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Old 12-02-2019, 08:45 PM
Aces High (Mark)
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Recommendations needed

Hello...

I wish to buy a good quality 28mm, 30mm or 40mm wide (1.25, 2") eyepiece. I have a set of Baader 5mm, 8mm, 24mm.
Baader dont go any wider that I know of.

I have an ED80, 100ED and a 150mmx750 F5 reflector, 8" DOB.
Sometimes the 24mm is just not wide enough.
I found a lot of 30mm and 40mm cheap eyepiece but I would like one in the same quality range as the Baaders.

Good eye relief, good FOV and nice contrast and sharpness. (if possible.)
Any ideas.

Any suggestions appreciated. thanks.
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  #2  
Old 13-02-2019, 12:58 AM
Ukastronomer (Jeremy)
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You need to say what you can afford, good quality to some may mean cheap to others.

Why I would have thought 2"

Good quality

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/vix...eyepieces.html

and

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/all...eyepieces.html
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Old 13-02-2019, 09:39 AM
Aces High (Mark)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ukastronomer View Post
You need to say what you can afford, good quality to some may mean cheap to others.

Why I would have thought 2"

Good quality

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/vix...eyepieces.html

and

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/all...eyepieces.html


Thanks..


The SSW Vixen's only go up to 14mm.
The Baaders retail here in Australia for around $200AU
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Old 13-02-2019, 04:12 PM
ab1963 (Andrew)
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I would say in the 80/100ED scopes you have for widefield lower power at a reasonable price would be the ES 20mm 100 deg it is a fantastic eyepiece that i replaced a Ethos 21mm with and the only reason i sold it was because i replaced with a Nikon Nav 17mm HW 102 deg, Used in both said refractors extensively and IMO is 2nd best to the Nikon around that focal length sharp to the EOF in both scopes and on most viewing nights it would never leave the diagonal and if you can get your hands on one used all the better,Remember the FOV is not far off a 35mm panoptic with better contrast

Last edited by ab1963; 13-02-2019 at 04:40 PM.
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Old 05-03-2019, 06:42 PM
yoda776 (Matt)
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Hi Mark,

Have you had a look at Agena Astro. He is usually pretty good with postage as well and has a nice range - https://agenaastro.com/eyepieces/sho..._1mm_40mm.html. Depends on the pocket size and your personal opinion of good contrast, quality, etc. Really like my brandon 30mm and 48mm 2" pieces but they are not $200 AUD though! In line with Andrew's comment aboutn the 20mm explore scientific, IMO viewing through Televue they have some good pieces but not always the best. The 32mm Televue (1 1/4") would be in your price range and I love that eyepiece.

I personally have found the Meade 3000 series 40mm to be a real keeper (although hard to get). Sometimes looking around ebay or other astro sites can help find a secondhand eyepeice that works. The only thing I would say (from experience) peoples' views on quality differ significantly especially when posting ads so ask to check the lens in a good photo first. Meade 4000 series plossl can be good for the money. The Meade superwides and UltraWides in the 5000 series can be good too, although 2 inch widefields can also be quite heavy in the 30mm+ range.

Regards,

Matt
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Old 05-03-2019, 08:12 PM
Ukastronomer (Jeremy)
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Why are prices in Australia so high on Astro gear ?
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Old 05-03-2019, 09:41 PM
Wavytone
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‘Cause our dollar is more like a peso.

There's nothing very demanding about wide-field low-power eyepieces and you don't need to pay a lot for something that will suit your refractors. The Televues though are best suited to Newtonians whereas you use a refractor and for these a modified Erfle or Ortho design will do nicely.

For example the TMB Paragon 30 or 40mm, or the 70-degree SWA 38mm are good, made by Prostar and sold under various brands eg https://agenaastro.com/agena-38mm-su...-eyepiece.html

If you want to pay more the Masuyamas are good: 10, 16, 26, 32, 45 50 and 60mm. Of these the pick for a low-power eyepiece is the 32mm, the field stop is as big as is possible in a 2" barrel, with 85-degree field. The 10mm may appeal too if you want a high-contrast eyepiece.

Last edited by Wavytone; 06-03-2019 at 09:19 AM.
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Old 06-03-2019, 02:00 PM
Startrek (Martin)
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For observing DSO’s using Newtonian reflectors f5 to f6 from 6” to 12” you can’t go past the 24mm and 27mm TV Panoptic , good eye relief 15mm and 19mm respectively , 68deg apparent field of view and beautiful contrast / sharpness
If your looking at a long term investment for observing DSO’s with 8” newts and above my 21mm Ethos does it for me , supreme views at a rediculous cost but I had to have one and did not regret spending the money
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Old 06-03-2019, 04:39 PM
Wilso
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Hi Mark,

One other thing to consider is your magnification increases from eyepiece to eyepiece. From what you have already, logical thinking would suggest your next eyepiece would be a 40mm and then a 14mm using 1.68x magnification steps with the same afov. So you would end up with 5,8,14,24 and 40mm set.
From memory I don't think the Baader 14mm had good reports though.

