Posts Made By: Philip Canard

You can split the difference and get a Siebert Star Splitter 2.9mm. The optical quality is the same as a Celestron 7.5mm Ultima (for my 4.4mm and 6.4mm Star Splitters), but the eye relief and bigger eye lens makes viewing a lot more enjoyable. Eye lens size and eye relief is almost exactly the same as a 12.5mm Ultima on all the Star Splitters, which is an extremely highly rated EP over at Excelsis. The Burgess TMB is OK, but I prefer the Star Splitter.

While the SS is long, it is very light. The SS works extremely well in binoviewers, which Siebert is also very good at. The Black Night BN 22 is about as light a binoviewer as you will find.

Hope it doesn't mirror what most high end audio magazines became. The ones that taught you something, like Audio Amateur and Glass Audio, never became big, while those that were full of subjective review hype and accolades for big advertisers, like Stereo Review and Stereophile, eventually took over their markets. Audio eventually flopped, after decades of publication, due to its adherence to principles and objective reporting. An astro gear magazine that mirrors what Stereophile did in the audiophile world is long overedue....for business reasons. Wonder how much long-term ad money it takes to get your astro gear into a 'Class A' category? After Larry Greenhill bought Stereophile from J. Gordon Holt, the honest (but perhaps inept in business) founder, the number of audio components in 'Class A' went up along with the increase in ad revenue and paid circulation. The mag got bigger and glossier while the cost to the subscriber went down. I started tossing my Stereophile mags in a pile without reading them, until my long-term subscription expired, then I gave them all away. There is no such thing as two dozen components in any category that can rate state-of-the-art Class A at any given time. Two or three only made the cut at a given time when JGH ran the magazine, plus he had the guts to tell the truth about Bose 901 loudspeakers, and got threatened with a lawsuit and saw Bose pull their advertising from his mag for as long as he owned it. Larry Greenhill, a guy who owned foreign car repair shops before buying Stereophile, never made THAT mistake again. Big advertisers have never been embarassed with a bad review since he took over. I wonder what percentage of ads Meade will have in this new astro mag, and what reviews of their new gear will say.

Follow the money. Whether the mag is supported more by advertisers or subscribers will determine whose interests are served.

The fact that Meade used an oversized mirror made more difference to me than the UHTC. I woild spend my money for more aperture than UHTC if it were me. The condition of the coating is more important than whether or not it has UHTC. UHTC is of more importance photographically than visually, and will NOT increase resolution, which is mainly an aperture function.

To make a BIG difference visually, light gathering needs to double. 20% increase is important in photo speed, but of almost no consequence visually. A jump from 8" to 12" is substantial, but from 10" to 12" not worth your money visually, unless other factors come into play.

First, as you get older, a binoviewer will become more and more important to help your degrading eyesight. Consider that fact. If you are past 50, you will probably never be without a binoviewer if you ever try one of the really good ones: Baader, Siebert, Denkmeier, Tele Vue, Lumicon. If you use high power, floaters are a pain at planetary mags, and you can knock them down 75% or so with a binoviewer. I suggest getting a scope with a focuser that negates the need for an OCA if you want the absolute best resolution. Get a binoviewer that's hung together well, not the generic Chinese one that sells cheaply. The Baader Maxbright or Siebert BN22 are your lowest cost quality binoviewers.

Some of my best EP's in my f/4 SNT are the Siebert Star Splitters which will set you back about $90. Anything from 7.9mm on down (5-element) works great in fast scopes. The 8.9mm and 9.9mm (triplets) are for slow scopes, but are knockout performers in slow Mak-Cass scopes. The Star Splitters have a very similar eye relief and eye lens diameter to the Celestron 12.5mm Ultima, and are perfect for extending down from there for planetary use. Their ultra light weight makes them perfect for binoviewers.

If you want 2" EP's, then the Hyperions are excellent and affordable.

The Siebert Power Mag Wheel allows me to even use Kellners to good effect in my f/4 SNT. That may be the cheapest route if you have a big EP collection. Not having to change EP's is a big plus when observing consecutive objects, and checking for most useful mag. It will hold a 2" EP, but fits into a 1.25" focuser.

