New Televue barlow or New Televue EP's

[paulhutch]

Hi all, after a great deal of fussing and faffing (and lots of help from SGL) I bought my first scope in September last year. It was a bold move as I ended up going for a SW 12 inch truss dob. Great scope and I really love it. The reason I jumped in 2 feet first is, that although I don't mind spending money, I absolutely hate wasting it. This is a scope (Until I get in to AP) that I have no intention of upgrading for another 40 years. So that said I'm rather perplexed at the amount of eye pieces and the varying cost.

When I purchased the scope I decided that the ep's supplied and a revelation 2 x barlow in 1.25 would do, these would then double up as ep's for my travel scope and my main ep choice would be 2 inch.

I bought (All 2 inch) :

Sky-watcher ED deluxe barlow

Panaview 38

Panaview 26

Unbranded 13 UWA 70 degree

Collomater and filter OIII

Canon DSLR and T ring

Spc 900 Webcam

I'm really happy with everything I have purchased BUT my question is this,

Should I purchase (at a cost of around £500 each) the Ethos range of low powered (Say 4.7 & 8mm) ep's by televue or would you just go for a televue powermate 4 x barlow and use that with my panaview ep's. I have to say the pana's are brilliant and I'm really happy with them. Would paying out another grand(ish) be justified with the views I get or would the televue barlow (around £280) and pana's give the same results?

Thanks Paul

[Tinker1947]

There's a lot said about Barlow's, the extra glass in the viewing chain isn't supposed to affect the image ect, me i would go for EP,s a good wide EP i fancy a Pentax 40mm , couple of medium types 20mm, 12mm and a high power between 5 - 7 mm, others will say get a Barlow, really up to you the EP's you have mentions won't need upgrading, and with your scope you will be really set-up.

[swamp thing]

Hi Paul

Power mating (Barlowing) a Panaview will not give you the same result as buying an Ethos eyepiece. The Powermate cannot correct the eyepiece.

Powermates are excellent Barlows because they add nothing but magnification but they cannot correct an eyepiece.

For great high power views you need to either upgrade the panaviews then get the Powermate or buy top notch high power eyepieces.

I use the 2" 2x Powermate and it doubles the amount of Naglers I have, which saves me a fortune . It's a superb bit of kit. But if I put a cheap plossl in it the views are only as good as the weakest link i.e. the plossl.

The 2" powermates are also heavy so be prepared to set up some counterweighting system if you choose that route.

[Brian Nordstrom]

Hi Paul , nice scope there , Hows about if the Ethos range is to much ...? .

Have you considered the Delos range ? I have my eye on the new 14mm and at $360 australian it is dear , but a lot cheeper than an Erhos .

Food for thought .

One more thing , as has been said here barlowing your deicent eyepieces probably wont give the best results , i would keep them for low power / large field work that they are good at , and look at 1 or 2 new TV;s ,, Delos .

Thats my 2c worth .

hope it helps .

Briam.

[Moonshane]

hi Paul

Are you at PSP in October? If so then I'd recommend you hold off until then as you can try a few different types of eyepiece in your scope - people are often very willing to share and this would be a cheaper way to test the options. if not then I'd recommend you sign up!

[paulhutch]

Thanks, very useful info. I wasn't planning on going PSP in October with having the new baby but the wife has just informed me I can. If I am patient enough to wait that long then that's a great idea, if not I'll look into the Delros range or work 24 hours a day to justify getting the Ethos. I think once 2 or 3 Ethos/Delros's are purchased and the 4 x barlow they can't be anything else left to buy.............or can there?***

***Rhetorical question

[Saleratus]

I think you'd probably be very happy with the Delos--based on my own experience with both Delos and Ethos. To me the Delos are a true jack of all trades.

[hunterknox]

It's worth considering the Pentax XWs too. I like them so much I sold my Ethos for one.

