You have a new scope. It came with two eyepieces. You splurged and got a nice of additional Plossl eyepieces, 25, 18, 12.5, 10, 8, 6 and a 2X barlow. You are loving life and the universe is yours.
Then you make the mistake of coming to a place like Ice in Space. And you read that Tele Vue is the only eyepiece worth owning. But the price is so high you are able to resist, but you keep reading and wondering. It costs 5X as much, is it 5X better?
Many people tell you that if you don't have at least 60 degrees you are missing out. Well there are some that are not too expensive so you add some 60s and they are nice, so you retire a Plossl or 2.
Then ES 82s go on sale and, well, people are going out of their minds to get them before they run out. They are saying that their life has been changed because they got these ES 82s. So you buy a couple and you like them so you retire a Plossl or two.
But the 100 degree people are telling you that 60 degree are crap and 82 is just so constraining. Unless you have 100 degree you are not getting that "immersive" experience. And you start to lust for 100s.
Then a zoom guy comes along and says that single FL eyepieces are fine but you don't have EVERY MAGNIFICATION BETWEEN X AND Y so you really don't know if you are getting the best view with your eyepiece set. Well, the Celestron zoom is not expensive so you get one, "just try it out". Turns out you like it. Soon you start reading threads on the Baader Hyperion Zoom and the Pentax zoom and the Tele Vue zoom and the fever rises again.
Oh, and have you tried night vision eyepieces? Blows away Hubble and will transport you to the stars, literally.
And we wonder why we have eyepiece fever.
The cure for eyepiece fever is to never come to Ice in Space again. This is like a den of drug dealers where the drug is made of glass and someone is always encouraging you to "give this a try".
Or you join a club and someone says, "I just got this new 120 degree. Just take a look." And now you are craving new glass.
We need to start Eyepiece Anonymous.
You get a chip for every year you don't buy an eyepiece.
You are forbidden to hang out with people who have nicer eyepieces than yours.
Eyepiece sellers, ebay and other sources of temptation are blocked on your browser
You must always observe alone lest someone invite you over to their scope and you take a look and their new eyepiece.
You have a sponsor you can call who tells you that eyepieces over 60 degrees are gateway eyepieces to financial ruin.
Hi, I'm Ed and I haven't purchased an eyepiece is 3 months, but it is getting hard to resist.
Hey buddy, did you hear that Meade has 82s are on sale?
Great post and thanks for writing what we all know is true as it is a n addiction to be sure .
Over the many years I started with the horrible .965 H12.5 , Sr4 types and they were really , really bad but after a few years Plossl,s became available in NZ , even in 1 1\4 inch size Woaw ! And like you got a full set 6-40 mm so was set for life ( hell no ).
Fast forward 25 years and Naglers , Panoptic , Radians , Meade Series 5000-6000 , ES 68-84* sets , Orthoscopics , and every thing in between now most sold yes , man its like a drug , bad .
Then. 2 years ago I grabbed a 32mm TV plossl and liked it so much I now have a set 8-40mm and find that these get most use .
I upgraded from UO orthos back in the 80’s.
Ended up with a collection of TV Plossl’s.
Been using them ever since.
No need to replace them now - my eyes are going.
They will outlast me......
... the Vixen Affliction seems relatively rare these days.
Some have succumbed to Takahashiitis which is incurable.
Masayumas Malady generally passes after a year or two, while
Many suffer from Naglers Disease which in its chronic form becomes Ethoiitis.
But... a trip to the Docter will numb the nip-pocket nerve for a few months, and a dose of Plossl salts should restore some sanity.
Must admit i have had more eyepieces than you can poke a stick at from the amazing Docter 12.5mm and at the other end of the scale Gso plossl's then i bought Lvw's 8,13,17,22mm and a handful of Fujiyama orthos and i am very happy with them and no way would i sell them , No Green writing whatsoever,best for someone else is not always best for you,just have to keep the ones that do it for you because as i have found out the grass is not always greener on the other side you usually just get more grass
I upgraded from UO orthos back in the 80’s.
Ended up with a collection of TV Plossl’s.
Been using them ever since.
No need to replace them now - my eyes are going.
They will outlast me......
yes Ken there is something about Plossl's when you get a little older that just ,,,, well Gel's ? or something , yes the TV Plossl's are great eyepieces that do it all very easily .
For me .
Well... the Vixen Affliction seems relatively rare these days, there are those who have succumbed to Takahashiitis which is incurable, Masayumas Malady generally passes after a year or two, and the rather common Naglers Disease which in its chronic form becomes Ethoiitis.
A dose of Plossl salts should restore some sanity
Doc , did for me , $1000's later .
This one little case ( $4 from the local markets ) with these eyepieces all got 2nd hand from IIS's classifieds over a year or two seem's to have done the trick . .
Brian.
ps. sometimes the grass is greener over the other side .
Last edited by brian nordstrom; 14-12-2017 at 08:49 PM.
Reason: ps.
It has been three days now since I last bought an eyepiece, I feel fitter, healthier, I can now walk to the letterbox and back without being out of breath...
My eyepiece collection faced the axe recently,
Televues 38 out of 42 went away, only two Panoptic 24s, one Delos and one Nagler survived the cull.
Pentax were not so lucky, they were all retrenched
Takahashi were the survivors, 8 out of 8 are still here
Vixen also all toast....
Sacrifices had to be made in order to have a nice pair of binoculars..
It has been three days now since I last bought an eyepiece, I feel fitter, healthier, I can now walk to the letterbox and back without being out of breath...
My eyepiece collection faced the axe recently,
Televues 38 out of 42 went away, only two Panoptic 24s, one Delos and one Nagler survived the cull.
Pentax were not so lucky, they were all retrenched
Takahashi were the survivors, 8 out of 8 are still here
Vixen also all toast....
Sacrifices had to be made in order to have a nice pair of binoculars..
Naglers ? as good as they are I found they fuelled my addiction something terrible , you know ? putting out fire with gasoline especially the T4-6's ( all gone ) great small and powerful eyepieces but $$$$$ 's lots of $$$'s .
On that I did have enough sanity to save 4 , 3x T1's the 9mm , 13mm ( THE ORIGONAL portal into SPACE ! eyepiece that's never been bested and I will never sell but at 870 gm's she's a beast ! ) and 16mm and one T2 the awesome 20mm , 1kg of glass and metal and if your mount/focuser can take it it's one of the best eyepieces ever made but these don't get the use the Plossls get but when they come out ,,, look OUT ! .
Just look at the shadows these monsters cast it reminds me of Steven King's ' The Dark Tower ' in his awesome novels by the same name .
All 4 are now becoming super collectable , especially in the USA .
Brian,
I had a Type 1 13mm Nagler for the 18" Dobbie...great eyepiece.
But when you sell the other scopes, you find it's not a great fit with those left...
Yeah, I miss it, but not enough to buy a replacement..........
Brian,
I had a Type 1 13mm Nagler for the 18" Dobbie...great eyepiece.
But when you sell the other scopes, you find it's not a great fit with those left...
Yeah, I miss it, but not enough to buy a replacement..........
Hear you Brother , but , and its a BIG BUT ,,, if you can find one .
As you say not many scope/focuser/mount combos will take this ' Dark Tower ' of an eyepiece . An 18 inch Dobsonion will take one in its stride for sure as my C9.25 on CI700 does .
Sweet view's tho that really don't help our addiction any ?