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New DeLite focal lengths due soon


John

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This new(ish) range from Tele Vue seems to be fast developing a lot of enthusiastic feedback. It looks as if the range will be extended around the end of this year with 3mm, 4mm and a 13mm model. These join the already available 18.2mm, 15mm, 11mm, 9mm, 7mm and 5mm to form what looks to me to be a pretty comprehensive mid-range to high power set.

With a 62 degree apparent field and 20mm of eye relief across the range these will suit those who wear glasses when observing as well as those who don't.

I know that Moonshane has been smitten by these :icon_biggrin:

http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=932383

 

 

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That is a lot of eyepieces John, especially if you are a collectionist?. Poor old bank balance for some. 

Initially when I was going towards a wider field of view eyepiece I was going to start buying some delites as good fov and good eye relief and suppose very sharp well corrected optics that can be used down to f/4 but with a realistic price compared to delos / ethos (even before the staggering price rises) . So I was very very close to start buying delites. But some second hand Pentax XW came on the market same 20mm eye relief I believe but with a fov of 70d, optics super sharp but with a second hand price tag☺. So in the end started going for Pentax XW and am very happy with these. So lucky I am nearly sorted in this area(still looking for a 5xw though) so even though the delites are supposed to be very very good but so are the Pentax XW IMO , so lucky for me I will not have to buy the delites range as with all those new eyepieces coming available that would seriously harm my finances and would certainly put me into the serious collectionist group ?

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Like all modern TV eyepieces the undercuts are excessively deep, as if cut by a criminal maniac let loose in an engineering workshop. I find the undercuts truly annoying, so no delites any other TV piccy's in my box anymore. AL says they do it as part of their marketing strategy, but there are a vast and growing number of TV fans who are sick of these pointless irritants, especially in the U.S. 

Mike 

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1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

.... there are a vast and growing number of TV fans who are sick of these pointless irritants, especially in the U.S. 

Mike 

Perhaps ex-TV fans then ?

Personally I've never had any problems with undercuts in 30+ years of observing with dozens of eyepiece types but I've read enough about the angst that others suffer over them to realise that it's a real issue for quite a few. I'm not so keen on the ES tapered barrel though :undecided:

@ Timebandit: I don't think I'll be tempted to move away from my XW's either.

 

 

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2 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

Like all modern TV eyepieces the undercuts are excessively deep, as if cut by a criminal maniac let loose in an engineering workshop. I find the undercuts truly annoying, so no delites any other TV piccy's in my box anymore. AL says they do it as part of their marketing strategy, but there are a vast and growing number of TV fans who are sick of these pointless irritants, especially in the U.S. 

Mike 

All my TV EP's have a flared lower lip on the undercut, as such they don't give me any problems. I find some of the lighter aluminium draw tubes with undercuts problematical. I once had a 17mm Celestron Plossl stuck in a TV 3x Barlow for half an hour as I figured out how to extract it. I sometimes still use that Plossl, although now it has a smooth draw tube!

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3 hours ago, Paul73 said:

Looks like a complete set! Super light weight. Are the shorter Panoptics doomed? Or, for that matter, the entire Delos range? It is a lot more to pay for 15% more Fov.....

Paul

I think it's inevitable that TV will cease making some older EP's now. Especially if they can't sell enough.

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32 minutes ago, Mak the Night said:

I think it's inevitable that TV will cease making some older EP's now. Especially if they can't sell enough.

49 different Tele Vue eyepieces in 9 separate ranges (excluding barlows, Powermates, Paracorrs etc). I guess something is going to have to go sooner or later.

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20 minutes ago, Mak the Night said:

I can't remember exactly which, but haven't a couple of 2" Naglers been dropped comparatively recently?

Looking at their website, the 15mm and 22mm Panoptics seem to have gone along with the 2-4mm Nagler Zoom, and the 20mm and 26mm T5 Naglers. 

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4 hours ago, John said:

Perhaps ex-TV fans then ?

Personally I've never had any problems with undercuts in 30+ years of observing with dozens of eyepiece types but I've read enough about the angst that others suffer over them to realise that it's a real issue for quite a few. I'm not so keen on the ES tapered barrel though :undecided:

@ Timebandit: I don't think I'll be tempted to move away from my XW's either.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Mak the Night said:

All my TV EP's have a flared lower lip on the undercut, as such they don't give me any problems. I find some of the lighter aluminium draw tubes with undercuts problematical. I once had a 17mm Celestron Plossl stuck in a TV 3x Barlow for half an hour as I figured out how to extract it. I sometimes still use that Plossl, although now it has a smooth draw tube!

I think the undercut issue arises when regular interchange of eyepieces is required, and the brass ring or locking screw hasn't been wound out far enough, leading to the scope being knocked off target. In my own case I use a Tak prism which uses a compression ring. The TV eyepieces are the only ones I've tried using that do not lock down in the Tak prism. My XW's also have undercuts but there has never been an issue with these as they are much shallower. My ortho's have tapered barrels and again there is no issue. I love the prism diagonal so much that id not part with it and would rather just avoid TeleVue eyepieces. I love the eyepieces themselves, just not the undercuts! 

I used to be a real fan of TeleVue and had a case load of the thinges, but my XW's eventually won my affections due to their purity, so I'm not sulking. Honest! ?

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I really like the Delites. I have a 11mm and a 7mm and would love more but despite them being less than Delos etc, they are certainly not cheap by any stretch and are really quite scarce on the used market.

In the future I can see me making up binoviewer pairs (probably 18.2mm and 11mm) when funds allow but there's always something else that's a priority! I do like a set though but can never seem to bring myself to sell my 3-6mm zoom. If I wait long enough, maybe I won't have to.

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1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

 

I think the undercut issue arises when regular interchange of eyepieces is required, and the brass ring or locking screw hasn't been wound out far enough, leading to the scope being knocked off target. In my own case I use a Tak prism which uses a compression ring. The TV eyepieces are the only ones I've tried using that do not lock down in the Tak prism. My XW's also have undercuts but there has never been an issue with these as they are much shallower. My ortho's have tapered barrels and again there is no issue. I love the prism diagonal so much that id not part with it and would rather just avoid TeleVue eyepieces. I love the eyepieces themselves, just not the undercuts! 

I used to be a real fan of TeleVue and had a case load of the thinges, but my XW's eventually won my affections due to their purity, so I'm not sulking. Honest! ?

There's been some research on this problem. Basically, you're correct and it's the lower lip of the undercut snagging the compression ring on extraction that's the main issue. 

1.25 15mm.jpg

The 15mm Celestron Omni Plossl on the extreme right (above) has a standard GSO aluminium draw tube and relatively deep undercut. The 15mm TV Plossl on the extreme left has a brass draw tube and the lower lip of the undercut is tapered outward. TV's with these tapered lips aren't any problem for me. I'd be careful of tapered draw tubes though as they can deform brass compression rings.

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