Helix

[frogman]

Has anyone heard of "Helix" ??? American mob that do astronomy equipment..... prices look good for what they provide. im toying with getting something as a test.

Anthony

Helix website by the yanks (http://www.helix-mfg.com/)

[Starkler]

I like the look of the alt-az mounts they have.
Its got me thinking

[ausastronomer]

Absolutely,

Its owned by a guy called Tim Hagan, who 1 of my learned US colleagues rates very highly as a bloke :)

They are a very reputable company that normally sell mid to high quality equipment. Among their product lines are all of the University Optics Range. They also sell a range of high quality laser collimaters including holographic lasers. Buy with confidence from them.

CS-John B

[rumples riot]

Pretty tough looking equipment. But know nothing about them.

[frogman]

Letter to HELIX ... Just sent ill post their reply



Gidday guys, Im looking at buying an EP and maybe a collimator from you. but i am put off a little by the distance.
My question is about postage..... How much yould it cost to send me an eyepiece and maybe your laser collimator ???? In USD or AUD i dont mind as long as its marked.

I was looking at a 9mm wideview for my GSO 12" Dob/Newt


Thank you in advance

Anthony Lord


Looking at this one
ANTARES W70
W70 8.6mm $55.95

[astroron]

I have just had a look at the site, it looks like they have some good eyepiecesat reasonable prices,I wonder if they do overseas orders?
Ron

[ausastronomer]

Anthony,

Thats a very good eyepiece but may not work that well in your F5 scope, the edges may be quite soft and you could also get a bit of field curvature as well as EOF astigmatism.

When you own a fast scope < about F6 or so you really only have 2 options if you want good edge performance with eyepieces:-

1) Buy premium widefield eyepieces that give a wide flat field and work in fast scopes. ie. Naglers, Panoptics, TV Radians, Pentax XW and Vixen Lanthanum Superwides, these all cost plenty of dosh.

2) If you are working to a budget buy high quality simple designs like UO orthoscopics, TV Plossls, Orion Ultrascopics, Celestron Ultimas and the Antares Elite Plossls (sold by Helix). The downside of these eyepieces is that they offer a narrower FOV and in short focal lengths, shorter eye-relief, however the image quality in a fast scope will be clealry superior to a budget widefield eyepiece and on a par with any premium eyepiece. The Antares Elite Plossls are exactly the same eyepiece as the Celestron Ultimas and Orion Ultrascopics, they are a 5 element Masuyama design, made in Japan and offer superb image quality.

I am not trying to put a dampener on your selection as its a very nice eyepiece but make you aware of a potential issue. The upside of course is that if it doesn't work well in your scope we can all use it in Rod's, Wayne's and Houghy's SCT's and Louie's Tak :)

CS-John B

[iceman]

Anthony you'll also potentially need to be careful regarding eyerelief, depending on whether you observe with your glasses or not (I can't remember if you take them off).

The Orthos john mentioned are great, but if you observe with glasses they may not be for you.

I think from one of Anthony's other posts, he was not so concerned about edge of field sharpness... and I know you won't want to spend > $200 on a single eyepiece.. So why not try the GSO Superviews? They come in 15mm and 20mm focal lengths (1.25"), so if you get a 2" 2x GSO barlow ($79), you'll effectively get 4 additional eyepieces (7.5, 10, 15, 20).

The GSO Superviews are reasonable quality in an f/5 for the price, if you can live with softness around the edge.

Rod has the 15mm and 20mm GSO SV's, so why not ask for a lend at the next observing session?

[ausastronomer]

Mike,

Anthony being a young bloke (unlike me) probably doesn't have any major issues with Astigmatism, therefore he may be able to observe with his glasses off. I was able to do this without issue until the last year or so when my astigmatism worsened. If he can observe with his glasses off he will be better off due to reflec tions off the lenses of the glasses and also the light loss of the glasses themselves.

CS-John B

[iceman]

I dunno, apparently he's blind as a bat without them on :D

[h0ughy]

he kept taking them off on at the viewing night to look through the scopes.

