Show us your wide-field scope

[Pixies]

9 hours ago, RobertI said:

Probably my widest field setup is my 60mm F3.75 finder with my 24mm 68 degree eyepiece, giving a whopping 7.5 degrees field of view! The aberrations are quite unpleasant though. I can use my 38mm Panaview with my 66mm refractor, giving a 7 degrees FOV, there is theoretical vignetting but not actually noticeable. But my everyday wide field setup is my 102ED and 38mm Panaview giving 3.9 degrees. Stupidly I sold my Megrez 72mm which was a brilliant wide field scope with a 2” focuser. I know this is a “show me” thread, so better show a picture I guess…..

 

Snap - with an old Velbon tripod too!

[Piero]

My almost 10 years old TV60 with 24 Pan:

[RobertI]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

With dark skies it should definitely be possible. Do you use an OIII filter? That helps too, even with small apertures.

@josefk I would second Stu’s comment, I would even say that an OIII can have an almost magical effect on the Veil and other objects as described in this observing report. Sorry to divert thread. 

[The60mmKid]

Here are a couple that I've owned and loved.

 

[RobertI]

1 minute ago, The60mmKid said:

Here are a couple that I've owned and loved.

 

Love both of these, can you say more about the first scope? 

[The60mmKid]

Just now, RobertI said:

Love both of these, can you say more about the first scope? 

Thank you, Mr. Parker 😊

That is a 10" f/4 made by Dennis Steele, who had an outfit in California called "Dobstuff." Dennis is a lovely human who recently retired after many years of making wonderful telescopes. That telescope was a work of art... not perfect, but beautiful and with a soul. I agree that small refractors are wonderful rich-field telescopes, but my goodness does the universe look stunning when you have a 2° FOV and 10" of good aperture under a dark sky. I'll never forget some of the views I had with that scope. If I'm ever blessed to live under dark skies again, I'll do my best to find or make something similar.

Eventually, I had to trade it away because I ended up moving a few times, and it was impractical to take a scope of that size along. But it went to a friend who's a physics teacher in a school. He has run astronomy programs for kids for many years, and he was especially interested in this scope due to its short height. While I miss the scope, nothing could be better than knowing it is introducing youngsters to the night sky year after year.

Ah... the beauty of life.

[josefk]

Delightful and useful looking scope @The60mmKid and great story. I hope you DO find yourself under dark skies again to repeat the experience. 

[Piero]

@The60mmKid That's a truly lovely scope! 

[badhex]

My beloved F5.9 ZS73 in max TFOV mode, just shy of 6.5° with a Pan 41mm. As mentioned recently in another thread, this scope has given me access to way more dark skies than any other and it travels very well. Admittedly, don't usually use the Pan 41mm often with this scope, going for the Lacerta (Aero) ED 40mm, due to weight and partly because LP in my home skies gives a distinctly grey background at this exit pupil size. I also have the sneaking suspicion that ~7mm exit pupils may not be working well for my eyes any more 😭

 

[Stu1smartcookie]

I like this thread   

So , heres my little Starwave 70ED sitting on a lovely 112 Berlebach . 

[lawsio]

Is still feel like I need a wide-field refractor in my setup, I'm just not really sure why! What sort of observing do you do with them? The apertures all seem very small so I guess nothing too difficult when it comes to DSOs? Are they similar to use as binoculars?

Thinking a StarTravel 102 at some point, spec seems legit and they're quite cute 🤔 😃

 

[IB20]

In all seriousness, all my current scopes can only achieve about 2° due to me not have any 2” EPs or diagonals. Frankly it’s not really where my interest lies particularly in suburban skies and much prefer binoculars to low mag scope cruising when taking in wider views.

[josefk]

Nice looking set-up @Stu1smartcookie - what mount is it you are using? Fluid head? Cheers

[Stu1smartcookie]

12 minutes ago, lawsio said:

Is still feel like I need a wide-field refractor in my setup, I'm just not really sure why! What sort of observing do you do with them? The apertures all seem very small so I guess nothing too difficult when it comes to DSOs? Are they similar to use as binoculars?

