Posts Made By: Blake Andrews

Hi all,

I suspect this may be a semi-regular question on the forum, so please forgive my ignorance if it is...

I recently purchased an eyepiece from a gentleman that was rated as excellent. When it arrived it was clearly only what I would consider Good. I am a collector of antiques and there are standards to assist folk in using terms like "New", "Like New", "Excellent", "Very Good", etc. in a consistent way.

My question: Does such a standard exist for optical equipment, like eyepieces? If not, I'd be happy to provide a draft for consideration on this forum.

Cheers!
Blake

Does anyone have a copy of the older Tele Vue eyepiece spec sheet with specs for their discontinued eyepieces? I am looking for the approximate field stop location for the following (but would appreciate a complete set of specs if they are available)...

ENA-04.8 4.8 Nagler 6.6
ENA-07.0 7 Nagler 9.4
ENA-09.0 9 Nagler 12.3
ENA-11.0 11 Nagler 14.9
ENA-13.0 13 Nagler 17.8
EN2-12.0 12 Nagler 2 16.4
EN2-16.0 16 Nagler 2 21.9
EN2-20.0 20 Nagler 2 27.4
EWF-15.0 15 Wide Field 15.4
EWF-19.0 19 Wide Field 19.6
EWF-24.0 24 Wide Field 24.7
EWF-32.0 32 Wide Field 33
EWF-40.0 40 Wide Field 41.2
EPO-15.0 15 Panoptic 17.1
EPO-22.0 22 Panoptic 25
EPL-07.4 7.4 Plössl 6.2
EPL-10.5 10.5 Plössl 8.7
EPL-13.0 13 Plössl 10.8
EPL-17.0 17 Plössl 14.3
EPL-21.0 21 Plössl 18
EPL-26.0 26 Plössl 22.1

(This list came off the TV site)

Regards & Thanks!
Blake

I've been a loyal C8 user for over 26 years. My love of the hobby started with my purchase of one of the first pre-Hally Super C8 Plus Black CATs with Starbright coatings. I spent many a night galaxy hopping very faint fuzzies that could only be verified by my buddy with his 17.5" Dob (yes, the optics were really that good).

Our place was flooded in 1990. I have pictures of water up on the observatory. The scope stayed "dry", but the prolonged humidity had done its work and about 5yrs down the road the silvered surfaces began to spider. Undaunted, I purchased a 1990's vintage Celestar 8 Deluxe (Fastar/Starbright). The optics on this scope were also very good (but not quite what I'd originally enjoyed). This scope has given me many pleasurable nights under clear skies over the last 5 years. Oh, and of course I was a setting circle snob - "how can you pretend to know the night sky if you can't drive your own scope?".

Lately, I've been stalked by a Celestron CPC 1100 with XLT Starbright Coatings, of course. In a weak moment my bride let me adopt it.

Saturday night, I took it to our club's members night. We had a good night. The humidity was a little high, but the skies were steady. Set up was quick. The star alignment procedure is a little clunky but worked very well (much better than my Meade DS2000 mount I use with my PST). We looked at all our favorites - The Helix, Swan, Trifed, Blue Snowball, Catseye, M13, and many more. Every time anyone came to the eyepiece, they gasped at the view. It didn't matter if it was vetran observer or a new club member, the result was the same. The views were detailed and almost three-dimensional. I was seeing texture in nebulae that I've looked at many times before and never appreciated. Oh yes, and that thing I said about manual setting circles? We were able to observe about three times the number of objects in a given amount of time.

Well, as the prayer goes... "Oh Lord, make my words tender and sweet, cause I may have to eat 'em".

Munch, munch, munch. Very tasty!

Cheers & clear skies!
Blake

Hi All,

Winter is a great time for me to continue researching early Celestron eyepieces. One of the techniques I use for dating their production is the presence of a Japan Telescopes Inspection Institute (JTII) sticker.

I do need some help. I've included a photograph of a progression of such stickers from eyepieces in my collection. I'd appreciate any help you could provide in determining the time frame that eash was used. If you have any equipment with these (or similar) stickers and you know when it was first purchased, your info will help me narrow when each style of sticker was used.

