Televue Ethos 21mm, 13mm and 10mm

[Joves]

Thanks for the congrats guys... Am feeling pretty good about the purchase already and I still haven't had the chance to use them yet! I was seriously considering also getting the 6mm as well, but I just don't think my skies will allow me 416x magnification. Perhaps I'll grab the 8mm instead... 312x is probably a little more acceptable. Then again, if I go and get the NP101 on the AZ-EQ6, it'll probably justify getting the whole lot, huh!! Hmmm... But then I'll probably have to grab a Lunt LS60 B1200 double stack to ride shotgun... You know, to justify the size of the mount!!! Haha... Oh man, this astronomy business is dangerous stuff!

Am keen to get out and give them a go. John/Alan, I'll let you know how they compare with the old eyepieces. I'm trying to keep my expectations of improvement in check. It's pretty easy to get all hyped up and unrealistic, the longer you wait to use something. I'm fairly certain I'll be pleased with the comparison.

And yep, Stargazer, we are real lucky to have some absolutely beautiful globs down here... The obvious being Omega Centauri. Even in binoculars, it can't be beat!

[estwing]

I find the 8mm a really useful eyepiece in my 12" dob. Nearly 200x but still showing half a degree of sky. Really good on the more compact planetary nebulae and spectacular on globular clusters 

and with mine John it will be giving me about 250x..touching the limit for "our" skies.

[allen g]

Aaron, this should make you even more Jazzed.  I also have the LX 90 8" and with it a number of EPs including the 21 & 10 ethos, 31 nagler and 8 & 6 delos and the black sheep is a 14 100* ES.  I also have the TV NP 101 on a DiscMount which makes it in my opinion the ultimate Grab n Go set up.  You will fall in love with what you ordered.  The  LX can handle up to 6mm EP on good evenings and I would strongly suggest that you purchase the 31 nagler as the views through it in both scopes are magnificent.   The 21 is my favorite as the views through the ethos is great.  The LX 90 8" and np 101 are perfect companion scopes.  The optics and views in the np 101 will put you in awe -  a few weeks ago I viewed the veil nebula in it and people lined up to view and were mesmerized.  You will truly love your selections - enjoy and let us know how it goes.  

[allen g]

Aaron forgot to mention: It is good that you got the short version on the Everbrite otherwise would have trouble going to zenith. Now using the ethos with the LX 90 8" and that diagonal will absolutely require a counter balance system other you may burnout your motors. It will be very back heavy so get definitely get the weight system. I have the one made by meade that are cylinders 3, 2 and 1 lb weights and they slide where needed. The EPs are heavy along with the diagonal and a weight system is needed. As for my np 101 it is not necessary because the DiscMount requires no balancing - very well engineered and interesting mount. Again, enjoy your EPs as they are of high quality. allen g

[Joves]

Thanks Allen, that makes me VERY jazzed. Funny, I posted earlier in the general scopes section regarding advice on the NP101 (compared with the Skywatcher ED120) and I think you may have inadvertently helped me make my decision here. You've just cost me an extra $2400... Thanks!!

I was wondering if the LX90 might require counter balance with the Ethos lenses (particularly the 21mm... It's quote a beast), so thanks for the heads up. Last thing I want to do is burn out the motors of the mount. Just curious, do you think the 10" will most definitely need the counter's? I'm pretty sure the mount is a fair bit bigger (so I assume stronger?!) than the 8". I think, from memory, the 10" uses the exact same mount as the 12". The only reason I ask is that my scope doesn't seem to have the factory-threaded holes underneath that these are apparently designed to attach to!

Thanks again for your reply. You've made me very keen on the NP101 (thanks again for the extra spend... Haha) and have given me a good warning for the LX90 mount. Maaaannn, these eyepieces are going to cost me even MORE money?!?!

[allen g]

Aaron, with the 10 you will still need to balance. the Everbrite and 21 are quite heavy (and solid) and make the scope back heavy regardless of fork mount besides all scopes should be balanced. Mine had the holes for the weight system to be readily installed. I don't know why yours doesn't - double check because the small silver screws are meant to be removed so that you can install attachments. there are not simply holes there but screws that are removed. I should also mention that you should consider removing the stock focuser and replace it with something like the starlight feather touch - it is simple to do - I did it in like a couple of minutes and am not mechanically inclined. It will certainly make a difference in viewing as you can fine tune the views. The NP 101 comes with that focuser and it is the best. You will really enjoy your kit with all the goodies you are buying. Let us know how it goes or I should say how great it goes. You only live once. go for it.

