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TeleVue Planetary Filter


allen g

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I feel your pain, Robin. My Mars Type A arrived today and I wouldn't mind giving it a try. Even worse, today is Mars' conjunction and lookie lookie, what do we have here? Ahhhh, clouddddds... Of coooouuuurse!!

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Hi Joves, had chance to try out the Planetary last night on Jupiter, and it was great, actually got to spot the GRS for the first time, and my wife was also impressed.  There was a bit of a breeze last night so things weren't as steady as I had hoped, so got mag only up to 150x (with 6mm WO SPL) in my frac.  Dead impressed with the neutrality of the filter, it's like using an ND filter, but for the planets, can't wait to test it out on Saturn, but cloud came over at 4am this morning just as I had made the decision to get the scope out for a second time.  So, yes, I think this is great filter and certainly enhances my view of Jupiter.

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Did you try it out on Mars, Robin? After much head scratching and the recent improving views of Mars, I took the plunge today and got a Mars type A filter. I figured that would suit me better than the planetary for now. If I like what it does to Mars, maybe the planetary will follow next season. Hope to get a decent test tonight. Will report back in another thread to save hijacking this one.

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Hi Alan, no, I haven't tried it out on Mars as yet, but I will certainly try it soon, air has not been all that steady here so I will try when it settles a bit.  Love to here your comments on the Mars Type A filter.

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Robin, your reply in Alan's thread on the Mars Type A filter sent me scrambling for your thoughts on the Planetary filter after having obviously had a chance to give it a workout. Thought I might find it here. Sorry I didn't see it sooner.

I'm glad (and somewhat relieved) to hear you like the filter. I sometimes get a little nervous after posting somewhat raving comments about a product which leads to encouraging others to take the plunge and also purchase. Particularly when there is a significant cost involved. Has me wondering if perhaps I have overstated things and hopeful that the next guy (in this case, you) isn't disappointed.

Glad you have found it to be as impressive and worthwhile a purchase as Allen G and I both have. If you hadn't liked it, I would have just blamed Allen on this one though... He started this whole Planetary filter craze :)

Thanks Allen... This one was a great heads-up!

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Robin, your reply in Alan's thread on the Mars Type A filter sent me scrambling for your thoughts on the Planetary filter after having obviously had a chance to give it a workout. Thought I might find it here. Sorry I didn't see it sooner.

I'm glad (and somewhat relieved) to hear you like the filter. I sometimes get a little nervous after posting somewhat raving comments about a product which leads to encouraging others to take the plunge and also purchase. Particularly when there is a significant cost involved. Has me wondering if perhaps I have overstated things and hopeful that the next guy (in this case, you) isn't disappointed.

Glad you have found it to be as impressive and worthwhile a purchase as Allen G and I both have. If you hadn't liked it, I would have just blamed Allen on this one though... He started this whole Planetary filter craze :)

Thanks Allen... This one was a great heads-up!

Hi Joves, no problem, it is great addition to my collection so I am glad you made your report.  I had similar feeling after I had posted on the merits of the BST Explorer/StarGuider, but happily everyone agreed with me and now its merits are all over SGL.  I love the Planetary filter and can't wait to try it out on Mars and Saturn, so a BIG thanks to you!

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I love the TV planetary and await a good try with the Mars Type B. If the latter works out well will purchase the Type A, especially after the good reviews above. Can't wait to empty the wallet.

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It would appear that anything with the word Televue thereon is a good word to empty the wallet. Maybe if there were enough astronomers in English speaking world one day the word Televue could join words like; Potless, Skint and Broke as a way of saying you were hard up.

I do like their equipment though, don't we all.

Alan

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  • 8 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Hello all.  This thread has been interesting reading.  Hoping owners of this filter  - ( Allen G  Joves  RWilkey and Big Makutsov ) can give an update to how they have found this filter since their original feedback -    hoping for some specifics on any views of The Ringed One and The Red One.  I'm looking to use with both my big scopes in conjunction with binoviewers.  Hoping this may well be a welcome addition to my kit.  Already got a Neodymium filter in my arsenal and could be interesting to see any differences between the two.   

Not cheap -  so hoping to make my mind up and replies will be appreciated.

Regards in advance as always

John

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Well I did actually get a chance to try this last night in the VX10L on Jupiter. I've posted these comments in a first light report on the scope but will repeat them here.

I was using my Leica 8.9 to 17.8mm ASPH Zoom which gave a maximum of x177. At the time my addled brain could not work out how to use the filter with my x2 Powermate but of course this morning I've realised how simple it was, but never mind.

The first thing that hit me was colour fringing on either side of the disk, red one side and green on the other. I found this fairly hard to deal with, but I did not see any evidence of the bubble gum pink halo which I've heard about.

The belts took on a darker, richer hue, orangey pink to my eyes, giving rise to a perceived increase in contrast. I continued switching back and forth, and after a while it became clear that the colour fringing was associated with either poor seeing or tube currents generated by my hand when moving the scope. There was also an element of having to be on axis with the filter to avoid this effect but that may also be related to the Leica so I need to confirm with another eyepiece.

I did find that the filter reduced the visibility of the diffraction spikes from Jupiter which was an unexpected bonus.

So, it's quite a fussy filter to use, not as relaxing as with no filter, or with just a Polarising filter which I also tried.

I tried hard to see whether any features were visible with the filter that were not without it, and do not think there were. I was seeing some nice detail in the polar regions. A thin dark belt in the North and several thin white belts running through the Southern polar region. All these features were visible with and without filter. They were possibly enhanced with it, but that was a perceived contrast enhancement rather than any more detail being visible.

