Which Tele Vue eyepieces are best for me?

[Matt01]

Hello SGL,

I am soon to take delivery of my 10" f5 dob. It comes with a basic 25mm plossl and I have bought another very basic 10mm plossl to help me get off the ground. However in the long term, I would ideally like to have a small collection of green and black beauties. (By small I mean 4 or 5) Themain reason for this is that I have got used to very good optics with my EL 42's.

As I am new to the equipment side of visual astronomy, I really am not sure which focal lengths and which lines to choose from. My initial thoughts were a mixture of DeLite, Delos and Plossl. My budget is £1000 spread over the course of the next 6-8 months. If anyone thinks I could bump my budget up slightly to be able to include anything better then feel free to say.

To add, my targets of choice are pretty much anything in the sky that isn't the sun. (I'm not limited to planets or dso's.)

Another point is that I hope to observe mars at opposition so a shorter focal length eyepiece is first on my list.

Many thanks in advance

Matt

[Rob_UK_SE]

Tele Vue eyepieces certainly have some sort of ‘lure’ about them, but I wouldn’t discount some of the excellent offerings from other manufacturers such as the Explore Scientific LER 92, Pentax XW, Baader Morpheus and APM (100s, etc.), to mention a few.

If green and black is your preferred route (they are lovely eyepieces), I would recommend that you base your preferences on the preferred field of view. Plossls have the narrowest FOV at 50 degrees, Delites are 62 degrees and Delos add a further 10 degrees. Ethos opens up a whole can of worms! Of the three you mentioned, the Delos are probably the most suited to your dob due to their 72 degree field of view. I would certainly recommend the 14mm and 8mm focal lengths as being ideally suited to your scope. The 8mm is well suited to the low position of Jupiter and Saturn for the next 12 months too. Mars can be tricky and is very dependent on seeing conditions and whether there are dust storms on the surface. Hopefully October will treat us to some good seeing this year. For wider field views, I would recommend a 22mm Nagler as it also has excellent eye relief as well as an 82 degree FOV. These three would be a good workhorse set and could be expanded to include a 10mm, 6mm and 4.5mm should you wish for closer steps and/or greater magnification in the future.

Edited August 30, 2020 by Rob_UK_SE

[Timebandit]

 

 

Hello. I would opt for the Delos range out those you mention. A good fov on these which is handy when nudging the dob mount, and good eye relief which is always a positive for comfort of viewing. The optical ability of these eyepieces are also up there with the best. The Delos would be my choice out of those mentioned. But also don't forget the Pentax XW range which are very good and similar and cheaper. If you are not in a rush to build a set ,then keep a look out on the used market. You could save a considerable sum of money buying used.

 

 

 

[Space Hopper]

I can recommend you spread your budget out, and look for second hand Tv's.

Plenty of bargains out there, and with Tv, being expensive, most users really look after them and treat them carefully.

I've brought plenty of used Tv and most are as good as new.

Quality eyepieces that will hold their value too.

If i had to suggest three, i'd go N31, E13, E8. And possibly add a 2" Powermate in there too.

[Ruud]

I suggest you buy at least one Morpheus: the 17.5mm. It beats Delos.

Don't forget that a parabolic mirrors produces coma which becomes more obvious with increasing afov (apparent field of view of the eyepiece). Invest in a coma corrector if you want 80°-plus views and not see any coma.

[heliumstar]

Here's an idea if you insist on Tele Vue (under your £1000 budget):

24mm Panoptic

13mm Nagler

2.5x Powermate

With these three you'll have a nice range of magnifications - aprox. 50x, 100x, 130x, 215x.

Edited August 30, 2020 by heliumstar

[Ken82]

3 hours ago, Rob_UK_SE said:

Tele Vue eyepieces certainly have some sort of ‘lure’ about them, but I wouldn’t discount some of the excellent offerings from other manufacturers such as the Explore Scientific LER 92, Pentax XW, Baader Morpheus and APM (100s, etc.), to mention a few.

If green and black is your preferred route (they are lovely eyepieces), I would recommend that you base your preferences on the preferred field of view. Plossls have the narrowest FOV at 50 degrees, Delites are 62 degrees and Delos add a further 10 degrees. Ethos opens up a whole can of worms! Of the three you mentioned, the Delos are probably the most suited to your dob due to their 72 degree field of view. I would certainly recommend the 14mm and 8mm focal lengths as being ideally suited to your scope. The 8mm is well suited to the low position of Jupiter and Saturn for the next 12 months too. Mars can be tricky and is very dependent on seeing conditions and whether there are dust storms on the surface. Hopefully October will treat us to some good seeing this year. For wider field views, I would recommend a 22mm Nagler as it also has excellent eye relief as well as an 82 degree FOV. These three would be a good workhorse set and could be expanded to include a 10mm, 6mm and 4.5mm should you wish for closer steps and/or greater magnification in the future.

