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Astigmatism, Eyeglasses & Eyepieces

Started by Eblanken, 01/06/2016 04:41AM
Posted 01/06/2016 04:41AM | Edited 01/06/2016 04:58AM Opening Post
Hi All,

After today's trip to Dr. Alison {last name left out} O.D. to confirm that my eyeglass prescription is stable again this year, I have a few questions for you guys & gals who have the wisdom of years and experience and connections:

(1) What corrective eyeglass lens material is best for Astronomy: Glass, Polycarbonate or Other (fancy, new = more expensive) ?
(2) What options can you suggest for polishing that would be better than what I've been getting thru Dr. Alison's usual supplier LAB ?
(3) I've avoided contacts for several reasons: (A) Finger in eye = YUK !!! (B) Until recently, not avail. for ASTIGMATISM (see below) ?
(4) What coatings do you recommend and where can I get "better" coatings than Dr. Allison's usual 4 choices ?
(5) Trifocals are a necessary compromise for every day, but not good for astronomy AND
Bifocals work better because I need to see the star charts AND focus "at infinity" thru the eyepiece AND
Single vision glasses are a "mixed bag" since I "see better" but switching back and forth is A PAIN !!! SO
What do you guys and gals recommend and choose to use ?

Using my Vision Service Plan thru my employer, I've been getting a yearly eye exam, new frames (titanium), lenses (polycarbonite) and "anti-reflection" coatings in Bifocals for the last several years and keeping them "pristine" in my eyepiece cases, so that I can get the most of my VSP AND my astronomy equipment when I'm observing without a "cleaning detour" each time I observe because my Four year old Trifocals that live on my face during all daylight hours ARE ALWAYS DIRTY !!! Today I just ordered up a "spare" pair of Trifocals that maxed out my VSP and my copay was over $200 as well.

You should know that my prescription is zero spherical & 1.25 Diopter of cylinder (in one eye) and 0.5 spherical & 2.5 Diopter of cylinder (in my "dominant" other eye), so I need correction when observing unless I'm looking at my favorite object (M-57, The Ring Nebula) which looks just fine either corrected or uncorrected !!!

Because of the need to view thru my eyeglasses, I've stayed away from eyepieces that trade away eye relief for more field of view. My nicest eyepieces are Radians and Vixen Lanthanums that I've purchased here on Astromart. The one exception in the "Nice Eyepiece Department" is my 55mm, 2 inch Televue Plossl (which has PLENTY of eye relief due to the LOW POWER of a 55mm Plossl and does a nice job on the whole moon or the whole sun even with an f/10 SCT since 2000mm / 55mm is only 36 power !!!).

I have considered trying the Televue product specifically designed to address ASTIGMATISM, but they are "spendy" enough that I'm not ready to go down that road UNLESS they are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: What are your experiences and opinions on these "uncle Al" solutions ? What eyepieces do you eyeglass wearers like and use ?

Thanks for reading this far and sorry for my verbosity.

Ed
Posted 01/06/2016 05:00AM | Edited 01/06/2016 05:02AM #1
Sorry, I meant this for the "Beginning Astronomy" forum or the "Equipment" forum, but it ended up here: My Error !