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Speers Waler 5-8mm variable (zoom) UWA arrives


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A rather large shoe box arrived today..that's funny, I had my new walking shoes delivered just yesterday??

Hang on, it's not a new box, it's an old one, and it contained a rather large eyepiece...

I've shown it next to two of my Carton Japan "normal" eyepieces..it's a Large Unit!!😱😱

I've almost stopped buying eyepieces in the past 12 months, but once in a while something pops up that is hard to resist -and this was one of those things!

I've read very good things about these Speers Waler variable power EPs..not a zoom in the strict sense of the word, but certainly offers large (80 deg+) fov at each magnification (7 steps from 5mm to 8mm in half mm increments), but some refocusing is needed between steps. The photos show it "closed" at 8mm and "open" at 5mm!

Its a 1.25" eyepiece and looks to be well made and in excellent used condition. I believe it's around 14 years old and I bought it from the original owner.

There are a number of reviews and discussions on the net, mostly on Cloudy Nights. This one, by David Kniseley is quite interesting: https://www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/user-reviews/eyepieces/zooms/antares-5-8mm-speers-waler-eyepiece-r326

One of my favourite astro pastimes is observing double stars. Lately I've been using a very good Baader Hyperion 2.25x barlow with my Carton 7-21mm zoom and my Carton Gen 10.5mm plossl.

These eyepieces  combine really well together, but the maximum power I can get in my FS128 is about 333x, using the 7mm setting on the Carton zoom with the Baader Barlow. Last night, using this very combination in very steady skies, I had a wonderful view of Izar in Bootes at x333. A lot of black sky between the primary and it's fainter companion, and sharp as a razor.

My scope can definitely take more power, it just needs the right skies, so I felt that the Speers Waler could fit the bill, based on some very good reviews. In conjunction with the Baader Barlow, the SW 5-8mm will deliver x290 to x468 magnifications, so should complement the Carton 7-21mm zoom nicely. Also, my scope's 2.7" focuser is quite robust, and can handle the size of the big SW without issues.                                            I'll post more after first light 😉

Dave

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Thanks John 👍.

I hope to get a session maybe early next week, once the moon is out of the way, to try some tightish (sub 5") pairs. 

I'm also keen to take a look at M13 and M92 globulars as I usually find these respond quite well to high magnifications as well.

I must say, the SW is a big beast at 5mm though!..probably nearly 7 inches or so in height/length!

Dave

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3 hours ago, John said:

I'll look forward to your feed back on the SW "variable" Dave :smiley:

The ONLY 80 degree variable / zoom around as far as I'm aware.

 

Technically, there is also the 8.5-12mm Speers-Waler Zoom Eyepiece.  Here is David Knisely's review of it.

I have had the original 5-8mm for about 20 years since new.  It is very sharp across the field, but it is pretty tight on eye relief for an eyeglass wearer.  My eye astigmatism doesn't clean up until close to the 5mm end, so it's more of a variable plossl to me.

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21 hours ago, John said:

As a variable FL eyepiece (rather than a zoom) I guess it uses a similar concept to the Baader Fine Tuning rings, but, er, variable ?

 

I think so John (I've never used FTR's), but since the bottom, black part of the eyepiece extends outwardly from the main body of the eyepiece, thus physically lengthening the distance from the upper lens set to the bottom set, I assume the principal is the same as with using FTRs? It's very like the push-pull action of an old style brass ships' telescope. No helical motion involved, but the push and pull motions are smooth and precise.

It does mean that some refocusing is needed between each of the 0.50mm increments, but this is quite minor and not in any way an issue for me. The height of the "stack" plus Barlow is quite a sight though!

I couldn't resist putting the SW into the scope about an hour ago, to look at my local test target, our village church tower, about 150m away. At the 5mm setting (x208) the image was excellent: bright, very sharp, and WIDE - I could barely see the field stop with my eye pressed right in to the (comfortable) eyecup.

Encouraged by this, I then threaded in the Baader x2.25 Hyperion barlow to the Speers, and had to add in about 50mm of extended length in order to get focus. I also added into the optical train my Baader microfocusing eyepiece holder. The image remained totally sharp at every setting from 8mm right through to 5mm.. that's a range of high power magnifications from x292 through to x468!

At that point a pair of our resident jackdaws landed on the tower I was looking at, and I got a great view of the pair of them, very clear, right out to the very edge of the c80 degree field. The detail on their feet and claws was excellent, and "snap" focusing at this power was much aided by the Baader microfocuser which allows up to 5mm of very fine helical focusing range.

