Heads up - Televue 20% sale

[Davesellars]

Yep.... had to do it.  My 10mm Delos arrived today, it's cloudy of course.  So I ordered the 6mm Delos.

14, 10 and 6mm make a nice medium to high power range for the type of observing I do.

[alanjgreen]

In preparation for the arrival of my 20" lukehurst, I bagged an E21 and E13. A lot of dosh but the saving was huge. 

I am thinking that it maybe the best price we see for a while.

They arrived yesterday so I hope to test them out tonight in the CPC and Borg.

Alan 

[Stu]

4 minutes ago, alanjgreen said:

In preparation for the arrival of my 20" lukehurst, I bagged an E21 and E13. A lot of dosh but the saving was huge. 

I am thinking that it maybe the best price we see for a while.

They arrived yesterday so I hope to test them out tonight in the CPC and Borg.

Alan 

20" Lukehurst, 21 and 13 Ethos! Jealous? Moi? You betcha I am  

I seem to be buying scopes at the moment so eyepieces will have to wait unfortunately. I'll save up for Black Friday next year!

[niallk]

20 minutes ago, alanjgreen said:

In preparation for the arrival of my 20" lukehurst, I bagged an E21 and E13. A lot of dosh but the saving was huge. 

I am thinking that it maybe the best price we see for a while.

They arrived yesterday so I hope to test them out tonight in the CPC and Borg.

Alan 

I bet you can't wait to get the 20" Lukehurst, the 21E and 13E together! 

[Davesellars]

26 minutes ago, alanjgreen said:

In preparation for the arrival of my 20" lukehurst, I bagged an E21 and E13. A lot of dosh but the saving was huge. 

I am thinking that it maybe the best price we see for a while.

They arrived yesterday so I hope to test them out tonight in the CPC and Borg.

Alan 

Sounds like a nice early Xmas present? .

I've never looked through an Ethos. Probably a good thing for my finances... . 

[Mark at Beaufort]

Well I have bought a 13mm Ethos. I previously had this EP but sold it but now regret it. When I sold my 10" Dob and replaced it with my Orion VX8 I felt that the 21mm, 13mm and 8mm Ethos EPs were too large for the scope so replaced the complete kit with the ES 82 range.

Since buying a 12" Dob I wanted my 100 degree EPs again so I now have a 20mm Myraid, 13mm Ethos and a 9mm Myraid.

[alanjgreen]

17 minutes ago, niallk said:

I bet you can't wait to get the 20" Lukehurst, the 21E and 13E together! 

The wait is not too bad at the moment... I just get tempted to get the kit I need in advance!

it will be much worse when i have the scope and the guaranteed clouds roll in!

 

 

[jabeoo1]

On 11/24/2016 at 22:52, spaceboy said:

Funny you say that because I actually did sell off a set of naglers and replaced them with a set of both ES 82 & 100° eyepieces!

I only had a chat on the phone the other day with a member of staff from a well known UK astro retailer.  They said if the current choices were available beck then when they were buying the 1st time around there would be less black and green in the case.  The ES ranges are in some cases 1/3 of the cost.  

Take the 24mm 68 degree ES at £98 in comparison to the 24mm Panoptic at £300.  Quality option really. 

[John]

With such a price gap, who will ever buy new Tele Vue I wonder ?

I have quite a lot of them but none were bought new.

The price difference between Tele Vue and the Explore Scientific alternatives seems pretty big in the USA as well.

TV always have been the more expensive option but I wonder if the price gap is just too much now unless cost is not an issue

What would be really significant to me would be for another brand to bring out an eyepiece that actually betters the Tele Vue equivalent in optical performance and significantly uncuts the price. Pentax XW's show that it can be done although they are not exactly cheap either.

We have had competitors that have got pretty close to TV performance, very close indeed in some cases, but, as far as I'm aware, none of these lower priced alternatives actually exceed the TV levels of optical performance. Unless I've missed something ?

 

 

 

[Paz]

When it come to second hand televue items they mostly seem to sell quickly.

[scarp15]

Good and very good eye relief and comfortable eye placement is a feature that I have become accustomed to.  I still consider that my 10mm delos is the most relaxing of eyepieces, I expect that the Delite range is just that to, a delight. I am not so familiar, but gather that for example, Explore Scientific in the shorter focal length range at least, eye relief is quite tight. I think though that if I was to upgrade my eyepieces today, Televue with the exception of perhaps the occasional second hand option, would be too prohibitively expensive and I might look at other brand options or settle for Televue plossls and S/H Panoptics or Delites, but as you say, they can sell quickly.

[estwing]

On 27 November 2016 at 10:23, alanjgreen said:

In preparation for the arrival of my 20" lukehurst, I bagged an E21 and E13. A lot of dosh but the saving was huge. 

