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15mm BST Explorer - quality issue?...

Nastyness

By Nastyness
in Discussions - Eyepieces

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tombulgin

tombulgin

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Glad I am not alone. Figured spending the fat end of a grand on the scope would put me at the front of the grid but have discovered my shiny new ferrari is in fact fitted with the tyres of a fiesta (eyepieces), the gears of a micra (focuser), has no heated wind-sceeen (dews up), needs serious rebalancing (front heavy) and doesn't like being more than about 10ft from the garage (power)!

That said, I love her dearly and look forward to applying the upgrades!

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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I'm sure once I get myself a set of Naglers and a dual speed focuser, they'll be all over me....not!

Having bought a series of Naglers and other shiny kit, my wife still refuses to be drawn out to the scope. Maybe that would change if the scope started attracting other women :). Limited chance of that I suppose :)

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Catweazel

Catweazel

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I spoke to the guy at skies the limit and he said that he's getting more BST's (bigger range) from his supplier, but the supplier has put a different brand name on them. Should I buy one, or wait until more come with BST on them? I'm not sure this is an issue really, but wondered what others would do?

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Nastyness

Nastyness

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I spoke to the guy at skies the limit and he said that he's getting more BST's (bigger range) from his supplier, but the supplier has put a different brand name on them. Should I buy one, or wait until more come with BST on them? I'm not sure this is an issue really, but wondered what others would do?

From what I can gather, these EPs have been seen with several different brand names on them. One being Astro-Tech - see review here First Look: Astro-Tech Paradigm Eyepieces - CN Report, and another being Olivon, available here - Olivon Eyepieces and other Accessories. I'm pretty sure they all come from the same factory and are all exactly the same quality, so I wouldn't worry about brand name.

I think this is fairly common in the world of telescopes, you seem to see a lot of identical EP, OTAs, etc just with different branding.

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John

John

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....I think this is fairly common in the world of telescopes, you seem to see a lot of identical EP, OTAs, etc just with different branding.

Quite right - it makes choosing what to buy pretty confusing at times though, even more so when what looks like the same item is sold at quite different prices under different brand names.

I've read that the production lines cream off the "A" quality ones for their preferred customers while the "B" and "C" grade stock goes elsewhere.

A big volume buyer can also specify better quality coatings and internal blackening too which will improve the optical performance a little.

Fortunately for us buyers, forums like this exist so that we can swap experiences and find out where the real bargains are :)

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rwilkey

rwilkey

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Joe, just to comment more on your notes, to be more completest, they are also sold by Teleskop Service in Germany under the name TS N-ED and also by Orion (USA) under the name Epic II ED, and also by Teleskopy in Poland as BST Explorers, they are all modelled on the Astro-Tech 'Paradigm' eyepiece. Note that some reincarnations have a different colour coding in the banding near the screw-up eyecup. If it was me, I would want to get a uniform set and advise to stick to BST Explorer if that's how you have started. The BST Explorer has also gained recognition in it's own right and is well respected. I don't like the Olivon ones as they have spotter-scope focal lengths on them.

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Catweazel

Catweazel

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The BST Explorer has also gained recognition in it's own right and is well respected. I don't like the Olivon ones as they have spotter-scope focal lengths on them.

Hmm, I don't have any other BSTs I just wanted an 8mm one. What is a spotter-scope focal lenght? Thanks. CW

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Nastyness

Nastyness

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Joe, just to comment more on your notes, to be more completest, they are also sold by Teleskop Service in Germany under the name TS N-ED and also by Orion (USA) under the name Epic II ED, and also by Teleskopy in Poland as BST Explorers, they are all modelled on the Astro-Tech 'Paradigm' eyepiece. Note that some reincarnations have a different colour coding in the banding near the screw-up eyecup.

Thanks Robin. I knew there were several more but couldn't remember where I had seen them.

On this topic, has anyone ever compared two EPs which appear to be identical in construction? Such as the GSO 32mm Plossl and the Celestron Omni 32mm Plossl, the only cosmetic difference being the finish on the materials?

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rwilkey

rwilkey

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It is my understanding they all originate from the same factory, GSO in Hsinchu Hsien - Taiwan, though the Celestron core plossl's are nearer to the GSO's rather than the Omni. Agreed, a lot of it is cosmetic, which is what makes choosing ep's so confusing for newbies.

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sticks

sticks

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I mailed Alan at STL and he says that just the 8mm version is labelled "Starguider" rather than BST and he is asking the manufacturer in China why this is. Personally I couldn't care less about the monicker and will be ordering an 8mm starguider soon as.......... available Monday and perhaps Friday with a bit of luck.

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rwilkey

rwilkey

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To be honest, I didn't think they are bought direct from China, I thought they were bought via a wholeseller called House of Optics of Hunstanton, Norfolk. Certainly that's where the Olivon originate from I should think, I don't know for certain. That's what makes Alan at Sky's the Limit so great, offering at a great price and no VAT to boot.

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Nastyness

Nastyness

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Finally...clear skies! So been out and given this new EP a whirl...well, first impressions are good. Plugged it into my 2.5x barlow and achieved a pretty crisp focus on Jupiter at 200x, although not perfect but I suspect the seeing isn't the best. One thing I noticed straight away was the reflection of my own eye, which is a tad annoying...anyone else noticed that with these EPs?

While I can see some detail of Jupiter, I would like to see more...at the moment it's just very bright. I assume a filter would help with this, but which kind?

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John

John

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The longer you observe Jupiter, the more detail you will see. Your eye adjusts to the contrast and then you start to resolve the finer details as the seeing permits. You need to keep observing though because the moments of good seeing often only last for a second or two. It's during those brief moments that you glimpse what your scope is capable of.

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Nastyness

Nastyness

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The longer you observe Jupiter, the more detail you will see. Your eye adjusts to the contrast and then you start to resolve the finer details as the seeing permits. You need to keep observing though because the moments of good seeing often only last for a second or two. It's during those brief moments that you glimpse what your scope is capable of.

Thanks John...I'm such a newb!!! :icon_salut:

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