I was also looking to change my eyepieces for my 10” f5 dob. 
 

Would the ethos not be ok if using a paracorr ? 
 

what’s the can of worms ?

thanks 

[jetstream]

20mm APM 100 deg,13mm Ethos or a 12mm Delos and some Delites for planetary. Also a Televue OIII, the new one.

[Rob_UK_SE]

1 hour ago, Ken82 said:

I was also looking to change my eyepieces for my 10” f5 dob. 
 

Would the ethos not be ok if using a paracorr ? 
 

what’s the can of worms ?

thanks 

Given your scope requires frequent nudges instead of having tracking, the Ethos range would provide a much wider field of view. The benefit of this is less time nudging and more time observing as well as being able to frame objects at higher magnifications. 😀 In turn, as you increase magnification (while still suitably framing DSOs) you also darken the sky background - thus improving contrast. The Ethos range, due to their 100 degree FOV, can also make it easier to find objects in the night’s sky.  As long as you are ok with the 15mm eye relief, the views through Ethos are unparalleled... however, they are also much more expensive than Delos / Delite and, in my opinion, become rather addictive too (hence the ‘can of worms’ comment)! Ethos optical performance is very similar to Delos with, perhaps, slightly improved transmission in some of the Delos range when galaxy hunting. I have settled on a set of 21/13/8/6 Ethos, but it has taken me a long time to get there and I will echo what has already been said about trying to purchase second hand.

If you are looking for the ‘ultimate’ Tele Vue set for your scope (assuming that you are observing from rural or only moderately light polluted skies) then I would recommend the 22mm Nagler, 13mm Ethos (simply stunning) as well as 8mm and 6mm Delos or Ethos. This is based on a focal ratio of f5. Whether or not to use a paracorr is very a personal preference. I don’t use one at f5 and only really notice coma at longer focal lengths, but others may find it much more objectionable at this focal ratio.  The 22mm Nagler could be substituted for a 21mm Ethos, but they have become hugely expensive and the 22mm is just so comfortable to use as well as being very immersive too. The 13mm Ethos is a true work horse eyepiece and could very well be the only eyepiece you use for much of an evening’s views. If you were looking to buy just one to start, I would go for the 13mm Ethos. The 8mm and 6mm Delos are superb and, if I was starting my set again, may very well have found a home in my eyepiece case. I quite often look through Delos eyepieces when observing through a fellow astronomer’s set and scope. I am always impressed by the views they present.

Edited August 30, 2020 by Rob_UK_SE

[scarp15]

Other considerations, at lower power; occasionally a used 20mm Nagler T5 may be listed on AB&S. No longer I dont think available new, I formally had this and the 26mm T5 prior to an Ethos 21mm. Both are excellent eyepieces in terms of eye placement, contrast, transmission and very sharp starfields. Will not forget the very first time I encountered the Bubble Nebula, by chance in the 26mm T5 and then 12" skywatcher flex tube dob. At F5, the 20mm will produce a 4mm exit pupil, 26mm a larger 5.2mm exit pupil (beneficial in dark skies). Another consideration would be a 27mm Panoptic, also an excellent eyepiece 5.4mm exit pupil.

[John]

This is the set that I use with my 12 inch F/5.3 dobsonian. I don't use a coma corrector. The 40mm does not get much use to be honest. The 17mm is an ES 92 degrees. Not a focal length that I use a lot so I don't have an Ethos in there any more:

 

 

For my refractors I have this set which has a Delos / Pentax XW run at it's heart, plus some others to "bookend" those:

 

 

For someone new to observing I think the ~70 degree Delos / Pentax XW's are probably the easiest and most comfortable to use.

It's taken me quite a few years and more than a few other eyepieces including many of the Tele Vue's to arrive at these and I'm very happy with them.

Not perfect of course but they will do me

[Louis D]

You never mention if you need to wear eyeglasses with your EL 42s due to astigmatism in your eyes.  If you do, this becomes an important consideration when purchasing eyepieces that operate at larger exit pupils.  They will need to have enough eye relief so you can still see the entire field while wearing eyeglasses.  There is an alternative called Dioptrx from Tele Vue, but it doesn't fit on all eyepieces, nor do all eyepieces have enough eye relief for it to be used successfully.

[Matt01]

Thanks ALL for the helpful replies.

