What did the postman bring? V2

[badhex]

First post here in aaaaages! Well, technically first ever post on the V2 thread. As a person who has done my fair share of SaaS/platform admin I can't help but be mildly amused that this thread has brought the SGL index to its knees 😂 Whoops! 

Anyway, picked up a an older celestron Barlow plus 26mm and 17mm halloween plossls 🎃 for a very reasonable price on that auction site. There wasn't much info on their condition but for about £12 per unit including postage, I figured it was worth a punt. 

Turns out that they need a bit of love - the lenses are pretty grubby and the o-rings seem to have perished, so I'll start another thread about that as I'm not sure why they are even there. 

 

[bosun21]

Just received my 1.7x Baader GPC today. Just waiting for the 2.6x now to complete the three. Looking forward to the new moon and planetary season approaching to put them to use.

[Stu]

My step down rings arrived today, so I can now look at the rain with my filters on 🤪🤪

58mm solar filters ordered too, so expect severe flooding….

[Astroscot2]

On 11/07/2023 at 22:36, Nakedgun said:

~

I like mine!

 

 

.

David,  used mine for a short time yesterday to test it out,  I had expected the polarising filter to make a greater difference to the brightness of the view when rotated during viewing?

 

Mark

[JeremyS]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

My step down rings arrived today, so I can now look at the rain with my filters on 🤪🤪

58mm solar filters ordered too, so expect severe flooding….

 

Stu, considering SGL is migrating to a new server next week, don’t you think you should hold off buying new stuff for a while lest The Postman ver2 thread topples it again?
 

🤔

[Space Hopper]

Well after a long search i finally found the elusive Vixen Lanthanum LVW 3.5mm eyepiece.

Where theres a will, theres a way.....

I actually owned the whole set 10 years ago, but regrettably sold them all on to help fund other gear.

I really liked them, and both the 22mm and 13mm versions always had an exceptional reputation.

Of course they have long since been discontinued, so the only option now is to find them on the second hand market, which i've now done.

I'd actually been looking for one on a Japenese site, but had no luck.

But i'm pleased i found this one, it was a trade as well, so the wallet (which is usually pretty empty these days) has remained intact.

One thing sticks in my mind : i had what was my best ever view of Saturn through a 5mm LVW / Powermate x2 giving 370x magnification.

The seeing must have been good that night.....😀

 

[Mr Spock]

How on Earth did you get that? I've been looking for one for years 😭

[Nakedgun]

5 hours ago, Astroscot2 said:

David,  used mine for a short time yesterday to test it out,  I had expected the polarising filter to make a greater difference to the brightness of the view when rotated during viewing?

 

Mark

~

Mark,

The brightness throughput can be changed by rotating the bottom portion of the eyepiece holder. Of the filters tried, results were not impressive.

I found the greatest detail visible when no filter was employed. Seeing can make a big difference, as you would expect.

 

 

.

Edited July 14, 2023 by Nakedgun

[Franklin]

1 hour ago, Space Hopper said:

i finally found the elusive Vixen Lanthanum LVW 3.5mm eyepiece.

Congratulations on completing your second set of LVW's, awesome eyepieces, don't ever sell them😊.

[Space Hopper]

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

How on Earth did you get that? I've been looking for one for years 😭

 

Sorry Michael.

It was a 'long shot wanted ad' on ABS. Another place they pop up is on the Japenese auction site 'Buyee'. I've bid on there for one that came up a month ago, but was 'outbid'.

After about 3 months on ABS someone answered my wanted ad who lived only about 50 miles from me ! A really nice guy,

and i offered him a trade ( a 35 Panoptic, which i seldom used ) and the deal was done.

I also secured the LVW 5mm locally 2 or 3 months prior, and i purchased the 8, 13 , 17 and 22mm earlier in the year from a chap in Spain.

Best of all, they are all in lovely condition.

