Paradigm Eyepieces

[John]

These look interesting:

1.25" 5mm 60 Degree Paradigm Dual ED Eyepiece on eBay (end time 11-Jan-10 08:41:29 GMT)

I've owned, and been impressed by, a few of the TMB / Burgess Planetary / TS Planetary HR eyepieces and I'd say these look remarkably like the same design in some "new clothing".

This review on Cloudynights was pretty positive as well:

First Look: Astro-Tech Paradigm Eyepieces - CN Report

They look a decent bet at £38.00 each delivered.

(I've no connection with the seller I ought to add !)

John

[Takahashi]

I bought a Paradigm 12mm a few months ago, but TBH I'm not happy with it. At first I thought there was a smudge on the optics, but no. Then I noticed the lower group had a loose element. This was not likely to be the cause of the fudgy optics (IMO), but it was however, too late to return to supplier. I don't have the tools required to dismantle the element itself, and can only separate the upper (anodised & rubber) and lower (chromed) sections. In all, not great, but YMMV.

[John]

Thanks for that feedback on your experience Ivor - sounds like poor quality control issues to me - very frustrating.

John

[Takahashi]

sounds like poor quality control issues to me

Indeed, John. Chances are I received a duff one, as I have read positive reports of these EP's here and elsewhere, hence my purchase at the time, but I'll be more wary in future should I be tempted by another.

EDIT : I just noticed the seller; "skies_unlimited"... the same fella I bought mine from.

[John]

Indeed, John. Chances are I received a duff one, as I have read positive reports of these EP's here and elsewhere, hence my purchase at the time, but I'll be more wary in future should I be tempted by another.

EDIT : I just noticed the seller; "skies_unlimited"... the same fella I bought mine from.

The guy that runs skies_unlimited (Alan I think his name is) is a nice chap and provides wonderful service in terms of quick delivery, good packaging, communication and all that good e.bay stuff but I don't believe he is an astronomer so not in any position to check stuff out QA-wise before despatch I guess. I'd imagine he would be concerned if he had an unhappy customer though and, I'd hope, would do something positive to help if he could. It might be worth sharing your concerns with him at least.

John

[Takahashi]

It wouldn't do any harm to try I suppose... on checking, it was the 9th of October I bought it, so it's well outside any reasonable return date, but I may contact him to see if he can help. Trouble is, the weather here has been so bad since last year, I've had it out for use only twice since I bought it, hence the recent discovery of the problem

Cheers,

Ivor.

[russ]

I bought an EQ2 motor from Alan last year. When it arrived the lead from the controller to the motor was broken. Alan replaced it asap, no quibble. Seems a very nice chap to deal with. Well worth mentioning your problem, he's not your usual Ebay seller who will hurle abuse.

Regards

[russ]

Just bought the 18mm. I saw these come up last time on Ebay in auction form and missed them all. Gone for what is supposed to be the best one in the range. That just so happens to be the weakest part of my low rent eyepiece collection. Excellent

Thanks John for providing the link.

[John]

Just bought the 18mm. I saw these come up last time on Ebay in auction form and missed them all. Gone for what is supposed to be the best one in the range. That just so happens to be the weakest part of my low rent eyepiece collection. Excellent

Thanks John for providing the link.

Looking forward to your thoughts on it Russ

John

[russ]

Hoping it won't struggle too much in the f6 newt but the f10 SCT shouldn't pose any problems. We'll see, looking forward to it though. If it's good, i'll pick up a second, probably the 12mm.

[stev74]

As you can see in my signature I own the 25mm version Astro-Tech 25mm 1.25" Paradigm Dual ED. I bought it from another SGL member and it arrived in 'as new' condition.

First impressions were good, it seemed well made and had a nice solid feel. I've only really had a chance to try it out twice because of the bad weather, once under darker skies. It had good eye relief as promised in the linked ad above and I liked the twist-up rubber eyecup and the views of M42, M33 and several open clusters were great.

Overall it compared really well to my Meade 5000 14mm EP in terms of feel, eye relief and FOV, but they are half the price. So to me they are worth a punt, I'll certianly consider buying more in the range (so thanks for the link John).

HTH