jetstream

Years ago YKSE used a Maxbright in his C8, Yong is a very precise astronomer and it might be worth looking up his threads, cant remember them specifically offhand. Not active right now I dont think unfortunately.

Yes, checking this out is a must for sure- when I tried to figure out how to focus my truss dobs I gave up and called Russ...we checked focus points for a reference EP (21E) and he made a custom adapter extension for free. I then ordered his system and its truly plug and play. I figured there might be some info on his site that could be of use.

I bought the Binotron 27s and couldnt have been happier, no calculating just plug and play in my truss dobs and refractors. The prisms are top notch, show almost no polarization and have a nice opening. https://www.denkmeier.com/creatures

I figure its a to each your own situation, lots of eyepieces to choose from for sure.

@Louis D ok I want one.

The good news is that almost the whole of Canada is very dark, the bad news is that many dont like small towns or truly rural areas. Driving home in a white out at night is not for everyone thats for sure. Then theres the bugs...

Yes, I have a Siebert, acceptable not exceptional IMHO. But not many make these big EPs I dont think.

I was conjuring up a widefield 24" set up with a larger secondary (this aperture will support it and not get too big) and a custom focuser. Thankfully I scrapped the idea and saved a wad of cash lol!

https://www.siebertoptics.com/SiebertOptics-eyepieces-observatory.html#This 80mm 4 eyepiece

This is a very high standard. Congrats for this fine acquisition! Maybe Televue can buy the design and start producing them, its a shame they are no more. Mind you the 13E wouldnt like this! LOL!

Thanks I was sure of the "BB". I must say that Televue and Baader have extremely good coatings whatever they are, I think Baaders were Zeiss inspired, another guess. I had a 10mm Ethos that I stupidly sold that had extremely high contrast, super actually. Both the Ethos and Delos coatings/glass are superb as I imagine DeLites are. Naglers/Pans, well some companies have succeeded in getting 90% or so of this level (to me, IMHO).

The mountains of BC are calling you Iain! grizzlies and all.

What does this stand for?

Good post Don, those pesky orthos still go a bit deeper than my Delos, which is a deep eyepiece IMHO. Totally agree about aperture- my 24" is much deeper than my 15" etc etc. I would not spend a grand on an eyepiece to go deeper but throw the cash at a bigger scope or ways to get to a darker site. Speaking of skies and transparency- the thunder yesterday started more fires and the smoke just billowed in an hour ago across the lake. No aperture or eyepiece punches through this.

As long as Televue and maybe Nikon or Pentax are still around IMHO... just guessing. I would think that astro eyepieces are a small sideline for the last 2 mentioned.

One really amazing TV piece of glass is the Paracorr II. I held off for years before getting one- I cannot find one negative to it. Somehow it appears to enhance contrast on bright nebula in both my truss dobs ie the Veil. Not sure how or why it does but it does, to my eyes.

One of the fastest ways to lose money is to sell a big dob IMHO. One of the easiest ways to get most of your money back (or more) is to sell a top refractor IMHO.Home made large dobs sell for even less than established makers scopes do. This loss can be a consideration because some (many?) that try big dobs realize shortly that they are not for them ie room, weight, collimation etc etc. There is a nice Obsession down east-18" IRRC for $4000 asking- pick up only- shipping is very expensive and a negative for sale. These issues might weigh on the minds of those who want to build a truss dob.

This Jena Zeiss spinoff company produced one of the finest eyepieces ever, IMHO. Very sorry to see it go. They have very unique characteristics.

I have a few Zeiss optics- all superb- an old Zeiss T coating rangefinder monocular type has better glass and views than a set of Pentax binos I had. The Zeiss T coating zoom 25.1-6.7 also has "zero" (not detectable to me) scatter and is one of my few truly sharp eyepieces, my 2" Zeiss prism is also beyond compare. Then there is the Docter 12.5 UWA (no longer produced). Question- if there are already glass types, polish levels and coating technologies out there that only a very few use what chance do we have of ever getting the newest latest techno glass out there in astro eyepieces coming up? I wonder if there are any widefields that go deeper than Delos? any Pentax XW users experience?

This is great news! I eagerly wait to try these new glass types at good price points in astronomical eyepieces!

Have you heard what these new types of glass could be? How does making cheaper aspherical optics better? (other than being less expensive?) Its curious that Vixen seems to be trimming back the eyepiece line up too if there are less expensive ways to produce.

From Agenaastro "Nikon commemorated the International Year of Astronomy 2009 with the birth of their NAV-SW series eyepieces in five different focal lengths. Nikon NAV SWs eyepieces, based on their excellent eyepieces for Nikon spotting scopes"

The Nikon HW is not without issues- the glass is top notch but the eyeguard is useless and then there is that barrel collar...the 17E is much more friendly in this regard.The Nikon SW's are good I've heard but possibly not Delos sharp.

I agree and I wonder why their price point is so competitive and if the likes of Televue is not there if these prices would remain. I'm not sure how much innovating can be done in such a mature technology... Zeiss set a very high standard years ago with ZAOII, not really matched again and got out of the business due to a small market (guess). It would sure be nice to buy ZAOII at their original price + inflation.

I paid $1800 for my 15" vg mirror. I was quoted by a CDN company for the same size $5000.00. Glass is going way up IMHO.