Ethos V's Explore scientific 100 Degree

[AlexB67]

 You are not missing anything with that Pentax XW and I hope you find a 10mm XW too,as I understand it may be the best DSO EP out there.

Gerry, I don't really feel I need one since I have the 10.5 XL, the predecessor of he XW, the marginal difference this would give me apart form the 5 degrees extras is not worth it IMO, not for a long time when I have other upgrades in mind before that anyway. The XL 10.5 is really good and a very close second to the XW 10mm as far as I understand it.  It is also arguably my favourite eyepiece as the most common used workhorse for many things, especially faint stuff with the 2mm or so exit pupil. Galaxies pop up in it very nicely indeed. It was great on  SN 2014J too,  out it popped like a spear  I can see it has a very similar character to its brother the XW7mm in many ways in the short time I have had the XW.

I am sort of offtopic now I suppose, but  IMHO the XL is an eyepiece anyone should grab up like the Radians  in the shorter focal lengths when they come up in similar sort of price and you don't want to break the bank,  that is if my experience of the 10.5 XL is anything to go by, they are rare at that Radian sort of price though.    XLs for 100 - 120 are worth a grab IMHO which is what I got mine for, since the XWs are usually somewhat more second hand. I have seen quite a few XLs with a higher asking price than that, 150 - 160 UK money.

To this day I am absolutely delighted with the purchase of the pentax XL. If someone asked me would I swap it for a Radian 10mm I doubt I would do it, at least I would have to have a good look through one very carefully, since for deep sky and faint stuff  I suspect the pentax is better I suspect, notwithstanding the 5 degree less FOV 

[Mike73]

I completely agree with you Alex and if you are happy with an EP then why change? It would always be the EP you compare others with so its just not worth it IMO.

To be honest I struggle to see difference in these high end EP's anyway be it Ethos/ES/XW's/ Delos or whatever! Its only when I stop viewing objects and start looking for aberrations in the EP that I notice EP's have different characteristics, I think the important part is to stop looking at the EP and concentrate on looking through it.

[Daniel-K]

Well said mike

[jetstream]

Alex it sounds like the XL is great....I forgot you had it

[AlexB67]

Alex it sounds like the XL is great....I forgot you had it

Not the first I would not have misread a post or a signature.    .  May be when I am in my eighties and very old I'll forget which  eyepieces I have in my case. The nice thing will be, every time I open it will be a surprise, that is if I can even find the case or the scope, or still lift it

[AlexB67]

Mark, getting back to topic, I wonder how you would feel if you put them to the test  in a faster scope, the ultimate test. There was a review by David Knisely at CN if I recall rightly. I may recall this wrongly, but I think the patters was the ES 100 one was not as well corrected across the FOV as the ethos 13mm, this would show in faster scopes. I think the description he put on the  ES 100 was like a Nagler on steroids, or something along those lines  , he rated it very highly though.

Is that difference worth it ? for many perhaps not, unless using something very demanding getting closer to f/4 it would be more of a factor to consider, each to their own on that one  I guess

[russ.will]

I think the important part is to stop looking at the EP and concentrate on looking through it.

Exactly. if you're listening to the hi-fi, rather than feeling the music, then you have missed the point, or bought badly.

Russell

[andyman]

Is it a question of better eyepiece performance or is it a question of tackle tarts...just to have some black and green in your eyepiece case at any cost.the price hike from es to ethos is substancial... for very little improvement or none at all ...i know which i would buy.

[Merlin66]

"tackle tarts" - good one!!!

Hadn't heard that before.....

[Joves]

Ethos all the way for me. Not for any particular reason other than the fact I'm a 'tackle-tart'

I haven't even held an ES eyepiece, let alone looked through one, so my preference is purely unfounded and one-eyed (so to speak).

I still choose Ethos though

[alan potts]

Sounds like the (Spanish) Televue Inquisition needs to be sent out offering tortures like the cumffy chair, the soft cushions, a scope of choice, a tray of tackle tarts and a set of Ethos eyepieces.

We all know no one exspects that.

[spaceboy]

I don't think people buy TV for bragging rights ? I think they buy them because the are with out doubt some of the very best eyepieces on the market. Sure you have to pay the price but then isn't that the same for everything ? If its a hobby you enjoy, why not get the best you can afford even if the improvements are small ?

TV are affordable to all if you are willing to make the investment so I don't understand why it so often comes down to owners of TV being called "tackle tarts" . If you break your back at work all week why not get something that is going to bring a little happiness in to your life ? 

I admit Andyman I do question it why people would sell an ES 100° to then spend a further £100-£200 on an Ethos but if anything I am grateful as if it was not the case I would never have saved a packet getting my ES 100° off the used market.

[alan potts]

Now the quistion is ca I spel or did I just nake a slip in typing at a kind bluwing 3o works a minute?

Alan

[Joves]

Haha... Everyone knows there is an s in exspect, Alan... Certainly not one in expect, but exspect definitely has one!

[AlexB67]

At this rate there is going to have to be separation of the fanbase like football matches. The next time you go to SGL there will be two gates at the entrance: 

The black with green stripes arrow turn left.

the black arrow all turn right turn right.