[allen g]

Aaron you will find that the 21 ethos in the LX 90 8" will deliver approx. 1.2 degree but in the NP 101 it is 3.8. The Pleiades in 2 degrees so imagine what wide view observing is like. the 10 ethos just about frames perfectly. Get setup. With my 31 nagler in the NP 101 you get 4.48 degrees enough to see the veil in full. The pleasures of a rich field scope. Bet you are more than jazzed now. Best of luck. allen g

[Joves]

Thanks for your posts, Allen. You're dead right, now I'm extremely jazzed! Jazzed and a little confused as to what to do now. You see, I've just been offered a TV-76 for what seems to be almost too good a price to pass up... It's only 4 weeks old and I can get it for $1500 (as opposed to $2300 new). I've calculated that this would give me approx. 4.5 degrees with the 21mm Ethos (if it would take it, of course?!). Obviously it's not as good a scope as the NP101, with a fair bit smaller aperture (and lower focal length) meaning viewable objects are clearly going to be more limited, but I'm wondering what your thoughts are on this scope (taking into account the eyepieces of purchased)?

[Joves]

Baring in mind, at $1500, it's slightly less than a third of the price that the NP101 is going to cost me!

[Joves]

Oh, and I already have a JMI Micro Focus on the LX90

[John]

Well this is my personal take but I've owned quite a few small aperture refractors and came to the conclusion that 100mm / 4" was as small as I wanted to go. I'm sure the TV 76 is a lovely little scope but I feel it will "run out of puff" a fair bit short of the 101mm on both planetary and deep sky views.

There are some pretty nice non-Tele Vue 4" ED refractors about for $1,500 or less, these days.

[Joves]

Thanks John, I thought that might be the case.

So, even though the Televues are a nice scope, you'd still opt for even a Skywatcher BD ED100 over a TV-76, given the choice? Not that I've really considered the ED100, but makes for a reasonable comparison for this conversations purpose.

[Joves]

Hmmm... Aperture vs FOV... The eternal question!!

[AlexB67]

I just love the title of the thread, it forces you to read it

I  am reading and the TV disease sounds infectious    I think mid range tv plossls for me is the way forward, since I am not a wide angle freak in that range I feel, or at least it would be a luxury I am prepared to compromise on, at least I see when I get one since they turn up second hand quite often at reasonable cost. I feel if I had an 8 or 11mm TV plossl it would suddenly become my most used eyepiece for a lot of clusters  and smaller targets in general.

The big one though, One low power eyepiece 2 inch for wide angle low power views. Probably that will be my big investment in time worth saving for, a Nagler anyone with Coma corrector in 10 inch Dob that will just keep exit pupil under about 6.5mm at 82 degrees ? a nice dream for now :0) or perhaps a panoptic will have to do.  At least I hope I'll not have to buy again.

[Naemeth]

Well this is my personal take but I've owned quite a few small aperture refractors and came to the conclusion that 100mm / 4" was as small as I wanted to go. I'm sure the TV 76 is a lovely little scope but I feel it will "run out of puff" a fair bit short of the 101mm on both planetary and deep sky views.

There are some pretty nice non-Tele Vue 4" ED refractors about for $1,500 or less, these days.

How small you want to take aperture is certainly very personal. I love my 66mm and it performs brilliantly as a travel scope. I never intended to use it this way, but I can see M31 from the light-polluted suburbs of Leeds. Haven't tried it on planets, but it's not really what it's for .

[allen g]

It is my understanding like john said that scopes of that size are meant for travel. $ 1500 for a somewhat new TV 76 is terrific and hard to pass up. I personally wanted not less than a 4" aperture in a refractor. On the down side even at 4" globs are not resolved and galaxies other than for example M31) are hard to see unless under very dark skies so I wonder what it would be like with a 3" aperture - John is right you will run out of puff. My take in getting scopes is get what you really desire and works for you. At 4" there are so many wonderful choices at all kinds of prices. I looked through a variety of 4" scopes before I decided (AP, ES, taks and TV). For the most part most objects looked similarly good and if they were not side by side would not think of the subtle differences unless you were a true expert at noticing them. I went for the TV because the build is so solid and I wanted wide field views which it is perfect for and I genuinely love it and use it more than the LX 90 because of the grab n go setup. Never rush into it enjoy your LX 90, see how it goes and then decide the next and next scopes. Now if $ is not a question than getting the tv 76 for the fun of having it is another story but you will want more aperture in your refractor. I even think of having a 5 or even 6" refractor but I have been consistently told by experienced astronomers that more than 4" is no longer a grab n go because of the weight so that was it for me. Have fun and think it through let us know how you are enjoying your kit.