Super eyepieces, with that Japanese quality about them. Used they fetch £120 - £150 give or take, which considering the cost of other premium glass makes a lot of sense.

I doubt i'll bother with the 2" 42mm version, as i don't think i'd get the best use from it with an F7 scope and 56 yr old eyes.

 

 

[Space Hopper]

54 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Congratulations on completing your second set of LVW's, awesome eyepieces, don't ever sell them😊.

Thankyou very much 🤗

I've always been a big fan of Vixen gear, and am very impressed with your own scopes and mounts.

I myself have a SXP2 mount which is a thing of beauty (that was another trade)

So maybe its time to pair my mount and eyepieces up with a small Vixen refractor. What do you think....??

I love that little 55mm Fluorite you have, and narrowly missed out on a used one last year.

I was half thinking of using it as a guide scope with my own refractor. Possibly sacrilege i know.....

[Franklin]

7 hours ago, Space Hopper said:

What do you think....??

I love that little 55mm Fluorite you have, and narrowly missed out on a used one last year.

It's definitely got top class optics but you would need the flattener/reducer kit if imaging and that isn't cheap. I like it as a small travel scope and it has recently become my dedicated Ha solar scope with the Quark. The only negative with the FL55SS is the design of the focusing knobs, it has the same focuser assembly as Vixen use on the VC/VMC scopes and when used just for visual the balance point of the whole scope is about where the knobs are and they can interfere with the mounts locking knob. If using a camera or in my case the Quark, there is more weight at the rear which overcomes this small issue.

The SXP2 is a very nice mount and deserves at the very least to be carrying an AX103. This is a scope I'm becoming interested in, I've never owned a triplet let alone a quad before and was under the impression that the AX103 was more of an imaging scope but at F/8 I think it would be an incredible visual performer, as long as it is well collimated and that is my only concern over the simpler doublets I have used in the past. In Vixen's catalogue they compare the spot diagrams of the AX103 with the FL102 and there is improvement visible. I know how good the old FL102 was because I use to own one and if the AX103 is better, then It's caught my attention.

 

[Alan White]

As a sufferer of it, I know Vixenitus has no cure, it’s clearly demonstrated above and my own behaviour.
But
I had no idea it was contagious, watch out SGL!

What a nice set of LVW you have built up @Space Hopper, I have been watching your progress and wishing you success.

I loved my past LVW’s and also regret the sale of them, still have a 22 and often hanker for the 13 etc. 

I must stop reading these threads as trying to not buy things at present, but it’s getting mighty difficult.

[StevieDvd]

New to me via postie from @Allanto

Rowan Dual  Vixen/Losmandy Clamp

Very well packed and a nice update to my Altair Sabre. Though the clouds were here before I bought it, so don't  blame me for the lack of clear skies.

And now fitted:

Edited July 15, 2023 by StevieDvd
Added fitted picture

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

I bookmarked these last year and totally forgot about them...  Then@Live_Steam_Mad suggested this item may come in handy at Kielder Starcamp...

Presenting likely the largest available ski pants in the UK...

 

I warmed up in two minutes trying them on earlier I almost had a funny turn! 😄

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by ScouseSpaceCadet
Yes there is a cat assessing a leg

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

I bookmarked these last year and totally forgot about them...  Then@Live_Steam_Mad suggested this item may come in handy at Kielder Starcamp...

Presenting likely the largest available ski pants in the UK...

 

I warmed up in two minutes trying them on earlier I almost had a funny turn! 😄

 

So Kielder Starcamp actually takes place IN Kielder Water? 🤔

[Captain Scarlet]

This turned up on eBay a few months ago, I couldn’t resist putting in a cheeky low bid, and ended up the only bidder. I collected it from the UK just recently. It’s a ridiculously sensitive spirit level/90-degree block/V-rest. Each gradation on the bubble level is 5 seconds of arc, or 0.0014 degrees. I’ll never need that level of accuracy of course, but it is a lovely instrument.

