Friday, August 04, 2006

Orion Stratus 8mm & Antares 2" Diagonal

...these are my latest acquisitions! My Stratus 8mm turned up at the local astronomy store, who had nicely replaced the original due to some blemishing on (in between?) the lenses. The new eyepiece looks great, solidly built just like the others. I am going to try it out tonight on the Moon and Jupiter, weather permitting. For those of you coming to my blog to check out Stratus eyepiece reviews, I'll post a review of the 8mm model sometime over the next few days.

While at the store I also found a nice Antares 2" diagonal. Used, and selling for just $35.00!!! I just couldn't resist that. I need an adapter to use it with my SCT, but will get that next week (just $30.00). I was going to spend about $80-$130 on a brand new one, but this will do just nicely. Anyway, that frees up some funds for some more gizmos, maybe the Stratus 30mm...

Otherwise, today was my last day at my old job. Seven years is a long time, and it was actually like leaving family in all honesty. I've got the weekend to relax and then it's hard slog at the new job. Yippee!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Phil found your Astro blog searching for belkive it or not an Antares 2inch diagonal!
Like you being lucky to get one for $35US (which is like £17 pounds to me here in UK) I managed to get one for £36 on a wlknown auction site.
These Antares are £95 in UK (about $190 US)!
Did your have the 1.25" to 2" eyepiece adaptor with brass compression ring - threaded for filters included with yours?

And are they as good for clear crisp viewing as the sales guff says? Not had a chance to view through it yet, how is yours?

Anonymous said...

Hi Phil what is the antares model or manufacture code/number of your antares diagonal?
Thanks nice blog you have.

Phil said...

Hi Anon!

I did get a good bargain on this diagonal back then, and it worked just great with my LX200 SCT. I also used it with my William Optics 66mm refractor and it was fine for that.

Images were relatively sharp. I never detected any weirdness for both visual or imaging purposes.

It did have the 1.25" adapter with brass compression ring and that worked fine. I believe the nosepiece had a filter thread on it but never used it.

Clear skies,
Phil