Let Google be your friend!

Last edited by Wilso; 06-03-2019 at 05:03 PM.
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Old 06-03-2019, 07:04 PM
Ukastronomer (Jeremy)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Startrek View Post
For observing DSO’s using Newtonian reflectors f5 to f6 from 6” to 12” you can’t go past the 24mm and 27mm TV Panoptic , good eye relief 15mm and 19mm respectively , 68deg apparent field of view and beautiful contrast / sharpness
If your looking at a long term investment for observing DSO’s with 8” newts and above my 21mm Ethos does it for me , supreme views at a rediculous cost but I had to have one and did not regret spending the money
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Old 07-03-2019, 09:24 AM
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Outcast (Carlton)
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Originally Posted by Ukastronomer View Post
Why are prices in Australia so high on Astro gear ?
A few reasons Jeremy:

1. Small population base = small market
2. Very limited number of importers = lack of competition in pricing = we get ripped off
3. Depressed dollar = crap exchange rates

Sadly, this is true across many areas, photography gear, electronics, musical gear, etc...

Last year I bought a Mark Bass 2x 10 cab from Germany, $720 AUD landed. Price in Australia $1100 AUD plus freight...

As I said, limited number of importers allows them to charge whatever they like & we get ripped!!
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Old 07-03-2019, 12:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Outcast View Post
A few reasons Jeremy:

1. Small population base = small market
2. Very limited number of importers = lack of competition in pricing = we get ripped off
3. Depressed dollar = crap exchange rates

Sadly, this is true across many areas, photography gear, electronics, musical gear, etc...

Last year I bought a Mark Bass 2x 10 cab from Germany, $720 AUD landed. Price in Australia $1100 AUD plus freight...

As I said, limited number of importers allows them to charge whatever they like & we get ripped!!
The limited number of importers is not the problem, but the governments making individual importing very difficult. When ordering a product overseas, you have to pay import duty. It is even that far that when you buy anything in a shop overseas, you can refund the overseas GST, but have to play tax in your own country plus import duty in many cases.
This system is very old, but also very fraud prone.

It would be a lot simpler that when a customer buys a product wherever he wants, always pays the tax in the country where you buy it. That fits better in the current situation where end customers buy much more internationally, e.g. via internet. And that forces more equalization of taxes which also makes it hard that low tax havens like Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Luxemburg, etc to exist. These are usually used by criminals, shady webshops and rogue corporations.

But will this ever happen ???
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Old 07-03-2019, 02:52 PM
Wavytone
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Originally Posted by skysurfer View Post
But will this ever happen ???
It won’t - because technically complex products are not made in/exported from Australia.

Anything here worth manufacturing on any scale are very quickly relocated to China or India, due to the economics involved.

About all we export on a large scale is what comes out of the ground.
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Old 07-03-2019, 06:50 PM
Ukastronomer (Jeremy)
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But the UK is no better really the importers of which there are really just two, OVL for Skywatcher and David Hinds (planewave and Celestron) fix prices.

No matter where you go no shop in the UK, Wales or Scotland can under price another
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Old 07-03-2019, 06:56 PM
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Camelopardalis (Dunk)
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There is some lack of parity with some items, but many scopes/mounts are competitively priced here.

Curiously, Celestron products were overpriced a few years back, much more competitive now.

By "competitive" I mean more or less the same once you've paid shipping and import taxes to get it here from overseas by yourself. And of course, shipping to here for anything much larger than a pencil sharpener can be pricey

The current AU$ exchange rate doesn't make the situation any more palatable though.
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Old 07-03-2019, 07:00 PM
rrussell1962
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Originally Posted by Camelopardalis View Post
There is some lack of parity with some items, but many scopes/mounts are competitively priced here.

Curiously, Celestron products were overpriced a few years back, much more competitive now.

By "competitive" I mean more or less the same once you've paid shipping and import taxes to get it here from overseas by yourself. And of course, shipping to here for anything much larger than a pencil sharpener can be pricey

The current AU$ exchange rate doesn't make the situation any more palatable though.
Are Celestron now dealing directly with their official dealers instead of through a distributor? Hammond and Sheldon or Pots and Pans or whatever they were called.
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