4x Powermate - madness or a stroke of genius?

[Mr Spock]

I have plenty of eyepieces to suit all the scopes I have, But all is not perfect. For my Lunar observing I like to use my LVWs as they are so comfortable to look through for extended periods. With my 12" I have issues though as the 8mm gives x190 and the 5mm x305 - I need something in between. If I start using Barlows of various types things improve, but there are still gaps.

x2 Barlow: I have x234, which is good, but, the next up is x380 (13mm and 8mm)

x2.5 Powermate: better still with x173, x224 and x292. Again there's a gap to x475 (13mm and 8mm Again), plus x475 in excellent seeing is just starting to push it a little. The 12" is very sharp natively at x461 with the 3.3mm TOE though. I could manage with this combination.

x4 Powermate: If I add in my 42mm LVW and 30mm UFF (very sharp and comfortable), I get (approximately as using the 1.25" LVWs in 2" mode lowers the x4 to somewhere around x3.75-3.8), x160, x200, x260, x335 and x440. Each is an even increase of x1.3. Plus all the comfort these eyepieces offer.
I can also use the x4 for imaging.

A x4 Powermate and a 2" eyepiece is a hefty lump, but, the 12" is kind of big, so, not really an issue. One advantage is the extra length is it puts the eyepiece out in a more comfortable position. The SL 12" Dob doesn't have tube rings so the eyepiece is stuck in that awkward 45° position where in high elevations you are climbing over the mount to reach it.

So, does this sound like a plan or have I gone mad?

[Elp]

Maybe, but you'd know from using the 2.5 if there's any milage. The higher power ones need better seeing to be able to use.

[Louis D]

You probably have already experienced this yourself, but swapping large Barlows/Magnifiers in and out of the optical train is a pain, even on a Dob.  I tend to leave one in for an entire viewing session when conditions allow for the higher powers.  This works okay for 2x, but I'm not sure how well it would work for 4x.

[Mr Spock]

4 minutes ago, Louis D said:

You probably have already experienced this yourself, but swapping large Barlows/Magnifiers in and out of the optical train is a pain, even on a Dob.  I tend to leave one in for an entire viewing session when conditions allow for the higher powers.  This works okay for 2x, but I'm not sure how well it would work for 4x.

When I'm doing lunar it will be in for the session so no swapping out required.

[Don Pensack]

As they say, "there is a method to your madness".

It sounds OK to me.

[Mr Spock]

Good - 'cause I've just purchased it 

They aren't in stock at the moment. Moot point really as the forecast is non stop cloud for the foreseeable future 

[Louis D]

Once you do get it, let us know how it worked out.

We're under clouds here in Texas for the foreseeable future as well, but we need the rain, so we're not complaining too loudly.

[Mr Spock]

10 minutes ago, Louis D said:

but we need the rain

Thu - Sat last week we had 106.2mm. You are welcome to have some of that!

[Louis D]

6 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Thu - Sat last week we had 106.2mm. You are welcome to have some of that!

Sure, send it our way.  We're short about 12 inches at this point in the year, and many more over the previous 2+ years.  Our main reservoir for drinking water is down to 35% full.  We really need a tropical storm or similar to deluge us in rain for days.

[Mr Spock]

The average rainfall for October here is 103.2mm. So we had over a month's rainfall in three days  We've had another 9.6mm today.