Improved Pentax dust caps

[Ricochet]

7 hours ago, markse68 said:

Hi Ricochet, trying to parse your sentence but I can't work out what it means? Did they shrink?

Sorry about that! I guess the best description is that the "hole" in the eye cup must have got wider or rounded over at the top so that it doesn't grip the eyepiece cap at all. 

[John]

3 hours ago, Ricochet said:

Sorry about that! I guess the best description is that the "hole" in the eye cup must have got wider or rounded over at the top so that it doesn't grip the eyepiece cap at all. 

That's an interesting idea. I have four Pentax XW's, 2 are quite a few years old and purchased used and two were purchased new a couple of years ago. I'll have to try some experiments to see if the caps are looser with some of the eyepieces than others.

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by John

[globular]

I only have one XW and it was brand new a month ago. It’s cap falls off all the time. Don’t tell me it’s going to get worse over time?

I’m going to get / build a case to store it upright rather than on it’s side to minimise the issue (aka the Louis workaround) while I await a new cap that actually fits (aka the Mark solution).

[markse68]

Quick update- in fairness to Pentax and in light of just checking, of course they did think this through carefully but found themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place due to the design of the eyepieces! My “improved” caps are indeed more functional if like me you don’t need to wear glasses at the eyepiece- I have my cups screwed all the way up but if i screw them all the way down like i might have to if i wore glasses, my caps will contact the glass of the eye lens which isn’t good at all! So the compromise had to be a cap that’s a bit too short to be really effective to cover all settings of the eye cup. They couldn’t really do anything else. And if the rubber deforms over time they become really useless. Not sure there is a solution for all situations here unfortunately.

Mark

[Alan White]

On 08/11/2020 at 18:47, globular said:

+1 for that John.  A cap that fits in the rolled up position as well as one that fits in the rolled down position should be standard issue. (For all EPs like this, not just ES).

It is with the Baader Morpheus.

[Alan White]

I presently keep each eyepiece in its own bag within a padded camera bag, 
The caps on many eyepieces, not just Pentax are ill conceived or badly fitting.
Hence why I went the padded bag route, slows me down a bit, but protects my investment well.

[JeremyS]

I saw on another Forum that a German company sells XW eyepiece caps

Anyone know if they also fit the Pentax XL series?

https://astrogarten-shop.de/en/accessories/eypieces/pentax/pentax-eyelens-cap-smc-xw-eyepiece.html?language=en

 

 

[markse68]

Just now, JeremyS said:

I saw on another Forum that a German company sells XW eyepiece caps

Anyone know if they also fit the Pentax XL series?

https://astrogarten-shop.de/en/accessories/eypieces/pentax/pentax-eyelens-cap-smc-xw-eyepiece.html?language=en

 

 

Hi Jeremy, no they don’t unfortunately- the hole is quite a bit smaller on the XLs

(XL cap on right)

[Louis D]

3 hours ago, JeremyS said:

I saw on another Forum that a German company sells XW eyepiece caps

Anyone know if they also fit the Pentax XL series?

https://astrogarten-shop.de/en/accessories/eypieces/pentax/pentax-eyelens-cap-smc-xw-eyepiece.html?language=en

 

2 hours ago, markse68 said:

Hi Jeremy, no they don’t unfortunately- the hole is quite a bit smaller on the XLs

Yes, the eye lens on the Pentax XLs are 30mm in diameter versus 35mm for the XWs.  The XW eye cup's hole must necessarily be larger to allow the entire eye lens to be seen.

I think it's pretty clear from this image I took that the 3.5mm XW on the far left has a larger eye cup hole than does the 5.2mm XL second from the right.  The XL cup's conical taper also appears to be noticeably taller as well.

[John]

5 hours ago, globular said:

I only have one XW and it was brand new a month ago. It’s cap falls off all the time. Don’t tell me it’s going to get worse over time?

I’m going to get / build a case to store it upright rather than on it’s side to minimise the issue (aka the Louis workaround) while I await a new cap that actually fits (aka the Mark solution).

I've tried all four of my XW's (10, 7, 5 and 3.5) holding them upside down and shaking them quite vigorously. The caps all stayed on. They are easy to pop off and on at night so I can live with the stock ones.

 

 

 

[globular]

14 minutes ago, John said:

I've tried all four of my XW's (10, 7, 5 and 3.5) holding them upside down and shaking them quite vigorously. The caps all stayed on. They are easy to pop off and on at night so I can live with the stock ones.

I've just had a play too.  Once it's on properly it stays on nicely. And comes off easily when required.  All good.

However during an observing session, rather than sat here in the light and concentrating on putting it back properly, it rarely seems to go on cleanly and ends up protecting the bottom of my bag rather than the lens of the eyepiece.

I think I'm probably being too timid with my new and expensive purchase - it can take quite a firm press to make sure it's located properly and I'm probably not doing it hard enough in the heat of the moment / excitement to get back observing / fear of damaging something.

[Don Pensack]

TeleVue is switching over to a new single-sided cap that fits very well and stays on.  It's a running change, though.

The Apollo, Delites, and a few others now come with the new cap.

Baader, however, did it right--they provide eyelens caps for the eyecup in both up and down position, and two diameters of field lens caps for the Zoom (which can be used both ways).

 

I grant you that many brands come with poorly-fitting caps.

Bolt cases are not the answer, though.  In the field, they're just plain inconvenient.

