John

9 minutes ago, johnturley said:

Would an FC130 being significantly superior to the existing TOA 130

John 

With the FC's (real and imaginary) we are talking about doublets using a Fluorite element. The TOA's are triplets. I think the markets for these are slightly different.

These are not my scopes, very much alas, but I think it is interesting to compare the original 1981 Tak FC-100 with the modern FC-100 DZ that Mike has just acquired. Strikingly similar and Tak seem to have settled happilly back to F/8 again now. The original FC-100 is regarded as highly desirable as I'm sure the DZ will be in years to come:

And the FC-125 from 1981:

And finally in this parade of Tak "porn", the majestic FC-150 from 1991 - F/11.3:

8 minutes ago, JOC said:

I like 2nd hand too and their beauty is that if looked after you can usually resell with very little if any loss.  You can get some excellent EP's second hand - I haven't paid full price for any of mine.

Yep - that is a very good point.

13 hours ago, Brunty12345 said:

Which do you think I would have a better time with DSO? the 10mm or the 18mm version of this EP? Thanks.

In terms of capability they are both about the same.

In answer to James's question in comparison to the Baader Genuine Orthos (which have been out of production for sometime) the Baader Classic Orthos are as good if not a touch better for deep sky objects but the Genuine Orthos have the edge for planetary and lunar observing, in my opinion.

Do bear in mind that these designs are orthos though so have relatively narrow fields of view and eye relief that declines as the focal length gets shorter. If you are after wide vistas and / or wear glasses when observing, other eyepieces will be a better choice.

6 hours ago, jetstream said:

If I was going to get a 22mm eyepiece I would drop 1mm and get the 21mm Ethos. The other one that might tick the boxes is the 26mm T5 Nagler. They are heavy eyepieces however.

The TSA120 can make almost any eyepiece look good IMHO

Mine seems to like the Baader/Zeiss 2" prism diagonal- what a low scatter combination.

I did originally post suggesting the 21mm Ethos but then re-read the requirements regarding weight / bulk so I withdrew that suggestion. Its new price also blows the price of the 26mm Nagler quoted above out of the water somewhat !

Fab eyepiece though. Mine (pre-owned) cost about what 22mm T4 costs new so I was fortunate there.

I know that the APM / LUNT 20mm / 100 is also a very fine eyepiece and a lot less £'s of course.

The slightly odd thing is that I rarely use my Ethos / Nager 31 behemoths with my refractors, even the 130mm triplet. The work excellently with them of course but I seem to find 1.25 inch eyepieces (eg: Delos and XW's) my tools of choice with the fracs, mostly

Bristol AS are having one on Friday. Our scheduled speaker has agreed to present "live" using Zoom. This will be the 3rd virtual meeting we will have had. The other 2 (also using zoom) comprised of a short period of chat followed by pre-recorded presentations which we all watched "together" as it were.

Lowell Observatory have been putting out some good presentations under their "Cosmic Coffee" programme:

https://lowell.edu/event/streaming-cosmic-coffee-houston-weve-got-a-breccia-apollo-13-in-northern-arizona/

I've particularly enjoyed those because I was lucky enough to visit the place last September

Our Chair has proved very good at coordinating these things.

I'll let you know how the Friday session goes.

I guess you will have seen the Taurus website Steve ?:

https://www.taurustelescopes.com/en/home/

There is a review of the 16 inch T400 in English linked to from there.

I don't know anything about them personally but I have to say that they look rather nice and 23kg for a 14 inch is very light.

53 minutes ago, Shooting star said:

See what your saying. I'll need to understand the design more and deep dive the reviews.

If you find something of interest feel free to ask about it on here - there is sure to be someone who has one or has used one at some time

Tak fans have been wanting an FC-125 since the FC-100's came out. A modern incarnation of the superb FS-128.

I think that would deserve two little devils if it ever came out

Of course next year the DZ+ will come out ........

1 hour ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

I agree Dave. I always check out the stars in Ursa Minor to determine the sky quality.