I am thinking that it maybe the best price we see for a while.

They arrived yesterday so I hope to test them out tonight in the CPC and Borg.

Alan 

Just need an 8mm ethos and a 2" x2 powermate then you're sorted 

[alanjgreen]

13 minutes ago, estwing said:

Just need an 8mm ethos and a 2" x2 powermate then you're sorted 

Estwing,

i already have the 2x power mate, had it for a long time - could have sold it once or twice but had a feeling that I may need it one day!!

Always pays to keep your kit unless you really have to sell.

i may need a E8 one day but want to try my Delos10 in the big dob first. I have a Delite7 too so I prioritised the longer focal lengths that I know will get plenty of use first.

Went to see the big dob build on Friday, David has made the UTA and mirror box and I dropped off the feathertouch and all the electrics for the rocker box...

Slight delay with the mirror while we wait for a 20 inch "raw slab" to arrive with John Nichol.

Alan

 

[spaceboy]

I wanted to say something but I hope it isn't going to ruffle too many feathers as I know people can be quite passionate and defensive regards their eyepiece purchases.

I admit had I known then what I know now I would have probably kept my T6 Naglers. Not so much because they are the holy grail of eyepieces but because I purchased most of them brand new in 2011 for a mere £175 each.

To me this would have made the performance vs cost threshold far more favourable compared to todays prices at least. After all was this not the reason why the BGO were so sort after? Superb performance in something that outshone it's price.

Having owned Televue eyepieces in the past including Naglers, Radian and plossl I appreciate that TV are one of the leaders in eyepieces for astronomy but I don't get how people get so single minded about them being the be all and end all when you take in to account how much they are new?? TV aren't giving them away after all. Your not getting one of the best eyepieces on the market at a superb deal.... your actually parting with a lot of hours of your life at work to pay for them. If you can get them at good used prices then fair enough but my argument along with many others is that when compared to more affordable options are TV really all that good?

What I mean before everyone jumps down my throat. Do you feel for example a 21mm Ethos at £815 offers twice the performance of a 20mm ES 100° at £452 ?? Or even going back a while did the TV radian at £160 offered three times the performance of a BST at £32. I think you are getting a very good eyepiece but I don't think you are getting a very good value eyepiece is all I'm saying. 5 years ago I would have said different as the playing field was far more level than it is these days. ES82 & 100 were relative newcomer and priced similarly. Baader and SW eyepieces were also a little higher priced than recent years so TV while still not cheap were a really good buy for the performance they offered.

Roll on 5 years and the same T6 nagler would put me back an eye watering £305 not far off double. ( OK brexit hasn't helped) Is that double the cost T6 nagler going to offer me double the performance ??? Now as mentioned before if you can get used TV then there is a significant value to the performance. BUT! despite prices of other eyepieces becoming more competitive over the past years TV prices of even used have remained the same. So again to a lesser degree my argument could stand again that your not getting value for money. It may be seen as you are when comparing against current TV prices but against new eyepieces of other brands that are considered to be very close to the performance of TV your not.

I've always said though if your a die hard astronomer and the night sky is the only thing you live for and your OK with having kit sat idle for 7 months of the year then do what ever makes you happy. I don't feel those who buy new TV these days are getting the best deal even on discount weekends but again if it's going to make you happy and you've got the money to do so then go for it. I had my set of naglers and I was happy with the performance of them for the price in 2011. My ep collection has evolved over the years and I'm still happy with the performance of them for the price.

 

 

[bingevader]

Plossls aside, 20% discount on out of my price range is still out of my price range, unfortunately!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

In all optics, increasing performance comes at an ever increasing price. TV, Pentax, Nikon, Leica, Zeiss and the like all expect high prices for their (excellent) kit. Luckily for us, there are many choices at a range of price points, and the "low quality" EPs are actually pretty good, compared to the ones you could get years ago. Each can pick their personal optimum in terms of price and performance

[estwing]

Love them Nichols...

[jetstream]

2 hours ago, John said:

With such a price gap, who will ever buy new Tele Vue I wonder ?

I have quite a lot of them but none were bought new.

The price difference between Tele Vue and the Explore Scientific alternatives seems pretty big in the USA as well.

TV always have been the more expensive option but I wonder if the price gap is just too much now unless cost is not an issue

What would be really significant to me would be for another brand to bring out an eyepiece that actually betters the Tele Vue equivalent in optical performance and significantly uncuts the price. Pentax XW's show that it can be done although they are not exactly cheap either.

We have had competitors that have got pretty close to TV performance, very close indeed in some cases, but, as far as I'm aware, none of these lower priced alternatives actually exceed the TV levels of optical performance. Unless I've missed something ?

 

 

 

ES prices are sneaking up over here, excluding their sales. It appears (to me, just a wild guess, no evidence) that their business model might include squashing the competition (TV? ) through the use of these sales. Once able, ES just might be charging Televue prices for their eyepieces down the road.

