Blown away by new EP's!

[parallaxerr]

Last week I decided I wanted to move on to fixed length EP's from my one and only eyepiece, a Baader MKIII Hyperion Zoom. I have used the Hyperion Zoom in my Sky-Watcher 80ED from day one, after reading that many observers believe it is the only eyepiece required due to the quality of image it produces, despite a few minor drawbacks with regard to FOV and edge curvature.

My observing at the moment is limited to planetary due to the light evenings, so I thought I’d start collecting eyepieces in the lower focal length range. I have read many posts stating that people had pushed the 80ED to ≈ x240 mag, however, I was sceptical about this as I have the matching x2.25 barlow for the Hyperion Zoom which provides up to x169mag at the 8mm setting, but the image quality is poor with the barlow fitted, leading me to believe that such a small scope does not lend itself well to high magnification under UK seeing conditions. Recent attempts to discern any decent detail on Jupiter had resulted in frustration and the firm belief that the detail people speak of doesn’t exist!

After researching the importance of exit pupil and asking questions on the subject here on SGL, I arrived at a range of EP FL’s which would/should provide me with the planetary views I want. Much deliberation over a purchase followed and I arrived at the decision to go with Williams Optics SPL Planetary eyepieces which seemed to offer a nice balance between cost & quality. BUT…..I then found a few threads that suggested the very same EP’s were available branded differently and Altair Astro have a range of LER EP’s that are prime suspect.

So, here they are, Altair Astro LER 55° Planetary EP’s in 5, 6 & 9mm. I wanted a 4mm but that’s not available in the range, however, I thought using the x2.25 Baader barlow on the 9mm would suit.

 

 

 

Jupiter was up at 40° around 10pm last night so I set up and aligned using the planetary align function on Jupiter, with the aid of my recently aligned Red Dot Finder. I was not expecting great results as seeing has been poor of late (or so I thought).

I popped in the 9mm and the view really caught my attention! Straight away I could see a dramatic improvement in contrast and sharpness over the Hyperion Zoom, focus snap was really punchy, absolutely no doubt when you hit the sweet spot whereas I always questioned the Hyperion Zoom and ended up winding the fine focus in and out over and over. Even with the Jovian disc small in the EP at x66mag, there was more discernible detail than I had previously seen with more cloud bands visible and a distinct difference in colour, no surprise I suppose with an exit-pupil of 1.2mm. I found the rubber eye-cup more comfortable folded down as it allowed me to see the full FOV without pressing my eye against the EP. A good start.

 

 

Next I tried the 6mm which presented a significantly larger image at x100mag, more than I was expecting. All of the detail seen in the 9mm was retained and more became visible the longer I looked!

Next up – 5mm. This is where I expected the detail to drop off as mag was up to x120 but exit pupil down to 0.66mm. This is where I started seeing floaters with the Hyperion Zoom but they didn’t appear with the Altair EP. Again, I kept seeing more and more fine detail with the larger disc still snapping in to focus. I could not discern any false colour either which had been an issue previously at high magnification.

One final test, I wanted to try 4mm. Originally the plan was to use the 9mm with the Baader Hyperion x2.25 barlow but the combination offered a very dim view. It’s a triplet barlow, I believe, with Phantom Group coatings but I started to think the Baader barlow was responsible for my previous issues. Combined with the zoom, of course, it puts a lot of glass in the light path.

I found a Celestron Omni x2 barlow in my old box of telescope bits, it’s far from an expensive barlow at one third the price of the Baader. With the lens removed and screwed directly to the EP filter thread it should offer approximately x1.5 so on to the 6mm it went to give me the 4mm and x150mag. Just holding the EP up to the sky I could see that light transmission was better with the single lens but I wasn’t expecting great results from the cheap glass. Was I wrong!

This just has to be the sweetest spot of all. The image size now was such that I could really pick out the best detail despite the small exit pupil. Sharp focus snap, good contrast and no sign of false colour which I was expecting with the cheap barlow lens. There were moments of really very good seeing that showed incredible (to me) detail and I spent the next 30 minutes glued to the EP! Wow, just totally blown away with the views!!!

After 30 minutes the seeing seemed to start to degrade as Jupiter lost altitude and moved over some dense wooded area which I think was causing heat haze. However, just as I was about to pack up I took one last look and thought “what’s that eating into the edge of the disc”??? It was Io in transit. Well, never in a lifetime would I have been able to see this with the Zoom. I watched through varying seeing for another ten minutes or so as the little black disc worked it’s way across and became even more defined.

Suffice to say I am over the moon with these new Ep’s. I didn’t believe fixed FL would offer such a significant increase in performance over the Zoom and if the jump in performance can be repeated by moving to more expensive EP’s again, then I can see why people spend so much money on them. Well done Altair Astro, I’m one happy customer.

 

[Grotemobile]

http://www.tringastro.co.uk/altair-lightwave-3mm-ler-125-planetary-eyepiece-7325-p.asp

Very good report. These people do a 3mm. U have got a nice set up there my friend.  

