Back in the fold - small but mighty

[Moonshane]

A while back I had to sell an eyepiece that I did use but thought I could do without. Well as it happens I really missed this one and recently felt I should replace it. Welcome back 11mm Televue Plossl!

This is a little eyepiece but really hits a sweet spot, especially with my 6" f11 planetary dob on Jupiter (145x) and is usable most nights I observe.

Whilst I have a tendency (that observant members may have just managed to detect) to bang on about the quality of Televue's eyepieces, I really feel that the TV Plossl is superb value for money, especially when bought used.

What you get is the same sharpness,contrast, detail, quality control and quality of product that you get with all TV eyepieces but at a much reduced price. The only differences are that they are lighter, smaller, have a perfectly usable but 'small' by today's standards 50 degree apparent field of view and cost less.

Here's a pic of my new purchase (thanks to Mr Fiery Jack - thanks Carl! It really does have the appearance of an eyepiece lovingly tucked away after each session outside) with a slightly larger eyepiece for comparison.

I'd honestly recommend these eyepieces to anyone at 20mm and above and to anyone not requiring glasses to observe across the range. At £50-70 used depending on the model, you really cannot go wrong.

[DirkSteele]

Love the second picture....Brings to mind a quote used by Newton..."Standing on the Shoulders of Giants."

And I probably should add, that we managed to convince the controllers of the purse-strings at Uni many years ago to give us the funds to by a range of Televue Plossl EPs for use with the society scopes and they were magnificent performers.

[Moonshane]

Ha ha indeed Matthew. Here's another....Buying great quality plossls in good used condition is an Ethos I follow....... dum dum dish!

[Naemeth]

A while back I had to sell an eyepiece that I did use but thought I could do without. Well as it happens I really missed this one and recently felt I should replace it. Welcome back 11mm Televue Plossl!

This is a little eyepiece but really hits a sweet spot, especially with my 6" f11 planetary dob on Jupiter (145x) and is usable most nights I observe.

Whilst I have a tendency (that observant members may have just managed to detect) to bang on about the quality of Televue's eyepieces, I really feel that the TV Plossl is superb value for money, especially when bought used.

What you get is the same sharpness,contrast, detail, quality control and quality of product that you get with all TV eyepieces but at a much reduced price. The only differences are that they are lighter, smaller, have a perfectly usable but 'small' by today's standards 50 degree apparent field of view and cost less.

Here's a pic of my new purchase (thanks to Mr Fiery Jack - thanks Carl! It really does have the appearance of an eyepiece lovingly tucked away after each session outside) with a slightly larger eyepiece for comparison.

I'd honestly recommend these eyepieces to anyone at 20mm and above and to anyone not requiring glasses to observe across the range. At £50-70 used depending on the model, you really cannot go wrong.

Aww, the 11mm Plössl is so cute on top of the 13mm Ethos!

Look forward to your thoughts on this particular 11mm Plössl .

[Jiggy 67]

Ha ha indeed Matthew. Here's another....Buying great quality plossls in good used condition is an Ethos I follow....... dum dum dish!

Don't give up the day job mate.....you're no John Bishop!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[John]

They are lovely eyepieces Shane - I could quite happily live with a few of those plus a 3-6mm zoom for high power. I might go that way one day

[Moonshane]

I certainly appreciate the extra field of the wide fields of course, especially for 'in context' observing like with a globular cluster against a rich star field but when you are looking at a small object like a double star/planet or want that bit of extra detail out of the seeing, having the gap fillers is certainly worth it to me.

[Damo636]

Nice one Shane! My only forray into the Televue plossl range was the 25mm & I found it to be superb. If I hadn't looked through that darned 24 Panoptic, I probably would have had a full set of these today :-) (+ a healthier bank balance)

[Moonshane]

in the future I may well buy the 20mm (specifically for the Horsehead with my scopes) and the 25mm (for a bit more solar detail when needed). I could buy the 11mm, the 20mm and the 25mm TVPs for the price of the 24mm Panoptic. As brilliant as that is, I think this flexibility is great to have. the 8mm though I suspect would have eye relief a little tight and I do have the 8mm Radian already.

for a while I did feel that I was better with less eyepieces and wide fields but found that as my scopes have relatively long focal lengths (1380mm, 1600mm and 1840mm when the paracorr is taken into account), every mm of eyepiece focal length makes a difference to the view in changeable seeing.

[Damo636]

I'm currently in the "less is more" phase when it comes to eyepieces Shane, but I've only the one scope so get away with it.

PS. Since you now have the 11mm plossl, you probably won't be needing the 12.5mm BGO? I don't mind taking it off your hands when you're ready :-)

[John]

From the reading I've been doing (as I'm sure you have ) seeing the Horsehead requires both a suitable filter and an eyepiece that delivers a suitable exit pupil and not too wide a field of view. The 20mm TV plossl would seem a good choice with your 16" scope. For me a 25mm would be the one to go for I think.

