Posts Made By: Larry Stedman

You'll want to give yourself much more time with different objects and on different types of night. M8 is a pretty good object in most scopes, so it won't show off the differences that well.

I went through a similar change as yours several years ago, but to an even smaller dob. I had a 5" Celestron (C-5+) for many years. Had nice views even from within a small city. I then upgraded to a 7" dob and the difference was incredible. Planetary detail much more obvious (Jupiter festoons seen only once or twice in the 5"; seen often in the 7"). Globulars and galaxies really came into their own. The key was those really transparent nights.

How bad is your overhead light pollution? How faint are the stars you can see naked eye? Keep in mind that nights vary greatly in what you'll see. On poor or mediocre nights, the 5 vs. 8" difference won't be that striking. But get a run of good clear nights and the 8" should knock your socks off.

Definitely take steps to block your neighbors' lights-- I use tarps on poles and create dark zone in the backyard. And a black tee-shirt for the head. Works well. Does the scope have baffling opposite the focuser? If not, the shroud will definitely make a difference.

Your problems with Argo Navis are almost certainly the slipping encoder. Even a little slippage will throw things off. Polaris is highly recommended as an alignment star, so don't avoid it. Pick another star to the south somewhere and you'll be cruising in no time.

Please let us know how you get along and if any of our tips help!

Welcome to the world of daytime star gazing! Just remember the hat and sunblock!

I'm intrigued... they are now including a 20mm Kellner and not the 12mm? That's odd because many are reporting their best views are with 12mm.

Eric, I take it that you're looking for longer focal length, wider field eyepieces.

Do you wear eyeglasses? Do you need to wear them while observing? That's going to make a difference.

You also need to watch exit pupil, especially depending on your eyes and sky conditions.

Here some relatively inexpensive recommendations.

You already have the Ultimas... so I'd suggest picking up a 25mm ultrascopic or 24mm ultima off of Astromart and also a 30 or 35mm either type (the 35mm only if you like and are comfortable with eyepieces with long eye relief). (The Ult/Ultras are equivalent.) Or try a 22mm or 25mm Epic/X-cel. The Ultimas/Ultras will probably run you anywhere from $55-75 used.

I've found a 35mm Ultima wonderful in a 12.5" f/5...

If you're going after a 2" eyepiece, I really like the 32mm Burgess... I sold a 1rpd that everyone raves about because the Burgess was comparably good, had a rubber eyeguard for my eyeglasses, and was lighter. It provides good crisp, contrasty views. Here again not much $, maybe $80 new or $60 used (check that, I'm just guessing).

But some observers, and some of us some of the time, don't like the swap between the 2" and the 1.25". Hence the 30 or 35mm Ultima. (The 30mm would be parfocal with your 18mm).

Also, note, I've found I'm often jumping directly from the 35mm to an 18mm Radian even though I have choices in-between... so you might not even need more than one other eyepiece... say the 30mm Ultima (which few observers find has the blackout probs of the 35mm) for $65-70.

Ron, how did you determine that the Klee did better than the Powermate? Planetary viewing? Double star splitting? Something else?

Just curious as I have the Klee but also a bunch of other barlows that I need to winnow down.

How high a power are you using? What kind of eyepieces?

Wide field eyepieces are often recommended... park the planet on the edge and let it drift through the fov. Wider fov = more time to view.

Also, if this is your first dob, you will get used to the motions after a while... given it time.

You can put the dob on a platform... which will track the stars & planets and thus no more "chasing". e.g., Round Table makes a nice platform for under $500 (it will raise the eyepiece height and with the light-weight 8" will make focusing more sensitive--need mroe time for scope to settle down), but it will track well and quietly... and will even let you do digicam pictures of brighter DSOs.

Dave, thanks for the reminder of what's up!

Just a couple of extra notes:

For first-time browsers, look for the orange stars in M41... brighter giants!

Depending on aperture, M93 is better than "decent"! Rich and bright...

And I add that, with a filter, you can pick up the planetary in M46, tres cool!

I'd follow up again via the ad and via PM.

Sometimes people's ISP or business servers have problems; they lose their e-mail; they screw up their Astromart account and get locked out, etc.

So try again. If this is an ad from a non-rated and new AMer, then it's helpful that you or rather your friend would be doing a local viewing and pick up. You can then have complete confidence in the buy. Otherwise, a phone call, some e-mail exchange, or an internet "background check" can help establish the person's bona fides.

You all have better eyes than I do. I couldn't really figure out the photo! Does someone have a picture of a Synta ultrawide with the lettering still on it for comparison? Jon, does the outer sleeve come off entirely to show the similarity better?

In any event, I share you sentiments that there is something tawdry about their gluing a sleeve over a Synta and citing a different focal length and fov and making it seem like it's a different eyepiece or design!

Now, there have been reports, pro and con, about whether the basic Syntas had better blackening (or worse) than the Orion Expanse. Anyone know about that?

By the way, it really is a nuisance when the lettering comes off... and it's seems to happen much faster with certain eyepieces.

Gee, Floyd, I wish I had your problems!

You are right, though, far too much duplication and overlap. And here I was worried because I have a 21mm Pentax and an 18mm Radian!

Like it! It's a Hints from Heloise type tip!

Having lost caps before, especially off of finders, sometimes off eyepieces, this could help. Perhaps there are even some flourescent, glow in the dark sticky things, too!