[parallaxerr]

8 minutes ago, Grotemobile said:

http://www.tringastro.co.uk/altair-lightwave-3mm-ler-125-planetary-eyepiece-7325-p.asp

Very good report. These people do a 3mm. U have got a nice set up there my friend.  

Thanks, I did see the 3mm but thought that would push the scope a little too much. I tried the 5mm with the x1.5 barlow to give 3.3mm but things started to get fuzzy, although on a night of good seeing that may not be the case. This experience has certainly given me the confidence to buy more of the Altair EP's though, maybe some of the 68° range!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very nice report indeed. I haven't seen many reports of these EPs, but they clearly perform well.

[Linda]

Great report. Good that you have made the decision to switch eyepieces.

[laudropb]

Very nice report. I have the 3mm Williams SPL and I find it very good.

[niallk]

Great report! Glad your EPs are really delivering

[Louis D]

8 hours ago, parallaxerr said:

This experience has certainly given me the confidence to buy more of the Altair EP's though, maybe some of the 68° range!

Before you spend £149.00 on their Altair Lightwave Premium Long Eye Relief 68° FOV eyepieces which have no reviews to my knowledge, I'd spend the same money on the Baader Morpheus 76° Wide-field eyepieces at FLO, SGL's sponsor, which have excellent reviews.

[rockystar]

I've had the lightwaves, they were pretty good, but not great towards the edge, the Morpheus (which I now have) at the same price are a cut above. Having said that, the lightwaves are often on offer at 2 for 1, so £75 I thinks puts them in a "good for the price" range.

[Highburymark]

Sounds like a great night - thanks for such an infectious report. The highest I've pushed my 80ED is 166x on Saturn (with 3-6 Nagler) and it felt like I could have gone a fair degree higher. Unfortunately I don't own any more powerful eyepieces.....

[YKSE]

Great that you like the new EPs

I assume that you clean your EPs somewhat regularly? There have been some rave reviews from time to time about how new EPs killed the old ones, and turned out that the old EPs were covered with dirts were the common causes.

[Dave In Vermont]

These look and sound to be quite interesting EP's. I am wondering what other names/brands they are being sold as around the planet. If anyone has any information on this, please do let me know.

You've got me quite intrigued.

Enjoy!

Dave

[F15Rules]

Great report and congratulations.

Having owned several Baader zooms and being well pleased with them, I'm a bit surprised by your results though. I do wonder if it needs a good clean (carefully, with Baader wonder fluid and cloth). Of course, you may have been unlucky and got a lemon..

I do think that fixed magnification eyepieces offer some advantages, compared to zooms, but these are usually in terms of field of view. On axis sharpness should be very close with a decent zoom like the Baader. I have a Pentax zoom and some Pentax and ES fixed length eyepieces, and the zoom is just as sharp across the field, just it's a smaller field in some cases.

It's good to hear that you are pleased with your new Altairs though, and that's a lovely looking setup you have there:-).

 

Dave

[parallaxerr]

Yes my EP's get cleaned, probably too much. I'm a bit anal about clean optics, it's a condition I'm learning to live with!

The Baader zoom is a very good EP in it's own right and I certainly won't be getting rid of it. I will have to do a back to back test, although I've enough time looking through it to believe the Altairs outperfom it.

[Louis D]

5 hours ago, Dave In Vermont said:

These look and sound to be quite interesting EP's. I am wondering what other names/brands they are being sold as around the planet. If anyone has any information on this, please do let me know.

The are also sold as Zhumell Z Series Planetary Telescope Eyepieces, but only the 14.5mm and 18mm are still available.  The 18mm is considered to be the dog of the line because it is not a negative/positve lens design like the rest of the series.  Astronomics also marketed them under their Astro Tech brand Long Eye Relief eyepieces.  They have long since sold out.  Orion USA seems to still sell them as Orion Edge-On Planetary 1.25" Eyepieces for over double what Zhumell and Astronomics wanted back in the day.  SmartAstronomy also used to sell them as Solar System Long Eye-Relief Eyepieces for the same money as Zhumell, but that page is totally gone now.  High Point Scientific still sells a few of them as William Optics 12.5 mm Super Planetary Long Eye Relief Eyepieces.  Agena Astro carries one Levenhuk Ra LER 6mm in a different barrel design.  They were good in the day, but the market has moved on.

It seems that once the 60 degree, 16mm eye relief eyepiece lines started coming out, it was the end of the line for them in the US.  If you can find the 14.5mm and below for $40 or less used, that's generally considered a good deal on a good eyepiece.  If you're going to spend more, there are lots of better choices out there now.

 

[Dave In Vermont]

Thank you very much for the detailed answers! That fits it together as I thought they looked very familiar. No wonder.

Personaly I'm more in the market for wide FOV EP's - my low-mm planet-killer collection are orthoscopics - by choice. But wide-field is what I've got my eyes on. My 150mm F/12 Maksutov is what I'm feeding at present. And it's too easy to push it over the maximum without trying.

Thank you again!

Dave