New 8 mm Ethos from TV

[wavelandscott]

I don't know many details but apparently at NEAF TV announced that a new 8 mm Ethos would be available in July (at least in the US).

No pricinig at this time but supposedly it has the same 100 degree FOV but is smaller in size/weight.

I have not yet checked the TV website but suspect that more information is available there...

[MortonH]

It's also advertised on Bintel's website, although no price yet. THey're taking pre-orders for July.

[JethroB76]

Oh dear :lol:

[wavelandscott]

If I restrict family rations to gruel and/or bread and water holding back boiled potatoes only for special events like birthdays and anniversaries, it might be possible to buy the Ethoi (both) sometime before Australia becomes a Republic in 2010...maybe...

[Kokatha man]

No wonder you're setting such long-term goals with that sort of namby-pamby generosity in regard to dietary choices Scott: you'll reach your objectives much sooner with a strictly bread-and-water diet for the family; often obtained free from the bakery/supermarket when stale: this stale bread can then be simmered in warm water to make a pseudo-gruel for those special occassions. A large boiled potato will suffice for Christmas and special (your own) birthdays for a family of five.....

[Gargoyle_Steve]

:lol:

That french tart who famously said "let them eat cake" (when told that the peasants had no bread to eat) had nothing on youse blokes!

Mind you, she didn't have an active astronomy hobby to feed either!

----------------------

I had wondered how long it would take Televue to get a 2nd Ethos model on the market - it seems just long enough for everyone to sell up 2 or 3 older ep's, raffle off the family dog, downgrade to a pushbike, etc, to buy the 13mm, and hey presto here's the new 8mm - get yours now so you can still say you own the entire Ethos family!

(Until the next arrival, of course.......)

Mwahh ha ha ha...
(very evil laugh)
;)

[Satchmo]

Here's a link to the eyepiece..

http://www.televue.com/engine/page.asp?ID=2

[Rodstar]

Drool.........tax return time isn't too far away.....

[Zuts]

Hi Rod,

I thought the Ethos 13mm hardly ever left your scope and was good for most objects. This may be a dumb question but would there be a great difference between an 8mm Ethos and a barlowed 13mm Ethos.

Paul

[Phil]

I wonder how much this little baby is going to cost. Must start saving.
Phil

[Rodstar]

Hi Paul,

Not a dumb question at all, and the difference is not so great between those two options.

A 2x Barlowed 13mm Ethos would give me 384x. An 8mm Ethos unbarlowed would give me 312x.

I use a 9mm Nagler at the moment when the seeing is solid enough to ramp up the magnification from the 13mm Ethos, giving me 278x with a FOV (roughly) of 18 arc minutes. It holds a sharp view perhaps 50% of nights.

The 9mm Nagler suits my purposes very nicely at the moment. I wonder if the 8mm Ethos could be justified, as the FOV would only be about 1.5 arc minutes greater, and as it would come in at a magnification that would be held up perhaps only 1/3 of nights, it may be used too infrequently to justify the large price tag (whatever the price ends up being).

I might hold back on this one and have a borrow of someone else's before purchasing.

I am sure the 8mm Ethos will be a very attractive option for the shorter focal length scopes.

[gbeal]

If my source is correct, US$585.

[JethroB76]

Prior to the announcement of the 8mm, there had been some talk on Cloudy nights of using the 13 Ethos in a Antares 1.6x barlow to get ~8mm.

Has anyone tried this combo, or rather this barlow?

[Satchmo]

The Antares stuff is pretty highly regarded. They maker the Speers Waller eyepieces. The 1.6X 2" barlow could be a very good aletrnative to the cost of an 8mm, particularly if one were to succumb to owning a pair of 13mm Ethos for a binocular setup. Food for thought.

http://www.antaresoptical.com/eyepieces.htm

[Rodstar]

Looks like the Antares 1.6x Barlow is well priced, at about $110 US from Scopestuff. I am not sure if any of the dealers in Australia stock it? Does anyone know?

[JethroB76]

I have a feeling Janoskiss may have owned an Antares 1.6x, not sure where he sourced it:shrug:

[dannat]

I tried to find an antares dealer to get a speers waler ocular - to no avail, doesn't appear any aus/nz dealers

[PhilW]

I have to admit to being less enthused about this focal length. I rushed out & bought the 13mm Ethos & have been delighted with it, but at these shorter FLs I am basically wedded to Pentaxes.

Mark's idea of getting a brace of 13mm Ethoi is more compelling to me, since these are unmatched as immersive binoviewing/binoscoping eyepieces (assuming your head isn't too narrow :P).

btw here is the earlier report I posted about binewting them:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=279497#post279497

[Tannehill]

Hi Phil,



I'm a Pentax fan too, and I like them. Love them, maybe, in a...strictly...platonic sense. But, 'wedded to'?

I thought all the polygamists were over here in North America...

And does your wife know about this?

[PhilW]

She's a very understanding woman. :whistle:

[Rodstar]

I am sure she can forgive the odd "adult toy"....

[Stephen65]

I really like my 13mm Ethos and it gets a lot of use, particularly in my refractor. But an 8mm is not so attractive, down at that FL I am mainly using my EPs for planetary/lunar and while 100 degree FOV is nice the idea of paying $700 plus for that extra FOV in a lunar/planetary EP is not very appealing.

Plus, like others, I am a huge fan of the XWs in the 10mm and under FLs and if a comparison of the 14XW versus the 13mm Ethos is any guide to how the 8mm Ethos will stack up against the 7XW then I would be giving up a little transmission and contrast on-axis by using an Ethos instead of an XW in return for extra FOV that won't be very useful.

I think I will be passing on this one till I have a chance to test a borrowed one.

[Starkler]

I'll wait for the circa 20mm version if there ever is one. If the ethos is a scaled eyepiece design, I might just find the eye relief acceptable in a longer FL one, but not in a 8mm.

[janoskiss]

I ordered mine from scopestuff. It was a great barlow, but sold it due to having too many. It worked great with 17mm T4 Nagler, I'm sure it'd do very well with the Ethos too.

[goober]

Dang.... there goes my chance to try one out in my scope ;)