I own 2 ES eyepieces and they are VG btw... Lets hope ES doesn't figure out TV's coatings...

[scarp15]

45 minutes ago, spaceboy said:

 

Do you feel for example a 21mm Ethos at £815 offers twice the performance of a 20mm ES 100° at £452 ??

 

I own a 21mm Ethos and feel privileged to do so.  At the time I was able to sell my 20mm and 26mm T5 naglers, which i'd had for some time and both of course being excellent performers, but the ethos calling was underway after purchasing a 13E. Combined with a little extra cash and a 10% discount, it was possible to make the purchase (very rarely appear S/H). At current retail and I would not be surprised if the cost increased again next year, it is too beyond reasonable and an ES alternative would become a consideration.  

[John]

1 hour ago, spaceboy said:

I wanted to say something but I hope it isn't going to ruffle too many feathers as I know people can be quite passionate and defensive regards their eyepiece purchases....

I......What I mean before everyone jumps down my throat. Do you feel for example a 21mm Ethos at £815 offers twice the performance of a 20mm ES 100° at £452 ?? Or even going back a while did the TV radian at £160 offered three times the performance of a BST at £32. I think you are getting a very good eyepiece but I don't think you are getting a very good value eyepiece is all I'm saying.... 

 

 

I don't think you are ruffing any feathers here Nick - I am concerned how expensive TV stuff has become as well.

I think the points you raise above are very valid and just the sort of issues that go through our minds when we are contemplating investing in equipment.

BTW, I owned an ES 20mm / 100 for a while (used) and then moved to a 21mm Ethos (used). This change cost me around £200 I seem to recall. Did I get £200 worth of additional performance ?. No, darn it, so far it's just been 100 quids worth. Curses

 

 

[alanjgreen]

38 minutes ago, scarp15 said:

I own a 21mm Ethos and feel privileged to do so.  At the time I was able to sell my 20mm and 26mm T5 naglers, which i'd had for some time and both of course being excellent performers, but the ethos calling was underway after purchasing a 13E. Combined with a little extra cash and a 10% discount, it was possible to make the purchase (very rarely appear S/H). At current retail and I would not be surprised if the cost increased again next year, it is too beyond reasonable and an ES alternative would become a consideration.  

Scarp15, it was the same for me. With my new dob being f3.6 I was worried about the exit pupil on longer focal length. So I sold on my N22, N31 and P41 which enabled me to buy the E21 and E13 at the 20% discount prices.

i could not have paid the full list prices (and looked my wife straight in the eye), if the discount had not come along then I would not have been able to buy them.

i thought my chance to own an E21 had passed but a chance came along. It's all a matter of timing, sometimes your luck is in !

i imagine TV prices will stay high while they are able to sell their target quantities, if sales drop then I imagine prices will too or discount weekends will become a regular occurrence.

Alan

[Moonshane]

My eyepieces are used at least once a week and sometimes as much as five times a week albeit Including solar sessions and short night sessions. I do see my TV eyepieces as decent value on this basis as assuming 100 sessions per year my used 24mm Panoptic at £200 'costs' £2 per session for a year and is then 'free'.

This is especially true now I have a long term purchase plan and have settled on on a few designs and focal lengths for long term retention.

You could of course propose a similar regime /cheaper cost per session with less expensive options. Personally though, I just just seem to like televue and until I cannot afford them I see no reason to change.

[spaceboy]

18 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

My eyepieces are used at least once a week and sometimes as much as five times a week albeit Including solar sessions and short night sessions. I do see my TV eyepieces as decent value on this basis as assuming 100 sessions per year my used 24mm Panoptic at £200 'costs' £2 per session for a year and is then 'free'.

This is especially true now I have a long term purchase plan and have settled on on a few designs and focal lengths for long term retention.

You could of course propose a similar regime /cheaper cost per session with less expensive options. Personally though, I just just seem to like televue and until I cannot afford them I see no reason to change.

Blimey Shane 1-5 times a week, you got it good up Manchester ain't ya ?!? £200 @ £2 a session I'd still be paying for the bloody thing 2 years from now.  (couldn't find a fog one)

[Moonshane]

I am lucky I expect as I can use use the solar scope at lunchtimes.  Must be my reward for running space club.

Do I get 1-5 a week or miss 6-2 a week? Depends on mental approach I spose. 

[scarp15]

32 minutes ago, alanjgreen said:

i imagine TV prices will stay high while they are able to sell their target quantities, if sales drop then I imagine prices will too or discount weekends will become a regular occurrence.

Alan

Yes that is a possibility Alan as there have been two discount periods in a fairly short time frame.

Using an eyepiece between scopes also places value with a focal length that works among different instruments.