I like 1.25" EP's for binov use, but I would suggest getting 2" Barrelled EP's for monoviewing use as they are far more comfortable for that, and the Hyperions are so affordable and so adaptable to camera use that it's silly not to have a few, which I soon plan on getting. Compare a cheap $50 2" 26mm E-Lux Kellner to a high quality 1.25" 25mm Plossl, and you will soon see how superior the bigger Kellner is for deep sky use, if your scope is f/10 or slower. You can really roll your eye around without blackouts, which many of the ultra wideangles EP's are very poor at.

Dobs make EP selection harder, as excellent wideangle EP's like the old Axioms work best at f/7 and slower. My 2" Axioms and 2" Siebert Observatory set the standard for comfort. The major fault of the 2" Observatory series is it's limited focal length range. It's an excellent Dob EP for maxing out your FOV. Less distortion than a Panoptic, and much lighter and cheaper.

Get a Baader Click-Lock adapter for your 1.25" EP's and with a 2" T-2 nosepiece it doubles as an adapter for your 2" focuser with nearly 2" of backfocus added. In other words, you go from camera to visual without needing an extension tube. It's the best support for a binoviewer as it is self centering. Standard adapters with a single setscrew will have wobble that lets the binov view separate from the finder view as you slew around the sky. The Click-Lock uses 3-point centering with considerable length to the contact points that span over safety undercuts in EP Barrels. It does NOT have fallout protection, but depends on strong clamping action. If EP or diagonal is pointing down, it will fall out if loosening of clamp ring occurs. I do not recommend it for diagonal mounting, as Baader makes a much better quick-dosconnect ring system for that.

All Dob type focusers set for 35mm camera use will need an extension tube to go visual as there is a 55mm front flange to film plane distance on all 35mm cameras. The Click-Lock does two things with one accessory, and you can add extension tubes between it and the nosepeice to get any backfocus extension you need.

This is just another photo that I wanted my human to post. I don't always agree with his taste in photos, or other things.

The cheapest Chinese binoviewers are often miscollimated and get knocked out of collimation much easier than the upscale binoviewers. Check them often for proper collimation.

Check to see if images in both EP's are the same. I use terrestrial viewing or lunar viewing to check EP collimation. Sometimes you need to rotate EP's because their optical centers are off. Mark them for correct orientation next time.

I use binoculars more than a telescope anyway, so merging images comes second nature to me. If I can't merge an image, then something is wrong with the binoviewer or EP's.

No binoviewer is perfectly collimated, which is easily seen by viewing the moon and alternately looking through left and right eyes quickly. You will see some shifting of the image at high powers. Image should not shift more than about 5% though. If it changes when you change EP's, then your EP's are at least partly to blame. I order binoviewer pairs from Siebert, or use those EP's made under tight quality control, like the old Celestron Ultimas.

Buy binoviewers that have a self centering eyepiece holder like Tele Vue, Baader, Siebert or Denkmeier. Once you mark EP's that are off center, you just drop them in by your index marks and tighten down and you are collimated.

Start at lower powers if new to binoviewing. Images diverge more as you go up in power. Stay focused on the center of the image. Rolling your eyes around in a binoviewer will cause a newbie a lot of grief most of the time. Make sure your eyes stay centered over BOTH eyepieces. Make sure you have your diopter setting dialed in correctly.

Depends on the size of scope. An Atlas GoTo will handle most amateur scopes and it would be along time, if ever, that you needed to upgrade. Get a CGE or GM11 if your pockets are deep. The LXD75 and CG5 are widely produced and handle a scope big enough for deep sky. If you have more money, get the GM8. The Vixen Sphinx would be nice for up to a 6" Mak or 5" short tube refractor. The Skywatcher EQ3-2 SynScan would be a lower cost option to the Sphinx mount.

There are no North American dealers now, but you can order a Russian TAL scope with a fairly decent GEM mount from England or Europe, and you will get a scope with some of the best optics in its price class, and a very serviceable GEM. The TAL 4" refractor and 6" reflector are the standout beginner scopes.

You're probably right. Japanese optics are a bit oversold these days.

Stephen, If you want some Celestron Ultima EP's, try Rex McDaniel at AstroStuff. Those are his favorite EP's, and he socked away a lot of them when Celestron quit importing them. He also knows where to get them if he doesn't have them in stock. 1-877-739-2787

Phil

Your best bet would be to get a 5X Powermate and stick with a reasonable length 10mm EP. Nothing under 7.5mm is practical in a Masuyama or Ortho for me, or under 9mm is a Plossl.