Thoughts on the Meade 4000 series EP & Filter set ??

[johnkirkpatrick]

As the title says really. any thoughts would be good to hear. They would be used with a SW EXPLORER 200P....

[blinky]

I think they would be fine - I used to own quite a few of them. I especially liked the 15mm UW Series 4000. I think for the money they are pretty decent. Obviously not up to the same standards as premium EP's but then you are not expecting that at this price.

[great_bear]

Bear in mind that with (insignificant) build differences the eyepieces themselves are the same eyepieces as in the Revelation kit, but with "Meade" printed on them. So the difference between the kits is that in the Meade kit you get a 40mm Plossl instead of the 20mm one, and the filter selection may be different. The only significant difference is that the Barlow lens is a completely different one.

Oh - and of course the Meade one costs twice the price

[blinky]

And... the Meade 40mm EP is **** - like looking through a little tube!

[shaunster]

Better to buy a selection of mid range eyepeices rather than a set which will have some you wont use in it IMO

[johnkirkpatrick]

What about the 5000 series super plossl set, @ £320??

I just want a set to last me till i can save up for the WO UWANS, once finished doing my house up, which is why am looking for a set rather than individual eps, and a set which will see to all visual needs, they would have to do me for a year at least ;(

[Moonshane]

I don't know this set either but you could buy a whole set of filters from Astroboot, a really good value Barlow and about five TMB Planetary's or Paradigm/Explorers for about £250 (is that what this set costs??).

Personally I'd not buy the set.

As a TV addict I'd recommend used Radians (which you'd get less of) or if you don't mind tighter eye relief used TV plossls which you'd get more of. Again (used) you could get two Radians and a good barlow. Or maybe four TV plossls and a good barlow for the same money and cover the same sort of range but with better quality that will last a lifetime and work with all scopes, fast or slow. I'd suggest you go for one TV eyepiece to try it and you'll be hooked for sure. That's just me though

[pbyrne]

Buy Televues, you will eventually.

I would recommend a 32mm Televue Plossl, 18mm Radian and 14mm Radian. With a barlow you get 7mm, 9mm, 14mm, 16mm, 18mm and 32mm focal lengths, more than you will ever need.

Check out the second hand sales like astrobuysell where they come up for sale on a regular basis. Also they will retain their worth if you want to sell them on.

Try to resist.

[kniclander]

if you particularly want 4000s they come up all the time 2nd hand for about 15-25 each. i should know, i now own eleven of them at the last count (trying to find matching pairs for binoviewing).

ps -some might come up for sale quite soon

[part timer]

I'd avoid buying the meade 4000's new as they are way overpriced. Very average eyepieces at much higher than average prices.

I'd avoid a set in general as you will end up paying for stuff you just don't need.

The 5000's get good reviews.

In the end though, in my experience, there is just no point getting 'intermeadiate' eyepieces. it's just money wasted. Better get one or two televue eyepieces and just add to them when you have the chance.

I honestly think it will give you more satisfaction now and you will never need to upgrade later. You will use the eyepiece and never need to wonder if the view would better in another EP.

just my opinion of course but I've gone through a lot of eyepieces and wasted a lot of money. I wish I'd just spent a bit more on televues in the fist place.

[great_bear]

I would recommend a 32mm Televue Plossl

No!

Not for this scope! A 32mm Plossl gives too low magnification, too large an exit-pupil, and (depending on the design) may give too much eye-relief. It might be handy to have one in the box in the long run, but it should really only be a purchase when there aren't more important things to buy.

[great_bear]

John, there's something you should know about UWANS.

You need less of them. I thought that was nonsense when I first heard it, but it's true. Their field-of-view covers functionality normally requiriing two or more eyepieces. I originally bought the Revelation Eyepiece Kit for use with my wife's Explorer 130p, but the kit is no longer ever used with that scope (it's used with a small Maksutov instead).

