Another eyepiece question

[davekelley]

Hi guys

I have a 127 mak. I recently aquired a WO Binoviewer.  I now have 2x 16mm Nirvana ep's which gives me the impression of a very wide field and high power view.  So the moon almost fills the fov, meaning I get half a degree fov which in an 82deg ep = effectively about x155 (without barlow).  This means the 16mm is performing more like a 10mm ep.  The image though is a little bit soft I might add.  Now, I have a 24mm 68deg Hyperion and that seems to give a sharper brighter image and still a comfortable ep with good fov.  So my dilemma:  I was going to purchase 2x 25mm bst starguider eps to get a lower power view but I already have the hyperion.  I can buy another hyperion or the 2 starguiders for the same sort of money.  My issue with the hyperion is the weight!  (I'm using an azgti wifi).  I can't determine the weight of the starguiders, I have looked online and seen vastly different weights quoted for them!  Basically, I could have just asked does anyone have a 25mm bst and if so please what is the weight of the ep?   Any other thoughts welcome.  

I almost forgot, they binoviewer seems to feature individual focussing  holders but as far as I can tell, they do nothing?

Cheers

Dave

Edited April 13, 2020 by davekelley

[mikeDnight]

Hi Dave,

I've no idea about the eyepieces you mention, but I have plenty of experience with simpler designs in a binoviewer. The 24mm and 16.8mm Super Abbe Orthoscopics sold by 365 Astronomy are fantastic in a binoviewer. For lunar and planetary binoviewing they will give views equal to some of the finest single planetary eyepieces. And they aren't expensive!  

[John]

The BST Starguider 25mm weighs 180 grams. The 24mm Hyperion weighs 383 grams according to the Baader website. The Hyperion is quite a fat eyepiece (fatter than the BST Starguider) so getting your nose in between a pair might be an issue as well as the weight ?

 

 

[bingevader]

I seem to remember someone saying the Vixen plossls worked well in binoviewers?

I know they are well thought of generally.

The eye relief is 15mm, which might be a problem if you wear specs.

They're on offer on FLO atm, which is good seeing as you need two!

Could be another option.

[davekelley]

17 minutes ago, John said:

The BST Starguider 25mm weighs 180 grams. The 24mm Hyperion weighs 383 grams according to the Baader website. The Hyperion is quite a fat eyepiece (fatter than the BST Starguider) so getting your nose in between a pair might be an issue as well as the weight ?

 

That's great thanks.  Yes they are very chunky I did wonder about that.   It'd all just be overkill.

20 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Hi Dave,

I've no idea about the eyepieces you mention, but I have plenty of experience with simpler designs in a binoviewer. The 24mm and 16.8mm Super Abbe Orthoscopics sold by 365 Astronomy are fantastic in a binoviewer. For lunar and planetary binoviewing they will give views equal to some of the finest single planetary eyepieces. And they aren't expensive!  

Cheers I'll look into that.

 

 

[davekelley]

24 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Hi Dave,

I've no idea about the eyepieces you mention, but I have plenty of experience with simpler designs in a binoviewer. The 24mm and 16.8mm Super Abbe Orthoscopics sold by 365 Astronomy are fantastic in a binoviewer. For lunar and planetary binoviewing they will give views equal to some of the finest single planetary eyepieces. And they aren't expensive!  

That looks very interesting!  They don't seem to do the 24mm any longer though and that'd have been my 1st choice!  thanks

 

[Beardy30]

59 minutes ago, davekelley said:

Hi guys

I have a 127 mak. I recently aquired a WO Binoviewer.  I now have 2x 16mm Nirvana ep's which gives me the impression of a very wide field and high power view.  So the moon almost fills the fov, meaning I get half a degree fov which in an 82deg ep = effectively about x155 (without barlow).  This means the 16mm is performing more like a 10mm ep.  The image though is a little bit soft I might add.  Now, I have a 24mm 68deg Hyperion and that seems to give a sharper brighter image and still a comfortable ep with good fov.  So my dilemma:  I was going to purchase 2x 25mm bst starguider eps to get a lower power view but I already have the hyperion.  I can buy another hyperion or the 2 starguiders for the same sort of money.  My issue with the hyperion is the weight!  (I'm using an azgti wifi).  I can't determine the weight of the starguiders, I have looked online and seen vastly different weights quoted for them!  Basically, I could have just asked does anyone have a 25mm bst and if so please what is the weight of the ep?   Any other thoughts welcome.  

I almost forgot, they binoviewer seems to feature individual focussing  holders but as far as I can tell, they do nothing?

Cheers

Dave

Do you have the skywatcher or Celestron be interested to know your option on the 127 Mak ? 

[mikeDnight]

27 minutes ago, davekelley said:

That looks very interesting!  They don't seem to do the 24mm any longer though and that'd have been my 1st choice!  thanks

 

That's a shame. The longer focallength's seem to get snapped up quickly when available.

[Ricochet]

25mm Starguiders? I'd say go for it.  

Uncapped, my pair come in at 323g, so less than one Hyperion if @John's figure is correct. In a standard Chinese binoviewer they will vignette slightly, but that's not really an issue if your goal is to get as wide a FoV out of the binoviewer as possible. At f12 correction is absolutely fine and coatings are the same as the rest of the Starguider range, so you'll get some internal reflections on bright objects, but not noticeable on the moon in my experience (as it fills the FOV). 

[Louis D]

I just use a pair of 23mm Vite/Svbony aspheric 62 degree eyepieces in my binoviewer for widest field views without vignetting.  They're super light at 3 ounces per pair and very slim, so I can easily get my nose between them.  You can see how they perform at f/6 in my FOV image take through a 72ED in comparison to other eyepieces including the 25mm BST (Paradigm).  They perform extremely well at f/12+ natively binoviewed in the 127 Mak and at f/18 with my 3x nosepiece binoviewed in that 72ED.

[davekelley]

On 13/04/2020 at 11:40, mikeDnight said:

Hi Dave,

I've no idea about the eyepieces you mention, but I have plenty of experience with simpler designs in a binoviewer. The 24mm and 16.8mm Super Abbe Orthoscopics sold by 365 Astronomy are fantastic in a binoviewer. For lunar and planetary binoviewing they will give views equal to some of the finest single planetary eyepieces. And they aren't expensive!  

Thank you.  2 x 16.8mm super abbe ordered today.   If I like and I'm sure I will, I'll order the 24mm.  I'll then have to sell a 17mm Nirvanah and a 25mm starguider which will be surplus to requirements