3709 replies to this topic

[soupaman]

Hi soupaman..

Those Trek Pak dividers are working good?? I need to work on a new case too.
I was wondering, what issues have you had with plucked foam?? I'm trying to learn what's best.

Thanks..jeff

[soupaman]

The pluck foam doesn’t hold up over time. It’s fine for some applications, but for me, I’ve noticed it degrades from use and the elements. The Trek packs are in my opinion the best overall. Yes, more expensive, but I purchased a Trek Pack kit 4 years ago and have done multiple variations in a couple of Pelican cases with each experiencing cold, warm, and dewy conditions. All of my pluck foam went in the trash. Kaizen foam is another alternative.

[Grayoak]

OK, so here you have it:

 

Ethos completeCN.jpg

 

That's my DOB eyepiece set for dark sky trips. I made those Ethos all parfocal with custom made (black) rings. 

Top line is self explanatory, bottom line from left to right, 67 mm TV Plossl for wide field Night Vision device (think Pilars of creation, Pelican, Rosette nebula etc, etc...  ), 2x TV barlow (just in case I need more mag  ), cross hair eyepiece for DOB alignment, 21 mm Ethos (sort of "finder scope"), 2x MOD 3 NV with different lenses, filters and batteries to pan around Milky way etc.   

 

Wow, very nice set!

Yes, with all the eyepieces I have, you wouldn't think I would want or need any more, but there is always something else, and they are green too .

I like the idea of keeping parfocal and field of view consistent, not to mention optical quality.

Of course impossible to have one set that does everything, I think one could live with that set if they had to
 

[Olimad]

A lot of trial and error, but I’m slowly getting to what I want with my small f/4. The Houdini 12mm (I hope) will complete the setup nicely giving me wide clean TFoV, allowing me then to increase the aperture (with a new scope) while staying at f/4.

The future 2x CC telecentric from Houdini will be a nice add too. 

 

32mm Baader Classic Plössl

30mm SVBony SV207 Super Plössl

25mm Vixen LV

25mm Long Perng Plössl 55°

25mm SVBony SV207 Super Plössl

24mm KSON Ortho II

20mm Long Perng Plössl 55°

18mm Baader Classic Ortho

18mm SVBony SV190

17mm Long Perng Plössl 55°

15mm SVBony SV207 Super Plössl

12.5mm Long Perng Plössl 55°

10mm SVBony SV190

10mm Sky Rover 82°

10mm Baader Classic Ortho

9mm Fujiyama Ortho

8mm SVBony SV207 Super Plössl

7mm Sky Rover 82°

6mm SVBony Redline 68° - stacked to FR0,5x

6mm Baader Classic Ortho

6mm Vixen NPL

4mm Sky Rover 82°

4mm Vixen NPL

3–8mm SVBony SV215 Zoom

 

Some will go, others will join to stay.

 

Barlows/Telecentrics:

 

SVBony SV213 Barlow 3x

APM Coma Correcting Barlow 2.7x

SVBony SV216 Telecentric Barlow 2x

Explore Scientific Focal Extender 5x

Edited by Olimad, 19 April 2025 - 02:04 PM.

[WADAM12]

[slavicek]

Wow, very nice set!

Yes, with all the eyepieces I have, you wouldn't think I would want or need any more, but there is always something else, and they are green too .

I like the idea of keeping parfocal and field of view consistent, not to mention optical quality.

Of course impossible to have one set that does everything, I think one could live with that set if they had to
 

Yes, one type of an eyepiece will not do everything (very well) so one needs different types of eyepieces (for example for planets, doubles, Sun...).

 

And then, next level of "obsession" with eyepieces is when one is buying them for no reason whatsoever - which is my case with these new N7s. Even David Nagler told me at NEAF "You do not need any more eyepieces!" - this was at the time when I was trying to justify to myself which new N7 I need. And in the end I still bought some... well then there's no help...

 

I can almost guarantee you that if you buy one Ethos then more will follow! Be afraid...very afraid... 

[WADAM12]

Yes, one type of an eyepiece will not do everything (very well) so one needs different types of eyepieces (for example for planets, doubles, Sun...).

