Best set-up for cutting through LP?

[nightvision]

Hi, any experience, findings and opinions on the best set up for cutting through LP? I have become increasingly frustrated by how dim the views appear and washed out the sky looks. Many years ago things were better. I have a 12" dob, wide angle 2" eyepieces and some 10x50 bins. Do any filters help? Do large fast refractors do a better job than my F5 dob in terms of brightness and contrast? What about MAKs?

Thanks, Tony.

[Doug]

Hi Tony

I understand you frustration I had the same problem but with a different scope,I will say that I have heard this before over a 12" and larger tens to pick up light very easily,I first spoke to my neighbours and then invited then round to see though the scope, that worked fine, making a bit of noise when you start up helps to let you know your there ,can you make or buy a dew shield this helps a lot and the best thing is high quality Filters like Astronomik IMHO make sure they are for Visual hope this helps

Clear skies

Doug

Essex

[SiriusB]

Hi Tony,

IMO refractors & Maks are higher contrast out of the box, no reason a Newt can't be made high contrast though.

I think you've hit the nail on the head mentioning contrast-anything that increases contrast will help. Not a substitute for dark skies though

[John]

Using more magnification can help darken the background sky so that faint fuzzies are a little easier to spot. Thats one of the reasons why ultra wide angle eyepieces are popular - you can have a bit more magnification and see a lot of sky.

I also find a lightshield around the top of my newtonian helps to keep stray light out of the top part of the tube and from around the secondary mirror.

[LukeSkywatcher]

My light pollution, i think really isnt too bad compared to others but i bought one of these:

Light Pollution Reduction - Skywatcher Light Pollution Filter

I use it on all of my scopes (70mm,90mm and 130mm) and it really does an admirable job of cutting through the LP and giving me better contrast.

However i have also found that higher quality EP's give me the same level of contrast without having to use the LPF.

I speak of the Vixen ranges of EP's.

They offer tack sharp images across the FOV and have/show amazing contrast without dimming the view.