Radians discontinued?

[DaveS]

Looking for info and revies on Televue Radians I came across a thread on CN, part of which indicated that Televue had discontinued the Radian line of EPs, even though I see them listed as in stock in Telescope House and The Widescreen Centre.

So, are they discontinued or have Televue started making them again?

If they are kaput, what do people think for alternatives, given that I'll be looking for long eye-relief planetary EPs. The alternatives look to be cheapo WO SPLs or pricey TV Delos EPs

[E621Keith]

TV Radians were replaced by the TV Delos, so they have been discontinued. The ones Telescope House and Widescreen Centre sells are probably old stock.

There are a lot of alternatives include (assuming long eye relief)

Vixen LVW (same price, slighly wider)

Pentax XF (cheaper, but report suggest XFs perform better than the equivalent Radian)

Vixen LV or NLV (cheaper, narrower)

Celestron X-Cel LX (slightly less ER, a lot cheaper)

...

[DirkSteele]

I heard that Televue were having difficulty obtaining some of the rare earth glass that went into the Radian EPs and that has contributed to them being phased out. It may well be that those retailers showing stock are holding remaining inventory and when they are gone that is it (apart from the 2nd hand market of course). I view the new Delos range as superseding the Radians. Which leads me to the Delos.

I own the 10mm currently and am about to add the 3.5mm and 14mm when they hit the stores in the next few days. The 10mm is a joy to use and eye relief makes it a very comfortable EP to use. I have taken the 10mm to a monthly astroclub meeting for the last 5 months and it has received many compliments from those who looked through it and not a single negative remark. The one downside of course is they are not cheap.

[Damo636]

The Radians are a great buy used at around £100 ish. I have owned the 6mm & 14mm and thought they were really excellent. I eventually sold them and moved to wider fov ep's, but I would not say one bad word against the Radians.

[Rustysplit]

I just got an 18mm Radian from TH. Fantastic EP, and this is in an F4 quattro.

[Sarah]

Presumably the 3mm and 4mm Radians are still available as these two sizes are still on the Televue website?

[DaveS]

Thanks.

Problem is, well, not really a problem as such, it may be a while before my finances recover enough to contemplate more EPs hence my querey. If Radians have been EOLed then I should think about alternatives as by the time I can afford them they'll all be gone.

I'll have a look at Pentax XFs as I thinl FLO do them.

[John]

Strange thing is that the Radian is the only Tele Vue eyepiece type that I have yet to own or use. No particular reasons for that other that my preference to wider fields of view. Most of the reports I've read on them are very positive.

[Mr Spock]

At the moment I'm comparing a 10mm Radian to a 10mm NLV. I'll do a complete review later but for now:-

The Radian has a wider field and slightly darker sky background. The NLV has better colour fidelity and saturation - particularly noticable on Albireo where the orange is warmer and the blue cleaner and deeper. Sharpness is similar on both, as is lateral colour and resolving power. Eye relief is similar on both. The Radian has much better build quality and ergonomics, but conversely costs a lot more (£190 v £115) - the Radian feels solid and the NLV a little plasticy.

I can't choose between them, so I'm keeping both...!

[alan potts]

I like radians a great deal, I have the 4mm and 5mm and did have the 6mm and 10mm, I found all of the excellent, even though I have changed to the Delos on the last two.

Great eyepieces and sad that there is a 100 pounds jump for the replacement

Alan

[crazyjedi]

I have a 12mm Radian and I love it. It is sad if they are outgoing. I know that TV have put in to production newer and more extravagant eye peices but the Radians will always be fine EP's

[John]

In the past TV have kept older models in production for quite a long time after so called successors have been launched, respecting that each range has it's fan base. If they have dropped the Radian's so quickly after the Delos has been introduced it would be a little out of character. As has been said though, maybe scarce raw materials are forcing their hand, if it has happened.

[alan potts]

John,

That being the case would force up the price of the materials and then these would have to be passed on the to us. Maybe they also didn't want to do that so soon after a price rise.

I think I might buy the 3mm, at that magnification FOV is not that important on a driven scope.

Alan.

[Moonshane]

Although in a way the Delos has replaced the Radian (is this an official Televue line? I don't know.) I actually don't think that it is quite accurate to say so. The price difference between the two is most likely down to the extra 10 degree field which as we know is harder and more costly to create the higher you go. Therefore assuming the Radian is good value, the Delos is too I feel.

I have two currently (10mm and 8mm) and previously had a 14mm and 18mm (both sold to fund a 13mm Ethos). They are all excellent eyepieces. There is a colour cast to then (the oft quoted Televue coffee coloured tone) but this is often only really apparent after comparing them with something else (like a BGO in my case).

Until I can afford a Delos (or they start coming through used more regularly) I'll be hanging onto my Radians.

[DaveS]

Only just had the opertunity to catch up with my thread, a lot of reading to do.

I see FLO also have the Vixen NLVs as well.

I'll hold fire on this for the moment as my finances won't stand an EP splurge, but in another month or so...