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Moonfish eyepiece

FLO

By FLO
in Discussions - Eyepieces

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moondog

moondog

Posted
Posted

Hi All

New member here.

Many years a bino user and more recently a TAL 100RS refractor on HEQ5 mount.

I've just got delivery of the 30mm Moonfish Ultrawide, together with the Moonfish 2" diagonal.

They both seem well made.

Managed a brief look at the sky last night. With an almost full moon lighting up the sky not an ideal time to try out a widefield EP on the stars! First thoughts are that it gives a huge FOV, good images to within 25% of edge. I will report back when I get a darker sky. Used the new 2" diagonal with the adaptor on my other Super Plossl EP's and what a difference the larger, better quality diagonal makes !. I'd heard a similar comments before but hadn't taken too much notice.

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russ

russ

Posted
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Steve, a good eyepiece by all counts. Sky at Night mag loved it. Everyone i know who's owned one loves them. Never used one myself but i do have their 2" 2x barlow and it's a cracker. As Moondog said, looks good, well made and most importantly, performs well.

Russ

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daz

daz

Posted
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Hey moondog, welcome to Stargazers

Be interested in your views on this EP - been thinking about a 2" one for a little while and this has some good reviews

Steve - was this for you? What did you decide in the end?

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FLO

FLO

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Steve - was this for you? What did you decide in the end?

Thanks for all the responses chaps ... is this forum good or what 8)

I was enquiring for myself Daz but have yet to reach a decision.  What I'd really like is a Meade Series 5000 28mm SWA - I have tried it a few times and it is a belter (I'll bring one to the Star Party)!  But, as a new parent, I must watch my pennies so will probably choose the Moonfish as my 2" low power / wide field eyepiece. 

Steve :clouds1:

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FLO

FLO

Posted
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Posted

Hi All

New member here.

Welcome aboard Moondog; hope you are soon feeling at home :clouds1:

Many years a bino user and more recently a TAL 100RS refractor on HEQ5 mount.

The Tal 100Rs is a very under-rated scope ... a real over achiever ... can't think of a better refractor for the price.

I've just got delivery of the 30mm Moonfish Ultrawide, together with the Moonfish 2" diagonal.

They both seem well made.

Managed a brief look at the sky last night. With an almost full moon lighting up the sky not an ideal time to try out a widefield EP on the stars! First thoughts are that it gives a huge FOV, good images to within 25% of edge. I will report back when I get a darker sky.

First post includes a mini review ... way to go!

Used the new 2" diagonal with the adaptor on my other Super Plossl EP's and what a difference the larger, better quality diagonal makes !. I'd heard a similar comments before but hadn't taken too much notice.

Spot on!  

Generally, a two inch diagonal will give better views than a 1.25".  (The 2" will typically achieve 1/8 - 1/10th wave accuracy whereas the 1.25" will be around 1/4 because it is more difficult to cut/grind smaller mirrors).  

With an SCT or refractor a third or more of its quality is tied up in the diagonal.  So, even if you don't intend using a 2" eyepiece, it is probably still worth upgrading the supplied 1.25" diagonal to 2".  

Steve :clouds1:

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moondog

moondog

Posted
Posted

Hi Guys

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Still waiting for that dark night to properly review the eyepiece!

Steve, thanks for the running commentary.

With all the Meades, Celestrons, Skywatchers, Tele Vues etc I thought no-one had heard of the TAL100RS !

I think it's a good low priced Achro. scope. Only 100mm and F10 means very little CA.

Supplied TAL super plossls are also pretty good quality. Better than some supposedly reasonable plossls that I bought

to supplement the TAL's. (Wish I'd bought extra TALs now instead)

Clear skies

Moondog

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moondog

moondog

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Finally, with clear skies and no moon, I have been able to to test the Moonfish !

Scope TAL 100RS (F10) on HEQ5

The reason for buying the Moonfish was to try to turn a "narrow view" scope into a"wide view"

I have a TAL Super Plossl 25mm giving a true FOV of about 1.4 deg. I also bought a recommended 40mm Plossl 40mm giving a true FOV of a bit less than 2 deg but don't rate the optics compared with the TAL.

As a long time bino user M45, the Pleiades, was a favourite known object. This is one of the main objects that I looked at using the Moonfish. The Moonfish should have a calculated true FOV of 2.4 deg through the TAL 100RS. M45 is about 2 deg across.

M45 easily fits within the "best vision" area of the Moonfish. I did experience the Space Walk effect. There is so much to see in this open star cluster. The major stars had some blue nebulosity around them but the image was pin sharp. I guess I could see stars down to mag 9 or perhaps 10. The definition of the Moonfish is better than the TAL, but the panorama through the Moonfish just has to be seen to be believed !

Yes, it does turn the TAL 100RS into the wide field scope I was looking for.

Moondog

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daz

daz

Posted
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Excellent - been waiting for this review. Sounds they are a winner then, and I think Gaz mentioned they did well in a review in S@N magazine. And at less than 60 quid, gotta be a bargain :clouds1:

Its on the pressie list!!

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daz

daz

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For Info - Moonfish are currently out of stock of these - demand is high, post magazine review!!! They are taking advance orders, though.

Trouble is, I really want the new focuser as well.......

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