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Radian 3mm in-coming


alan potts

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There may be cases of people convincing themselves that brand A must be superior to brand B, and therefore convincing themselves that they can see a difference. It is very hard to compare eyepieces because it cannot be done in a blind fashion. You know which eyepiece you are looking through. I am also convinced that many people would not notice the differences between e.g. a MaxVision 68 deg and a Panoptic of the same focal length (I haven't tried myself, so I am not sure i could). This is why I only upgrade kit when I start seeing the limitations, not before. Besides, let's not forget that Plossl EPs which can be bought for very modest prices can provide very good images indeed. I compared a little 20mm Plossl (15 euro) I bought for the kids' 4.5" dob with my 17 and 22mm Nagler T4s, and I must say the image through the Plossl is pretty decent in my C8 and 80mm APM triplet. Even in the F/4.3 dob (which cannot hold 2" EPs), this 15 euro EP give really nice images. There is a bit more glare, and the FOV is much narrower than the Naglers, but overall, the image quality is very decent indeed.

Having said that, as you gain experience as an observer, you do start noticing differences, but on the whole, these are subtle. Pentax XWs are not in a different league compared to TV Radians, for example. Similarly, the Meade 14mm S5K UWA I used for a long time is squarely in the same league as the Naglers I used beside it. There are differences in the trade-offs made in the design, but the overall quality is comparable, even in seriously fast scopes (tested down to F/4.1 by me). As the MaxVisions are simply rebranded Meades, they are an awesome opportunity at the moment.

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Another lovely addition to the already excellent collection

I wonder what eyepieces would say if they could talk and how posh, or not, their accents would be !!!

Your eyepiece case would be the equivalent of Beverley Hills

The image Beverly Hills conjures up for me Shaun is breast implants and face lifts.

I think Alan's EP case would have it's own little spot on Richard Branson's Island in the Carribean :grin:

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The image Beverly Hills conjures up for me Shaun is breast implants and face lifts.

I think Alan's EP case would have it's own little spot on Richard Branson's Island in the Carribean :grin:

Yes that would be a better description :laugh:

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Alan I will be interested in your review. Since selling the Nagler zoom I have not bought a higher powered EPs to replace it. I always liked my 5mm Nagler and wish that I had not sold it. I recently bought a 10mm Delos which I think is fantastic so I was thinking of getting the 3.5mm or 4.5mm.

However, I notice that the Radian is cheaper so perhaps I should look in that direction as well. Never had a Radian EPs hence I will be interested in your views in due course.

Mark

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I think if there is a Delos available at the focal length you want Mark then that would be the best choice. I use Radians almost as fillers in the gaps such as 3 and 4mm which aren't available in the Delos range. I view them as very good eps, just not quite in the Ethos/Delos class

Alan's review will, of course, be very interesting!

Stu

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Thanks Stu. I must admit that I really like everything about the Delos range. The 10mm which I bought recently, to go between my 13mm and 8mm Ethos, is far better than I expected. In fact I now prefer using the 10mm Delos rather than the 8mm Ethos.

Anyway I look forward to Alan's review which I know will be fair and accurate unless he drinks too much of that brandy he is making :smiley:

Mark

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Thanks Stu. I must admit that I really like everything about the Delos range. The 10mm which I bought recently, to go between my 13mm and 8mm Ethos, is far better than I expected. In fact I now prefer using the 10mm Delos rather than the 8mm Ethos.

Anyway I look forward to Alan's review which I know will be fair and accurate unless he drinks too much of that brandy he is making :smiley:

Mark

I agree. The variable eye shield system works really well, the eye relief is great and the optical performance is fantastic. I even, certainly at these sorts of focal lengths, prefer the slightly narrower fov, which is still plenty.

Stu

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I have to say that although I have not got the 3mm yet, I have had the 4mm for some time and the 5mm for some years. I think I will have a good look at the 4mm and 4.5mm Delos, the only trouble it a good target. As I am getting up at 0530am I will be going to bed very soon and the best target for this is not up yet, Jupiter.

Personally I rather like the Radians and at the price THouse are asking for a new 3mm, 143 pounds I think that is a very good price for a high end eyepiece. I believe they are just a little out of fashion at the moment which is a shame, they are really very good.

As for the 10mm Delos, I can see myself buying another Stu. There is nothing wrong with the Ethos 10mm but the Delos is just a brilliant piece or work.

Alan

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As for the 10mm Delos, I can see myself buying another Stu. There is nothing wrong with the Ethos 10mm but the Delos is just a brilliant piece or work.

Alan

Nice one Alan. The 8 and 10 are really handy and get a lot of use in different scopes. Was using them both today in the TV76 with the Herschel Wedge on the sun and the views were cracking!

Stu

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Funilly enough I do not use my Delos 8 on the sun very much. Instead, I use the MaxVision 24mm, the Nagler 12T4, and the XWs in conjuction with the XF8.5. The Delos gives brilliant images but the position of the focal plane is very different from the Pentax EPs and the Nagler. The XF and XWs appear parfocal, the 12T4 focuses a bit further out, the MaxVision a bit further still, and the Delos furthest. Normally I would not mind that much, but with the short helical focuser of the LS35 it is a bit of a pain. In my C8 or 80mm there is not such problem

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Yes, I don't use it in the PST, I stick to the TV Plossl in that, but do find they work well with the Herschel Wedge. I even tried the Pentax 7mm XW and the image held up really well. Lovely detail in the AR's.

