Planetary eyepiece for 10 inch dob.

[Guest]

I am really enjoying my 10 inch dobson .I have several widefield eyepieces,Pentax 8.5 and 12mm.I do like my 20mm Meade qx eyepiece.My intention is to buy a 5 or 6mm widefield eyepiece for planets and the moon.I have orthoscopics which are good,but not that comfortable with the dob.The 60 degree field of the Pentax is great.

I have had the TMB ,but found it to be a little soft,not crisp when planetary of lunar viewing.I would buy mid range price.The Celestron X-Cel has been on my mind as has the Hyperion.But could it be that these also give very soft tone views?

Does anyone have any experience of views?

Thanks,

Martin.

[rowan46]

The hyperions are not recommended on faster scopes how about the vixen nlv range they are the only mid price range I can think of that might fulfill your needs after that its a step up to premium eyepieces if as you say ortho's are too uncomfortable

[Luke]

What about a second-hand Radian? Sharp, 20mm eye relief, 60 degrees, intended for up to F4, and they seem a good price second-hand, a similar price to a new Hyperion. They do have a slight warm tint in my experience.

[Guest]

Thanks for the advice.I was trying to avoid the warm views of the Radian.

[Moonshane]

Have you ever used a Radian? The warm tint is often over stated I feel. You only really see it when you swap to e.g. an ortho (or I do anyway). It's quite subtle and the other benefits over-ride it I think.

[Luke]

It's quite possible I would not have noticed the warm tint if I hadn't read about it, it's definitely there but does not trouble me.

We replaced our 5mm Hyperion with a 5mm Radian for our F5, 12 inch dob. The Radian was a clear winner, as you would expect I guess for quite a lot more bucks. The Radians seem to get a bit overlooked, so I feel second-hand prices are probably lower than they should be for such a good eyepiece!

Good luck with whichever eyepiece you go for.

[Scooot]

I currently Barlow my 10 mm Delos when conditions allow, do you Luke or Moonshane think a 10 mm radian would be better.

[Scooot]

I meant a 5 mm

[Stargazer_00]

I think the proper question I'd be asking myself is "Am I happy with the 10mm Delos barlowed view?" You know what it looks like unbarlowed. Does your barlow degrade that image to the point you want to drop another £250-£300 on a new eyepiece or not.

[Moonshane]

I think if you are happy with the view and using barlows then there's not a lot to be gained with a 5mm Radian. personally I prefer not to use barlows.

[Scooot]

I think the proper question I'd be asking myself is "Am I happy with the 10mm Delos barlowed view?" You know what it looks like unbarlowed. Does your barlow degrade that image to the point you want to drop another £250-£300 on a new eyepiece or not.

Good point, the view seems pretty good to me. I was thinking more of the £120 second hand radian though. No matter how good a Barlow is I was thinking an eyepiece alone would always be better, so was just wondering. It was a silly question really because as you say I'm probably in the best position to answer unless someone else has compared both.

[Bart]

I think the proper question I'd be asking myself is "Am I happy with the 10mm Delos barlowed view?" You know what it looks like unbarlowed. Does your barlow degrade that image to the point you want to drop another £250-£300 on a new eyepiece or not.

Put like that, it's a good question. If you have the money to blow, go for it, if not, go for the Barlow. It depends whether you're the type that wont actually be looking at the view, rather, fretting how much better the view might be if you spent the money.

I like having a 'tool' for all jobs, but saying that, I have had fantastic views of Saturn and Jupiter with a barlowed 11mm ES 82* and even a barlowed 14mm ES 100*

Barry

Barry

[Luke]

I currently Barlow my 10 mm Delos when conditions allow, do you Luke or Moonshane think a 10 mm radian would be better.

I would barlow the Delos if it was me (though I prefer not to barlow on our main scope, mainly out of laziness). I can't remember whether I tested the 10mm Delos barlowed vs. the Radian though, 5mm is too much mag for us in our current main scope.

For our shorter focal length scopes, we've decided to barlow the Delos EP's for the higher mags as we are really impressed by how well they barlow. I can't tell much difference between an unbarlowed 8mm Delos and a barlowed 14mm Delos, apart from the small difference in scale.

