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5mm EP


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Don't be too disappointed if your first view doesn't show too much. If Mars is showing it's boring side there's really not much to see. But it should be a great eyepiece (and Saturn is rising fast now) based on how the others in the series perform.

Just hope you can grab one.

Russ

I had a look the other night with my 10mm that came with the scope and for the most part it was a glowy orange light but a couple timesI think the seeing cleared up for a few seconds and I glimpsed some dark patch near the bottom right (or would that be top-left, since my scope flips the image around? speaking of which, when describing things like that, should I just describe them how I see the mthrough my scope or should I account for the fact that it flips stuff?) and some white-ish bit on the top (or would that be bottom again hehe)

which I think was the ice cap?

thanks

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That sounds about right. On a good night you should see the polar cap clearly and also the main dark markings (depending on which side of Mars is facing us). With prolonged viewing other details should pop in and out of view as the seeing allows. Filters can help to improve the view by enhancing certain details (depending on the colour filter used) or just reduce the glare. And they are dirt cheap to buy (£5).

Russ

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  • 2 weeks later...

lol! Warthog. :p

I think I'll be going for one of those 32mm Skywatcher PanaView 2" EP's, but there's another one that they do that looks decent value, but I have had zero luck in finding any reviews on them, and that's the Skywatcher ExtraFlat?

As I understand it, there's not a lot of point going for a 2" EP below about 30mm, so the ExtraFlat look to be pretty useful to me - especially perhaps say the 16mm at 37.5x mag in a Startravel 120 F5? Plus with a 2x Barlow, it shoves the magnification up nicely at 75x (I now have a LER WA 5.2mm ED to tide me over - thanks Shane! - to take care of what I anticipate to be top magnification for me for a while at 115x, until I see how things turn out with the 'scope) .

I did notice with searching here that there were people going to do a review on these ExtraFlat, but only to be followed by silence on the subject.

I suppose it has to be asked, are they really that bad of an EP that the least said about them the better? :);)

I'm certainly now cautious about throwing any money at one, anyway, though they do seem to be an EP that if they do in fact function, could be capable of good things in the ST120.

eta: Ahhhhh! Good news! Just found on the supplier thread about Nirvana EP's, that FLO said the Skywatcher ExtraFlat work well in f5 'scopes! I'm now reassured. ;)

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I've read some reports on the Extra Flat 27mm and 19mm (marketed by Smart Astronomy in the USA) on the Cloudynights web site and the reviewers seemed quite impressed. Edge performance seems to go a bit downhill in scopes faster than F/6 but that's not unusual for eyepieces in this price range. The general view seems to be that they are a step up from a standard plossl in a number of ways and worth their purchase price.

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The Extraflats have a rather smaller field of view than the Panaviews. Also, I have only seen 1.25" Extraflats advertised. I think the Panaviews will suit your needs at the low magnification end better than the extraflats.

Going to e.g. 40mm only makes sense if you have an e.g. F/8 or F/10 scope, due to the increased size of the exit pupil in F/5 or F/6 scopes.

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lol! Warthog. ;)

As I understand it, there's not a lot of point going for a 2" EP below about 30mm, so the ExtraFlat look to be pretty useful to me

You may already know this, but the reason for going to a 2" ep is that the barrel size becomes the limiting factor to the AFOV at some point. For a 30mm, 1.25" ep, this is about 49º. My 24mm SWA has an AFOV of about 65º because at 24mm, that's all the AFOV a 1.25" ep can deliver. This is why the 82º Naglers and 100º Ethoses go to a 2" barrel at a shorter f/l than most eps do.

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Thanks guys. ;)

Yes, while I very much liked the sound of the 38mm Panaview, with some people very enthusiastic about it, I figured the 6.4mm exit pupil of the 32mm would probably work better with the ST120 - especially after reading in one thread that the 32mm performance is hot on the heels of that 38mm.

That 16mm ExtraFlat (with a 60' FOV) gives a 3.2mm exit pupil and pretty good eye relief (17mm), which seems in line with what I am after. Fingers crossed anyway.

Darned shame those Skywatcher Ultra Wide Angle (UWA) 2" Eyepieces aren't recommended for 'scopes faster than f6, as a 15mm might have been very interesting (the 30mm too for that matter).

With a 25mm EP coming with the 'scope (and I can borrow dads 40mm 1.25" Superplossl when he isn't looking), I might just go for the 16mm ExtraWide first.

Just trying to keep within what the 'scope will end up liking the most is the thing I suppose.

Thanks again! ;)

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ok well I had my first chance to try out the 5mm paradigm EP tonight on mars, at first I couldn't see anything even with my finderscope aligned perfectly it was just black, but I found mars eventually.

have I missed my chance to see mars when it's close to earth this year? because when I viewed it a few weeks ago in my 10mm EP, I could see a clear circular disc, with some detail, but now, in this 5mm EP, all I was seeing was an orange blob, I tried my 10mm EP and it was just a small orange 'star', so I guess it's moved too far away now? or am I doing something wrong.

the eyepeice itself.. well, how do I explain this, the end part where you look through seems to twist around, like some kind of in-built focuser, I wasn't sure what to do with it so I just tried slowly turning it all the way around to get mars in better focus but it didn't really change anything from what I could see.

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The twisty bit is for adjusting the eye relief. Just adjust it until your eye can comfortably take in the whole field but without touching the glass. Most people (me included) unwind half way.

Just had a look at Mars myself and unfortunately the boring side is towards us at the moment. Polar cap, plus a dark marking around it and another dark marking at the south. That was all i could see. Plus it's not the best of nights. Seeing is poor and transparency is poor too from my location.

Not the best view of Mars (tried with 3 scopes) and M42 was very tame indeed. Just weighing up whether to bother again tonight or just pack up.

Russ

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just to check I will be able to use the 2" panaview with my scope using the 2" eyepeice adapter that the scope came with?

edit: also does anyone know someplace else to get the 5mm Paradigm EP as it's sold out on ebay now and I can't find any more.

i use the 32mm panaview in my 10" dob and it's the mutts nuts.

you'll be really pleased you got the 2".

Jobe

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