First Look: Tele Vue TNVC Night Vision A-Focal Astronomy Adapter

[alanjgreen]

Today, I received my "Tele Vue TNVC Night Vision A-Focal Astronomy Adapter" direct from TNVC in USA.

I have got to say that it is a well made adapter and fits beautifully to any Televue eyepiece that accepts Dioptrx

Here are some initial pictures. The adapter is in two parts. The larger "plate" is first attached to PVS-14 Night Vision Monoculars (I don't own these yet)

Then the outer ring is "loosely" attached

Remove the rubber eye guard from any Dioptrx accepting Televue eyepiece (i.e. 35mm Panoptic pictured)

Fit the TNVC adapter over the top and tighten the outer ring until tight

Very impressive

The only downside is getting hit for £23 by Customs & Excise on the way in

Alan

[Highburymark]

Good to have another night vision pioneer on SGL Alan. Having picked up from other threads that you already have dark skies and a large dob, then the mind boggles wondering what you might see with an NVD. Are you using the same supplier in Luxembourg as Gavin? Will be interested in your findings.

[alanjgreen]

My aim is to be up and running by September. I am just starting to accumulate the bits and bobs that I need to get going...

I have done some research on eyepieces and NV tubes as well.

I have added the 35mm Panoptic to my set as it has decent eye relief of 24mm (effective eye relief 21 or 22mm) and it's not too big or heavy (it will give me x60 magnification at f3.1 f-ratio) and same tfov as my ethos 13 (remembering NV is only 40 degree fov) when used in big dob. I will also be using it in my Borg89 where I will get x18 and f5.

- 20mm eye relief needed ideally although slightly more or less just gets the same effect as your eye being too close/far = edge issues, decided on the Panoptic as the NV won't be using the edge of field anyway).

- As the adapter needed importing then decided to get one in early. Had to pay via bank transfer so hit for bank and customs fees double whammy !

Gavin used Actinblack and they do seem to be the best supplier of the monocular I can find.

I have done some tube research and the L3 filmless gen3 seems the best tube but is not available outside USA. Harder digital make a range of gen3 tubes but none are filmless. Photonis make a "4g Intens" tube that is an evolved gen2 tube that seems the best bet (Gavin has this one), so I just need to save up...

Alan

[Highburymark]

I'm a long way from deciding whether to invest in a NV set up - apart from the money, I have to be convinced whether it would be a worthwhile investment for a city dweller whose largest scope is a 4" Tak. But I'd come to same conclusions about which gear to get - actinblack and Photonis 4G seem to be the best option within Europe. Good luck with your plans.

[GavStar]

On 11/03/2018 at 13:11, Highburymark said:

I'm a long way from deciding whether to invest in a NV set up - apart from the money, I have to be convinced whether it would be a worthwhile investment for a city dweller whose largest scope is a 4" Tak. But I'd come to same conclusions about which gear to get - actinblack and Photonis 4G seem to be the best option within Europe. Good luck with your plans.

Mark,

I think NV is most useful for us that live in light polluted areas. It really has expanded the objects that I can see from London. However, given the cost, it is a big step to take. I’ve used my NV monoculars with my 4 inch Tak and it’s works very well in my option - horsehead etc nicely visible. I’d be very happy to show you sometime? My fellow astro club members have seen it in action and been quite impressed ?

Regarding equipment, I took a punt and it seems I stumbled on a good European setup which a year ago wouldn’t have been available. I think I was a bit lucky ? 

Gavin

[Stu]

1 hour ago, GavStar said:

My fellow astro club members have seen it in action and been quite impressed ?

Oh yes, just a bit  

[Paul73]

£23 for customs!!! 

Thought that it was Aluminium going the other way that was getting the punitive tariffs!!!!!

Not for the first time, I’m wondering how hard it would be to make these type of simple adaptors.

Paul

[Stu]

5 minutes ago, Paul73 said:

£23 for customs!!! 

Thought that it was Aluminium going the other way that was getting the punitive tariffs!!!!!

Not for the first time, I’m wondering how hard it would be to make these type of simple adaptors.

Paul

I guess they are very low volume so not very cost effective to make? FLO do have their adaptor service still I think

[alanjgreen]

1 hour ago, Paul73 said:

£23 for customs!!! 

Thought that it was Aluminium going the other way that was getting the punitive tariffs!!!!!

Not for the first time, I’m wondering how hard it would be to make these type of simple adaptors.

Paul

It's really quite neat the way it locks up into the dioptrx thread from underneath. Sort of reverse tightening.

[alanjgreen]

As the good weather appears to have ended, I now have time to add the "missing" photos of the TNVC adapter actually connecting the PVS-14 NVD to some TeleVue eyepieces...

PVS-14 with half the connector screwed into objective

PVS-14 with second half of the connector loosely attached (ready for eyepiece)

TNVC adapter connecting PVS-14 to a Panoptic 35mm

TNVC adapter connecting PVS-14 to a Plossl 55mm

Here is a article on how afocal works

HTH, Alan