Here's some info about the picture...
The left most eyepiece is a Celestron Circle-T 6mm Ortho from the early to mid 1960s. It sports a gold sticker with PASSED in red and the JTII moniker spelled out in blue on two lines beneath.

It gets a little more interesting...
The center eyepiece is a Celestron Circle-M Kellner dating from the late 1960's or early 1970's. It sports a circular yellow JTII sticker with blue lettering. As a side note, I am fairly certain that the Circle-M eyepieces were not made by Mizar as some other discussion threads have suggested (I can explain why in another post if anyone is interested).

Even more interesting...
The right eyepiece is a very early (how early, I don't know - yet) Celestron Silver Top Plossl. It sports a round green JTII sticker with gray lettering in the same format as the yellow one in the center.

I've been told that the practice of using JTII was phased out sometime in the mid-1970s. If I can get a number of posts regarding equipment purchased and the type of sticker on it, I should be able to narrow when each style of sticker was used.

Thanks in advance!
Blake

OK, It's becoming clear that my skies aren't and I'm going crazy for want of a star-lite night. Nothing better to do than start a new thread...

What is the best SET of eyepieces for an 11" f10 system? The set should be para-focal, NOT require switching between 1.25" and 2" barrels, and have a pleasant eye relief, say around 15mm. As a bonus, the field of view should progress smoothly as power decreases.

All ideas welcome!!!

Thanks for indulging a crazy person, and please pass the cloud filter!

Blake

Hi All,

I need some help from anyone with older Celestron Price lists.

I've got a couple of 2-inch Celestron eyepieces that I'm trying to establish the approximate date of manufacture and sale. Both have their original boxes. One is a 25mm Ortho with a Circle-Dash mark. The other is a 18mm Ortho with no markings on the barrel. Both have the original price stickers for $115.

The earliest price list I have for Celestron hardware is from Sept 15, 1979. This list has a MSRP of $125 for each. Does anyone out there have an earlier price list that lists them for $115?

These prices are fairly reliable indicators of the timeframe of sale as it was not customary for retailers at this time to discount.

Many Thanks!
Blake

Hi John,
Thanks for sharing the photo. Are you the original owner, or do you know when it was originally purchased new? Given the black top I suspect it might have been one of the later silver tops. Does it have a Vixen (Circle-V) mark on the barrel? Also, how is the sharpness at the edge?
Regards,
Blake
(So many questions, so little time)

Hi Doug,

I have a 32mm Brandon that I purchased in the late 1980s. This model has a black annodized barrel with engraved white lettering and the rubber eyeguard. It came with red soft endcaps. My unit has a small field stop threaded into the top of the mounting barrel.

Regards,
Blake

OK, Here's an update on my progress. So far, nobody's come forward and said "I've bought a KD-Mark Celestron Ortho on this date". Such info would really put a bow on this discussion.

It seems that there are at least three known marks on Celestron Orthos...
1) JAPAN KD
2) JAPAN Circle-V (Vixen)
3) JAPAN (nothing else)

JAPAN KD appears to be the first run of these eyepieces and probably spans from the very late 1970s to the very early 1980s. These appear to be found in sturdy pale green boxes with one or two all-black endcaps.

JAPAN Circle-V are the eyepieces made for Celestron by Vixen spanning from about the early 1980s to the early 1990s, when Celestron moved to a Taiwan supplier. Mine came in flimsier all-white boxes with two signature white or opaque vixen endcaps.

JAPAN (nothing else) was a mark I found on a 9mm Ortho purchased in Germany in the late 1980's. Little is known about this eyepiece other than it appears that Celestron may have sourced its eyepieces from another unnamed supplier for some international sales. It is a very well constructed eyepiece with a sturdy chromed brass barrel.

I am slowly compiling historical facts surrounding these vintage Celestron eyepieces.

My research includes the Volcano Top Orthos, Silver Top Plossls and other early volcanos like Erfles and Kellners. The most reliable info is based upon dated receipts, but price lists, spec sheets and catalog photos are also very helpful.

Anything you readers might be willing to share is most appreciated.

Regards,
Blake Andrews

Hi Pete,

Can you provide a photo of the markings on the back of the diagonal. I couldn't make these out from the pictures you provided.

Thanks!
Blake