The Motherload has landed !

Aunty in Seattle finally came through for me and forwarded the eyepieces to me after 2 months.

My God they are big buggers!!

Heres a pic of the old and the new together.



Heres a size comparison of some of them.



Heres the 21mm in my focuser. The focuser/paracorr/21mm Ethos stack is over a foot long!! Fear the Counterweight requirements!! Luckily I also have the 10mm. Can you imaging the stack with a 2" 2x Powermate in there!!



My oft cited problem however is that even after 2 years, my scope is still unusable. One or two mods that didn't work out made the scope unusable till I could fit their replacements and in nearly 2 years now, I haven't been able to complete them due to house moves and work commitments and most recently a family illness. I still couldn't pass up the deal of a lifetime on these Televue EP's in combination with a favourable exchange rate, despite the fact that I don't even know if I will get to use them till next Winter. I paid a little over half the European price for them.

All that said, I have had time to consider the modifications I need/want to do to make use of these. Off comes all the clipon JMI and Farpoint counterweights and the couple of 5.5lb barbels. I'll be fabricating two counterwight countainers that are shaped such that the are curved on one side to match the curve of my OTA and the two other sides right angled to fit into the corners of the rockerbox when the scope is pointed at zenith. This maximizes the volume of the containers. Inside I will place 'lead flashing' strips cut to fit utilising all available volume. I've done rough calculations and with the extra density of lead over my current steel weights and the volume of counterweight I will be able to fit at the right point on the OTA to maintain the COG, I feel confident I'll have a scope with a shocking amount of counterweight but in a compact format, right where I need it and easily attached and removed from the scope. Flat headed bolts affixed to the OTA tube with keyhole slots in the counterweight containers will mean I can attach and remove them in seconds. This is a far cry from now where sevaral barbells and about 10 farpoint/JMI clipon weights have to go on and off.

I'm also going to be modding my paracorr to make a DIY SIPS solution not unlike the Feathertouch/paracorr combo. Several things bother me about the tunable top paracorr. Not even all Televue EP's get optimal coma correction at the marked tunable top detents, some are actually in between settings, a lot of the televuue EP's that came after the paracorr 1 can't get optimal coma correction ever because they are outside the range of the tunable top, if one wants optimal correction one must leave the focuser in a set position such that the paracorr is at the focal point and basically be focusing instead with the tunable top which is in effect a lousy helical focuser thus making you wonder why you spent so much on a premium focuser . Or, one forego's optimal coma correction, uses the 5 tunable top detents and fine focuses with your focuser.

So instead I'll be removing the tunable top from my paracorr altogether, trimming the barrel down to the top lens, affixing a baader finetuning ring to the other end. Think of how a bayonett lightbulb screws into its socket. With knobs on an appropriate sized finetuning ring on the end of the paracorr and slots dremeled into my filterslide casing inside the UTA, I'll have a quick and easy method to secure and remove(For collimation) the paracorr lens assembly at the focal point. Now the simple act of focusing gives optimal coma correction seeing as the paracorr is always right at the focal point. With no tunable top, I save a little bit of weight and I can now get optimal correction for the 17 and 21mm Ethos and 31mm Nagler. I'll fit 2" finetuning rings to the 1.25" EP's to prevent the 1.25" barrels of the shorter focal lengths from hitting the top paracorr lens. The added benefit this all has over the Feathertouch SIPS is that its not a permanent tall focuser/drawtube stack like the SIPS. In use it is as tall as the FT SIPS of course but the SIPS stays that length even when not in use which is a terrible knock hazzard. With my mod its a long drawtube that gets me out that far. When not in use my drawtube is racked in and my focuser is no taller than it is now. I already have the longer drawtube I need Another benefit is I now only have 1 interface where registration/tilt errors can occur. ie. The EP/Drawtube compression ring interface, Whereas before you had the Drawtube/Paracorr barrel interface, the Paracorr barrel/tunable top interface and the tunable top/EP interface.

It should all be finished by Christmas

[IFAS Gang] Yeah, but what year Keith!! [/IFAS Gang]

Very Nice Keith.

You should bring them along to one of the Sandymount evenings or observing sessions so you can be sure they work properly.

I can even get a spare scope for you .

Michael.

Thats a sweet collection of eyepieces. I am drooling at the mouth just looking at the picture.

All I wanna know is
1, whats your address
2, times youre not there

Awesome set there Keith, welcome to the nagler-ethos-mania

I can hand them out like smarties Michael ! :laugh: I'd love to see what they can do in your big C11 and Aubreys big APO. Pinpoint stars to the edge of Field. I'll definately try and make it to some events come September onwards even if I am de facto scopeless.

Are these Sandymount observing sessions affiliated to an astronomy club and when do they take place?