The Motherload has landed !

Someone on CN recommended an overlay of Black Satin over the foam. I didn't have any of that and nor did the local craft shop but when I came home I found some Black Baize. I have no idea when or why we ever bought black baize in this house but it turns out that it was just what the doctor ordered. The Cubed Pluck foam dividers I made and the White Televue box foam inserts are still under there with the EP's nestled nice and tightly into them but aesthetically its much nicer now. Shimmery black satin would probably have been OTT :laugh:

looking good Keith, hopefully you'll be able to use them sometime soon.

Wow, that is good arsenal

I borrowed three Ethos eyepieces for couple of nights. But I soon gave up for similar reasons you described. Naglers/Panoptics are just easier to use.

Janek wrote: Wow, that is good arsenal

I borrowed three Ethos eyepieces for couple of nights. But I soon gave up for similar reasons you described. Naglers/Panoptics are just easier to use.

Do you mean the size and weight issue Janek?

I had certainly reached the limits of conventional types of counterweight already with the amount of stuff I had loaded on my UTA and the Ethos are the straw....scratch that....the bags of sugar that broke the camels back I had to get creative to solve my massive counterweight issues.

However, there are of course other reasons that might make me make the same ultimate decision as youself. Until I get a chance to put them through their paces I won't know if the 100º AFOV will give me the 'Majesty Factor' that Al Nagler describes or just give me a headache! Apparently, some people can absorb the spacewalk effect, ie still be able to mentally focus on the target in the centre of the FOV while the AFOV stretching into their peripheral vision gives them the glorius feeling of sitting on top of Voyager as it headed towards Saturn, while others cannot stop themselves from trying to open their eyes wide to try and fully 'percieve' the full AFOV and/or keep scanning around with their eyes, thus giving themselves eyestrain and headaches. Eye relief and kidney beaning/blackouts might also be an issue. Only time will tell.

I certainly don't fear the prospect of going back to 68º AFOV now though given how surprised I was at how large that AFOV was compared to 100º. It was so long since I looked through my Hyperions that I forgot how large that is in its own right. Its not like the 100º is that much bigger than 68º, its just that those last few degrees carry the edge of field past a critical point in your peripheral that supposedly triggers the spacewalk effect.

I also agree with what Dave said in the pre-purchase thread. These EP's are overpriced. No doubt about it. Generally I am very price performance ratio and law of diminishing returns sensitive. While I was prepared to give them a try at the full price with the possibility of accumulating them slowly one by one if they were close enough to my law of diminishing returns/price performance threshold, there was however a good chance after buying the first of me saying, "Great EP, Worth triple my Hyperions in my Fast Scope but not worth 7x" and putting it in the For Sale section straight away.

Anyway, thats why I got so excited about the deal I got on these Ethos. Its very unlikely they could live up to the hype at 7x the cost of my Hyperion Workhorses but at 3x the cost, chances were I'd be happy enough with the price performance ratio specific to the deal I got. This means its just comfort issues that will put me off them now. The value issue was dealt with by the great deal I got.

So rest assured, I didn't spend my money wildly or blindly or 'believe the hype'. Its just that if one can mitigate the law of diminishing returns and price performance rules with a good deal, then why not get one of the best All rounder EP sets out there. I know certain designs with less glass might be better for planetary or that the impressive correction is only worth paying extra for if you have a fast scope, but I didn't want a different set of EP's for different targets or different scopes, I wanted a good all rounder that will work well on any target in any scope and that will last me a virtual lifetime. I never wanted to be that guy with 90 something eyepieces or forever on the buy and sell forums, buying and selling eyepieces. I just wanted to be done with it in one go.

There will come a day, when you won't ever again find me on the equipment or eyepiece forums talking about new purchases or mods. It'll be all done. I'll only ever be there to give advice to others. Finally after all these years I'll confine myself predominantly to the observing forums. Imagine that. Keith doing some actual observing!

Calibos wrote: Do you mean the size and weight issue Janek?

Yes, size and weight are my main concerns. My travel 10" dobson has 8 kg and it simply can not support such massive eyepiece

But also Ethos eyepieces are not so great optically. Huge FOV and eye relief requires lot of compromises in light transmission, contrast etc..

Sure it is great to see 50 galaxies in Virgo at the same time, but to see faint details I bring my trusty 11mm Nagler or even 11mm TV Plossl.

Also Ethos are not parafocal with each other. So one have to refocus after each change; pretty annoying on push to dobson. All other TV eyepieces (Naglers, Panoptics, Radians and even Plossls) are parafocal with each other.

Those eyepieces are definitely not bad. But are designed for comfort and relaxation rather than 'hardcode observing'.

If there would be 7 mm Ethos with reasonable size, weight and parafocal with other TV eyepieces, I would buy it even for 1000 euros. I guess it may come true in 2nd generation (Naglers had very similar problems when they started).

Hi Keith,

How far do you have to insert the Powermate X2 (intrafocal) within the focus holder before you can focus an image using these eyepieces?

I have only a small amount of back focus to play with. About 40mm.

Eamonn A