Stu

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Regardless of magnification, I find that my own Delos 10mm in Lunt's Herschel Wedge (1.25" version) is the worst possible combination I can make with my few eyepieces I have. It's a phenomenal eyepiece in the bigger 10" but a horrid lump of glass in the smaller 4" frac. It's a curious world and there ain't nothing stranger than folk :grin:

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Regardless of magnification, I find that my own Delos 10mm in Lunt's Herschel Wedge (1.25" version) is the worst possible combination I can make with my few eyepieces I have. It's a phenomenal eyepiece in the bigger 10" but a horrid lump of glass in the smaller 4" frac. It's a curious world and there ain't nothing stranger than folk :grin:

Yes, very strange. I've plenty to chose from but the Delos nearly always finds it's way into the Wedge. It foes make balancing the a scope interesting but the views make it worth it.

Stu

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Naemeth,

5 orthos, 1 Pentax XW, a Powermate  and 24 TV's, I bought most of them with money left to me by my late Brother, I would sooner have a few Meades like I had and still have a Brother. 

Alan

30, impressive. Discounting the ones I'm selling, I'm only on 13 :D (14 if you include the 12mm Delos which I'm eventually going to order...)

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I fancy the 12mm Delos in place of the 12mm Nagler that I have, in truth I fancy all the Delos range I don't have.

I know Naglers are top eyepieces but I do prefer the Delos range and for very high power the Radian. Though I know Big Stu likes his 3.5mm Nagler, if he still has it. The trouble is I don't come across the short one here at all and judging by the amount I see on Astro B&S maybe there are not too many in the hands of UK astronomers.

Alan

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I do still have my 3.5t6, and it is a lovely ep. I suspect, however, that I would still prefer a Delos. One reason I keep the Nag is that it is nice and compact, so is handy for travelling. Oh, and I can't afford/allow myself another ep case!!

Stu

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Yes Stu that is a very good reason, the T6's are all a nice size though judging by your 7mm I have and my 9mm and 11mm, they seem to get a little longer as the focal length gets smaller. The same seems to be true of the Delos range too.

Thinking back I always wish I had taken your 2.5mm, it would not have had a lot of scope time but would have been great in the refactor for the Moon and maybe Mars.

I also need another eyepiece case too. My EP cases have no system, I have just cut a hole as I got another, it may be nice to have them grouped in some fashion but I can't get new foam liners easiiy.

Alan

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If I remember correctly, the 3.5t6 is a similar size to the 7mm, not dramatically longer than the 3mm Radian but I will check.

The 2.5 was nice but under my skies was only rarely used. Mars was probably the best thing I used it for x276 mag in the 4" was very good, although I don't necessarily think it gave any more detail, just a little more image scale. On good nights the quality stayed sharp though. I think I would PM the Pentax 5mm XW to achieve this focal length now if needed.

I reorganized my three (!) cases a little while ago, they are in the eyepieces thread. I've got a small one for Orthos, Plossls and Nag Zoom, then one for my Ethos' and the 31t5, and a general case for all other ep's from 3mm up to 10mm. Far easier to manage them now, and can take the small one away to cover most eventualities. The 17t4 and 24pan live in my TV76 case and I only use them with that scope really.

Stu

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Stu,

Far more organised than me, I have a photographers vest and I just fill the many pockets with what ever I am going to use. The funny thing is I never use more than 4-5 eyepieces on any given scope and I always have half an idea of what I am going to look at.

I will try the Pentax XW on the Powermate, I also have the 5mm Radian to try as well, I forget these sometimes as they are ( PM & 5mm Rad) not in any of the cases, they are in a large camera bag with the orthos,  cameras, and lenses .

Last night was an odd night started good and then got horrible, first time I can recall the tranparency getting worse that was not caused by fog or cloud.

BTW Stu, was your 41mm Pan clean up to the field stop.

Alan

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I had all the T6 Naglers at one point, including the 2.5mm. I found floaters were a big issues with that one as the exit pupil was obviously just too small for my eyes. Thats not a fault of the eyepiece though as its an issue for me in any eyepiece of 3mm or shorter focal length.

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I had all the T6 Naglers at one point, including the 2.5mm. I found floaters were a big issues with that one as the exit pupil was obviously just too small for my eyes. Thats not a fault of the eyepiece though as its an issue for me in any eyepiece of 3mm or shorter focal length.

Definitely agree with that too John, I suspect it would be the same for most people. On my smaller scopes floaters are certainly present down at the 0.5mm exit pupil level, and the 2.5 goes well below that in both 76 and 106. I have one very annoying floater right in the centre of my observing eye which I always have to 'look around' when observing Jupiter in small scopes.

Stu

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Stu,

Far more organised than me, I have a photographers vest and I just fill the many pockets with what ever I am going to use. The funny thing is I never use more than 4-5 eyepieces on any given scope and I always have half an idea of what I am going to look at.

I will try the Pentax XW on the Powermate, I also have the 5mm Radian to try as well, I forget these sometimes as they are ( PM & 5mm Rad) not in any of the cases, they are in a large camera bag with the orthos, cameras, and lenses .

Last night was an odd night started good and then got horrible, first time I can recall the tranparency getting worse that was not caused by fog or cloud.

BTW Stu, was your 41mm Pan clean up to the field stop.

Alan

Photographer's vest sounds like a very good idea. Thinking about it I probably only use 4 or 5 each time I observe but do enjoy trying out different ones until I get the best view.

As far as I recall, the 41mm gave very good views with no distortion at the field stop. My trouble with it was I was rarely under dark enough skies to make up for the large exit pupil, it was normally quite washed out so I moved to the 31. I suspect your skies would make it worthwhile?

Stu

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