Delos 10mm an eyepiece for all?

[alan potts]

Delos 10mm

Well it has come down to the last Delos in the box, at the moment at least. Let me start by saying the other two, 6mm and 4.5mm were a little like the Rodney Trotter of the family, this one is more the Del Boy. It is however still a fairly substantial lump to have in the hand, it has a nice feel about it but it again a good deal larger than what it replaced, the 10mm Radian.

I have tried to show in one of photographs the size of the three, along with a 24mm Panoptic and a AA battery, most know how big one of those is.

You may well ask why buy a 10mm Delos when you already have a Radian of the same focal length, a fair question indeed. There was nothing wrong with the Radian other than I have been bitten, no savaged, by the wide field of view disease. I bought this eyepiece for a number of reasons: I already had the 6mm and was blown away by the performance; the Delos offered a wider field of view and the light transmission and sharpness seemed to be a step up over other eyepieces. I have three of these now and I have to say that they are all rather large and as I have pointed out in the other reviews could cause a bit of a problem when used on Newtonians as the eye lens is around 9-10 inches above the tube when in the focuser (this was the case in my M/N 190mm). I always seem to want to look at something that puts the eyepiece in that position and it is very much a case of steps or block and tackle. I have included a shot of the 10mm against whatis consided to be a large eyepiece, the 17mm Ethos.

The 10mm Delos for me sits in ‘very useful’ place on the magnification scale on some scopes and the fairly high end to silly on others. I used 5 scopes over 7 nights to assess this eyepiece but so members don’t drop off to sleep while reading I have only decided to make detailed entries on 3 of the scopes, a one liner on the LX 200 and in depth on scopes I will use it on the most. I also wanted to see how this one performed with the X2 Powermate in order to save a few Bob on buying a 5mm something or the other in the future.

The strange thing about this range that is for me the one best points, the eyepieces seem to give the same views. I used the 10mm in the GSO 150mm RC which gives me a magnification of X137. I compared this to the 115mm Refractor using the 6mm Delos which gives me a magnification of X134. Now I am sure no one would see a difference in image size with this, but the two views were so similar it was rather odd when you consider they are completely different telescopes. I can only imagine the light though put of the GSO at 96% and little extra aperture overcame the fact that it has a large central obstruction. (I welcome any correct explanation)

Scopes.

GSO 150mm RC, 115mm APM and 190mm M/N.

Targets.

M42, Jupiter (with and without Powermate), M41, Rigel, Almach, M15 and M35.

This eyepiece for me is a great one for doubles and doubling, it has loads of eye relief, so much so you could use it with glasses in comfort. It has also like the others taken light transmission and sharpness to another level, I have to stress that this is only slight when compared to other Televue eyepieces, like the 9mm and 11mm Naglers for example and what I remember of the 10mm Radian. In any case few would say anything but good about that little clutch. I am not suggesting some other manufacturer do not also make quality eyepieces.

GSO 150mm RC.

This for me is a fine visual scope though I am sure many would not agree, it gives sharp images with good contrast and punches well above its weight. The eyepiece gives me a magnification of X137 and is a power that I would use for Globular clusters, Jupiter and the Moon.

Sky condition were very good, the moon was out of the way and it was still, I could see 5th magnitude stars overhead with ease.

M42,

I wouldn’t normally use X137 on The Orion Nebular but it is a target that is difficult to resist. The stars appeared very sharp for the power being used and size of scope. It is something that I have noticed with all of the range I have, they control things remarkably well, something one would expect from a quality product. I was treated to a beautiful spread of nebulosity almost covering the whole field of view, there was very good contrast and stars were, well, stars.

I was not able to make out either the ‘E or F’ stars in the trapezium even though I spent some time looking for them, you win some you loose some. It may well be a good thing to point out at this juncture that all these eyepieces have a raise and lower type of eye guard. It makes life much easier if you use it. I remember one of the members on site having a similar problem with a 5mm Pentax XW, I too didn’t read the instruction.

Jupiter.

The moon was low in the West and would be no problem after another hour or so. I went straight on to Jupiter which it very high in the sky. When you think this scope is sold as an imaging tool you do get some very good planetary views with it. The disc was clean and very sharp with 3 belts clearly on view and 3 moons, and a little bite out of the edge of the planet that looked like the doings of a hungry astro-mouse. It was of course the other moon making a transit across the face which I watched for about 45 minutes, in that time I came to see other belt details and the polar regions. (I did not know which Moon). It really is something that you can sit and look at for ages.

M15.

This globular is not best placed now but I like it because it is compact when compared to say, M13 and for me is a better test of the resolving power of a scope and sharpness of the eyepieces.