Cheers Magnus

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Captain Scarlet

[Stu]

My solar filters arrived today, and I just had a quick first light with them between clouds.

The image was pretty bright, enough to leave a bright retained circle on my vision for a few minutes after looking so could do with knocking back a bit. I may see if I can somehow attach some eyepiece ND or polarising filters. I guess it is worse than a scope because of the relatively low mag leaving a smaller, brighter target.

Otherwise I’m quite impressed. I could see seven active areas, even though only five are labelled on SpaceWeather and there was enough detail visible to be rewarding and worth viewing with for quick sessions or whilst travelling. The detail was pretty much identical to the view shown in the Helioviewer screenshot.

Hard filters would feel a bit more rugged, so I will remove them carefully and store in their little cases between uses.

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

I already have an Orion Dynamo Pro 155wh power tank but during the Amazon sales last week the Jackery 240 was offered at 40% off. This was a genuine saving as I keep an eye on the prices of these things... so unable to resist £104 off, the 240 arrived today...  That's all my camping and astro power requirements sorted for the next few years. 😀

[Ratlet]

I was looking to get a nice big refractor later in the year, however something has come up and I need to put the money elsewhere (more on that later...)

So instead I picked up a set of the well regarded 10x50 SV202 ED binoculars, my own hand me downs from my dad having developed fungus.  The fact they arrived today blows my mind a bit as they were ordered on the 12th!

Having played with them a bit in the daylight, I'm very impressed!  The IPD is quite large and I can just get them to 'fit' if I remove the rings that hold on the rubber eyecups, but the image is very sharp and the collimation looks great.  The eyerelief is stonking and I can easily use them with my glasses on, but without glasses the adjustable eyecups are brilliant and have a halfway click, but even at an intermediate setting hold position well.

I picked these up on one of the choice deals from AliExpress for the princely sum of £83 which is pretty decent considering Neil English thought them a bargain at almost twice the price.

I've also ordered a set of 10x42 (£72) on the same deal, although they are still on route.  One of the sets will go to my sister who is after a good set of binos.

 

EDIT:  had a bit more of a play with them in slightly brighter light, there is some chromatic aberration, red fringing, towards the edge of field.  Noticeable, and I'd say worse than my old pair of porro 10x50, but the image in the svbony seems sharper.  I'll get them out in darkness and see how they do.

Edited July 19, 2023 by Ratlet
Bit more testinf

[bosun21]

Just received my 2.6x Baader GPC today. I now have all three of them so now to focus on eyepiece pairs. I have my eyes on a pair of 24mm Panoptics.

 

[powerlord]

Wahee. Thanks again judges.

 

😁

 

[Franklin]

On 14/07/2023 at 23:48, Space Hopper said:

I doubt i'll bother with the 2" 42mm version, as i don't think i'd get the best use from it with an F7 scope and 56 yr old eyes

My eyes are 55 yrs old and in my F7.7 SD115S the LVW42mm gives a magnification of x21, a 3 degree fov and an exit pupil of 5.4mm which not only makes it a great "finder eyepiece" but perfect for targets like the Veil with an OIII filter etc. They are still available new but the asking price is astronomical, mine is the older version with the 72deg printing which I picked up for 1/4 retail. I prefer the LVW42mm to the NLVW30mm, that one just sits in the case looking out of place😊.

 

[inedible_hulk]

A few colour filters (visual) to experiment with.

[LaurenceT]

I've wanted one of these for some time to avoid the snaking cables across the lawn when using my larger rig or the collection of power bricks when using my Az GTi when visiting family but I could never justify the expense to my Domestic Financial Supervisor. Of course I could easily justify it! Quite randomly I hit upon the Jackery website a couple of days ago while researching something else and was intrigued by the 40% Summer Sale price reduction. Because of the cut off date being the next day I hastily arranged a meeting with the DFS and received approval. The normal price is £260 and I got it for £158. It's the baby of their range but quite adequate for my needs.