the right glue to stick them together ideally, but I'm very happy with the result! 

[Alan White]

@badhex Joe that’s a nice simple solution.

 

[badhex]

16 minutes ago, Alan White said:

@badhex Joe that’s a nice simple solution.

Cheers Alan, not quite as neat as the laser cut jobs but works pretty well with this type of polyethylene foam.

Edited October 26, 2022 by badhex

[Louis D]

On 26/10/2022 at 02:44, badhex said:

I'll need to figure out the right glue to stick them together ideally

I think contact cement is the usual go-to glue of choice for foam.  Its solvent doesn't melt foam, unlike toluene and xylene in model glue.  There are some specialized foam glues which are basically contact cement variants.

[badhex]

 

I do have a few glues kicking around but no contact cement I think, so might need to get some. I used to have access to a hot glue gun which I think would also be good. 

I do have some pretty strong double sided tape, I might do a test run on that as well. 

Edited October 28, 2022 by badhex

[badhex]

Been meaning to fulfill the "accessories" part of the thread title by posting my bits box and a newer addition containing a couple of different finders (and the bits for my Evoguide project). 

Interested to see other folks' bits boxes and/or finder storage (always a pain with those sticky out adjustment screws) 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Not a case.. definitely an Oklop Bag for Small Telescopes...

Various cables, notepads, a compass, spirit level, hand warmers, monopod/trigger grip, spare diagonal, USB dew band, RACI finders, RDF, batteries, pencils, sky atlas, etc etc...

If going to a star camp and I pack it all nicely in one side, the bag will also fit an AZ5 and steel tripod.

Edited November 4, 2022 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[markse68]

On 03/11/2022 at 14:07, badhex said:

(and the bits for my Evoguide project)

are you making it into a finder Badhex? I’m playing with one too

I like your use of plumbing fittings

Mark

[markse68]

Rescued from the skip- an old abused peli case houses my tri-finder setup that is a joy to use on my 150p: red-dot, starsense explorer and raci. A layer of pe foam with cutouts in the base locates the items securely and a loose soft foam pad rests on top to stop them floating around. 

The other box is my pseudo-masuyama/astroplans that i’ve been enjoying with same scope

Mark

Edited November 5, 2022 by markse68