Posts Made By: Rod Kaufman

Hmm no replies :S ,
Maybe a refresher is in order on a comparo on the Hyperion.stratus/Vixen line:
http://www.svenwienstein.de/HTML/hyperion_-_english_version.html
Anybody know where the Celestron Ultima lx models might fit in?

Question: Anybody have any idea on whether or not the Hyperions, Stratus and the newer Celestron ultima lx eyepieces are simply re-badged from the same maker or are they in fact different? I'm most interested in the 8mm version. Any info out there?

Ordered a new 10mm Ethos for $499.48(gulp!)yesterday as this focal length works best for me for many DSOs and planetaries in my 16" F4.5 dob. I sure hope I made the right choice. Yikes!

Now that the LAAS observing site is under 18" of snow and Floyd Blue would need a metal detector to find his electrical connectors, I thought I'd post some comments regarding specific eyepieces in my collection.
First up, my 1.25" Celestron Ultima series 15mm wideangle eyepiece. I purchased it back in the 80's and it apparently was the forerunner of the first generation of the axiom series. I've seen very few of these advertised on the astromart classifieds and I'm wondering if they're rare or just uncommon. Adorama used to sell them awhile after they had been discontinued with the advent of the axiom lineup. I had pleasing views from it when combined with a celestron reducer/corrector in a meade 10 SC that I used to own in the 80s. The eyepiece has around a 65-70 degree AFOV, significantly more than the ultima/ultrascopic line up. It was made in Japan, apparently by Matsumya(sp?)optical company and looks just like a vintage ulitma/current orion ultrascopic eyepiece. Anybody know anything more about them?
Second up, my TAL 24mm 2" eyepiece with AFOV of 85-90 degrees, depending on which review you care to reference. It does ok in my 16" f4.5 dob without a paracorr but it performs superbly with one and I had one of my best views of the veil through it last summer up at Mt Pinos. I was surprised how much more I liked the view with a paracorr in play than without one. I received it as a gift from my wife's friend who lives in Russia and she was able to get one of the last remaining ones at that time from the factory. I don't know if this version is still being manufactured today or not.
Third, the Antares 8.6mm 70 degree 1.25" wideangle eyepiece, rumored to be the same optically as the 66 degree orion expanse eyepiece, and described by Tom Trusock as "the best of the bunch" when he reviewed Antares lineup awhile ago. Interestingly enough, this particular focal length has been dropped from the lineup and a new focal length has appeared in its place. It appears the focal lengths in this series have all changed somewhat. The eyepiece is nice and comfortable to view through.
I'll probably come up with some more as I dig through my collection that I started in my teens...

I'm now packing a 10mm and I'm on the hunt for photons. The radar clutter from the effervescent storm will clear and I will get a lock on Mars(by the 29th).
I've got my warranty card, paracorr-Ethos compatibility instruction sheet, extra Ethos stick-on decal and I haven't even unwrapped it yet!
I'm going to get it into Floyd's Zambuto before he does but first I'll park it into my own 16" F4.5 dob and await Mars.
I've got to see Thor's Helmut in this baby!

Well, I can see what Mike Hosea is talking about when he says if he's got 200 eyepieces he used and this is the one he would keep out of all of them and he'd be happy with it...
I took my 16" f4.5 dob outside of my home to look at the Mars opposition and despite the relative proximity of the full moon and poor conditions(2/5 seeing and light dew)I was thoroughly impressed with the performance of this eyepiece. Without a paracorr, you do see coma(as expected) at about 85% outwards around the periphery but given the size of the field, it's remarkably well controlled. With a paracorr the field is nearly aberration free and there's something in the instructions with the eyepiece about how to tune the Ethos with the paracorr beyond the 1 setting with some kind of adapter for NP refractor-like performance.
Mars was great during briefs moments of relatively decent seeing and I used my old generic O111 filter that bleeds red as a Mars filter and I could pick up delicate shadings and brightenings around the limb.
What floored me was how easy it was to see six stars in the trapezium with poor conditions and the full moon. I mean they were easily seen without averted vision and despite the full moon. I could even pick up five of them with the O111 filter which normally kills 'em.
The spacewalk effect: this is as good as it gets and it's as close to going into outer space as I'll likely ever come but looking at the Orion nebula, even under the poor conditions described above, was awesome. What a window into space.
This eyepiece is it for me.
Is it perfect? Nope. What's wrong? The rubber eyepiece extension cup is a joke. It behaves like a wet noodle and it peeled off in my hand as I raised it. Did I miss it? Not really but I could have used it given the full moon and the local street lighting.
I can't wait to get this baby under dark skies. It's going to be beyond awesome!
A truly superb eyepiece and worth every penney...

