An eyepiece 'cup'?

[ashenlight]

Hi all,

Right, I could be making this up/I could have dreamt it... but... I'm pretty sure I saw on a telescope dealer's website a sort of rubber/plastic 'cup' type thing that attaches to the eyepiece to make viewing more comfortable. I would really like to buy one of these as I think it would make it more comfortable for family members to join in with observing.

Does anyone own one of these 'cups', or know where I can purchase one?

Amanda

[Psychobilly]

Hi Amanda

A quick "google" gives amongst others...

SnS Rubber eyecups (3 types)

But ring and check they have them in stock ready to ship.... and check that they will fit your EP's

Peter....

[johninderby]

Do you mean one of these Orion Rubber Eyeguards 1.25" ?

http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/info_07405.html

What diameter eyepiece is it for? I've got a couple of them and I can measure the size for you if this is the right "eyecup".

John

[barkis]

I do believe there are such things Amanda. Eyepieces do have a cup of sorts already, but I appreciate that they do not always keep extraneous light at bay, so the formed ones would be better. They look very much like an eyebath, but made of rubber obviously, and should directly replace the existing ones.

There may be drawbacks, but I can't speak of any from my own experience. I can imagine problems with eyepieces of short eye relief, also a bigger risk of nudging the scope and losing sight of the observed target. These can be overcome of course, with care.

Where to get them.? I suppose emails to various suppliers of astro equipment could turn up a source for you. Someone on SGL may know where. Here's hoping anyway.

Ron.

Damn, I can't type as fast as Peter or John..

[MeerkatinBKK]

Astro-engineering also do a soft one made from towelling. No idea how they would compare with the rubber ones. They're not that cheap either.

Link here - it's about 2/3 of the way down the page.

Nick

[johninderby]

Hi

I had one of the Astro Engineering ones, and it was so bad I threw it in the bin. Although it looks soft in the photo it's made from stiff material with a bit of padding and has hardly any "give" to it. A piece of cardboard tube would feel about as soft.

John

[ashenlight]

Thankyou everyone for your helpful responses.

Peter - that link hits the nail on the head, I didn't come across that in my own google searches, thankyou.

Ron - My various family members have already had lectures on not touching the scope to avoid pushing it out of line with the object, I think they are starting to fear coming near my scope, ha! They would be handy to have yes, even just for keeping out those pesky photons that find their way into my eyepiece! I had a jumper over my head last night to try and keep out the neighbours' security light

Amanda