Putzin' and Postin'

Greg Claytor

I sighted it in and positioned him in front of the eyepiece, had him guide the front of the scope and use the dot to site a tree on a nearby hill then asked him to look through the eyepiece. He could see it! I took a peek, saw it and gave him a big ol' hug. Good job. Later, we caught a break and checked out M31.

I decided to compare my Sirrus 10mm Plossl, Expanse 9mm and 9mm Nagler. On this night using the XT4.5 the verdict is: Joey can keep the Sirrus Plossl in his pocket, share it with friends and loose it in the toy box. The Expanse; however, surprised me. It's was a decent eyepiece, on this scope. It trailed the Nagler, but mostly on contrast.

I could get moderately similar brightness and sharpness, but not darkness. Bottom line: The Nagler has brighter whites and darker darks. The Nagler made the XT4.5 kinda serious! I'm not sure that says much since the Nagler costs way more that the scope.

Greg Claytor