Clearly, the real test of this new eyepiece will be some night sky viewing, but I am very encouraged by the views in this short late daylight test, and am very much looking forward to targetting some properly close doubles!:thumbsup:

Dave

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I have the original version in all black with the winged eye cup.  It has no detents and just a friction thumbscrew to hold it at various settings.  Your later version seems so much more refined.  Below are images at the 5mm and 8mm settings:

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I had the opportunity to have a quick look with my newly acquired Antares Speers Waler Variable UWA eyepiece last night.

After a long and somewhat trying day yesterday, culminating (no pun intended!) with having to try to get us an online grocery delivery slot (I finally succeeded just after midnight), I went outside to do my normal security check of locks, gates etc. 

As soon as I got outside I realised what a beautiful clear night it was.. I mean, startlingly clear! By now it was c 12.25am so the summer triangle was rising nicely to the east, and Bootes, led by Arcturus was pretty much due south. 

Unlike last week, when my last views of the night sky were heavily limited by the near Full Moon, and the very outline of Bootes was very hard to make out, this time the constellation stood out very clearly with many fainter stars directly visible in and around the main asterism.

Although I felt my bed calling (do you, like me, often wish you could just "bank" those ultra-clear nights for use later when you really feel ready for a good session, as you just feel so tired, or have work the next day?), I felt I just had to take a short peek with the new SW "zoom" - you know how it is when you have a new (to you) piece of kit that you really want to check out🥴😉!

So I put on a warm jacket (it was very chilly for May) and got the FS128 out, did a quick visual alignment on Polaris, and grabbed a couple of eyepieces and the big zoom..

I knew exactly what I was going to look at..Izar, Pulcherrima, Epsilon Bootis (take your pick of name, my own favourite is Izar)..

I first lined up my Carton Gen 65 degree10.5mm, one of my favourite eyepieces these days, and was delighted to see immediately a lovely, clean split of Izar, at x99 magnification, with the pale blue companion sitting just close to the first diffraction ring of the yellowish primary at 11o'clock orientation (changed from the last sessions' c1 o'clock due to this being a later night session). Seeing was good to very good.

This Carton eyepiece is a cracker, and when I had to sell my beloved Pentax XL 10.5mm amongst some other nice EPs last year, I had a prolonged comparison session between the two on Orion etc: apart from the eye relief being only 10mm vs the 20mm of the Pentax, I really couldn't tell them apart optically, so it was no real hardship to let the Pentax go.

Next, I went straight in with the Antares, at the shortest (8mm) setting, giving 130x. WOW!! The image, apart from being more highly magnified, looked pretty much identical to the view offered up by the Carton..but the field of view seemed huge vs the Carton! And the Carton is itself 65 degrees, so a very nice field in itself.

I had to push my eye well up against the SWs soft rubber eyecup to see the edge stop of the field, and it really was one of those "spacewalk" views.

The zoom has half millimetre increments from 8mm (shortest eyepiece length) to 5mm, giving the following magnifications in my FS128:
8.0mm = 130x
7.5mm = 138x
7.0mm = 148x
6.5mm = 160x
6.0mm = 173x
5.5mm = 189x
5.0mm = 208x

Pushing up to the maximum 5mm setting, at just over 200x, the view just remained pin sharp, with no more scatter than the Carton, and perhaps most impressively, sharp from the centre right across the very large field to within c 5% of the field edge. 

In other words, approximately 90%of the visible field presents a well defined, crisp image. Assuming an 80 degree field of view (and this is at F8), I am seeing an approximately 72 degree perfectly sharp and well defined field of view - in a zoom eyepiece!

The outer 5% of the field does go somewhat mushy, with a bit of lateral colour/CA, but truth be told I had to press right into the eyecup to actually see this at all.

I did also try the zoom with both a 1.6x Barlow nosepiece and my Baader Hyperion zoom Barlow (2.25x) and got a very nice image at all options, right up to the maximum 468x! However, I felt that the very best mix of clarity, contrast and presentation came at 292x (8mm zoom setting with x 2.25" barlow) and 333x (5mm zoom setting with 1.6x Barlow).

I viewed only this one object, for a total of c 55 minutes, trying out various permutations of magnification. I saw enough to be quite excited about this new eyepiece and it's potential. It's going to be great fun this year, checking how it performs on the Moon, Planets and globulars!

I'll add a few pictures of the zoom in situ shortly..

A "Keeper" addition to my small collection👍😊

Thanks for reading.
Dave
 

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Edited by F15Rules
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looks rubbish Dave, best get rid. £150 cash 😉

seriously, looks and seems a great chunk of glass. Great FOV and super range in the zoom.

I had not heard of this ep until I spotted this thread. I currently have a powermate to fill much of my higher power viewing with the nikons, one of these on offer would certainly make me consider relinquishing the powermate.

Steve

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The 8-5 zoom is almost mythical in its reputation - there is nothing quite like it. I was so disappointed when these went out of production. At least I have the Speer WALER 10 mm - it's been the only constant in my small eyepiece collection. 

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