The cluster was clearly defined against a black sky now the Moon had gone for another day and I could make out some of the outer stars as stars and not a blur. This cries out for aperture and is not at its the best in a 6 inch scope. The eyepiece though was bang on the money with the X137 power it was offering in a telescope of this size.

Almach.

I wouldn’t normally look at a double star as easy as this with this amount of magnification but I was in this neck of the woods. Almach was lovely, clean, sharp and the colours came across so well with the RC system.

This has become one of my favorite doubles now since one of the site members said it was one of his, after I read that I checked it out, the first time for a very long time.

APM 115mm Refractor

The eyepiece on this scope offers just a fraction over X80, so ideal for open clusters and doubles, as well as blinding yourself while looking at the full Moon, thankfully one was some days away.

M42,

Reward me with astunning sharp well contrasted view that you could put your feet up, sip a mug of tea and look at all evening, then die from frost bite. It was bitter cold but very clear, I really wish members could have my skies, if only for a week. The trapezium was very easy to see but again no sign of the ‘E and F’ stars at this power (changed eyepieces to X120 and was able to see both). The nebulosity was standing out very nicely against the dark sky and I would say that in my opinion this was an ideal power to use on this target for general viewing. This has to be one of the most looked at sights in the heavens and rightly so.

M35,

I like this open cluster and look at it a great deal. The eyepiece really did it justice all the stars standing out against a clear dark background while having the quality to control the points of light so you see them as such. This eyepiece is going to get a lot of use on these type of targets I can see.

Jupiter with Powermate.

Now I would never really ever use this to view Jupiter on a power of X80 in a 4 ½ inch telescope, but double this with a Powermate and we have a different ball game altogether.

Now the planet was very high in the sky, thank goodness for diagonals. The main belts were there to see, the Northern most belt seems to still be away on a winter vacation. I don’t know the name of this but it is the one that sits above the thick equatorial belt there is normally one below as well. I very incorrectly said in the review on the 4.5mm Delos that it was back but forgot I was using a scope where the image appears upside down, silly me. I find it difficult to believe that any eyepiece could improve significantly on this combination. I cross checked views with the 4.5mm Delos and the 5.5mm Meade UWA, it was as good as the other Delos and had just a bit more contrast and sharpness than the Meade which is a fine eyepiece in its own right. Powermates are seriously good.

If you have a quality Barlow or Powermate then I am sure this eyepiece will perform well with them and will indeed save some money, because I do not see myself buying one to fill the hole. One thing doing these reviews has taught me is that with the telescopes I have, to go from 6mm to 4.5mm is fine you do not really need anything in between.

Rigel.

Now I have to up front about this, with my scopes Rigel is an easy double star, I believe that it is only the fact that it appear fairly low in the UK that makes it difficult in smaller apertures. I have split this star with a 70mm refractor and of course the 115mm made it without sweat. It is a nice double to tick off as the secondary is a good deal fainter that the main star.

Sky Watcher 190mm M/N.

This was compiled over two nights a week apart and Moon puts in an unwanted appearance on one of them (clouds too).

M42.

This was viewed on a Moonless night, well it had set so it was out of the way and no bother. The Delos is giving X100 on the F5.2 M/N scope so is a very useful mid range power that can be used for almost anything, though maybe a little weak for globular clusters where I prefer around X150. The stellar birth place was a fantastic site: clear and well defined nebulosity filling a good deal of the field of view; the stars in the trapezium crisp to the eye with both ‘E and F’ stars making a show and I don’t know if it was me but just a hint of greenness to it all. There is no doubt about it to see the fainter stars in this nebular you do need to get the magnification spot on, a point that became clear when on the same night I hit the power button and they vanished.

Rigel.

This was viewed with a Moon raining on my parade and could I split this double, err no. I tried and tried, nothing much made sense the night was good enough, even with the half Moon fairly high I could see 4th magnitude stars above. Then I realized I was looking at Saiph, I have always had trouble pointing one of these scopes and was not using ‘goto’, I did feel a bit of a daft lad though. Once I found Rigel it was split very cleanly, the optics on this scope are really very good but the focuser is anything but. The money I save with the 5mm eyepiece will go towards a Moonlite.

M41.

This is another open cluster that I think gets overlooked as it is low in the UK and maybe not that easy to see if houses are around you. The magnification given by the 10mm is just ideal for this cluster and it was a truly beautiful sight in a dark moonless sky that had excellent transparency right down to the horizon, I looked at it for some time. There was barely any distortion of the stars in the scope though Sirius was scintillating not far away. This effect always seems to be worse in the UK so it must come down to my lower latitude helping me see this star better.

