New Arrivals!

[Stargazer_00]

So i've been waiting and watching for the last week and all in one day all my parcels arrived!!

Very happy lad today, christmas come early!

Unboxing pictures:

Looks like they sent me an 11mm from an earlier range, not nitrogen purged. Always something.... at this price though I can't really be bothered to argue. Sure its a good eyepiece.

The new family!

The new family!!

Got myself a cheeky AZ4 upgrade to my grab and go on the side as well! And a new case from Maplins :rolleyes2:

Now I just need to stash it all quickly before the wife gets home

[Scott]

sweeet!!!

[Damo636]

Very nice!! That's an impressive haul of glass, hope you get clear skies to try them out :-)

[Daniel-K]

that 18 looks tasty very nice and to get them all at once

[alan potts]

Very nice indeed, very nice. Don't forget the reports on first light.

On a lighter note, if it was me I would either be outside in the rain in cardboard box or in the barn. Haven't worked out how I smuggle the stash waiting in England back in the house yet.

Alan.

[Stargazer_00]

Just frantically got everything packed up and tidy Should be OK now. everything in the loft that needed to be!

New family all tucked up in bed (with a nice cozy half of a box thats just crying out for 30mm ES 82 next month... )

And the AZ4 set up with ST120 and last month's Meade haul on the tail end (diagonal and ep for £160!)

Grey clouds outside to be expected for some time I think. Sorry!

[ramstar]

They already look comfortable in their new surroundings. I've got the 6.7 & 14 on order but not expecting them for a while yet .

You do realise you've now scuppered any decent viewing until November!

[E621Keith]

Congratulation, what a nice collection.

Now I know who caused the rain

[Stargazer_00]

See that amount of snow that's coming tonight? That was not me!

[Dunkster]

Congrats on your new family! You really do need to round it off with the 30mm though, it's a lovely EP

[russ.will]

Looks like they sent me an 11mm from an earlier range, not nitrogen purged.

I don't know who 'they' are, but I'd be asking them to take it back if you paid the same for it as the 8.8 & 14mm. It's entirely possible that it's an honest mistake, but if you coughed for a MkIV Mondeo, you'd be hacked off if you got a MkIII, even if it uses the same engine.

I'll be interested to se how you get on with the 18mm.

Russell

[Stargazer_00]

An American site. The pain in doing a return is the issue. If it performs well I wouldn't really care in truth.

[E621Keith]

I don't know who 'they' are, but I'd be asking them to take it back if you paid the same for it as the 8.8 & 14mm. It's entirely possible that it's an honest mistake, but if you coughed for a MkIV Mondeo, you'd be hacked off if you got a MkIII, even if it uses the same engine.

I'll be interested to se how you get on with the 18mm.

Russell

I think the problem is, if he send them back to the USA and have the replacement send to him. The shipping and custom charges will probably be higher than just buying a brand new one. I guess that's the drawback with if you buy from outside EU.

[Stargazer_00]

Exactly. I'm Also a firm believer that things happen for a reason. This may turn out to be my favorite of the bunch, who knows?

Also did you spot one is argon purged where the rest are nitrogen? Sure that makes no difference at all.

The smaller ones are little more than bst money at the moment. A real bargain.

Customs only asked for half what I expected too so im happy

[Russty]

Well thats knocked my new TV 15mm plossl and SW 30mm Aero ED into a cocked hat that has. Enjoy

[John]

Nice set of glass !

The 11mm is rather an old model though - it was replaced by the N2 purged ones back in 2011. I don't know if it will make any difference - depends whether there were changes to glass types, coating quality or internal light baffling made at the same time I guess. All other things being equal I doubt the lack of purging itself will make an optical difference, other than to resist fogging a bit longer.

My understanding is that the Argon purging is replacing N2 on the ES ranges other than the 100 degree ones. I've no idea what the significance of this is.

[Stargazer_00]

If It's no good I'll sell it cheap and get a newer one from Germany. Not going to write it off yet though. I'll do some reading up and try it out a few times.

I did notice when I put it in the scope earlier that the field stop seemed way way further out than the rest. Like 90 degree area. can see the field stops on Ali the others much easier.

[Dunkster]

Maybe it's just my OCD talking, but I'd want them all to look the same

Not sure you'll see any difference, from what I read before I bought mine (N2), it was basically put on a diet, purged with nitrogen and given waterproof seals. Of course, optics and coatings are also possibilities but unless you compare both side by side, how to tell?

