27mm Panoptic or Nirvana 28mm

[Mark in Macc]

Blimey, that was quick! That's not come by post. Congrats, I would imagine it will be a fabulous addition.

[faulksy]

Rusty,

Off to the shop with you before you change ypur mind.

I have the Meade 24mm UWA and it is a very good eyepiece, well it was when I used it, it now collects dust as I have the 26mm Nagler. For me to get rid would mean I would have to give it away thanks to the Maxvision saga. I paid 215 quid for it just before Christmas, tried to sell it for 140 now after Maxvision, must be worth a tenner.

Good luck shopping.

Alan

ill give you a tenner for it

[alan potts]

Faulksy,

Thank-you your too kind.

I have give up my sky tonight so Rusty can first light. We have just had 38mm of rain in 55 minutes, I have never seen rain like that before even in Thailand. It is a good job I got today's concrete work covered over.

Alan.

[faulksy]

Faulksy,

Thank-you your too kind.

I have give up my sky tonight so Rusty can first light. We have just had 38mm of rain in 55 minutes, I have never seen rain like that before even in Thailand. It is a good job I got today's concrete work covered over.

Alan.

wow alan that's a lot of rain, good for ducks though, did the tenner include p+p :grin:

[alan potts]

Faulksy,

That is one of the problems, there is no secondhand market here so if I sell to England I have to use a courier which is about 23,00 quid for a 24mm 82 degree. The cheaper rate (17.50) is only up to 500gr. So as you can see it is worth pretty much nothing with the Maxvision sales. Imagine how Meades dealer must feel with new stock on the shelf still priced at in this case 215, that was reduced too.

Interesting I noticed when I was in England last month the post seemed to have changed what can be sent for how much, though size seemed to be the aspect reduced, that could impact S/H on site. I also sent a return item from here yesterday and noticed the post had almost doubled since just before Christmas.

Alan.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Posting from the UK always seems very expensive to me. When I post stuff to the UK it is about half the price or less than the reverse direction. This is just weird.

[Rustysplit]

I got first light with the 27mm Panoptic last night, Awesome!!

The sky was superb late last night with the Milky Way being visible from Cygnus all the way down through Sagittarius. A perfect test for a widefield EP. As predicted, the stars are sharp all the way to the edges. The image is beautifully contrasty with great colour. Eye relief is very comfortable. The sensation of drifting through the star fields was stunning. This ep certainly delivers on it's design basis. The individual stars all "pop" out against the background sky and the varying colours are very well defined. I know some people have mentioned the "pin cushion" effect, for me it is a complete non issue and barely noticeable, certainly not something to consider as a downside.

We bagged the Swan,Lagoon,Triffid and Eagle, all clearly visible and crisp. Back in Cyngus, we managed the Veil and Crescent without filters, but with the UHC they jumped out. My next purchase after the wallet decides to "man up" and stop crying, will be a decent OIII and UHC. The Ring and Dumbbell as always looked great, and sat framed in a crisp sea of stars.

This has really made the whole project of dob build and mirror grind worthwhile. Yes they are expensive, but the views speak for themselves. I can't wait for the truly dark nights to return.

Thanks to all for their great advice and input.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The Veil and Crescent without filters is impressive! Glad you got such a spectacular first light with the new EP

[swamp thing]

Ssssh! Don't tell everyone, they'll all want one. The 27mm Panoptic is Al's best kept secret.

[alan potts]

Alan and Steve,

Well thanks for the first light report it just left me wanting, it is one of the few 2 inch Televues I don't have, feel I am missing something, I want one now. I was very pleased you got such a good sky, it don't happen very often when you buy new gear in Engalnd. I never understand when people say they don't like Televues, what is there not to like, I guess it would be boring if we were all the same.

Alan.

[RikM]

I never understand when people say they don't like Televues, what is there not to like, I guess it would be boring if we were all the same.

Alan.

I've never been one to follow fashion

[alan potts]

Rik,

Yes it was you in the back of my mind when I wrote the commment but I wasn't having a go. As I said it would be a dull place if we were all the same.

I have to say i am impressed with what I know is one of your favourites the Pentax XWs 5mm and 14mm, but I can't see anything between the two I have and there nearest Delos, 4.5mm -5mm and the two 14mm. I will write something up and post it but for me it's a cop-out as I have to say a it's draw. I have had the two in 3 scopes for 9 hours and they are driving me up the wall, I even had almost 2 hours with them Powermated to silly magnifications. As you can see i did try to say one was better than the other but it will take a better man than me to do that.

Alan.

[RikM]

I had the 10mm XW and Delos side by sde for a little while and as you said in one of your other posts, if it weren't for having to refocus, you would think them the same eyepiece. If I were in the market for a 12mm or a 6mm there is no doubt which series I would chose

[alan potts]

Rik,

That is so true, I am just trying to see how I can make nearly 10 hours of observations interesting to read, I am going to have a final go tonight on maybe a galaxy based target, M65 tripet maybe,it is still well placed for me, see if that can sort one from the other.

Alan.

[John]

I had the same problem when I was comparing the Baader GO's and the Astro Hutech Orthos. Optically, they were absolutely the same to my eye whatever target I was viewing and in whatever scope and conditions. It was quite tough to compile a report really

When it comes to seeing differences in these top end eyepieces, I feel you have to be pushing right at the very edge of the performance capability of the scope, the conditions and the observer to flush out tangible performance differences and even then they will be subtle at most.

It's also quite possible that eyepiece A will show one object type very slightly better than eyepiece B but that situation is reversed when viewing a different sort of object or even viewing the same object under different conditions. Difficult to pick a "winner" when thats the case !.

Perhaps it's our human instincts that we need to put things in some sort of ranking order though

[alan potts]

John,

I know you have been there and done it, got the 'T' shirt, DVD and book most likely. I feel that after the amount of work I have put in I have to sit and try and put something together and try and make it entertaining. I know in real terms 10 hours and tonight are not very long but with England weather at this time of the year that could be a full month of darkness. I think I may well re-read you review on the BGO-Hutech beforehand, still you never know what to-night has in stall for me.

Bet it will rain now

Alan.

[John]

When the performance is very similar / identical, you spend more time discussing the ergonomics of the eyepieces. With the Astro Hutech's and Baader GO's even that was the same in most cases !.

From your previous review postings I'm sure your report will be well worth reading Alan