Televue 7.4mm Plossl

[lw24]

Hi all,

As you may or may not have seen, I recently bought a used 7.4mm Televue smoothside plossl, mainly for lunar/planetary observations. Thankfully the clouds parted last night, so I managed to get some time observing the Moon, as well as Jupiter. All I had to compare it with were a 12mm Revelation plossl, and the stock 10mm eyepiece which came with my 200p.

The eyepiece gave me a magnification of around 162x and for me, this was perfect. I think I'm right regarding the fact that this magnification should rarely be limited by the UK seeing conditions (compared to one over 200x). Initial impressions were great - views of the lunar surface were the best I've ever seen, with remarkable amounts of detail being resolved on the crater edges. The image stayed crisp, as far as I could tell, all the way across the field.

Moving on to Jupiter, I was happy with the physical 'size' of the planet (I didn't look at it and want more magnification). The detail again, was far better than I'd ever experienced; the banding clear and sharp. Unfortunately the GRS was not viewable at the time of observation, so I look forward to viewing that. The eyepiece also managed to fit all 4 moons in the field of view, which made for a pleasant view.

Regarding comparison to the other eyepieces, the real differences were seen on Jupiter, where the Televue blew the stock 10mm eyepiece away, and with a noticeably (although not hugely) better view than the 12mm Revelation plossl.

Eye relief was not a problem for me. I used the eyepiece with a winged eyecup which was provided with the eyepiece, and this seemed to work well. The only problem was that due to the temperature, if I pressed my eye up to the eyepiece for an extended period of time, it would begin to fog up.

All in all, a solid purchase, and I cannot wait to look at Saturn with it.

[Daniel-K]

good report always nice testing new kit

[foundaplanet]

Nice.

I use tv plossls and find them all really good on everything I look at. The 32 and 11mm being my faves although they have not had much use lately.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Sounds like a winner!

[Brian Nordstrom]

I have a TV8mm and is eye relief is a little tight , but its typical TelVue , thats very good . it is as good as my 9mm orthoscopic on the moon and planets .

Brian.

[Pete Presland]

nice review! i have used quite a few different types/makes of eye-pieces over the years, the Televues are the best value for money eye-pieces on the market. They are far more tolerant of faster scopes and at around £35-£50 (depending on focal length) on the 2nd handmarket make a great deal!

[Beyondawes]

Ive had the 7.4 since 94' and it is unquestionably my most important planetaryocular in my 8" f/9. Beautiful tone and contrast.

Pete

[scarp15]

Good review, I use the 8mm and 11mm TV plossl. Whilst the 8mm is sometimes a bit too high mag in my C8, the 11mm receives a lot of use on planetary observing (185x). I feel that it renders more subtle details, than my alternative eyepieces and makes for a very engaging connection with the subject. I am used to the eye relief and prefer anyhow to look through the eyepiece for a minute, pause, look at the sky then go back to the eyepiece again.

[A McEwan]

I have a 10.5mm which gets a lor of use. I've had all thesmoothside focal lengths at one time or another. The 13mm is a very nice eyepiece, along with the 17mm.

Ant