What filters would you recommend to have in your kit?

[h0ughy (David)]

Yes this is one of those rhetorical questions (well not really but I wish to spend my money wisely). What filters would you have in your 2 inch eyepiece kit. And if you recommend something how much was/is it and where did you get it?

[atalas]

Hi Mr Gadget ,if your talking deepspace I would say UHC and O III ! is a must have .


Louie

[h0ughy (David)]

Come on Louie any more that that like what brand and how much, what do you have?

[atalas]

No sorry Dave, I only have the UHC equivalent Celestron LPR, I have used O III Ive used Lumicons UHC and O III they both would be most used making great improvement. On planetary nebs OIII and the UHC and LPR make huge improvent on imission and reflection nebs even at a Dark sky as well. Ive also used the Lumicon H Beta works for the Horse head neb with a larg scope, the only use for it that I know of as yet. What do you think Dave ?oh yes these are not cheap,you would be looking at 400.00 au for the 2"and round 200.00au for the 1.25" ones
new!

Louie

[h0ughy (David)]

I don't think the tax man is going to give me back that much. the curse of the 2inch. I might have to get one and dream on for the other for a little while, until something comes up cheap!

[atalas]

Dave there is always Astromart ,most of the people on there are good and you would only spend half that. You know Dave I think ausastronomer
has these in 2" he can tell us alot more about them and let us try them when
he comes out next time for some viewing.
He is such a wonderful man!
Louie

[h0ughy (David)]

That sounds like first class grovelling to me, sound good!

[atalas]

Man have you looked through that guy's Pentax eyepieces ? It calls for major grovelling!

Louie

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Houghy,

I own the Astronomiks OIII and UHC filters but they are only 1.25" not 2". The Astronomiks OIII is a superb deep sky filter, marginally superior to the Lumicon OIII IMO, the UHC is also excellent but I prefer the OIII marginally on several targets although realistically I think you would be happy with either. Downside is they are a lot of chaff, about $440 in 2" format.

I correspond frequently with Phil Harrington who writes for Astronomy Magazine in the USA and he rates the DGM NPB (Narrow Pass Band) filter as the best all round deep sky filter he has ever used and by a good margin.

The 2" version is currently available direct from DGM Optics for $US100 so you can land that for well under $AUS200.

http://users.erols.com/dgmoptics/

In case you have not heard of DGM Optics they are owned by a guy called Dan McShane and specialise in making high quality off-axis newtonians. I haven't used the filter myself but certainly respect Phil's judgement so that may be worth some thought.

PS: You could save up your chocolates and buy my 20mm Pentax XW which I am seriously thinking of selling

It would go well in your scope.

Clear Skies
John Bambury

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally posted by ausastronomer
Houghy,

I own the Astronomiks OIII and UHC filters but they are only 1.25" not 2". The Astronomiks OIII is a superb deep sky filter, marginally superior to the Lumicon OIII IMO, the UHC is also excellent but I prefer the OIII marginally on several targets although realistically I think you would be happy with either. Downside is they are a lot of chaff, about $440 in 2" format.

I correspond frequently with Phil Harrington who writes for Astronomy Magazine in the USA and he rates the DGM NPB (Narrow Pass Band) filter as the best all round deep sky filter he has ever used and by a good margin.

The 2" version is currently available direct from DGM Optics for $US100 so you can land that for well under $AUS200.

http://users.erols.com/dgmoptics/

In case you have not heard of DGM Optics they are owned by a guy called Dan McShane and specialise in making high quality off-axis newtonians. I haven't used the filter myself but certainly respect Phil's judgement so that may be worth some thought.

PS: You could save up your chocolates and buy my 20mm Pentax XW which I am seriously thinking of selling

It would go well in your scope.

Clear Skies
John Bambury

Thanks John,

the eyepiece sounds good but I have a few at the moment (how much did you want for it?). But as for the filter information, thanks , it is a great help.

[Starkler (Geoff)]

A cheap option in 2 inch format is the Orion ultrablock (uhc type filter) available from http://www.oneilphoto.on.ca/ .

Joe is a good guy to deal with and ships all over the world.

[h0ughy (David)]

thanks for that Geoff,

what do you think of the celestron/baader filters?

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally posted by Starkler
A cheap option in 2 inch format is the Orion ultrablock (uhc type filter) available from http://www.oneilphoto.on.ca/ .

Joe is a good guy to deal with and ships all over the world.

