What did the postman bring? V2

[PatientObserver]

24 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

I have the 5 and 14mil - nice EPs.

I originally planned on buying just the 1.25" eyepieces in the series. However, the XW 20 was not wide enough for me to get by without a finderscope. Since my telescopes supported 2" eyepieces, I decided to try the 30 mm when it went on sale. It quickly became one of my favorite eyepieces. When I saw the 40 mm on sale the other day, I decided to place the order.

[josefk]

On 05/09/2023 at 19:23, bosun21 said:

Just received a new Skytee II mount and tripod to accommodate my recently acquired 6” CC. Also a new ADM saddle for it which is now fitted.

 

if that 6" is as sharp and flat as the 8" i'm sure you'll really like that CC - i don't love mine on bright planets but on everything and anything else that fits in its FOV it is really fantastic.

[josefk]

i am VERY fussy about balance - i hate kick-up and droop on Alt-Az mounts when unbalancing the scope with various weight EPs. This adapter is pricey for what it is materially but i think it is going to deliver value in ergonomic pleasure. It puts all my EPs (except one outlier) into a 90g range lightest to heaviest and just a 20g range for my most used EPs.

 

[M40]

Well, it landed, and as Cuiv said, it was a box inside a box inside a box inside some great wrapping.....

[JeremyS]

Adapter to allow my Leica ASPH zoom to be used in 1.25 or 2-inch EP holders 

[JeremyS]

5 hours ago, josefk said:

i am VERY fussy about balance - i hate kick-up and droop on Alt-Az mounts when unbalancing the scope with various weight EPs. This adapter is pricey for what it is materially but i think it is going to deliver value in ergonomic pleasure. It puts all my EPs (except one outlier) into a 90g range lightest to heaviest and just a 20g range for my most used EPs.

 

How does this work? Do you leave it in place in the EP holder when you change EP (in which case the OTA goes unbalanced when you change EPs)? Or is left in place with your lightest EP (but then I presume still unbalanced when you are swapping EPs)?

[DirkSteele]

3 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Adapter to allow my Leica ASPH zoom to be used in 1.25 or 2-inch EP holders 

 

Look forward to some reports on performance now that has arrived.

[John]

5 hours ago, josefk said:

i am VERY fussy about balance - i hate kick-up and droop on Alt-Az mounts when unbalancing the scope with various weight EPs. This adapter is pricey for what it is materially but i think it is going to deliver value in ergonomic pleasure. It puts all my EPs (except one outlier) into a 90g range lightest to heaviest and just a 20g range for my most used EPs.

 

I had one of those for a while when I combined Nagler T6 and Ethos eyepieces. It does the job very well. The Equaliser I think it's called. I could have done with one for all the T6's though. 

[DirkSteele]

Needed a half pier to boost the height of my LZOS 130/1200 when using my Ercole on the Gitzo Series 5 tripod. Tecnosky model from Astrograph delivered today. Quite a hunk of metal.

[josefk]

10 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

How does this work? Do you leave it in place in the EP holder when you change EP (in which case the OTA goes unbalanced when you change EPs)? Or is left in place with your lightest EP (but then I presume still unbalanced when you are swapping EPs)?

During the EP swap itself things are unbalanced so you need to lock the mount for that as normal but this enables you equalise the weight of light EP's with heavier EPs so (in theory) no OTA rebalancing required going from a say 450g 2" EP and e.g. a 110g 1.25" EP + this 340g "equaliser" 1.25/2" adapter.

Edited September 8, 2023 by josefk

[John]

7 minutes ago, DirkSteele said:

Needed a half pier to boost the height of my LZOS 130/1200 when using my Ercole on the Gitzo Series 5 tripod. Tecnosky model from Astrograph delivered today. Quite a hunk of metal....

 

How do you find your Ercole copes with the 130mm F/9.2 Matthew ?

 

 

[DirkSteele]

10 minutes ago, John said:

How do you find your Ercole copes with the 130mm F/9.2 Matthew ?

 

 

Need to see what difference this pier makes (I had been using the tiny pier from the Sky Watcher Az Gti - surprised it did not buckle to be honest!), but I think the length is pushing the limit a bit once the magnification gets up to the level we know this scope can easily take.  I also need to see if an even more robust tripod helps.  Solid as rock on the APM AzMax Load but that is not a surprise given it throws my LZOS 180 f/7 around pretty easily.  How about your experience?

Edited September 8, 2023 by DirkSteele
typo

[John]

Just now, DirkSteele said:

Need to see what difference this pier makes (I had been using the tiny pier from the Sky Watcher Az Gti - surprised it did not buckle to be honest!), but I think the length is pushing the limit a bit once the magnification gets up to the level we know this scope can easily take.  I also need to see if an even more robust tripod helps.  Solid as rock on the APM AzMax Load but that is not a surprise given it throws by LZOS 180 f/7 around pretty easily.  How about your experience?

Similar to yours. On the Berlebach Uni 28 the Ercole will hold the 130 F/9.2 OK for low to medium power observing but as you get over 200x (which is just cruising for these 130's) the settle times start to become intrusive. 

When I use my 130 now it goes straight onto the T-Rex which delivers a really stable platform even at "ludicrous" magnifications. The total weight difference between the T-Rex and the Ercole is around 4.5 kg but the Ercole needs quite a bit of counterweighting so that equals things up.  

[Littleguy80]

34 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Adapter to allow my Leica ASPH zoom to be used in 1.25 or 2-inch EP holders 

What adapter is that Jeremy? I guess you have to watch for the extra length in 2” mode and some diagonals?

