Antares 4mm Series2

[LDW1]

I am not a higher power observer but I decided to get a realatively low cost ep to use on the better nites to view the moon and planets. My research led me in the end to the 4mm Antares W70 Series2 for an excellent price. It has a 70° FOV and 12.5 er, I am hoping it will perform well, not perfect, in my f5.4-5.5-11.4 refractors as well as couple other of my scopes. I prefer this to barlowing my 9.5mm Morphius, again I am not a barlower even though I own several. Anyone have experience using that eyepiece ?  PS:  And its Canadian Made by Sky Instruments out of British Columbia !

Edited September 28, 2022 by LDW1

[Don Pensack]

3 hours ago, LDW1 said:

I am not a higher power observer but I decided to get a relatively low cost ep to use on the better nights to view the moon and planets. My research led me in the end to the 4mm Antares W70 Series2 for an excellent price. It has a 70° FOV and 12.5 er, I am hoping it will perform well, not perfect, in my f5.4-5.5-11.4 refractors as well as couple other of my scopes. I prefer this to Barlowing my 9mm Morpheus, again I am not a Barlower even though I own several. Anyone have experience using that eyepiece ?  PS:  And its Canadian Made by Sky Instruments out of British Columbia !

Sorry to disappoint, but the eyepiece is from China and sold by other companies as well, notably in the past by Bresser, Meade, Orion, et.al.

The Antares name on this one is merely a private label, though that is OK.  That doesn't mean anything other than that the eyepiece is not unique to Antares, nor made in Canada.

It's a 5 element eyepiece, so don't expect the outer 20° of field to be well corrected below f/6.  It stands a chance to being OK in the f/11.4 scope, though.

Keep us posted on your evaluation of how it works for you.

 

[LDW1]

2 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

Sorry to disappoint, but the eyepiece is from China and sold by other companies as well, notably in the past by Bresser, Meade, Orion, et.al.

The Antares name on this one is merely a private label, though that is OK.  That doesn't mean anything other than that the eyepiece is not unique to Antares, nor made in Canada.

It's a 5 element eyepiece, so don't expect the outer 20° of field to be well corrected below f/6.  It stands a chance to being OK in the f/11.4 scope, though.

Keep us posted on your evaluation of how it works for you.

 

Do some real research, it is Made in Canada ! Contact the maker and talk to them / him. You are still referencing the situation 15+ years go.

[LDW1]

2 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

Sorry to disappoint, but the eyepiece is from China and sold by other companies as well, notably in the past by Bresser, Meade, Orion, et.al.

The Antares name on this one is merely a private label, though that is OK.  That doesn't mean anything other than that the eyepiece is not unique to Antares, nor made in Canada.

It's a 5 element eyepiece, so don't expect the outer 20° of field to be well corrected below f/6.  It stands a chance to being OK in the f/11.4 scope, though.

Keep us posted on your evaluation of how it works for you.

 

If what you say is correct I will let all know, for $68 C I am not out a lot of time / money. I have an almost complete set of Morpheus eps but for the amount of time I view the moon / planets it makes no sense to buy the 4-4.5 Morpheus and thus my research and resulting purchase and solicitited experiences.

Edited September 28, 2022 by LDW1

[LDW1]

I received the ep today and anxious to try it out so under Bortle 4-5 mostly clear skies, 43°F, 75-78% humidity at 10pm I gave it a whirl in my 90mm, f5.5 gng refractor. The views of Jupiter, then the Andromeda G and then the Double Cluster showed it to be over powering for that scope. With Jupiter I even toned it down with a no 80A filter, a bit better but not good enough. I will continue to experiment with it under various and better conditions and scopes incl. comparing against my 6.5 Morpheus. It won't be the first time I have gifted, this is what I like, what I enjoy as much as the views. The experimenting but I am far from giving up ! Stay tuned, lol.

[LDW1]

Last nite I tried it under SQM-L 20.2-20.4 skies and 8°C temps with a steady, lite breeze. Using my NP101 I jumped back and forth using the new 4mm Antares and my 6.5 Morpheus at 6x the price.

Edited September 30, 2022 by LDW1

[LDW1]

Last night I tried the 4 under clear, close to Bortle 4 skize @ 9° C using my f3.9 reflector aimed at Jupiter, Andromeda etc. So far its not a very good viewer with those Bortle #'s maybe a bit better under the Bortle 1 skies I used to have at my disposal. Oh well I know one of my xmas / birthday gifts to give this year !  LOL !   PS:  Its only $68 C + ship / tax.

[TheLookingGlass]

On 28/09/2022 at 18:26, LDW1 said:

If what you say is correct I will let all know, for $68 C I am not out a lot of time / money. I have an almost complete set of Morpheus eps but for the amount of time I view the moon / planets it makes no sense to buy the 4-4.5 Morpheus and thus my research and resulting purchase and solicitited experiences.