Thinking a StarTravel 102 at some point, spec seems legit and they're quite cute 🤔 😃

 

I get the "not sure why " bit ... but , once you put that little scope on a small mount and sit outside under a clear sky you will know why . You can lose yourself for a few hours in a sea of stars . 

[Stu1smartcookie]

1 hour ago, josefk said:

Nice looking set-up @Stu1smartcookie - what mount is it you are using? Fluid head? Cheers

Hi , i have an innorel F80 on a berlebach 112 report tripod . I previously tried the F60 but the 80 is so much better ... bought off amazon £ 83 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Stu1smartcookie

[josefk]

Super! @Stu1smartcookie - i'm not sure why we don't see more use of fluid heads for astro - i think they're a brilliant option for smaller scopes and especially in this wide field topic where panning around is such a nice part of the experience. . 

[Stu1smartcookie]

7 minutes ago, josefk said:

Super! @Stu1smartcookie - i'm not sure why we don't see more use of fluid heads for astro - i think they're a brilliant option for smaller scopes and especially in this wide field topic where panning around is such a nice part of the experience. . 

Agree entirely ... i think they get a bad press becuase some FH's are plastic and tend not to be smooth . Buy the right one and it will do the job admirably . The Innorel F80 is a big chunk of metal and the panning is so smooth , plus it reaches the Zenith too , and the handle can be extended if a longer scope is used . 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Stu1smartcookie

[Stu]

34 minutes ago, lawsio said:

Is still feel like I need a wide-field refractor in my setup, I'm just not really sure why! What sort of observing do you do with them? The apertures all seem very small so I guess nothing too difficult when it comes to DSOs? Are they similar to use as binoculars?

Thinking a StarTravel 102 at some point, spec seems legit and they're quite cute 🤔 😃

 

The ‘why’ for me is for trawling the MilkyWay taking in all the lovely star fields, plus being able to view the really large open clusters and nebulae such as the Veil and NAN in one field of view. M31 is amazing under a dark sky with good dark adaptation too; you really start to see just how big it is, rather than just the core which is what you see under light polluted skies.

Example of a low power session with the Genesis here:

 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Two contenders here: The APM 80mm F/6 which gives 5.3 degrees FOV with the Nagler 31T5, and 5.75 degrees with the Vixen LVW 42. Here it is shown  with the ES 12 mm 92 deg EP, which at 40x still yields an impressive 2.3 deg true FOV

The other is the inimitable Meade SN6 6" F/5 Schmidt-Newton which with the Nagler 31T5 gives me 3.33 degrees on the sky, which makes this a great comet hunter.

[John]

I think seeing the planets and brighter DSO's in the context of a large swathe of stars is fascinating. It's not much use from a scientific standpoint of course but it does bring home the vastness of space and also the views are just lovely to experience, and there is nothing wrong with that 🙂

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I also find just scooting along the Milky Way with a wide-field instrument (be it binoculars or telescopes) very relaxing, even if I have seen many of the objects hundreds of times. It makes me feel at home in the universe.

[Stu1smartcookie]

Just now, John said:

I think seeing the planets and brighter DSO's in the context of a large swathe of stars is fascinating. It's not much use from a scientific standpoint of course but it does bring home the vastness of space and also the views are just lovely to experience, and there is nothing wrong with that 🙂

And even though those planets will be small they are pin sharp .

[Stu1smartcookie]

it looks like a clear window between 8 and 11 tonight !!! Totally enthused to get the small scope out ... cant wait   

[lawsio]

So what you're all saying is I do actually need to go shopping again 🤣Sounds like a much different viewing experience to the Mak I've just picked up and less messing about that then the newts I have. 

[Stu1smartcookie]

6 minutes ago, lawsio said:

So what you're all saying is I do actually need to go shopping again 🤣Sounds like a much different viewing experience to the Mak I've just picked up and less messing about that then the newts I have. 

Absolutely ... a Mak , Frac and Newt .. a perfect combination