TeleVue Plossl for F15 Refractor?

[Odd Thomas]

Hi Folks.

I'm getting a new F15 refractor shortly so am looking to rationalise my eyepiece collection.

Would the Televue range of Plossl eyepieces be suitable?

My main viewing interests are lunar, the planets and double stars. (hence the choice of scope) so don't need a particulaly wide field of view. I allready have the 2" TV 55mm Plossl and the 9mm, 15mm, & 20mm William optics SWAN eyepieces. I don't really want to spend much more than the price of the Televue's.

Any other recommendations?

Thanks, Tom

[Earl]

F15 is very forgiving on eyepieces they will work fine, but you might need to spend TV prices to get the performance.

[ronin]

The TV plossls should be good on an f15 scope, assuming the objective is decent.

The one "concern" is that TV plossl's go down to 8mm and no smaller. However that will give a magnification of just about double the objective diameter and I would say that more then that is difficult, so 8mm should be as small as you will sensibly go.

As f/15 is easy on eyepieces I wonder if the Vixen NPL's would work as well, they are around £30, so a fair bit less. Just a thought to possibly save money.

[Odd Thomas]

Thanks earl & ronin. The 8mm will give me 281x mag which will be just about the max anyway. As to the Vixen/cost issue, the scope is a 'retirement' present to myself and a keeper so I don't mind spending on the TV plossl's if they are good for the job. Tom

[nightfisher]

how about some lovely ortho`s

[russ.will]

The thing worth noting about TV Plossls is that they turn up regularly on UKABS. If you don't like them, then you will loose precisely zero if you the flog them on, on that same site. They're a safe, no cost investment if bought thus.

Russell

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

At the short end, Plossls (and orthos) are uncomfortable EPs to use. I would consider long eye relief EPs (Vixen NLV and LV ranges are very good, even in faster scopes). The two Pentax XFs (8.5 and 12mm) are outstanding on planets. On a scope this slow, EPs like the TMB Planetaries should be worth considering at the short end.

The main advantage TeleVue Ploslls have other others is their performance in fast scopes. If you want to splash out, I would go for different designs.

[Moonshane]

TV Plossls are in my experience just as good as all other TV eyepieces but with a narrower field of view and shorter eye relief generally. I have no issues generally with shorter eye relief but tend to prefer to see the field stop when observing. this last point is the reason I sold my 11mm TVP and never tried the 8mm as I find that the eye relief on them feels a lot shorter than it actually is. I find that even though the eye relief on my Baader Genuine Orthos (7mm specifically) is actually shorter than the 8mm TVP, they are more comfortable to use.

I'd strongly recommend TV plossls 15mm and up and BGOs 12.5mm and down (or other orthos if you cannot get BGOs) for your stated observing preferences.

BUT if you like the wide field and decent eye relief of your current eyepieces, then you might not be happy with these factors on the plossls and BGOs so maybe go slowly and buy just one maybe to see how you go. having a mount that tracks makes using narrow field eyepieces much more friendly but it's not hard to get used to with a manual mount.

in short, I'd get the scope and use it with your current oculars first. if they give you the results you want (and I have used the SWANs in a slow(ish) achro f8.3 and they were lovely) then you might save yourself a few bob. you will certainly get a small gain in performance I feel with the TVPs and BGOs but it may be at the cost of observing comfort.

In the end I ignored my own advice and bought narrower field eyepieces to supplement my wider field ones. e.g. I much prefer using my 12.5mm BGO and 15mm TVP on the moon to my 13mm Ethos. hope this helps and has not sent you to sleep!

[Merlin66]

I use TV Plossls..why? I've had them almost 25 years and they've lasted better than my eyes....

40 years ago I would have got hot and excited about some of the wide angle lenses available today....but you have to accept as you get older, so do your eyes...

The "best" high power eyepiece (better than the 4.7 TV nagler I have) is a 100 year old Ziess 6mm Monocentric....like looking down a straw, but the view.....majic!!!

Someone once told me - using a scope >f10 you could get away with using the bottom of a coke bottle (!) as an eyepiece....there's no real "pressure" on the eyepiece - kellners/ orthos/ plossls - they will all work well.

[Mr Moff]

I totally agree with moonshane. I picked up the 11mm and 25mm tv plossl's and the 25 is amazing but I hate the 11mm. You literally have to insert your eye into the 11mm. I don't mind tight eye relief as my BGO's get loads of use, but the 11mm tv plossl is horrible.

[alan potts]

Moonshane,

I agree with yoy, I had the Meade series 5000 s Plossl range, I fould even the 9mm one difficult and the 5.5mm well, I give up with it, the rest were fine eyepieces, I have still got the 26mm it came with the LX 200 before they started saving money!

Alan.

[Odd Thomas]

A lot of very astute comments gentlemen, thank you, especially Merlin66 re: eyes getting older. I realised some time ago that spending £500+ on an eyepiece was a non starter for me, not because of the cost outlay, but because of the fact that my eyes are far from good enought to realise its full potential!

Moonshane, yup still awake! The scope will be mounted on a driven Fullerscopes mark IV deluxe mount, and I was slowly coming to the same conclusion as you suggested, using TV Plossls above 15mm ish but using a 2x Barlow instead of the small mm eyepieces.

It would seem sensible to wait until I get the scope and try my existing ep's, just getting excited and filling in the time till it arrives!

Tom