Anybody ever seen/used NED EPs from telescope express?

[sammerry]

Hi all,

I found these and they look prety nifty!

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

Has anybody had any experience of them?

Thanks

Sam

[Stephen]

They look far too much like BSTs to be anything else!

That's not a bad thing though! BSTs cost half the price and can be bought in the UK

http://www.skysthelimit.org.uk/telescope%20eyepieces.html

[faulksy]

defo look the same as bsts but twice the price

[haitch]

To be fair I think the ebay ad is for 2 EPs but yes look like BSTs and better off bought from Alan with his try before you buy scheme.

[Stephen]

To be fair I think the ebay ad is for 2 EPs but yes look like BSTs and better off bought from Alan with his try before you buy scheme.

Very good point, I missed that

I have seen them elsewhere for considerably more than the STL or TS prices though ...

[sammerry]

I had been looking at the BST's from STL and hadn't put 2 + 2 together but now you mention it they do look similar....

So how are they, Have been looking to improve my eyepieces and am weighing up the options, how do they compare to the Celestron x-cel LX's which are at the top of my budget? anything else in my price range that i should be looking at?

[Doug]

Hi

If you get them from Germany you would have to pay 20% VAT and customs handling charges ect

[DOBBY]

VAT & Customs ? from within Europe ??

[Stephen]

Hi

If you get them from Germany you would have to pay 20% VAT and customs handling charges ect

Not from Germany as it's in the EU US or Australia for example you would have to.

[Capricorn]

Seems a bit crazy, they are the TS form of BST's and on the TS site they are 74 Euro, about £62.

I think that TS charge 8-10 euro to ship, so £65-67.

Yet the ebay front of TS charges £113. As close as damnit.

Go to STL and get them, at least there is no mucking around. Somehow I am starting to regret not getting 2 sets from Alan.

[sammerry]

to bring it back on topic:

So how are they, Have been looking to improve my eyepieces and am weighing up the options, how do they compare to the Celestron x-cel LX's which are at the top of my budget? anything else in my price range that i should be looking at?

[johninderby]

I did a head to head test to compare an LX and a BST. The BST was nearly as good optically as the X-Cel LX. However the LX had better coatings which gave it the edge in sharpness and contrast and better overall build quality. Sold the BST and kept the X-Cel LX (and bought a few more) as while it wasn't a lot better than the BST it was just that bit nicer an eyepiece.

So is it worth paying the extra for the LX? Well if the budget is tight you won't be disappointed by the BST at all as it is an excellent eyepiece. What decided it for me was simply that as good as the BST was if I had gone for it to save money I would have always felt I'd settled for the BST instead of getting the eyepiece I really wanted.

John

[sammerry]

Thanks John,

I feel budget will be the deciding factor....

I have also been considering the 2" 70deg 36mm that STL have and if i were to go for LX's i would not be able to get a 3rd EP.

[rwilkey]

From what I understand of the advert, they are selling 2 ep's at that price, which brings them back to the value of the BST Explorer/StarGuider range - yes, they are exactly the same!