M15.

This is a little low for a globular but the extra aperture may help it a little. The eyepiece handled this better than I thought when I was finding it, giving a good bright image with a good few outer stars trying to escape, it was screaming for more power. I then viewed it at X160 with another eyepiece and it was a fine sight. The eyepiece would be absolutely excellent in a scope whos focal length is around 1500mm, there are many on the market.

Jupiter.

I used the Powermate with the eyepiece but the one thing that becomes obvious is just how long this setup is, with focuser, PM and Delos it is over a foot from the scope. If the eyepiece is in a upward facing direction you may well have to learn to fly before you can view anything through it. I do not like to twist the scope around in it's cradle as I almost always knock the goto out alignment.

The result of the test gave a magnification of X200 which is as much as I ever use on this planet. The image was clean and bright with a good amount of detail on show. This is without doubt a very good substitute for a 5mm eyepiece visually but not so practially as it is just too long me in this type of telescope when viewing anything more than 40 dgrees above the horizon, I would not recommend doing this on a Newtonian though in a refractor it is not a problem to me but looks somewhat strange.

Thoughts on the 10mm Delos.

There is no doubt this is a fine eyepiece and probably one of the best on the market, I hope so. It is something that almost anyone with a telescope can use though as I said in the introduction it was tested in my LX giving a magnification of X304 which was in my opinion too much, X200 looked much better. Maybe Saturn or Mars would be a better test.

This eyepiece will bring the best out of a 70mm refractor or a 16 inch Dobsonian so it is a very versatile indeed and most of us have an eyepiece in this range, it can also be Barlowed or Powermated with great effect. Sadly this type of equipment is not going to cheap (295 pounds) and I have only so far seen one on the secondhand market. Not just this particular eyepiece but the others that I have suggest to me Televue as a Company have hit the ball out of the park with this range of eyepieces. I have no problem with saying, ‘if you can afford it buy one and see for yourself’, they really are Ethos quality without going cross-eyed and penniless. Well done Televue!

Hope your not snoring too loud ,

Alan

[DirkSteele]

Outstanding review Alan. It would seem you and I are having similar experiences with our Delos EPs. The 10mm for me is my most used eyepiece on my 4" class Apo refractors and its performance never fails to impress anyone who observes with it.

Clear skies,

[Spec-Chum]

Outstanding as ever Alan.

Well out of my price range tho, I saw the spend of £116 for a Meade UWA to be a huge luxury haha

[Damo636]

Another brilliant review Alan, thanks for sharing.

[Mike73]

Theres no half measures with your reviews Alan, thanks for putting the time and effort in to help people spend there money choose the right eyepiece.

I've got a lonely 10mm XW sat between the 8mm and 14mm Delos, if a used 10mm Delos became available I'd probably 'drop' the XW in favour of the Delos as I like then Delos range that much but as used Delos are as rare as hens teeth I dont think thats going to happen anytime soon!

Suprised at how small the 10mm looks compared to the 17.3mm which isnt exactly a large EP in itself.

Thanks again for the review.

[Damo636]

I've got a lonely 10mm XW sat between the 8mm and 14mm Delos, if a used 10mm Delos became available I'd probably 'drop' the XW in favour of the Delos as I like then Delos range that much but as used Delos are as rare as hens teeth I dont think thats going to happen anytime soon!

Oh Mike, the blasphemy!!, swapping arguably the finest 10mm ep ever made for a blatent Televue copy!

Time to duck and run for cover methinks.....:-)

[alan potts]

Mike,

It is a 17mm Ethos not a Delos, I'm sure your 10mm XW is a very fine eyepiece too.

I would like to have one to compare them, something makes me think I am not good enough to tell them apart though. This is the sort of think we need John to do, you can't buy experience at the corner shop and we haven't even got a corner shop.

Damo, you know how to wind people up don't you.

Alan.

[John]

Excellent review again Alan

It's taken a while for Tele Vue to notice the Pentax XW's success in this niche but now they have their response is clearly very impressive.

[Damo636]

Just teasing Alan:-)

Seriously though...

I have owned the 10mm Delos (as well as the 6mm) and would agree with absolutely everything you have said about it, its an exceptional eyepiece!

[alan potts]

Great minds Damo, great minds.

I wish now I would have gone for the 8mm Delos instead of the Ethos, not that there is anything wrong with it. It is just with the difference I could have almost bought the 3.5mm as well. Still must not be greedy I tend to forget these are very expensive optics and way beyond what some better astronomers than me can afford.

