Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

12mm GSO Plossl


Bobby1970

Recommended Posts

Seen one of these quite cheap so was considering one to fill a gap in my eyepiece range.

Are they any good? Whats the eye relief like comapred to something like the standard 20mm skywatcher eypeices that come with scopes??

How do they stack up against something like a Celestron Xcel LX?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

GSO's are usually pretty good, the eye relief will be about 8 or 9mm - plossl eye relief is something like 2/3 or 70% of the focal length, just use whichever to calculate.

It will therefore be less then the X-Cel which I think is 16mm or 17mm, and the field of view is a bit less the plossl being 50 or 52 degrees the X-Cel being 60 degrees.

The plossl is likely to give images with a little more contrast, less bits of glass and glass surfaces.

I think the standard items have about the same eye relief 60-70% of the focal length. The basic eyepiece design is to an extent very similar. However I think they have less field of view 45 degrees comes to mind so the plossl is "wider" and the X-Cel "wider" still"

Even a 12mm plossl on the 127 if it is a Mak will give a narrow field of view.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the reply. I have a 32mm revelation eyepiece for the widest views on the mak and it works really well. Not as wide as my refractor obviously but still great for moon and planetary work.

I am torn between getting a 12mm xcel lx. A 24mm xcel lx and using it with a Barlow to get the 12mm when needed. Or just a gso 12mm and maybe just get a cheap 25mm skywatcher plossl - seen some of these for next to nothing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have the 9mm and love it, works very well in the barlow too (although there appears to be some fringe colouring on jupiter to the edges of the ep possibly needs more testing), the 6mm however is a different animal. The eye relief is apparently 1mm less than the 9mm but I find it extremely hard work to look through.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got a 12mm GSO from Astroboot for £15. Also ordered a Skywatcher Super 25 like you get with the 200p dob, which i used to have and was a decent enough eyepiece imho. Also got some dust caps which i needed too. £25 for the lot delivered. I think thats not bad to be fair. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I now own the 9mm 12mm and 20mm Revelation Astro (GSO) Plossl's from Astroboot, cost me £33. Fantastic value, and surprisingly for me, how well the 9mm works, having recently tried an 8mm TeleVue Plossl which I did not like? The 12 & 20 are just as good, bright and sharp, as viewed through my eyes!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I now own the 9mm 12mm and 20mm Revelation Astro (GSO) Plossl's from Astroboot, cost me £33. Fantastic value, and surprisingly for me, how well the 9mm works, having recently tried an 8mm TeleVue Plossl which I did not like? The 12 & 20 are just as good, bright and sharp, as viewed through my eyes!

You must remind us about that Tele Vue you tried sometime Charic - you hardly mention it ! :grin:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought a Celestron "Eye Opener" kit a few yrs back and the contents of it were/are to my understanding GSO Plossl which had be re-branded as Celestron. That's common enough and is done by most companies. They are pretty good by all accounts. The 32mm in the kit is simply amazing. 

Summary: Ive never had an issue with GSO's. There are better EP's out there for about the same price such as Vixen NPL. Not sure how the eye relief compares between both, but worth looking into.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a revelation 32mm which I believe is a re branded gso and couldn't agree more. It is an awesome eyepiece imho. I didn't think you could get the vixen eyepieces for as little as the £15 I paid for the 12mm gso though?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a revelation 32mm which I believe is a re branded gso and couldn't agree more. It is an awesome eyepiece imho. I didn't think you could get the vixen eyepieces for as little as the £15 I paid for the 12mm gso though?

Sorry, my comment was misleading. I meant you can buy a new Vixen NPL for about the same price as a new GSO, and if i had to decide on one..........the Vixen NPL would be my choice. Not saying GSO have anything wrong with them...........my favourite EP was my 32mm GSO until i dropped it.

Grrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to have the full set of Revelation/GSO plossl`s but got tempted by my sweet little ortho`s, but i seem to be "revisiting" the plossl eyepiece, i have a 25mm 20mm and 10mm silver top, and have bought a revelation 15mm and 9mm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

ghostdance......... I have an  11mm TV in my Plossl collection, and  despite not fully testing the samples you loaned me,  and try as I must, I'm still favouring the Revelation 12mm in my  comparison testing, and have not even started on the Meade 4000s yet, which were my first choice when I started out in this hobby?

Both the Astro and TeleVue  have 8mm eye-relief, the Astro's are supposedly 52° afov, against 50°  which probably accounts for my liking them, and further testing  last night, under far from perfect conditions ( seems like the neighbours knew I was out, so played merry Christmas with their lights on and off?) I felt the TeleVue gave me a slightly  blacker background, although I`'m reading more into this than maybe actually seeing this ( maybe just my eyes are playing up) but overall, the Astro just seems to give me the better image, yet if someone new asks me who makes the best eyepieces, who is the market leader  I will mention TeleView, that's if they suit you and your requirements.

I'm just about to embark on a well earned break from work, so as long as there are some clear nights ahead, I will further test these eyepieces against the darkest site I know, then make my decision as to which Plossl set I will maintain for my collection.

I`m on a spending spree at the moment :grin:  ( several hobbies are benefiting ). I have just cancelled my wish to invest further in the TeleVue Delos range, and there is no new telescope due either, after some recent discoveries and discussions, therefore I can spend a little more else where?

I`m not knocking TeleVue, they are what they are for a reason, I  just don't  require them for my needs (today!) lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

..........such is life John. It would be nice to own some,  as the reports on the likes of,  say  a 13mm Ethos are so very  impressive, and the TV  Delos would give me 10° more afov than I'm used too ? 

I will try other TVs one Day, but like you say, for now,  not meant to be.

What I do see,  is good enough,  and to be honest, its all I can see, as there is no comparison, and would an Ethos/Delos  really make any difference to what I see, unless I choose to  move to a darker site, own a better scope, and have my eyes Lasered? 

Regardless of all that, the f/6 Skyliner, these optics, and the good  folk here still keep me happy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back when I started out in astronomy - and had a 75mm F/15 refractor - the sought-after Holy Grail eyepiece were an orthoscopic. Maybe two of 'em! They cost about $40US, and that was a hunk of money back then! I never even heard of a Plössl eyepiece. Had they suddenly appeared and received favorable reviews in terms of matching the orthoscopics - it would have been heresy! But we all would have desired one just for the mystery. When I re-surfaced and went back to astronomy, I was quite surprised by the very nice contrast they had. And their field-of-view was nothing to sneer at either.

I now do have a few from TeleVue, and they're good. But not much better, in my opinion, than their less costly cousins from Orion or Meade. I did find one that really stood out. It was very nice for sharp views across it's FOV, which was 43°. I have maintained it in my collection in perfect condition. So I'll introduce this admittedly oddball piece of glass.....

The Orion-USA 40mm Plössl:

post-38438-0-50187200-1444506437.jpg

post-38438-0-20904800-1444506457.jpg

post-38438-0-00212900-1444506473.jpg

These were on sale for a brief period in 2003, and then vanished. My guess is people bought them out and Orion moved on to something else with a wider FOV, as was going into fashion then. Now gone - reviews started showing up that said they were a very good eyepiece. I could easily have sold mine for more than I paid - unusual in the astro-gear world.

Plössl's Away -

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.