[Moonshane]

I don't use barlows as I find them a bit cumbersome. the focuser, paracorr and an Ethos is already a pretty long combo!

I have my eyepieces closely packed with cheaper fillers at the top end. here's a thread giving my logic.

[Guest]

Very interesting accounts.I feel challenged regarding the Radian "Have I ever tried looking through one" is a very good point.Perhaps I'll consider a used 5mm Radian if one comes up.

Martin.

[Luke]

the focuser, paracorr and an Ethos is already a pretty long combo! http://stargazerslou...w/#entry1883877

I see what you mean!

[Moonshane]

Very interesting accounts.I feel challenged regarding the Radian "Have I ever tried looking through one" is a very good point.Perhaps I'll consider a used 5mm Radian if one comes up.

Martin.

In some respects, the minor tint could be argued to be beneficial to brighter objects as it probably reduces glare thereby increasing contrast (like a very mild moon filter). honestly it's really not a negative issue to my eyes. if you got a used one and didn't like it, you'd sell for no loss again quickly.

[andrew63]

There is a 5mm radian for sale on the classifieds

Various Bits - Classifieds - Stargazers Lounge

andrew

[John]

I recently bought my 1st Radian, a 4mm. The first one I was sent had a rare optical fault which caused excessive ghosting when viewing the moon. The replacement has proved excellent though and really effectively fills the gap between my 5mm and 3.5mm Pentax XW's. Up until now I had owned all the Tele Vue eyepiece designs except the Radian and Delos. Just the Delos to try now

I don't use a Barlow / Powermate / TeleXender now for similar reasons to Shanes.

As ever, buying Tele Vue used will ensure great performance value and re-sale value if you find you don't like it.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Radians are great EPs. Yes the tint is ever so slightly warmer than the likes of an XF or XW. In terms of sharpness, they are practically equal. In terms of transmission, the XF has a slight edge, and the XWs are even better. To get anything better than a Radian in the focal lengths you want, you will have to get the likes of XWs or Delos EPs.

[KaStern_Former_Member]

Hi Martin,

for planetary observation I use my dob with barlows plus orthoscopics or an RKE.

The barlows I use are a 2,8x Klee Barlow or a modified 2.2x Klee Barlow.

These are coma-compensating. Just as a coma corrector will do too.

The benefit is the much wider diffraction limited field of view,

wich is nice to have if the scope is undriven.

The modified 2.2x Klee might be fine with your 12mm Pentax XF.

The view through the 2.8x Klee plus 12mm Ortho is better than with a 4mm alone.

And so is the 2.2x Klee with a 9mm ortho.

If you prefer wider fields a 5.2mm Pentax XL may be good too.

I like mine better than a 5mm Radian.

Cheers, Karsten

[Guest]

I'm really grateful for all the input.I have actually this evening bought a 5mm Radian and THE Baader genuine orthoscopic 5mm.I will be doing a shoot out between them and post my opinion.Of course one is wide field and the other is not.A shoot out, as in the OK corral?Could be messy.

[Stargazer_00]

Be very interested to see how these perform side by side. I have a 6mm BGO and often wondered what the quality was like in the Radian versus the BGO. I have also wondered who BGOs compare to TV Plossls.

[John]

FWIW I found the Baader GO 6mm the best eyepiece for viewing Sirius B and fine details on the lunar surface earlier in the year. The competition included my 6mm Ethos, a 6mm Baader Classic ortho, a 6mm Circle-T classic ortho, a 5mm Baader GO and my 5mm Pentax XW.

The companion to Sirius was hardest to see with the Circle-T ortho, then the 6mm Ethos then a tie between the Classic ortho, the Baader 5mm GO and the Pentax XW with the 6mm BGO doing the best overall job of controlling the glare and allowing the dim "pup" star to shine through and like wise showing the Plato craterlets and the rille in the Alpine Valley more clearly defined than the others. A limited range of targets admittedly but instructional nonetheless.

[Luke]

Congrats on the purchases! It will be interesting to read your shootout.