Alan.

[Damo636]

I've just sold my 8mm Ethos Alan (thats now two I've owned & sold). I have concluded now, once and for all, that I just don't get on with the shorter focal length Ethos. If I was looking a replacement at that fl, it would without doubt be the 8mm Delos.

[Mike73]

Oh Mike, the blasphemy!!, swapping arguably the finest 10mm ep ever made for a blatent Televue copy!

Time to duck and run for cover methinks.....:-)

ahh but do I sense a little pang of regret for swapping to Pentax??? Maybe a little jealousy????? ......maybe not

Btw Damo you were right about the Lyra

[Stu]

Great report Alan, really useful.

I'm certainly thinking that Delos are the way to go at lower focal lengths. You don't need the fov so much and the eye relief helps.

Just the small matter of budget now....

Stu

[alan potts]

Damo,

When you get tired of the 21mm send me a PM.

I tell you what I did last night on a not too good night with the moon up high, compared the 10mm Delos with a Powermated 20mm Nagler, I might just write that up for interest next week. While I was doing it some very very thin cloud drifted across Jupiter, it was just as i switched to the Nagler and the quality of view was dim but so so clear, I could see even more detail and more belts. It clearly points out we are all loosing something in Jupiter without some type of filter.

alan.

[Scooot]

Great review Alan, I don't think many will be coming on the second market in the near future. I think the 17.3 mm is even better.

[E621Keith]

Very nice review Alan. I'd love to have a look though it and the XW 10.

You may well ask why buy a 10mm Delos when you already have a Radian of the same focal length, a fair question indeed. There was nothing wrong with the Radian other than I have been bitten, no savaged, by the wide field of view disease. I bought this eyepiece for a number of reasons: I already had the 6mm and was blown away by the performance....

I see you've got the obsessive eyepiece collection disorder - an addiction to buying eyepiece and unstoppable urge to complete a the set

Looking forward to see your reviews of the rest of the Delos line

[Dunkster]

Oh Mike, the blasphemy!!, swapping arguably the finest 10mm ep ever made for a blatent Televue copy!

Time to duck and run for cover methinks.....:-)

TeleVue? Copy? Heresy! Off with his head

@Alan - nice one - thanks for keeping us occupied during the cloudy season

[mert]

Brilliant review Alan, superb. You do like your Televue eyepieces for sure

[Damo636]

ahh but do I sense a little pang of regret for swapping to Pentax??? Maybe a little jealousy????? ......maybe not

Btw Damo you were right about the Lyra

Nah mate, no regrets or jealousy, just being playful

Now your Lyra on the the other hand , wish I'd never sold mine, lovely piece of kit!

[RikM]

Lovely review Alan.

I have been fortunate enough to have both 10mm Delos and 10mm XW available for a few days at the SGL7 starparty. As you would expect they are almost indistinguishable in use. I found any differences were largely 'object' sensitive but over three evenings comparing, I felt the 10mm XW had just a tiny bit better light throughput. This was only using a 10" f/4.7 Dob.

[alan potts]

Rik,

Very interesting point and it is one of the reasons I tend to spend a good deal of scope time before writing, I would hate for someone to go out and spend hard earned cash on one then think I was a total idiot. It is very nice that you have been in the position to make a comparison between the two.

I tend to think at this level there is no winner and things will change form scope to scope and indeed person to person, whilst I once had totally exceptional eyesight up to the age of 50 it's far from that 7 years later.

Keith,

Nice one, I only have plans to maybe get the 3.5mm and that will be it. In any case isn't it a bit pot calling the kettle, those two cases of yours looked a bit full set'ish, or is it just me.

BTW was it a copy of the Pentax 10mm XW?

Alan.

[John]

Moved to the reviews section as requested Alan

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great review. I already have the XW7 and XW10, so I am not getting the Delos 10, but I am seriously tempted by the Delos 8 to sit in between the Pentax beasts (and the perhaps a 6mm for nights of outstanding seeing, and for the APM 80mm F/6 ......., it never ends )

[E621Keith]

...

BTW was it a copy of the Pentax 10mm XW?

...

Did you mean the Delos or the Nikon ?

I doubt the Delos is a XW copy, otherwise someone would be screaming about it by now. As for the Nikon SW, it's a tweaked version of the Nikon's EDG fieldscope eyepiece. It has 18mm eye relief, 2mm shorter than Delos and XW.

[avtaram]

Came across this report a couple of days ago and when I saw there was a 10mm Delos in the classifieds section I decided to buy it.

Now theres only the 6mm left and then I'm done.

Avtar