Hi Tom,

Thanks Tom (and others) for the good replies.
It is good to know that others have the same problem.

--------------------------
Martyn says:
>It is your lenses.
>Same experience here. I ware contacts +5. Also mottled sky-background,
>actually the image Star/planet background can sometimes be downright
>dirty. Even if you have put in brand new lenses you'll mostly get the
>same "dirt on your images", the older the lenses are, the worse it is.
>To convince yourself that is it indeed your lenses, when looking through
>the eyepiece try moving your contact-lens over your eye with your
>finger, and you will be able to see an enlarged image of the rim of the
>optical part of the contactlens come into view. While moving the contact
>you'll see all the "dirt" move with the lens. This is a trick that
>showed me that nothing was wrong with my scope or eyepiece.

>For quick looks I tend to leave my contacts in, for a quality
>observation I take them out.
>It makes a difference!! (also contrast gain).
>With my +5 I have no problem reaching focus in both of my current
>scopes. ETX 90 and Celestron F5/800mm.

I will have to try with my -5.5 contacts to see if I can still focus.
Thanks, Gary

--------------------------
Tom's suggestions:

>Sounds like I am in the same boat as you. I am also a bat (-4.0 in the
>left and -3.25 in the right) and wear soft contact lenses. ...
>there are other factors to deal with such as your contacts are dirty with
>calcium deposits (not uncommon) ...

Yes, I used to get big calcium bumps ingrown into the lens in a
month or so (I wear the lenses constantly, without removing
them - since (for me) they do not get cloudy from protein
deposits), but then I switched (several years ago)
to the Coopervision VantageThin which were guaranteed
to not get calcium deposits, and - presto - no more deposits!

So, now I wear one pair for a year or so. They probably
only come out once in 6 months when I get an
eyelash under the contact. The eye doctor says that
my cornea looks fine.

>or the wind is blowing and your eyes are drying out.

Yep, I get that a lot.
When driving the car too.
Any suggestions?

>I have not tried this yet but I have been thinking about it: If you don't
>want to wear glasses and worry about having to take them on and off, try
>taking the contact out of your observing eye only. That way, with your
>other eye you can see where you are pointing the scope, where that little
>allen wrench is hiding in the dark, etc. You are like me where when we
>have our contacts out we can see nice and fuzzy things and not much else.
>Don't do this if you find it is too much strain on your eyes.

Might be a good thing to try. Without the contacts
I can see the end of my nose, but it is all a blur after that!
I do not have glasses, but I could get some.
But, some EPs are difficult to use with glasses!
Then, I would be blind in one eye and deaf in the other! :)
It would make it hard for others to look through
my scope at star parties or demonstrations.
But, it is worth a try.

>Another option is to just put a fresh pair of contacts in your eyes when
>you go observing. Then you know they will be clean. I wear Accuvues which
>are only about $20 for a pack of six lenses. I switch to a fresh pair
>every couple of weeks.

Does the "un-clean" cause the blotches?
I understand that dirty contacts would not help,
but don't you get the same blotchy effect even with
brand new contacts?

I think that mine are "clean" enough, but maybe not.
If the blotchy effect goes away when you put in
brand new contacts, then ... maybe mine are "too dirty".
But, it the blotches are still there, then it is a
light interference problem - probably with the
interface between the contact and the cornea.

-------------------------
Are there any eye-optical experts out there?

Cheers, Gary Giddings

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