Houghy,

The Orion Ultrablock is another good option. I have bought many products from Joe O'Neil (O'neil Photo) in Canada over the years, Joe will match the prices offered by Orion on their US website. I think I would be sticking with either the Astronomiks, Lumicon, DGM NPB or the Orion Ultrablock. I have heard mixed reports on some of the Baader DSO filters, some good, some bad and the Celestron DSO filters are fair only IMO. Avoid the Broadband Light Pollution filters for visual astronomy as they do not provide as much benefit as the Narrowband or the OIII filters.

BTW What can you buy the 20mm Pentax XW for new ? I will sell for 85% of the cheapest new price available in Australia. It is in completely unmarked condition, with screw bolt case, lifetime warranty card, manual and packaging box.

CS- John B

[h0ughy (David)]

John,

I have 4 2" eyepieces plus a televure 2x barlow at the moment, the next one I will get will be a 15mm or 12mm eyepiece. Sorry the 20 sounds great but just out of my range.

So if I only bought 1 filter now what should I get firt the O111 or the ultrablock.

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally posted by h0ughy
John,

I have 4 2" eyepieces plus a televure 2x barlow at the moment, the next one I will get will be a 15mm or 12mm eyepiece. Sorry the 20 sounds great but just out of my range.

So if I only bought 1 filter now what should I get firt the O111 or the ultrablock.

Houghy,

I would get the DGM Optics NPB filter.

As I said Phil Harrington rates it as the best Narrowband/UHC type filter he has ever used. I have a copy of a review Phil did on 25 different filters and the DGM NPB filter came out very very favourably. Unfortunately I can't be much more specific than that because the article has not gone to print and will do so in a future issue of an American Astronomy Magazine. The DGM NPB is very cheap and very good. Failing that if you want a top class excellent filter I would get the Astronomiks OIII from Bintel followed by the Astronomiks UHC from Bintel. If you are budget conscious I would get the Orion Ultrablock from Joe O'neil in Canada

CS-John B

[h0ughy (David)]

Thanks John

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Houghy,

I will do you a deal

You buy the 2" DGM NPB filter and if your not happy with it, I will buy it off you.

CS-John B

[h0ughy (David)]

john

I have just digested what was on the web site. I will have to do a lot of comparing and pricing before I make that decision. A wonderful option and very honerable, but i am just fishing for practical advice and not get burnt buying a useless filter. the infor from their web site is below. What's it all mean?



The Narrow Pass Band (NPB) filter



The NPB filter is an Ultra High Contrast type of filter that is very effective for small and fainter emission planetary and nebula

and a variety of bright nebula, especially through larger scopes. High TX% at the 656.3nm Hydrogen Alpha emission line is

a bonus for this design. Noted optical consultant Mike Palermiti conducted a blind test with the NPB Nebula filter and UHC type filters made by 4 well-known manufacturers and 15 participants with varying degrees of observing experience. Every one

of the participants preferred the NPB over the 4 leading UHC type filter manufacturers samples used in the comparison.





On Sale !!!

Regularly $79.95 (1.25”) Now just $54.95

$149.95 (2.0”) Now just $104.95

(Prices include S&H within the USA)

Order The NPB Filter

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Houghy,

In laymens terms it means this:-

The DGM NPB is basically a narrowband or UHC type filter, similar in its bandpass characteristics to the UHC or Narrowband filters made by Astronomiks, Lumicon, Meade, Celestron, Thousand Oaks, Sirius Optics, Baader and Televue. Some of these work a lot better than others, you will note in my previous post I have only recommended 4, some of those listed above I have not tried, but I have tried most of them. All of these filters have a bandpass to varying degrees between about 470nm and 520nm. Some UHC/Narrowband filters as well as having the bandpass between 470 and 520nm also have a higher wavelength bandpass for H-Alpha above about 600nm. Some UHC filters have a clipped bandpass in H-Alpha and some such as the Lumicon UHC and the Orion Ultrablock (both good filters BTW) have no bandpass in H-Alpha. An OIII filter has a narrower bandpass around 500nm only (OIII emission wavelength).

The DGM NPB filter has a narrowband pass between 486 and 501nm and a clipped H-Alpha bandpass above about 620nm. This can be seen in the transmission graph on the DGM website. The Astronomiks UHC which is another filter I like a lot, has similar bandpass characteristics as can be seen in this link on the Bintel website.

http://www.bintel.com.au/AstronomikUHC.html

It has transmission between 480 and 505nm at the lower end and a H-Alpha Bandpass above 640nm.

In other words the DGM filter should work very well on its stated specifications. If Phil Harrington and Mike Palmerti like it wtfru waiting for

Clear Skies
John B

[h0ughy (David)]

Thanks John, I will consult the minister for finance this weekend after a few Chardy's and ask the question!