Eyepiece wheel?

[Sylvain (Jon)]

Gday everyone,

I was just wondering if any of you has used an eyepiece wheel like this one:

http://www.owlastronomy.com/images/muleyetop.jpg

http://www.owlastronomy.com/images/muleyebot.jpg

It does look a bit cheap, but it does not cost an arm and could be convinient to swap between eyepieces in the dark. Also good to avoid screwing/unscrewing filters everytime an eyepiece is changed.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

[blink138 (Pat)]

i think i have seen something similar in pictures of large takahashi refractors using them but dont know if there would be any loss of light
pat

[mercedes_sl1970]

Hi

These have been discussed on Cloudynights and there is another thread at the moment: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthrea.../o/all/fpart/1

They sound like they could be useful, but the extra light path might make it a touch difficult if you don't have much in-focus.

Andrew

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

I've used the Takahashi turret a couple of times, and found it to be a great addition to a nights viewing pleasure. Having several EP's ready to roll, in a pre-set order of magnification, without fumbling around in the dark for them is a real boon. Only potential problems are dew control and focus position as said. The total light path isn't that long when comparing it to a 2" diagonal anyway, so it should't pose any real problem. If you are handy, you could make a 5-way heater without issue. Keep caps on until required. The prism that Takahashi uses is pretty darned good, and I don't think that anyone I know of who's used one can say that there was inordinate light loss. It is by Takahashi... They ain't cheap though.

http://www.buytelescopes.com/Product...ce-holder.aspx

[blink138 (Pat)]

sure would way an awful lot also with the eyepieces plus the turret
pat

[Sylvain (Jon)]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
From the pictures, it seems that the basic turret I have seen does not use any optical elements in the design...it seems to be something like: http://www.observatory.org/bfo3rot1.jpg

It could be interesting, i'll try to give it a go if possible.

Cheers everyone

[gbeal]

There was always the Zeiss turrets as well, great to use, just paying for them, like the Tak, was the problem.
Gary

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

Hello all,
Haven't been here in a while, but at least I can comment from experience here. Providing they are well made, EP turrets are a great idea. I had a chance to borrow a Tak unit a few weeks back and had to be physically restrained when it came time to part with it. I noticed no light-loss but I did notice a rise in viewing pleasure, not having to swap ep's all the time. The Tak unit gave the same high quality views with TMB superplanetaries, Televue Naglers and Panoptics, Tak LE's and a range of plossls of varying quality. I would assume here that Zeiss and TEC units would perform equally well. In fact, providing your diagonal mirror is up-to scratch and the turret light-tight and true there is no reason I can think of to NOT use a turret - well, expense perhaps. The only real downside is, AFAIK, that except for one US firm, no one makes a turret with a 2" tube.
If you can afford one, I highly recommend it.
Just my 2 cents.
Peter