That's my main "tests" as well. Counting the stars in the square of Pegasus is another, when it's visible.

3 minutes ago, johninderby said:

.....Peoples eyesight does differ so not all eyepieces perform the same for everyone. 

So if your eyes are like John's buy a Nirvana but if they are like Baz's (Steves) you may prefer the BST 

26 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

I’m so tempted to order the nirvana’s and put the BST’s up 😱

Not everybody finds them to their taste:

4 minutes ago, Shooting star said:

Ah I see. Thanks. Sounds like one to avoid. Don't like the idea of rebranded.

Actually a lot of that goes on even with some of the big names. If the design is a good one then the brand name that is on it does not matter too much.

For example, these are all the same eyepiece:

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/ovl-hyperflex-7e1-72mm-215mm-high-performance-zoom-eyepiece-125.html

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/lunt-ls7-21ze-zoom-eyepiece-72mm-215mm.html

https://www.astroshop.eu/eyepieces/orion-7-2mm-21-5mm-1-25-zoom-eyepiece/p,17113

http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Accessories-Telescopes-Opticstar.asp?p=0_10_5_1_8_330

Big range of prices though !

Tell us about your sky quality:

Right now, quality thick clouds and quality drizzle

The focal ratio of the scope does affect how well corrected the outer 50% of  field of view of an eyepiece is. Practically all eyepieces are sharp in the central part of their field of view these days.

You can get excellent eyepieces in your price range if you are happy to have a standard 50 degree field of view. The Baader Classic orthoscopic 10mm and 18mm eyepieces, for example, are £49.00 each but rival some of the best deep sky eyepieces available at any price. They just don't have a wide or ultra wide field of view:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-classic-ortho-bco-eyepiece.html

The Vixen SLV is very good. If you would like a slightly wider field of view, the William Optics SPL also gets a lot of praise:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/william-optics-eyepieces/william-optics-spl-eyepiece.html

I've been reading a few reports on the ES 24 / 82 and it seems to be the weakest of the ES 82 range. Its not a bad eyepiece by any means but if it was my TSA 120 I'm pretty sure that I would spring for a 22mm T4 Nagler.

I've done sessions at my local primary during their science week. I take along a solar scope and do sessions a class at a time generally on the Sun and the solar system and, if clear, a bit of solar observing. I'm generally there for a morning or an afternoon. I don't charge and nor would I consider doing so. It's very enjoyable 

SVBONY re-brand eyepieces so they are probably better known under other brand names.

If you link to a particular eyepiece or range then we can give an opinion.

I thought the T5 20 and 26 had been discontinued now ?

I've owned the Nagler T4 22 and the T5 20 - both really nice. The T4 is somewhat larger, a bit heavier and has more eye relief and a larger eye lens. The T5 20 is really compact for a 2 inch eyepiece, a touch sharper (maybe ? - its debatable) than the T4 22 and has 12mm of eye relief and a smaller eye lens.  The 26mm T5 has a great reputation as well but I've not owned one. I still have a T5 31mm (holy hand grenade !).

The T4's T5's and T6's are all current ranges but slightly differing optical designs.

At F/7.5 maybe the ES 24 / 82 would do the trick ?. It will be less expensive than a Tele Vue alternative of course. A little lighter as well I think.

8 hours ago, Pixies said:

Does a barlow have an impact on viewing angle? Say - would a 60deg 25mm EP become equivalent to a 60deg 12.5mm EP when barlowed?

A barlow lens can reduce the field of view of very wide angle eyepieces, ie: those with the widest field stops that the barrel size can accommodate, eg: in the 1.25 inch format a 32mm 52 degrees, 24mm 68 degrees etc. A 1.25 inch eyepiece 25mm with a 60 degree field might be affected as the field stop size is quite large.

Interesting Mike.

I have found that when comparing really good optics, you need the best seeing conditions and very challenging targets to separate them in performance terms. And even then the differences are usually very subtle !