[paulhutch]

I'm really happy with my Panaview 38 and 26 so yes I'm now looking at the Delos. I have researched the Pentax but all high power only seem to come in 1.25 and not 2 inch (Pain in the bum swapping over in the dark). I'm toying with the idea of getting the 2 inch 4 x barlow and once that's in my box I can go to the star party and see what performs best with it. I'm still thinking Ethos/Delos but the wife doesn't agree!!! Thanks for your comments.

[swamp thing]

The Delos are all 1.25" too.

Only the Ethos range are 1.25"/2" hybrid design.

[Moonshane]

you can though buy e.g. this http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/scopeteknix/accessories/low-profile/eyepiece-adaptor.html which 'permanently' attaches to a 1.25" eyepiece and converts it to 2". not a big additional cost if buying e.g. a Delos. Ethos can add a Baader 28mm fine tuning ring to the same effect.

[John]

If you are happy with your current eyepieces I'd certainly stay with them until you get a chance to try some more exotic ones - the investment in the premium ones mentioned above is not insignificant and you will want to be sure that the higher priced ones "do it for you" as it were. You won't actually see things with the expensive ones that your current ones don't show you to be honest (this from an Ethos / Nagler user) so you want to be sure that the benefits are ones that you value.

[Dunkster]

I'm really happy with my Panaview 38 and 26 so yes I'm now looking at the Delos. I have researched the Pentax but all high power only seem to come in 1.25 and not 2 inch (Pain in the bum swapping over in the dark). I'm toying with the idea of getting the 2 inch 4 x barlow and once that's in my box I can go to the star party and see what performs best with it. I'm still thinking Ethos/Delos but the wife doesn't agree!!! Thanks for your comments.

Depending on the FL of your scope, you probably won't use the combination of 4x and Ethos/Delos much if at all.

If you like your Panaviews, you might also like to consider non-TeleVue options... Nirvana springs to mind. It all depends what you want to see with the new EP as to what FL would be a good fit. But from all accounts so far, the Delos sound excellent.

Regarding 1.25 vs 2 inch... maybe it's because my scopes are long FL, but I tend to find that during the course of a session I only switch once or twice, sometimes not at all. But I guess it depends on the objects you're looking at and where they are!

[paulhutch]

Yes the Delos are only 1.25. I've looked at the Baader Hyperion 68 degree eyepieces and at £100 each they are both reasonable and 2 inch. Does anyone have any feedback on how the 5 & 10 mm perform in a scope like mine? £500 is an awful lot to spend on the Ethos but if the views are remarkably better then surely worth it? Once I've got them I don't have to buy them again, so if they last 30 years it's only about £16 per year per eyepiece. LOL

[swamp thing]

Paul, eyepieces like the Ethos are indeed excellent but you may not find the difference between them and some other high quality eyepieces that cost half as much is worth it to you.

[paulhutch]

Cheers Steve, the difference between my Pana's and the cheap 13 mm is noticeable so I kind of thinking along the same route as you suggested. If I go for the Baader's say in 5 and 10 (Both 2 inch) I'm sure the views will suffice. I'll pop along to my local club and have a look before I do anything. The Ethos's sound good in principle but do we really get enough clear nights to justify £1500 - 2 k on ep's alone? I've been lucky with the kit I've purchased up to now so I'm sure whatever I decide will be the wrong choice. What do we all think of Zoom ep's or is that another topic?

[hunterknox]

...if the views are remarkably better then surely worth it?

Incrementally better would be a fairer description. To my eyes there's very little to choose between an Ethos, an XW and a orthoscopic, other than the field of view and an order-of-magnitude difference in price.

[glowjet]

You do have another alternative to the Ethos and that is the Explore Scientific range, quite a lot cheaper, and at the moment cheaper still, as one of the big outlets in the States has them at $100 off list.

I have the 14mm X 100° and on test against the Ethos you could not tell the difference, which supports the general consensus on these EP`s Sky@night recently did revue on the 9mm. I have just purchased the 1.25X6.7 82° when it was at a discount price and the $ was at 1.6 to the £, but have not had a chance to give it first light, It only set me back just over £60 but then again I have a close friend who visits every few months, aint I the lucky one. I would also support what has been said about the Powermates, they are very good, expensive but in IMHO worth it

John.