Upon entrance you will have to open your case  and show your weapons, you will also be searched for carrying any rotten tomatoes just in case some feel like throwing to them to the pitch on the other side   

[alan potts]

Its all good fun.

Alex I have said on site before and if you ignore the April I am having I get plenty of sky time. If I lived in England with the awful weather that it can dish out there is no way I would have anywhere near as many Televue, maybe 2-3, if that. It is only because I normally get 15-20 days a month at this time of year that I have as many as I have, at least I can use them. Outside is wall to wall clouds with a thunderstorm here and there just for fun, the only thing that likes is the weeds.

I would also probably only have two scopes as well, I remember back in the 70's when I started, I made a 12.5 inch Newt, with some help from the works engineers, it was 3 months before I could use it when it was finished with weather and work. I think in the fisrt year it was out 9 times.

Lardy, A big Sorry, I have with the help of a few others somewhat drifted away from topic.

Alan.

[Davey-T]

Have to say that the only time I've been amazed at the performance of new over old eyepieces was when I binned the ones that came with my original Celestron scope and bought some half decent ones, since then improvements have been incremental.

Dave

[AlexB67]

Have to say that the only time I've been amazed at the performance of new over old eyepieces was when I binned the ones that came with my original Celestron scope and bought some half decent ones, since then improvements have been incremental.

Dave

I feel perhaps a little the opposite. Now I do have a bit of  sickly scope at f4.7 but with a good season of planetary viewing/moon under the belt the improvements have been noticeable to me, both in the mini Dob and the bigger brother, more so than I expected.

When I had a cheap SW 6mm, barlow and a bit later the 8mm BST, but since the BGO, TV and pentaxes came into the mix  it really felt like an appreciable/noticeable difference, without trying to be over the top, but in terms of in level of subtle details than could be seen, probably also coupled with  improvements in observing skill coming into it.

It is not often I would say there is nothing you can't see with a cheap eyepiece compared to an expensive one, and largely I find this to be true on most taregts, but I have seen planetary features on Jupiter just the other night in my 7mm XW , I just could not see them in the 8mm BST and they got washed away, and this not just due to slightly decreased mag, which if anything should enhance contrast and shaprness,  in any case, they are large enough features, that was in the little Dob.

I can even compare like for like mags with the barlow  in different combos, still the better eyepieces win to my eyes. 

Rightly or wrongly, at least I have convinced myself of that, I feel the extra cash  I put down for those eyepieces were worth every penny   admittedly the BSTs do get close for a lot of things already and provided the biggest upgrade for the least cost I felt compared to stock in many ways and for many objects. 

I expect when it comes to some of the  ES and TV eyepieces you'd probably need a lot of experience, and depending on the scope you put them in, they would be hard to split to justify the cost difference for many I would think, especially with our lovely climate and so so seeing a lot of the time 

[Joves]

Have to say that the only time I've been amazed at the performance of new over old eyepieces was when I binned the ones that came with my original Celestron scope and bought some half decent ones, since then improvements have been incremental.

Dave

So, I'm sure you can imagine my delight when I went from the stock EP's to Ethos. Only difference is I didn't bin the Celestrons. Still have them. They actually did me fine for a long while, but that was before I had any idea what I was missing.

[lardy]

Tackle tart .... I do like that one

(But can I just add I have done this hobby for 40+ years ... In my time Ive  had to chose between paying the  mortgage or buying  food, my circumstances have changed and now "I can " .... 

Even to the point that one  of my new purchases is a Tak FS152, picking it up next month

Mark

[Joves]

Very nice, Mark. Well deserved after so long in the hobby. Not sure if you've ever viewed through an FS152, but I'm sure you're going to love it!

[alan potts]

A very nice scope Mark, very nice indeed. You are amassing some rather nice equipment, was it a lottery win? I had 5 numbers about 18 years ago and was one out on the sixth, if only an ex-girlfriend had been born on the 17th and not 16th April.

I look foward to reading what you have to say about the scope in due course.

Alan

[lardy]

Thanks Joves and Alan, not quite won the lottery but I landed a dream job at 53 years old ... and got an exceptional bonus this month for going that "extra mile" for the company I work for.

I was toying with the idea of buying another APM ... the 7" on ABS caught my eye, but that was traded before my bonus was confirmed and the Tak kinda dropped in my lap.

I'm quite excited to be able to put it through its pace against my 130 APM as the views through this scope are stupendous .... is the Tak going to be better?    can it get any better than my 130? (its marketed as the best 5" available)  I know I will never part with the 130 but am I going to feel the same about the Tak ?..... We shall see 

[alan potts]

Mark,

They really are very good scopes, my slightly smaller 115mm is a cracker, I wish now I had got the 130mm it may have stopped me pinning for the 6 inch which I will never have as I don't do the lottery any more. I personally think when you get the level of these scopes the weak point is our eyes and or course the ever present conditions, and mine have been awful of late.

So good luck with the job and I look forward to the report on a what is a rare scope.

Alan