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rizzi

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Hello. I have a HR Planetary 3.2 mm eyepiece that I got today. It now magnifies to just above 200x.

I have a sywatcher 130p and I observed Jupiter today and I found that the views are both hazy and much much darker than my stock 25mm and 10mm eyepieces.

I'm sorry if such question has been answered but is it because the eyepiece is of

1. poor quality, or

2. too much magnification, or

3. do high powered eps tend to be of such nature?

It would be really helpful if you guys could help me out.

Thanks

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200x is quite a bit of magnification, and as you magnify more, the image gets darker, regardless of EP type. Focusing also becomes more critical, as do seeing quality and collimation. If Jupiter is low in the sky, I tend to use about 170-200x in my 8" scope. Nearer zenith, my 8" often allows 235-270x using the 8.5 and 7mm EPs I have. If your scope is well collimated, and the seeing is good, you should be able to get decent a decent image at 200x, but only if the planet is well above the horizon

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My Meade 5.5mm is the shortest lens FL that my scope will take I think. My 5.5mm does dim the view considerably and magnifies any and all atmospheric artifacts so it is only usable on the best of nights. I get much more use out of my 12mm Radian. I'm considering getting a 6mm ortho which should be better than the 5.5mm being 10x lower in power (I think) and something around the 9mm mark.

Also worth noting is that the better the quality the better the view but at the highest magnifications even a very expensive EP will still be at the mercy of the atmospheric conditions.

So to answer your questions; Quality does play a part (although I'm unfamiliar with your EP and so can't comment on quality)

It may be a little to high mag if your scope isn't well set up or if your sky has any haze or too much LP

High powered EP's are inherently dimmer and susceptible to atmospheric issues

Hope this helps :grin:

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The TS HR Planetaries (blue printing on the black part of the barrel ?) are the best of the TMB Planetary clones available from my experience so I doubt there is anything amiss with the eyepiece.

203x is probably a bit too much magnification on Jupiter with your scope unless the seeing conditions are really excellent and the scope is properly cooled and in good collimation.

I find 180x is the most useful magnification on Jupiter with my ED120 refractor although 225x does get used on occasions.

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I see. Thanks a lot for your feedbacks guys. Means a lot.

Yea I think I'll wait for the sky to get clear and to have planets well above the horizon for a much clearer view on that mag. I'll post a picture if I manage to capture a decent one.

Thanks

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...... I'll wait for the sky to get clear and to have planets well above the horizon ......

Yes, that should help a lot. Viewing planets when are close to the horizon is often problematical because you are viewing them through more of our atmosphere.

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You'll find the atmospherics better for your high power ep's in the winter months as things are cooler and more stable. The big problems will be if you're target is above a house. The heat coming from centrally heated houses plays havoc with the air through which you're looking, making the image shimmer and wobble.

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You'll find the atmospherics better for your high power ep's in the winter months as things are cooler and more stable. The big problems will be if you're target is above a house. The heat coming from centrally heated houses plays havoc with the air through which you're looking, making the image shimmer and wobble.

Ah I see because I noticed it yesterday when I was viewing Saturn. There was a very obvious wobble as if someone lit a giant gas stove underneath!

But I found the views of both Jupiter and Saturn to be dominated by a white tint, unlike my 10mm stock EP which shows the colours. So high powered EPs are meant to produce less colour and details?

Sorry my 3.2mm EP is not a HR Planetary, its a TMB Planetary II SW from Sky's The Limit : ]

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It does say TMB Optical on the barrel (maybe Burgess was on the box (it was on my TMB Paragon)). It could be an original, but there are knock-offs around. What I have also noticed is that some are supposedly 60 deg, whereas I think the original was 58 deg. As I gather, most of the knock offs are very decent quality. What counts is what you see through the EP, not when you look at the EP ;).

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oh didn't know that.

This is the one I got yesterday

http://www.ebay.co.u...9cbc4d0b7#rpdId

I think those are known as the TMB Planetary Mk II's. I don't think TMB / Thomas Back had anything to do with their design but the world of these eyepieces is a complex one as Michael has said.

When you originally posted I thought we were talking about these, which are the nearest in quality to the original Burgess / TMB planetaries that you can get now:

http://www.telescope-service.com/eyepieces/start/eyepiecesstart.html#hr

That said, there are lots of folks who use the type you have without any problems and I'm sure enjoy the views.

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I had one of these 3.2mm EPs (exactly the same). I got rid of it as I could never get a decent image.

I was using a 102/f6 ED refractor, so the 3.2mm gave me x191.

I say that the 3.2mm was no good because I consistently got (when conditios allowed)

a better image using a 7mm, barlowed (2.5) to give me x218.

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Ah I see because I noticed it yesterday when I was viewing Saturn. There was a very obvious wobble as if someone lit a giant gas stove underneath!

But I found the views of both Jupiter and Saturn to be dominated by a white tint, unlike my 10mm stock EP which shows the colours. So high powered EPs are meant to produce less colour and details?

Sorry my 3.2mm EP is not a HR Planetary, its a TMB Planetary II SW from Sky's The Limit : ]

High powered EP's will wash out any hint of colour from objects.

Views of any object above a heat source or through unsettled air will show this shimmer effect. Once when I was viewing the moon in mid-summer here in the uk The edge of the moon was rippling so much it made the surface appear almost like a boiling liquid and that was looking at it over the sea but the warm air from above the land mixing with the cooler air from the sea was causing all kinds of atmospheric trickery.

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Thank you all so much for all the feedback guys. Really heplful stuff! You guys are cool :D

I just wanted to share a little photo I took with the 3.2mm EP just now.

It's a stacked image of 27 seconds in Registax 6 taken using an old digital camera (no HD video function) and the 3x optical zoom.

I only wish the views from the EP were this good haha

post-26234-0-70457400-1355757433_thumb.p

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A bit of haze is often not too much of a problem (unlike solid cloud that we have at the moment). Winter skies up here in the cold north sometimes show bad seeing, which is worse. Optimal setting of the gain and offset parameters of the camera are often key to getting better results.

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