 

And then, next level of "obsession" with eyepieces is when one is buying them for no reason whatsoever - which is my case with these new N7s. Even David Nagler told me at NEAF "You do not need any more eyepieces!" - this was at the time when I was trying to justify to myself which new N7 I need. And in the end I still bought some... well then there's no help...

 

I can almost guarantee you that if you buy one Ethos then more will follow! Be afraid...very afraid... 

 

[Grayoak]

The pluck foam doesn’t hold up over time. It’s fine for some applications, but for me, I’ve noticed it degrades from use and the elements. The Trek packs are in my opinion the best overall. Yes, more expensive, but I purchased a Trek Pack kit 4 years ago and have done multiple variations in a couple of Pelican cases with each experiencing cold, warm, and dewy conditions. All of my pluck foam went in the trash. Kaizen foam is another alternative.

+1

I love the options that padded dividers give you.

 

I have heard that one only needs 3 or maybe 6 eyepieces. I think that may work for some as well as the pluck foam. 

I think inevitably though we change our mind or circumstances change and we end up with more or different eyepieces. This is were in the long run dividers come into play. There are the cheaper Velcro dividers for popular cases that work just fine, just not quite as customizable as the Trek Packs.

I agree the Kaizen foam can be better than Pluck foam. It holds up much better, and is more customizable. I found Pluck foam could not hold up to heavy eyepieces if not enough space was left in between, even with small eyepieces sometimes. Where with Kaizen foam this wasn't as much of an issue if at all. Also Kaizen foam as well as the dividers don't have little particles of foam like the pluck foam that can attach to the lens of an eyepiece like lint.

I have no data or experience with off gassing that some have experienced with cheaper pluck foam, but this thought of off gassing creating a layer on eyepieces reducing clarity concerned me enough to switch to Kaizen foam and more so to dividers.

 

In hind sight, all the money I spent on pluck foam when reconfiguration of my cases and then on Kaizen foam doing the same thing, I could of paid for a couple nice cases with dividers  

[Grayoak]

Yes, one type of an eyepiece will not do everything (very well) so one needs different types of eyepieces (for example for planets, doubles, Sun...).

 

And then, next level of "obsession" with eyepieces is when one is buying them for no reason whatsoever - which is my case with these new N7s. Even David Nagler told me at NEAF "You do not need any more eyepieces!" - this was at the time when I was trying to justify to myself which new N7 I need. And in the end I still bought some... well then there's no help...

 

I can almost guarantee you that if you buy one Ethos then more will follow! Be afraid...very afraid... 

Well said!

I read once of someone having found eye "peace" with the eyepieces they had. I was on a mission to get to this place over the years and thought at one time I had finally found eye peace.

I now know that it is an illusion, and I will never achieve this state of mind, as technology, my body and mind are in a constant flux of change.

 

Of course that's the beauty of life, nothing stays the same, you never know whats around the next corner, or what you will see through the next eyepiece. That's what keeps us going

 

Allan.

[cbowlsby]

+1
I love the options that padded dividers give you.

I have heard that one only needs 3 or maybe 6 eyepieces. I think that may work for some as well as the pluck foam.
I think inevitably though we change our mind or circumstances change and we end up with more or different eyepieces. This is were in the long run dividers come into play. There are the cheaper Velcro dividers for popular cases that work just fine, just not quite as customizable as the Trek Packs.
I agree the Kaizen foam can be better than Pluck foam. It holds up much better, and is more customizable. I found Pluck foam could not hold up to heavy eyepieces if not enough space was left in between, even with small eyepieces sometimes. Where with Kaizen foam this wasn't as much of an issue if at all. Also Kaizen foam as well as the dividers don't have little particles of foam like the pluck foam that can attach to the lens of an eyepiece like lint.
I have no data or experience with off gassing that some have experienced with cheaper pluck foam, but this thought of off gassing creating a layer on eyepieces reducing clarity concerned me enough to switch to Kaizen foam and more so to dividers.

In hind sight, all the money I spent on pluck foam when reconfiguration of my cases and then on Kaizen foam doing the same thing, I could of paid for a couple nice cases with dividers

+1. Either Trek Pak or padded dividers are great imo. I’ve already reconfigured my Nanuk with padded dividers several times over the last 2 years. I could never get the pluck foam quite right and got tired of buying new foam

Edited by cbowlsby, 19 April 2025 - 03:47 PM.