[alan potts]

I would be careful of how much you put on an LX90, I have a balance system on my LX200 but I would think the motors are better, but knowing Meade they are most likely not.  The 21mm Ethos is a fair chunck of glass and a focuser too.  I would think you will be OK but I wouldn't push it too far. I know someone with an LX90 and he uses a 31mm Nagler but with a normal 2 inch back, he seems to be alright with that but it is a bigger scope.

Alan 

[Joves]

Thanks guys.

I'm actually thinking I might sell the LX90 and get an LX850 10" OTA to put on a Skywatcher AZ-EQ6. That way I think I should be able to saddle both scopes up in Alt-AZ mode and/or use the LX850 just in EQ mode. This way I'll have the APO for nice wide FOV visual and a 10" f/8 2032mm both visual and video. It's getting close to the capacity of the mount, but I think it may be able to handle it.

Allen G, thanks for your advice on the TV-76. Smaller aperture than is ideal, I know, but I love the thought of the FOV I will get for visual with the Ethos eyepieces (am also going to grab a 31mm Nagler and the 3.7mm Ethos... Think that should pretty well cover the visual side of things and eyepiece situation), so think I will just buy the scope and see how I enjoy it. If it's love, I'll order the NP101.

Alan P, thanks to you also. I've had some conflicting thoughts on the need to balance the LX90 to cope with the eyepieces however, regardless of their final advice, each person has ummm'd, ahhh'd amds crag he'd their head... So it's clearly very borderline. When we get a clear enough night to warrant dragging the scope out, I'll cautiously give it a go as is and see how it gets on. Out of interest, what size LX90 is your friend using?

Oh, and I think you'd be right... I imagine the LX200 motors would be better... As you say though, you never know with Meade!

[Joves]

That was supposed to say "scratched their head", in case you're scratching yours and wondering what the hell I was on about.

[John]

Maybe it's just me but I thought that those new Meade EQ / Alt-az mounts have been riddled with issues / problems ?.

I don't think I'd be putting big money into Meade products at the moment to be honest with you.

[Joves]

Not going for the a meade mount, John. Am looking at the Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 Synscan.

Absolutely agree with you... Would be very cautious about spending big with Meade at the moment, particularly so far as mounts are concerned. They can't even get their firmware updates right! That being said, I've never had an issue (nor hear of many on here) with their optics, so don't mind springing for a nice Meade OTA.

[bwana]

I've tried both the 21 and 31mm Ethos eyepieces and simply find them too wide for my old eyes.  I can't focus on any particular item in the FOV without my eyes wandering.  I'm back to eyepieces with 60 deg. FOV and they are just great!

Also, I've had a Sky-Watcher Az-EQ6 almost since they were available.  To date I've had two replacement hand controllers and the current one, the 3rd, won't accept a firmware update.  Also, I've had to disassemble the head to remove excessive Az play.  My other minor complaint is the revised power connector and lack of a 110volt->12volt adapter with the same cable end.  I do like the mount overall.  When well polar aligned it gives me 3-4 min. subs when imaging w/o guiding and is excellent at placing targets in the middle of the FOV on GoTo.  It is probably a better bet than a Meade mount at present BUT every manufacturer has some problems...

[Joves]

Thanks Bwana. Completely agree, every new product will have its glitches. That being said, I did go and buy the AZ-EQ6 and have found it to be brilliant thus far. Mine has the latest firmware installed from factory though, so perhaps this has helped.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Awesome set you have got yourself there. Beware people might drool over them at star parties

[Stargazer_00]

Well this is my personal take but I've owned quite a few small aperture refractors and came to the conclusion that 100mm / 4" was as small as I wanted to go. I'm sure the TV 76 is a lovely little scope but I feel it will "run out of puff" a fair bit short of the 101mm on both planetary and deep sky views.

There are some pretty nice non-Tele Vue 4" ED refractors about for $1,500 or less, these days.

I just picked up a 90mm F5.5 achromatic doublet as a travel scope. can go on a camera tripod, takes 2" and has a dual speed focuser.  Should perform well with just the 3-6 zoom for travel where it'd show 165x - 82x.  Could throw in my Ethos too for 38x showing 2.6 degrees. 

The Ethos in this scope will also be my best chance of seeing the veil an NA nebs as it'd show a 2.3mm exit pupil.  I only found out recently that the UHC and O-III filters require a specific exit pupil to reveal these targets, although I dont know what size it is still..