Either that or just buy some budget burgers

[Moonshane]

hands off! I back where I want to be now with options at 3-6mm, 7mm, 8mm, 9mm, 10mm, 11mm, 12.5mm, 13mm, 15mm, 26mm and 32mm. with the 20mm and 25mm TVP I cover everything for three scopes including holidays. I honestly use every eyepiece regularly.

[Damo636]

Ah well, you can't blame a guy for tryin' :-)

[Moonshane]

From the reading I've been doing (as I'm sure you have ) seeing the Horsehead requires both a suitable filter and an eyepiece that delivers a suitable exit pupil and not too wide a field of view. The 20mm TV plossl would seem a good choice with your 16" scope. For me a 25mm would be the one to go for I think.

Either that or just buy some budget burgers

definitely John, I agree. burgers are the way to go

yep, the 20mm would suit my f4 (4 x mid range of ideal exit pupil of 3-7mm = 5mm) scopes and 25mm f5 scopes. I may try it next time out with the 16", the 26mm Nagler and the Hb filter and will report back - you never know. I'll have to wear a cloak over my head though I reckon.

[Moonshane]

Ah well, you can't blame a guy for tryin' :-)

definitely matey. I think anyone that sold one would be mad. you'd possibly never replace it.

[Stu]

As the mug who sold Shane the 12.5mm BGO in the first place, I might have to request first refusal if it ever gets moved on :-) :-). Somehow I doubt it is going anywhere though.

The 11mm TV Plossl is a lovely little ep, I use mine almost exclusively for solar in my PST where it gives optimal magnification under most conditions. Lovely sharp views.

Cheers

Stu

[Moonshane]

oh yeah, I was racking my brains trying to remember where I got it - I bought one new as well a while back but sold it and thought I'd better buy another asap. only fair you have first dibs but unless someone ever wanted to swap it for a 12mm T4 or some equally ridiculous swap I'd never let it go.

[Damo636]

Yep, another mug here, sold the 5, 6 & 7mm to fund a.....(actually can't even remember what I bought now)!!

Going back to the Horsehead, why is the small fov important John? Looks like I shouldn't have sold that 25mm plossl either :-(

[Naemeth]

Yep, another mug here, sold the 5, 6 & 7mm to fund a.....(actually can't even remember what I bought now)!!

Going back to the Horsehead, why is the small fov important John? Looks like I shouldn't have sold that 25mm plossl either :-(

A lesson I have learned - don't sell eyepieces .

[Damo636]

A lesson I have learned - don't sell eyepieces .

As the classic "Scorpion" song goes...

"Don't know what you've got, till its gone"

[Moonshane]

it's more the exit pupil Damo. what (apparently) matters according to http://home.ix.netcom.com/~bwilson2/barbarasweb/MEyepiece.htm is the exit pupil when using the Hb filter (and actually most high contrast/narrowband filters). you should aim in the case of the Hb for an exit pupil of 3-7mm with the optimum being about 5mm. therefore in my f4 scope a 4x5 = 20mm eyepiece is optimum and in John's case a 5 x 5 = 25mm eyepiece but choose the one closest. I don't have anything between 15mm and 26mm and don't really want to buy a 20mm Nagler for just the Horsehead so plossls seem a good choice.

[Damo636]

Ah, I see! I should be ok ish with the 21mm then, (4.2mm exit pupil)

I've hunted for the HH many times now with no success (Unfiltered). I'm eager to hear how you get on with the SW filter Shane. I've put off buying a H-Beta as it has such a limited use, but I guess if I'm to have any chance seeing the HH, I'm going to have to bite the bullet and go get one!

[John]

....Going back to the Horsehead, why is the small fov important John? Looks like I shouldn't have sold that 25mm plossl either :-(

If the view is too wide then there is a brightish star near to the HH neb that tends to make it even harder to pick out. Another way would be to insert a mask at the focal plane of the eyepiece and use it to occult the offending star.

So I need to invest in a suitable, high transmission, 40-50 degree FoV 25mm eyepiece and an H-beta filter to give myself a fighting chance with my 12" I reckon

[nightfisher]

I remember reading an article regarding the TV plossl against the GSO/Revelations, might see if i can pick up an 11mm and compare when we next meet up

[Damo636]

If the view is too wide then there is a brightish star near to the HH neb that tends to make it even harder to pick out. Another way would be to insert a mask at the focal plane of the eyepiece and use it to occult the offending star.

So I need to invest in a suitable, high transmission, 40-50 degree FoV 25mm eyepiece and an H-beta filter to give myself a fighting chance with my 12" I reckon

Thanks John, looks like I'll be needing the same :-)