Henry, In that case you must. be "dying to know"
first of all let me tell you a little bit more about it. The weathers not be too good the last few days, very overcast with rain at times, ( I sound like the weather man )Lol and it was foggy this morning. Even so I think anyone who had read this thread knows how pleased I am with it and the way it's fitted to my scope.
I had a look at the moon last night and it was crystal clear, so no problem focusing to infinity.
It fact it focuses down to about 25ft when zoomed out and about 35ft when zoomed in, this is much better than the Optolyth zoom.
This afternoon the sun came out and I set the scope up in the back garden, it was still misty at a distance, but my tree was bathed in sunlight and the conditions were good.
The Wood Pigeons like this tree for some reason,, nearly all the leaves have gone and they sat there peening themselves, I had a cracking view.
So how did the Baader perform in good light? spectacular is the only way to describe it. I could see every detail, the birds beak and eyes were pin sharp. You felt like you could reach out and touch it. I couldn't see any CA and the birds were high in the tree, with a clear blue sky as the backdrop. Fantastic.
Some of you may know I went to Martin Mere last to compare my scope with the best.
The Optolyth was equally as good as the Opticron with the fixed lens's, not as good with the zoom. So if you take the zoom out of the equation there wasn't much to choose between them.
The Swarovski was better with the zoom than the Opto even when the Opto had the fixed lens's fitted.
I thought the zoom on the Swarovski was excellent.
If you recall, I said I could see the very fine detail on a Black Headed Gull's beak, cheeks and eyes.
This is exactly what I am now seeing with the Baader
The first thing that stuck me about the Baader was the size of the view, it huge, like I said you feel like you can walk into it.
I wish I had, had this fitted when I was doing the comparison with the Swarovski, memory's a fickle thing, but I reckon with the Baader fitted, it's up there with the best. It has truly transformed my scope.
I think I've bored you for long enough, now it time to die.Lol
After all the comments on the forum about the Baader, I was really keen to try it, however when I opened the box I thought there is no way this was going fit. It wouldn't fit into the hole, it was too big.
Then I removed the nose cone, this left the lens looking like my Optolyths. The distance from the flange was the same, the only problem was it was now too small, but not by much.
As luck would have it, I had some rubber O rings which were exactly the right size.
By placing an O ring in the hole, (it rests just inside and very slightly proud) I tried to push the zoom, but it was too tight.
If you the gently push the eyepiece in with a turning motion, it seats perfectly and you can't pull out. You could if you pulled really hard, but it would never fall out. It's easy removed with a gentle turning motion though
So there you have it, by pure chance, the diameter of the hole and the diameter of the eyepiece, just matched the size of the O ring to make it a really tight fit.
There is some slight movement if you grab the lens and rock it from side to side, it's just the give in the O ring, it's of no consequence. I know what you are all going to to say. It's never going to stay in. trust me it will.
There is another way which makes it more secure if you want. Just wrap some insulation tape around the Baader. When you have the correct amount, you can screw the Baader in and the tape will make its own thread.
I have also tried it this way, if you use this method there is no movment at all and you would have to stand on the scope to pull it out. You can still unscrew it though.
The secret is getting the correct size O ring, or the correct amount of tape.
Did I say how happy I am with it?
Ron