Walter Schmitt said:

I'd like to add a decent 17-20mm eyepiece to a 40mm WO SWAN for my 8SE scope,
preferably in 2 inch format. The 18mm Explore Scientific and 19mm Axiom have
similar weight and price. I am mostly viewing DSOs, doubles and clusters.
I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts and suggestions. Thanks, Walter

At F10, either eyepiece would likely do quite well. Given the higher magnification inherent with your longer focal length system, I'd opt for the 19mm eyepiece versus something shorter unless your seeing conditions are particularly good. OTH, if you use a reducer/ corrector, then I'd give some consideration to a shorter focal length eyepiece.

Anybody try the meade 5000 68 degree widefields on sale this month? There's a paucity of info on these models on the web, from what I've seen thus far. And that probably explains the sale. From the few user comments I've read, the impressions appear favorable. Anybody own any and if so, how do they perform?

I went back to the scope and used a 2" GSO 2X barlow on Saturn. The eyepiece did barlow well and I've wanted a 8mm eyepiece for awhile so I'll keep it. The edge performance does improve quite a bit with the barlow as you might expect and Saturn was impressive. The dew condensation is prevalent tonight and the eyepiece initially fogged a bit but I was able to overcome it by proper eye placement. I liked its performance with the barlow and I can recommend it on that basis...

I checked the performance of the 16mm SWA eyepiece this evening on my 16" f4.5 scope. Basically, it was a bit of a disappointment. Coma appears much earlier than expected, perhaps about 55% out from on-axis. So it appears the eyepiece can't handle a fast light cone very well. Seeing was initially a poor 2/5, improving at times to a 3/5 and during the latter, Saturn was sharp on axis, with a neutral color, except for the color inherent in the planet itself. A hint of lateral color is seen off-axis but it is quite negligible and I would agree with other reports that it's essentially nil. Although eye relief is said to be around 15mm, I found it to be tighter although not objectionable, unless you happen to wear eyeglasses. If you do, forget it. I did not feel an immersive effect with this eyepiece and the AFOV felt less than 68 degrees.
I was impressed with the view of Saturn on-axis so the eyepiece appears decent enough in this regard.
I could not achieve enough in-focus to use the paracorr with this eyepiece in my scope. If I could, I suspect it would have helped a lot.
In general, I feel it's an inexpensive Chinese eyepiece that works at an acceptable level at its current(reduced)price point and I'll probably keep it but if it was significantly more in price, I would have returned it.
I think I will be able to use the 28mm version with my paracorr since it is a 2" eyepiece and I won't have to use the 1.25" adapter which extends the height of the eyepiece a bit which limits the in-focus that I need with the 16mm 1.25" eyepiece.
I read two reports on the 24mm version that contradicted other reports which reviewed it favorably and I suspect the former two to be correct. One report essentially called it a minor step up from a similar-sourced plossl while the other report simply referred to it as "ok". I doubt it would really be better than other eyepieces costing three times as much, as one user stated in his review.
In general, the main drawback, in my viewpoint, is the apparent inability of the eyepiece to handle a fast light cone. And I didn't get the immersive effect that I would want from a swa eyepiece with a reported AFOV of 68 degrees. I did get a fairly decent view of Saturn but that's about it. I guess for $49.00 bucks it's ok but that's about all. After using higher end eyepieces like a pentax or ethos, you get used to better and the lesser units become more obvious. My report would be more positive with a paracorr in the equation but that's what it would take to clean things up in a fast scope. I didn't really see much in the way of astigmatism so there's hope for this eyepiece with a paracorr or a longer focal length scope...