[russ.will]

I think the problem is, if he send them back to the USA and have the replacement send to him. The shipping and custom charges will probably be higher than just buying a brand new one. I guess that's the drawback with if you buy from outside EU.

That's not true and I'm not sure what information, or experience, you based that on.

Royal Mail will ship to the US for £12 odd (and that was a 2" ES82 18mm). Hands On Optics shipped the warranty return at their own cost and declared it as a 'Nil Value' warranty replacement, so it attracted no customs charges. That's not the same as no insurance value, as that is covered under the shipping charge, so the replacement item was insured, had it gone missing or arrived damaged.

To have shipped the same package in the UK, with insurance to cover the value, would have cost £7.something, so the entire risk of buying something from a US dealer that knows what it is doing was only £5 more than the UK. Massively less than the saving at original purchase.

There is this perception that the US dealers toss items into international shipping on the assumption that distance absolves them of responsibility. My experience is that this is not the case. For starters, international shipping for a US dealer, is not actually that much more hassle, or expense, than shipping to some of the more far flung States - Think Hawaii and Alaska. Two, like any dealer, they seek to build loyalty through customer satisfaction. That transcends borders, but not the internet. A duff review on a forum 5000 miles away, is still an arrow in the side that a bloke in their town can return on a Google search.

Compare this to my two UK warranty replacement experiences. A blown motherboard for the Dob took three months and was only eventually solved by circumventing the dealer and going direct to OVL. Another took six months after replacing the entire unit was "forgotten" by the dealer that had the replacement in stock, a month earlier.

As such - The OP payed for an ES82 that should match the rest of the lineup. He has noting to loose in contacting the dealer and based on my experience, he may be pleasantly surprised how fuss and cost free the experience is. If it turns out otherwise, do as you would do in the UK - Buy the next one from someone who cares and tell the current dealer you are going to do so.

Distance changes very little.

Russell

[russ.will]

Nice set of glass !

The 11mm is rather an old model though - it was replaced by the N2 purged ones back in 2011. I don't know if it will make any difference - depends whether there were changes to glass types, coating quality or internal light baffling made at the same time I guess. All other things being equal I doubt the lack of purging itself will make an optical difference, other than to resist fogging a bit longer.

My understanding is that the Argon purging is replacing N2 on the ES ranges other than the 100 degree ones. I've no idea what the significance of this is.

Argon is heavier, which will mean a larger counter weight on a Dob. <Ducks and runs for cover>

Russell

[John]

Argon is heavier, which will mean a larger counter weight on a Dob. <Ducks and runs for cover>

Russell

They ought to use Helium then !

[russ.will]

Pah! What's wrong with a vacuum?

One thing I've just thought of - And hear me out on this - Is that Astronomy in particular places greater demands on refractive properties of glass, than any other past time I know. I was thinking on the fact that various ES EPs are nominally thought to be close cousins of their fore-runner Meade counterparts and the legacy 11mm in this thread, more so than most.

And yet the refracive index of glass is closely allied to the medium into which it surrounded, be it air, argon, nitrogen, or my prefered vacuum.

My question is - How closely can EPs be related if they are filled with different gas? I appreciate that Nitrogen is the major component of air and thus the refractive index is therefore very close, but Argon is a much smaller component and therefore potentially delivers a different result.

Can this be compensated for in different coatings? Is it a non-ssue because the EP is so far from the primary objective? Is this issue an order of magnitude (or more) below the exacting standards astronomy places on optics? is it an issue at any level?

Russell

[John]

I've read that they are switching gradually to Argon because, in the long run, ES felt the seals within the eyepiece would be likely to last longer. Something to do with the relative size of Nitrogen and Argon molecules and seepage I think. I've no idea if the optical properties of the glass are affected by the type of gas used within it but I'd suspect not. I thought the original aim of purging these eyepieces was to prevent or reduce misting / fogging ?.

None of the above is "official" though - just speculation from other forums !

[russ.will]

I agree - Argon is a larger molecule, so it makes sense that it is easier to seal. I'm still interested in the RI information though.

Russell

[E621Keith]

Since some of the best refractors are oil spaced rather than air spaced (TEC, AP ...), one have to wonder why no one make eyepiece with oil spaced lenses? They won't just be water proofed, they will probably survive a scuba diving trip.