[DirkSteele]

7 minutes ago, John said:

Similar to yours. On the Berlebach Uni 28 the Ercole will hold the 130 F/9.2 OK for low to medium power observing but as you get over 200x (which is just cruising for these 130's) the settle times start to become intrusive. 

When I use my 130 now it goes straight onto the T-Rex which delivers a really stable platform even at "ludicrous" magnifications. The total weight difference between the T-Rex and the Ercole is around 4.5 kg but the Ercole needs quite a bit of counterweighting so that equals things up.  

200x is exactly my experience as well where the inflection points seems to happen.

[bosun21]

47 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Adapter to allow my Leica ASPH zoom to be used in 1.25 or 2-inch EP holders 

Looking good @JeremyS. Where did you source the adapter from? Just incase🤔.

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, Littleguy80 said:

What adapter is that Jeremy? I guess you have to watch for the extra length in 2” mode and some diagonals?

 

1 hour ago, bosun21 said:

Looking good @JeremyS. Where did you source the adapter from? Just incase🤔.

It’s this one from APM: https://www.apm-telescopes.net/en/adapter-125-for-leica-89-178-zoom-eyepiece

It is actually sold as a 1.25-inch adapter. I asked APM if the wider bit fitted 2-inch and they said no. But countless ppl over on CN assure me it was suitable for both sizes. And indeed it is.
 

The 1.25 inch nose is relatively short and doesn’t get anywhere close to my Baader mirror diagonals. Not sure about prism diagonals.

APM also do 2-inch only adapters: https://www.apm-telescopes.net/en/adapter-2-for-leica-89-178-zoom-eyepiece-m48 and

https://www.apm-telescopes.net/en/adapter-2-for-leica-89-178-zoom-eyepiece-t2
 

I’ve been having nearly as much fun sorting this out as I get with Tak adapters. But I’ve yet to check the Leica reaches focus in all my scopes and configurations 😊

[John]

7 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

 

It’s this one from APM: https://www.apm-telescopes.net/en/adapter-125-for-leica-89-178-zoom-eyepiece

It is actually sold as a 1.25-inch adapter. I asked APM if the wider bit fitted 2-inch and they said no. But countless ppl over on CN assure me it was suitable for both sizes. And indeed it is.
 

The 1.25 inch nose is relatively short and doesn’t get anywhere close to my Baader mirror diagonals. Not sure about prism diagonals.

APM also do 2-inch only adapters: https://www.apm-telescopes.net/en/adapter-2-for-leica-89-178-zoom-eyepiece-m48 and

https://www.apm-telescopes.net/en/adapter-2-for-leica-89-178-zoom-eyepiece-t2
 

I’ve been having nearly as much fun sorting this out as I get with Tak adapters. But I’ve yet to check the Leica reaches focus in all my scopes and configurations 😊

The APM "superzoom" has a longer 2 inch section but still does not touch the mirrors in my AP and TV 2 inch diagonals. It's quite close though - I would not want to chance it with a filter fitted. You might have a bit more "headroom" with the ASPH adapter though. Play it safe and put the filter on the diagonal barrel perhaps ? 🙂

Edited September 8, 2023 by John

[Littleguy80]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

It is actually sold as a 1.25-inch adapter. I asked APM if the wider bit fitted 2-inch and they said no. But countless ppl over on CN assure me it was suitable for both sizes. And indeed it is.

I wonder if they changed the design at some point. I just checked the one I have and it doesn’t fit 2”. I’m not certain it’s the APM one though as far as I know no one else makes one

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, Littleguy80 said:

I wonder if they changed the design at some point. I just checked the one I have and it doesn’t fit 2”. I’m not certain it’s the APM one though as far as I know no one else makes one

Starlight instruments used to

[Paz]

10 hours ago, josefk said:

i am VERY fussy about balance - i hate kick-up and droop on Alt-Az mounts when unbalancing the scope with various weight EPs. This adapter is pricey for what it is materially but i think it is going to deliver value in ergonomic pleasure. It puts all my EPs (except one outlier) into a 90g range lightest to heaviest and just a 20g range for my most used EPs.

 

I've never hear of these before but I've been on a constant look out for ways to balance different eyepiece weights and this looks good - can you get these in the UK, I've had a quick look around but can only find them the other side of the pond.

My current arrangement is I balance my scopes with the heaviest eyepiece I'm planning to use and they when lighter eyepieces are used if the difference in weight is enough to matter I screw smallrig weights into a finder shoe to keep things about right.

Edited September 8, 2023 by Paz

[Elp]

Look up gimbal or video camera rig counterweights 

[globular]

7 minutes ago, Paz said:

can you get these in the UK

The Widescreen Centre have one
https://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/tele-vue-bec-0005-2-125-equalizer-hihat-adapter.html

7 minutes ago, Paz said:

I screw small rig weights into a finder shoe

I prefer your method 

[PatientObserver]

3 hours ago, Paz said:

I've never hear of these before but I've been on a constant look out for ways to balance different eyepiece weights and this looks good - can you get these in the UK, I've had a quick look around but can only find them the other side of the pond.

My current arrangement is I balance my scopes with the heaviest eyepiece I'm planning to use and they when lighter eyepieces are used if the difference in weight is enough to matter I screw smallrig weights into a finder shoe to keep things about right.

I use these with my FOA-60Q:

 

[wookie1965]

Got these today from Miles_B cannot wait to try them in my solar set up and on Jupiter