A better move would have been buying a good barlow lens to use with your Baader Morpheus for higher powers on planets or the moon. I own the 12.5mm, 9mm and 6.5mm Baader Morpheus eyepieces and I bought a 2" Alstar / Orion barlow for that very purpose. It gives me a 2.2x magnification boost for all of the Morphs and is excellent. Only $88 CDN dollars and worth every penny. You still get great eye relief by using the Morphs + the barlow, it makes using only three excellent EP's into six excellent EP's instead of just one, (your 4mm Antares W70 Series 2), which also only has 12.5mm of eye relief, and isn't anywhere near as good as the Morphs. I actually bought another 2" Alstar barlow and I screwed the lens to a 2" 35mm extension tube, (magnifies 1.85x) and now the three Morphs are essentually 9 high quality eyepieces !!! Not only that, all are 78 and 79 deg AFOV.    WIN - WIN.

 

Quote

I prefer this to barlowing my 9.5mm Morpheus, again I am not a barlower even though I own several

I will never understand this comment. "I own XXX, but I never use it" ??? LOL. I've seen people mention this about filters as well
They own several, but never use them. Pointless to own something, but never use it lol. 

Anyways, here's the magnifications I get, and it only takes a few seconds to grab one of the barlows and add it in, if needed. This is the same one below: A friend of mine owns a 10" Zambuto. We used my Alstar 2" Barlow and his Delos eyepieces on Saturn at 640x and on Jupiter at about 420x and the views were still super crisp, although we did bump the mag down a bit on both for even sharper views.

https://www.amazon.ca/Astromania-High-quality-Telescope-Barlow-Telescopes/dp/B0140UAHM6/ref=sr_1_2?crid=36CF4689RZ97Z&keywords=2+inch+barlow&qid=1665580833&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIyLjI5IiwicXNhIjoiMi4xOSIsInFzcCI6IjEuOTIifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=2+inch+barlow%2Caps%2C119&sr=8-2

12.5mm Morpheus - 92x, 170x, 202x    (78 deg afov)
9mm Morpheus -     133x, 246x, 292x   (78 deg afov)
6.5mm Morpheus -  184x, 340x, 405x   (79 deg afov)

Just a suggestion....

 

 

Edited October 12, 2022 by TheLookingGlass

[LDW1]

15 minutes ago, TheLookingGlass said:

A better move would have been buying a good barlow lens to use with your Baader Morpheus for higher powers on planets or the moon. I own the 12.5mm, 9mm and 6.5mm Baader Morpheus eyepieces and I bought a 2" Alstar / Orion barlow for that very purpose. It gives me a 2.2x magnification boost for all of the Morphs and is excellent. Only $88 CDN dollars and worth every penny. You still get great eye relief by using the Morphs + the barlow, it makes using only three excellent EP's into six excellent EP's instead of just one, (your 4mm Antares W70 Series 2), which also only has 12.5mm of eye relief, and isn't anywhere near as good as the Morphs. I actually bought another 2" Alstar barlow and I screwed the lens to a 2" 35mm extension tube, (magnifies 1.85x) and now the three Morphs are essentually 9 high quality eyepieces !!! Not only that, all are 78 and 79 deg AFOV.    WIN - WIN.

12.5mm Morpheus - 92x, 170x, 202x    (78 deg afov)
9mm Morpheus -     133x, 246x, 292x   (78 deg afov)
6.5mm Morpheus -  184x, 340x, 405x   (79 deg afov)

 

 

You are correct, I have several barlows as backups but for me sometimes its the fun of the chase ! lol !

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, TheLookingGlass said:

Pointless to own something, but never use it lol. 

Try telling that to stamp, coin, memorabilia, etc. collectors.

You'd like Jay Leno since he keeps his extensive antique car collection running and drives them occasionally thanks to his top notch garage team.  However, he is very wealthy and can afford it.

[Louis D]

A bit off topic continuation (apologies to OP), but here goes:

I rarely use Barlows because of parfocality issues, long moment arm balance issues, exit pupil issues, and vignetting issues.  This despite the fact that I have five 1.25" Barlows, one 1.25" telecentric magnifier, two 2" Barlows, and a TV PBI.

I will tend to put the 2" GSO ED 2x Barlow and TV PBI into the focuser and leave them, simply observing for the rest of the night at 2x.  I find it fun to use my big glass at higher powers that way.

[TheLookingGlass]

5 hours ago, Louis D said:

Try telling that to stamp, coin, memorabilia, etc. collectors.

You'd like Jay Leno since he keeps his extensive antique car collection running and drives them occasionally thanks to his top notch garage team.  However, he is very wealthy and can afford it.

LOL. This isn't astro gear. BIG difference.

Quotes from different astro sites: "I own several barlows, but I never use them"  Seriously? Then sell them.
"I own moon filters, but I never use them" ....Pointless. Same as above. They sit and collect dust. Sell them then.
 

*smh*

Edited October 12, 2022 by TheLookingGlass