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Starguiders/BST v TV Plossls

VoxVoxish

By VoxVoxish
in Discussions - Eyepieces

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Moonshane

Moonshane

Posted
Posted

Personally having had both, TV plossls every time. I find them superb. The BSTs are very very good for the money and more  comfortable with a wider field but from my perspective I just find the build quality and sharpness of the TV plossls as high as can be expected. They also binoview really well too (even the 8mm - I have pairs from 25mm to 8mm).

To get the same value for money, you'd need to buy the plossls used though which is my preference in general although I have bought a couple of them new.

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Paul73

Paul73

Posted
Posted

Both will work well in your scope. The BST's will be easier to use, more comfortable and give good views. If you want the last word in sharpness and don't mind sacrificing a bit on the field of view, it's the TV's every time.

Paul

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Chris

Chris

Posted
Posted

For casual observing in comfort, the BST's.

For teasing out every drop of planetary detail, or splitting the tightest doubles on nights of good seeing, TV Plossls or a good Ortho.

Seeing conditions will outweigh the difference between the above on most nights, but on good night's the sharper eyepieces will sing. 

 

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ronin

ronin

Posted
Posted

Suspect like John I have both and the TV are the sharper of the 2. The BST's are in some ways "easier" to live with.

I bought the TV's for myself to use, them picked up the BST's when they first appeared as a set for public evenings - didn't want peoples finger prints on the TV lens. Now I use the BST's just about all the time but equally most of the time there are people/public around. Observing is a bit less serious I suppose.

Both will be OK in your scope, assuming it is f/6.8 you should have no problems. It is not excessively fast, actually to my thinking about an ideal ratio.

The TV's have the standard aspect of eye relief, about 2/3 of the focal length, and they alsio stop at 8mm, so if you wanted say 5mm or 6mm you will have to get a seperate item of some variety to fill in. So either will likely keep you happy, but a set of both will keep you even happier. :icon_biggrin::icon_biggrin::icon_biggrin: Well that is how I look upon it.

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John

John

Posted
Posted

I've owned lots of TV's and some of the BST Explorers / Starguiders. I tend to agree with whats been posted above regarding the performance.

In terms of viewing comfort (not to be sniffed at !) the BST's are much easier to view through than the 11mm and 8mm TV plossls.

I briefly compared the 8mm BST Starguider (cost = £49 new) with my 8mm TV Ethos (cost £500+ new) at a star party a few years back and the actual views were surprisingly similar apart from the huge field of view of the Ethos.

You can do some great viewing with either I feel :thumbright:

 

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Floater

Floater

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, VoxVoxish said:

Many thanks folks. Just put an order in for 8mm, 15mm and 32mm. I can fill in the gaps later ?

Aw come on, Vox. Which?

The inclusion of 32mm suggests TV?

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Charic

Charic

Posted
Posted

I thought Tele Vue were the best, brand wise, maybe yes, but performance and comfort does not always need to cost the earth?

I found that Tele Vue Plössl's had too little eye-relief, and the shortest focal length is only 8mm, I may have needed shorter,  yet now I find my [GSO] Revelation Astro's work a treat, maybe due to the slightly wider field of view, as the eye-relief is still on the short side, especially if your needing glasses?

I also find this article intriguing simply to what the GSO's are being compared with? http://www.brayebrookobservatory.org/BrayObsWebSite/HOMEPAGE/PageMill_Resources/Comparison test of TVPlossl vs Brandon.pdf

 

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Louis D

Louis D

Posted
Posted
58 minutes ago, Charic said:

I thought Tele Vue were the best, brand wise, maybe yes, but performance and comfort does not always need to cost the earth?

I found that Tele Vue Plössl's had too little eye-relief, and the shortest focal length is only 8mm, I may have needed shorter,  yet now I find my [GSO] Revelation Astro's work a treat, maybe due to the slightly wider field of view, as the eye-relief is still on the short side, especially if your needing glasses?

I also find this article intriguing simply to what the GSO's are being compared with? http://www.brayebrookobservatory.org/BrayObsWebSite/HOMEPAGE/PageMill_Resources/Comparison test of TVPlossl vs Brandon.pdf

 

I'm still evaluating the set, but I've found the 9mm Meade HD-60 to be basically fully corrected at f/6 across the entire field.  I couldn't see any astigmatism or field curvature.  I haven't had a chance to come to any conclusions on scatter, ghosting, or overall contrast yet, but so far, I haven't seen any obvious faults.  The 6.5mm version seems similar, though possibly a step behind.  What I'm saying is that edge correction in these newer 60 degree eyepieces is definitely better than in plossls despite their wider apparent field of view.  This is very important in non-tracking scopes to give a longer dwell time to examine the object.

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Alan White

Alan White

Posted
Posted

Vox

Good choice but one but.

You may find the eye relief on the 32mm too long and need to hover your eye above the eyecup, I found this to be the case.
If you do, TV make an eye cup extender, which resolves this I am told, cost about an extra £33 or so.

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Louis D

Louis D

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, Alan White said:

Vox

Good choice but one but.

You may find the eye relief on the 32mm too long and need to hover your eye above the eyecup, I found this to be the case.
If you do, TV make an eye cup extender, which resolves this I am told, cost about an extra £33 or so.

Why is hovering an issue?  It's a necessity when wearing eyeglasses at the eyepiece due to astigmatism.  If you touch your eyeglass lens to the eyecup, you'll smudge them as often as not.

If you sit while observing and lightly touch your OTA or mount for stability, it's pretty easy to avoid bobbing your head about.  If you have to stand, try leaning against a reversed chair or use a household step stool with an upper safety bar to lean against.

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John

John

Posted
Posted

I found exactly the issue that Alan mentions with the TV 32mm plossl and invested in the TV eyecup extender to sort it out, which it did, very well.

"hovering" over the top of an eyepiece has 2 distinct disadvantages to me:

- stray light can get in between your face and the eyepiece / eyecup which can get onto the eyelens and cause unwanted reflections and loss of contrast

- it's not, for me, a relaxing way to observe

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alan potts

alan potts

Posted
Posted

A wise choice in my view, I have the short end of the range though I do find the 8mm a tad tight on ER, moreso than I do with ortho's even but I live with it, use them a fair bit considing how many eyepieces I have.

Alan

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