When Io started transiting, I tried to see if I could pick it up for longer against the disk with the filter, but could not. If anything Io was more pleasing without it.

As the night wore on and the seeing stabilized, the red/green fringing reduced, there were times when it disappeared completely for a while when the seeing was good.

So, in summary I would say the benefits were:

Improved perceived contrast.

Darker belts and surface detail, with a fairly natural/subtle orangey/pink colour

Reduced prominence of planetary diffraction spikes

Weaknesses:

Actually just the one really and that is the red/green colour fringing associated with tube currents and poor seeing.

Pithy summary: Nice contrasty view, no extra detail, colour fringing!

I find this a really strange one. I can't say I am minded to sell it because I feel it has something to offer, but it certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea, and I won't be using it as a default planetary filter. I would however swap it in when conditions are good to see what it offers.

I wonder whether its popularity in the US is in fact related to their generally better seeing conditions which would perhaps reduce or eliminate the CA issues seen?

I do have the feeling that this worked better in the newt than in the Vixen 150, but I will try to confirm that.

Hope that helps,

Stu

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I read about this filter with lots of interest.

The very best views that I've had of planets have been due to rare exceptional seeing, spot on accurate collimation and thin high cloud. I've also found lots of glass in the way helps, using a 5.5mm UWA Meade and an older 8.8mm with a x2.5 Revelation Astro Barlow. Closing down the aperture on both Newts and fracs also given some stunning results. I use a 150 frac, a 200f6 Newt and a 10" LB with fairly similar results.

On those few occasions I've found an old generic Moon filter works to give contrast . On fewer occasions, a light red 23A filter has worked.

One thing which does work however is relaxing at the ep, relaxing the eyes (shield the non seeing eye) and drawing a rough sketch . Sometimes details can be very transient. Sometimes features will snap into focus and then float away. I've seen changes in seeing observable in seconds. This is more the case with Jupiter. Some evenings I've spent three hours observing Jupiter, it can be that good.

I'd like to reserve judgement until I see this filter in action.

I certainly think views of the recent triple event could not have been improved , unless by early take off ,you were the lucky passenger on your one way trip to Mars.

Nick.

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Agreed Nick. I was sitting to observe last night and it helped a lot. I must have spent over two hours on Jupiter, watching Io gradually go into transit, then the shadow following. The surface detail gradually got clearer as those moments of good seeing added up.

If you are at SGLX you are welcome to try it there.

The triple transit for me was awful because of the seeing. Certainly no filter would have helped with that!

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With my limited use of the filter so far, I agree that large aperture perhaps, high power and good seeing all count for getting the most out of this filter. I have found the views when the focus snaps in to be very satisfying and I like the tone. It does seem to have its traits - out of focus = pinkish bubble gum effect (to my eye anyhow), low and mid power viewing, orange / pink colouration and when the seeing is poor, as mentioned such as during that triple transit,  plain awful, yet it is intriguing and I look forward to further use hopeful soon - as I haven't been able to get out and observe so often recently. 

Just as a footnote, there is a review of this filter in the March edition of Astronomy Now, which concurs to an extent on some of the comments highlighted in the thread and overall is quite positive in terms of its potential for highlighting details.

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Somewhat off-topic regards TeleVue, but in 2003, Mars was at it's closest point to Earth for a long time to come. And the views afforded in even small telescopes were outstanding! And during this time, Sirius trotted out a "2003 Mars Filter" in a 1.25" format. Not sure if a 2" was available, but I bought a 1.25" in a heartbeat.

It worked very nicely indeed - bringing even more detail. Just in time for a dust-storm to blanket half the planet. Of course! But this filter did work very well. So I am adding a picture of the filter and it's nest, a shot of the ambient light here in Mr. Wizard's Closet (as I call it here), and a shot of the same ambient light with the Mars Filter over the chip in my Canon PowerShot 1000 camera.

Clear Skies,

Dave

post-38438-0-66539000-1424292515.jpgpost-38438-0-04297300-1424292526.jpgpost-38438-0-69142000-1424292542.jpg

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Nice er, t shirt Dave :)

Left over from your clubbing days?

Looks like a *lot* of fun was had wearing it!

There's an idea tho - special issue filters for specific events!

Nope - it's from being in the war in 1990 in Akwasasne in the Mohawk Nation. I was running supplies and sitting in council with the Chief regarding cocaine-smugglers and how to get the young people to abandon the drug being foisted off on them.

We won.

Dave

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Just to add to the discussion on planetary filters I recently bought a sliding filter bracket which houses 5 filters. I used this bracket attached to my 180mm Mak/Cass with binoviewers using 18mm Fujiyama Ortho EPs.

I placed a Baader Neodymium, Baader Contrast-Booster, No.11 Yellow Green, Blue and No filter and viewed Jupiter at the same time as a Moon Shadow transit was taking place. The bracket allows for almost immediate change of filter so quite easy to decide which was best.

The best filter was the Baader Neodymium making contrast better - the belts stood out and the shadow of the Moon seemed more pronounced. Next was No filter followed by the Baader Contrast Booster which did add a slight yellow colour cast.

It would be interesting to compare a TeleVue Planetary Filter with a Baader Neodymium.

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I thibk that is the best way to compare the effect of filters Mark, leaving one hole empty for the "no filter" comparison. I find the memory of the view has faded slightly by the time I've swapped filters and the differences we are looking for are quite subtle so it's hard to recall whether the view is better or not sometimes !

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