Opening a case to pull out an eyepiece and pull off the caps is chore enough.  Having to open another case to get to the eyepiece is just heinous.

Eyepieces I've bought that came with a bolt case had their bolt cases stored in the boxes, somewhere in the closet where all the boxes are stored.

If you use an eyepiece case, they are "as useless as teats on a boar", as my Dad used to say.

 

[scarp15]

A reference concerning TeleVue eyepiece caps, if you are looking for replacing a lost or damaged one. If you give them a call, the Widescreen Centre do stock them. Not listed on their website, need to ring or email. I had sourced some recently, not through the Widescreen Centre as they had responded to my email following arranging from elsewhere, would be best convenient for UK TV users. 

[Don Pensack]

19 hours ago, scarp15 said:

A reference concerning TeleVue eyepiece caps, if you are looking for replacing a lost or damaged one. If you give them a call, the Widescreen Centre do stock them. Not listed on their website, need to ring or email. I had sourced some recently, not through the Widescreen Centre as they had responded to my email following arranging from elsewhere, would be best convenient for UK TV users. 

If you didn't care whether the cap had TeleVue stamped in it, isn't there a provider in the UK that sells a wide variety of eyepiece caps in different sizes?

[scarp15]

2 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

If you didn't care whether the cap had TeleVue stamped in it, isn't there a provider in the UK that sells a wide variety of eyepiece caps in different sizes?

I contacted by email most UK retailers Don and of those I contacted only the Widescreen Centre confirmed that they keep a stock of spare TeleVue caps. I do not think that any retailers even stock alternative replacement caps. These (alternatives) are available through Ebay UK vendors and I did place an order on some that seemed to match what I wanted, yet upon receiving, they were of a poor standard and to be honest I ended up returning them. Bolt cases are also not easily available in the UK either anymore, although again there used to be an ebay vendor that supplied a full range (when I got one for my 31T5). Sometimes the used market, I think astrobin have the odd one (boltcase) but again caps are of a lower quality. I got what I wanted from 'overseas' without problem, but to mention again; full credit to Widescreen Centre for stocking some surplus TeleVue caps, although I did not get as far as asking the cost.  

[Don Pensack]

46 minutes ago, scarp15 said:

I contacted by email most UK retailers Don and of those I contacted only the Widescreen Centre confirmed that they keep a stock of spare TeleVue caps. I do not think that any retailers even stock alternative replacement caps. These (alternatives) are available through Ebay UK vendors and I did place an order on some that seemed to match what I wanted, yet upon receiving, they were of a poor standard and to be honest I ended up returning them. Bolt cases are also not easily available in the UK either anymore, although again there used to be an ebay vendor that supplied a full range (when I got one for my 31T5). Sometimes the used market, I think astrobin have the odd one (boltcase) but again caps are of a lower quality. I got what I wanted from 'overseas' without problem, but to mention again; full credit to Widescreen Centre for stocking some surplus TeleVue caps, although I did not get as far as asking the cost.  

Try AgenaAstro.com in the US.  They ship to the UK and they carry a bigger selection of caps than anyone else I've seen.

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, Don Pensack said:

Try AgenaAstro.com in the US.  They ship to the UK and they carry a bigger selection of caps than anyone else I've seen.

Perhaps @FLO could source similar caps for the UK market?  These replacement cap requests come up quite often on SGL.

[scarp15]

2 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

Try AgenaAstro.com in the US.  They ship to the UK and they carry a bigger selection of caps than anyone else I've seen.

Yes I had in the past purchased from Agena Astro, they do have wholesome stock, would be worth tagging on if ordering something more specific as well.

[John]

On 08/11/2020 at 18:37, John said:

I need to get a new larger dust cap for the ES 17mm 92 degree. The one supplied fits fine with the eye cup in the rolled down position but I use it in the rolled up position and that means a larger diameter dust cap. I'd prefer not to fiddle with rolling the eye cup up and down as I re-cap the eyepiece. I've been looking out for a suitably sized dust cap but so far not found one. The size is around 64-55mm I think....

 

Just a quick update on this, for anyone who might be interested. I measured the upright eye cup of the ES 17mm 92 eyepiece more carefully and found that 67mm was the correct diameter. My brother, who has a big box of old photo / video stuff, had a rummage and found an unbranded dust cap of 67mm inside diameter and sent it on to me. It fits pretty well and does not drop off when the eyepiece is turned upside down. 

 

Edited November 20, 2020 by John

[globular]

Excellent 

Do you know where I can get a big brother with an old box? 😆
(Or is it an old brother with a big box? )

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, John said:

Just a quick update on this, for anyone who might be interested. I measured the upright eye cup of the ES 17mm 92 eyepiece more carefully and found that 67mm was the correct diameter. My brother, who has a big box of old photo / video stuff, had a rummage and found an unbranded dust cap of 67mm inside diameter and sent it on to me. It fits pretty well and does not drop off when the eyepiece is turned upside down. 

 

What time did you test the cap, John?
 

🙂

 

[John]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

What time did you test the cap, John?
 

🙂

 

At the third stroke it was three thirty one and forty four seconds

 

[Alan White]

Wow, what a small watch! Makes the 17mm look big 😉

[John]

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

Wow, what a small watch! Makes the 17mm look big 😉

Action mans watch !

 

[globular]

21 hours ago, John said:

I'm after an ES92/17 (some of you may have noticed ) but the retailers won't give me the time of day.