For my wife's scope (130P), we only use two eyepieces(!)

- 16mm UWAN

- 6mm TMB Planetary

along with a 2x GSO Barlow (which can also provide 1.5x by using just the nosepiece)

That's a total of £235 of spend NEW, in order to get:

• 16mm 82 fov
  
• 11mm 82 fov
  
• 8mm 82 fov
  
• 6mm 60 fov
  
• 4mm 60 fov
  
• 3mm 60 fov
  

- but since the eyepieces were second-hand it was about £170 in total (£100 uwan +£36 tmb +£?? barlow from kit (they're ~£35 new))

- and I can tell you that the viewing experience is fantastic with that little set-up, and I wouldn't swap it even for a entire case of TeleVue Plossls!

When people have a maximum near-term budget of ~£120 for eyepieces, then something like the Revelation Eyepiece Kit is a great idea to jump-start eyepiece exploration so they don't feel 'deprived', but if you can afford £250+ you can start putting together a long-term, good eyepiece collection with good target coverage.

[johnkirkpatrick]

Found TS Planetary HR ep's on Modern astronomy for £50 each, was thinking 5,7,9,15 and either the 20 or 25mm, what you think?? and a tal barlow 2x. where would I get a case for them if the eps are good??

[great_bear]

You can also buy TMB Planetaries from Alan at Sky's The Limit for £36.

TMB Planetaries are unusual in the sense that three or four different styles of them are on the market. Even at Sky's The Limit there's this style <here> (which seems common across Alan's range), but he's also got the original Burgess style <here> (Teleskop-Service have yet another style <here>). The fit-and-finish of each is quite different and as to which one's the "best" or the "nicest" I don't know whether it comes down to personal preference or whether one is genuinely of a better quality than the other.

Bear in mind that the TMBs are not quite as sharp as (say) a Baader Genuine Orthoscopic, but this difference is quite small, and the TMBs arguably make up for it by being a more comfortable eyepiece in prolonged use.

In your suggestion, you do have a problem in that much of the potential of the Barlow is wasted because a barlowed 20mm is too close to the 9mm, the 15mm barlowed is too close to the 7mm, and the 9mm barlowed is too close to the 5mm.

Also - as a personal opinion - I think you'd have more enjoyment with a wider variety of eyepiece types. I'll post more thoughts in a few minutes.

[great_bear]

After thinking about this for some considerable time, if I had an Explorer 200P, I really don't think I'd do much different than my wife's setup - except to have a better Barlow and I'd go for a 7mm TMB, rather than a 6, and throw a low mag Plossl into the mix for maximum brightness on dim DSOs.

So, with the usual proviso that this is purely personal preference, I'd go with:

• Low-cost 25mm Plossl just for the dimmest DSOs
  
• 16mm William Optics UWAN
  
• 7mm TMB Planetary
  
• Dual-power 2x/1.5x Barlow such asprod/telescope-accessories/barlow/supreme/AC710.html'> AC710 or similar
  

This gives an Explorer 200P magnifications of:

• 40x @ 55deg
  
• 63x @ 82deg
  
• 94x @ 82deg
  
• 125x @ 82deg
  
• 143x @ 60deg
  
• 214x @ 60deg
  
• 286x @ 60deg
  

This choice allows you to hit the sweet spot of around 220x which is (in my experience) often the seeing limit in the UK, with a fallback position of around 140x for bad days, and nearly 300x for days that are exceptionally good.

Naturally, other people's opinions may vary from mine!

Comments anyone?

[Doug]

John:hello2:

Did you ever get the Meade set or did you go for Tele vue ?

Doug

Essex

[johnkirkpatrick]

John:hello2:

Did you ever get the Meade set or did you go for Tele vue ?

Doug

Essex

I'm going for a mix of TeleVue and Planetary, may as well get really good eps that will do me good in any scope I get and not have to worry about coma or seagulls, and will do me well for a lifetime with the best affordable views.