Meade HD-60

[Skipjack]

Hi folks.

I bought the 25, 18 and 12 mm on a sale, but kind of regret this. The optics seem quite alright, but the rubber is really stiff even at room temperature. I don't even want to mention the way they feel in sub zero temperatures. It has to be really poor quality rubber. My gut tells me these will become quite brittle with time.

I believe they have been on the market for a good period of time, how do they test out in the long run?

Any long time owners here? 

[Louis D]

They must have changed the rubber formula, then.  The eye cups flip up and down quite easily on my set of 6 of them.

Up:

Down:

If you want to talk about stiff, the eye cups on my Astro-Tech AF70s can't be flipped at all.  I have to unscrew and remove them to use them with eyeglasses.  The 22mm version is second from the right below while the 18mm HD-60 is on the far left.

[Skipjack]

Wow Louis! That's quite a big collection. Impressive! 

And tnx fr yr reply. Yeah, perhaps they down graded the quality of the rubber. Sad though, but they are practical at the same - as they may work as can openers. 

[Louis D]

10 minutes ago, Skipjack said:

Wow Louis! That's quite a big collection. Impressive! 

That's just a small sample of my eyepiece collection.  Check this thread for more:

I've added couple more since this photo was taken.

[Skipjack]

Unbelievable Louis! Very nice indeed! A lot of money invested in your EP's. Favourites?

I only have a few as I have used my 12 and 25 mm (or is it 26 mm, age is taking its toll on my memory) Meade 4000 early version Japanese made, for the past 25 years of observations. Have nothing else to compare with, but they have been more than satisfactory (I read somewhere that they are even considered on par with Masuyama's?) 

Then I fell for some well (mis-)directed marketing and bought the HD-60's...

I should have gone for a good orthoscopic EP instead. Want one. What is your recommendation?

[Louis D]

Since I have such strong astigmatism in my eyes (2.0+ diopters), I need to wear eyeglasses even at 1mm exit pupils, so that rules out short focal length orthoscopics.  I did buy a 25mm Edscorp Abbe orthoscopic (volcano top) just to what they're like.  I didn't care for it at all.  It has terrible correction across the field in my fast scopes.  I even disassembled it, clean everything (not that hard, just a singlet and a triplet), and tried every combination of flipping each of the two elements (there's just 4 possibilities), but the way it was delivered yielded the best images, so it's just the design itself that can't handle fast scopes.  It does better in my 127 Mak at f/12, but that's a pretty limited application.

I prefer my Pentax XLs and XWs for short focal lengths.  Nice and sharp across the field with excellent contrast.

For critical planetary observing, I use my binoviewer with a pair of vintage microscope eyepieces adapted to 1.25" or a pair of Svbony UWA 20mm eyepieces.  I use the nosepiece of a vintage Meade 140 2x Barlow to reach focus, boost power by 3x, and to slow down the light cone to f/15 to f/18 so the eyepieces perform at their best.  I also have a pair of Celestron Regal 8-24mm zooms that I sometimes use, but they tend to make my BV rig quite heavy requiring rebalancing.

For long focal lengths at lower powers, I prefer 2" eyepieces.  My favorites are my 40mm Meade 5000 SWA decloaked, 30mm APM UFF, and 22mm Nagler Type 4.  In the mid range, I prefer my 17mm and 12mm Explore Scientific 92 degree eyepieces.  At high-mid power, I really like my 10mm Delos and 9mm Morpheus.  If I'm using 1.25" eyepieces only, I'll substitute my 12.5mm APM Hi-FW for the 12mm ES-92, 14mm Morpheus or Pentax XL for the 17mm ES-92, and 24mm APM UFF for the 22mm NT4.

[Mr Spock]

Fortunately I don't need eye correction, so my Circle-T orthoscopics are about as good as it gets for planetary. Especially now I use the 18mm, 12.5mm and 9mm with a TeleVue x2.5 Powermate - perfect combination!