Christmas Eyepiece

[glynnlondon]

As its only 2 months till the big fella in red comes around and knowing how excited this forum is getting ! I have a question.

The other half has offered to get me something for the hobby and the only thing I can think of is another ep.

Is there a size missing from my collection worth getting or a superior make maybe like televue.

It would be for use in the TAL 100 R size 1.25 inch ,principally on planetary , coloured stars and doubles.

Budget 100 to 200 pounds and second hand would be fine.

Any ideas ?

Thanks in advance glynn.

[alan potts]

Only two months, I start thinking about Christmas the week before. In my books it came off the rails years back. I was in Schiphol Airport back in early November 2004 and decorations were up, if it were any earlier there would be no point taking them down, if I had not been there a week or so before you could have been forgiven for thinking it.

I would say from the EP point of view the BCO's are very good as long as you do not mind the narrow FOV and without spending a lot they are difficult to better and any improvement will be slight. If you cannot accept 2 inch fittings then wider than a 24mm 68 degree is not an option, even 32mm Plossl will only show the same amount of sky.

The only thing I can think of is something shorter at 4mm for those super clear and stable nights, maybe a S/H 4mm Radian or 4.5mm Delos.

Merry Christmas.

alan

[AndyH]

Looking at your sig line, you have some BCO's and the nice Badder 2.25x Barlow.

If it were me and be aware this is just my opinion, I'd look at getting a 12mm ortho to use with the barlow to give 188x. This is a nice bridge between the 6mm(167x) and barlowed 10mm(225x), you already have. Perhaps even a TV 11mm plossl to barlow to 205x.

The above would give a nice range, jumping at roughly 20x intervals from 167-225x. Hell, you could always get a 9mm ortho to use barlowed to get to 250x.

Whilst getting all 3 of the above suggestions may seem a bit mad, you could never be questioned for having a magnification to suit all seeing conditions  

 When I had my 100RS, I found eyepieces giving me a range of between 160-200x seemed to work really well with the Tal, for high power planetary work.

Andy

[PeterCPC]

Might be worth considering a zoom eyepiece - there are some good ones around for this money.

Peter

[AndyH]

Might be worth considering a zoom eyepiece - there are some good ones around for this money.

Peter

Very true. A second hand TV 3-6mm zoom could possibly be got just about within the top end of Glynn's budget ?

I had the 2-4mm version and thought it gave some nice views. The 3-6mm version would be a nice fit for a FL1000 scope.

Should give equally nice views comparable to barlowed ortho's or plossl's.

All depends on how much he's willing to spend

[AndyH]

How is the TV 3-6mm zoom, when it comes to needing infocus. ie: Does it need the focuser to be 'racked inwards' any more than say a std ortho or plossl?

Only reason I'm asking is because of the limited focus range of the Tal 100R R&P focuser. I am right Glynn, it's the R version you have and not the RS??

Andy.

[glynnlondon]

Hi all thanks for the replies Alan , Peter and Andy.

Andy it is the 100 r I have not the rs , I havent had any problems using the barlow so far but I am aware of other reviews ( cloudy nights )  that have had issues with the travel maybe best not to risk the zoom ?

The ortho idea sounds good I will keep an eye out on abs and here , a 12.5 and 9mm baader genuine ortho would be ideal if Im lucky enough to find any.

I also like Alans idea of the 4mm radian if I can get enough good viewing to use it often.

Tho the 4.7mm ethos looks yummy and I can see why a green and black addiction must be getting near AP as a money pit.

Thanks all for the advice I will let you know in due course what I end up getting ,

oh seasons greetings and all that  

[alan potts]

Glynn,

I can recommend the Hutech 12.5mm ortho I have had one since they came to the UK as I was there at the time, FLO sells them and they are less money now, this was good advice from the other poster.

Alan 

[glynnlondon]

Im getting the hutech 12.5 mm ep and the sissy hass double star book.

The cambridge double star atlas is the same price as an ethos !

Thanks again for the suggestions

[cotterless45]

You'll love the book !

Nick.

[Jim Steele]

Just to throw a spanner in the works, there is also the vixen slv series. I know John gave them a good review and am considering one myself.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/217971-vixen-slv-eyepiece-report-6mm-12mm-and-20mm/