On the topic of whether to go with something cheaper. I'm afraid I have let myself fall too deep into the 'set you heart on something expensive' trap. TeleVue have really hit the spot as far as the desirability of their brand goes. 

I will now commence the daily slog of checking the classifieds for someone selling one of these beauties. I will also put out a wanted post in the hope that someone is already thinking of selling up.

The general consensus seems to be to go with a 22 Nagler, a 13 Ethos/14 Delos and an 8/6 Delos/Ethos. Based on the regularity that these have been sold on here, I estimate that it will take a rather long time to get there. Here's to hoping someone is randomly just about to sell just what I want... Any tips from those with experience buying TV's second hand?

Thanks again

Matt

[Matt01]

29 minutes ago, Louis D said:

You never mention if you need to wear eyeglasses with your EL 42s due to astigmatism in your eyes.  If you do, this becomes an important consideration when purchasing eyepieces that operate at larger exit pupils.  They will need to have enough eye relief so you can still see the entire field while wearing eyeglasses.  There is an alternative called Dioptrx from Tele Vue, but it doesn't fit on all eyepieces, nor do all eyepieces have enough eye relief for it to be used successfully.

Hello Louis 

I am lucky enough to still have 20 20 vision

So unless they do correctors for perfect eyesight...

[John]

26 minutes ago, Matt01 said:

...... Any tips from those with experience buying TV's second hand?

If you see something you are looking for at around the right price ....... don't hang around !

 

[Tim]

5 hours ago, John said:

This is the set that I use with my 12 inch F/5.3 dobsonian. I don't use a coma corrector. The 40mm does not get much use to be honest. The 17mm is an ES 92 degrees. Not a focal length that I use a lot so I don't have an Ethos in there any more:

 

 

For my refractors I have this set which has a Delos / Pentax XW run at it's heart, plus some others to "bookend" those:

 

 

For someone new to observing I think the ~70 degree Delos / Pentax XW's are probably the easiest and most comfortable to use.

It's taken me quite a few years and more than a few other eyepieces including many of the Tele Vue's to arrive at these and I'm very happy with them.

Not perfect of course but they will do me

Lovely sets John, like you I find the Delos EP's very comfortable to use and have a couple in my limited set. Do you exclusively use the refractor set with your refractors though? Every now and again I really enjoy the wide open view of my 21mm Ethos in a nice refractor, even in the local skies. My only wish for the Ethos EP's I have is that the 13mm would take a 2" filter to save faffing about attaching filters to my Paracorr. Could always get a filter tray I suppose.

Tim

[RT65CB-SWL]

Just a small selection of my TeleVue collection... a.k.a. "one-to-many TeleVue 13mm e/p's"... as per my SGL signature.

left:  'smoothside' Plossl - centre: Nagler type 1 - right: Nagler type 6

The other TV's in my collection are:

• 8mm Plossl
• 15mm Plossl
• 6mm Radian + optional 2" afocal adapter minus adaper/collar which came in three different camera thread diameters except T-ring.
  note: the 'Radian's' have been superseded by the 'Delite' series.
• 3-6mm Nagler zoom

Plus a few interlopers via AstroBoot, Circle-T, Meade and a few others.

[globular]

38 minutes ago, Tim said:

My only wish for the Ethos EP's I have is that the 13mm would take a 2" filter

You can add a 2” nose extension which allows the addition of 2” filters without further adapters or faffing. Looking at John’s photo it looks like he has done this himself.

Edited August 30, 2020 by globular

[discardedastro]

1 hour ago, Matt01 said:

 

The general consensus seems to be to go with a 22 Nagler, a 13 Ethos/14 Delos and an 8/6 Delos/Ethos. Based on the regularity that these have been sold on here, I estimate that it will take a rather long time to get there. Here's to hoping someone is randomly just about to sell just what I want... Any tips from those with experience buying TV's second hand?

Definitely the way to go if the right thing turns up. TV hold their resale value quite well, though, and most owners know this - so don't expect a huge drop in price. And of course, once you have them, look after them well - if I know one thing in this hobby it's that you'll always want to do something different after a while! The TV kit will last very well, of course, if you want to hang onto it instead of reselling.

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, Matt01 said:

Hello Louis 

I am lucky enough to still have 20 20 vision

So unless they do correctors for perfect eyesight...

Well, technically, 20/20 only refers to distance correction.  You're neither near nor far sighted.  You could still have undiagnosed astigmatism that you would only notice when viewing bright stars because they are THE acid test of eyesight, telescopes, and eyepieces.  Only when all elements in the optical chain are well corrected will you see nice tiny pinpricks of light across the field.