[ausastronomer]

Mike,

Being "blind as bat" doesn't mean you can't observe without eyeglasses. Myopia is nearsightedness and hyperopia is farsightedness. These two issues on their own can be easily adjusted by adjusting the focus position with the focuser. Someone who is "blind as a bat" due to myopia (most common)without astigmatism can observe without glasses easily, I did it for countless years. The focuser travel itself provides the diopter adjustment that you normally get with your eyeglasses. In very simple terms, as you get older people with myopia usually also develop "astigmatism which causes the image to "rotate" slightly as well as focusing back from the retina (myopia). The eye's astigmatism cannot be corrected with the focuser. The effect of eye astigmatism worsens as the exit pupil gets larger because the astigmatism in the eye worsens off-axis. I have no issues observing with eyepieces of focal length less than 10mm in my F5 scope which creates a 2mm exit pupil in my scope. For eyepieces of FL longer than 10mm or exit pupil > 2mm, I need to wear glasses to observe. Off axis images that appear as point sources to everyone else when focused, appear as "slits" or "distorted triangles with tails", a bit like baby comets to someone with eye astigmatism, hence the need for "glasses on" when observing.

CS-John B

[iceman]

ah thanks John!

[Thiink]

Has anyone found any specifications on the GSO SV eyepieces (1.25 and 2")?

I find it easier to observe with my glasses on, and would be interested in hearing opinions on suitable eyepieces in the lower-mid price bracket (<$100). I need a 15mm and a 30mm (2"?) wide fields, but can't afford (ie. not allowed) Radians and Nag's. The Antares Elites look interesting, but the Antares (http://www.antaresoptical.com/eyepieces/3.html) site is of little help with specs either!

frogman: are you long or short sighted?

[ausastronomer]

Simon,

The 15mm and 20mm 1.25" GSO Superviews do not perform as well in fast scopes as the 2" 30mm GSO Superview. To be honest I really don't like them that much for use in an F5 scope. I own the 2" 30mm GSO SV and it does a good job considering its price, the 1.25" superviews are only fair.

The Antares Elite Plossls are the same eyepiece as the Celestron Ultimas and Orion Ultrascopics, excepting they are offered in slightly different focal lengths because of distributor specification. If you go the Orion or Celestron Website and look up the equivalent specs for the focal length of the Antares you will be on the money. If you need to wear glasses these are not the best option as the eye-relief is roughly 75% of the eye piece's focal length. eg 12mm eyepiece has 9mm of ER. the AFOV is 52 deg. They do offer superb image quality and work well at F-Ratios down to F4.

In terms of suitable eyepieces with long ER you don't have a lot of options with an F5 scope if your on a budget. The Synta Manufactured Long ER eyepieces sold by Andrews and sold in the USA as Orion Epic ED2 and Celestron X-Cel are probably your best low cost option. They have 20mm of ER and do a reasonable job for a low cost eyepiece in an F5 scope. These eyepieces are similar to the TV Radians and Pentax XW's utilising an inbuilt barlow to help edge performance in faster scopes and preserve eye-relief to 20mm in all focal lengths. The ones Andrews sells are black not silver or at least they used to be black, but they aren't bad, not in the class of a Radian or Pentax XW but very decent for the price, work ok at F5 and have 20mm of eye-relief. As good as your going to do given your budget and eye-relief parameters

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=212&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=6&iSubCat=36&iProductID=212

Clear Skies
John B

[iceman]

I really didn't like the Orion/Andrews ED eyepieces.. at least, the one I tried. I'll try and finish the review I was doing on it and post it up soon.

[frogman]

Ok..... yes.... i am as blind as a bat with the goggles off
... yes i am short sighted (low grape astigma myope)
...yes i view without my glasses (the chew marks on the side of the earpeaces say so )

....the 12.5 and grenage, cover the mid and other ??? end i want an ep around the other end 7 8 9mm area im going to try Louies .... Andrews 11mm 80' EP.... but want the best USABLE magnification my scope can handle.....??????????????

....John.. theres only one way i could afford something like a pentax etc and that would be to sell my soul... i have no problems with not being clear ALL OVER the FOV ilook in the center half of the ep......if theres something on the outside of the fov i would move the scope to see it.... i can't see the need (for me) to spend that kind of money on 1 ep. $100 would be the most i would spend. BUT.... i do thank you for your views, and take them all onboard.

......As far as EYE RELIEF goes i view without my glasses....so.....do i have to worry about E.R. ???? if so do i go higher E.R or lower ????

.....Hey THIINK buy yourself a 1RPD thats the shizza!! Fantastic EP i love mine!!!! 30mm 80' 2" EP



OK i recieved an email reply from Tim....
"That package will cost between $24US (1pound) and $28US (2pounds)
depending on finished weight of the package. I can fit up to 4-5 eyepieces
for $28 shipping."

[Rodstar]

Frogman,

Have a lend of my range of GSO's at the next gathering.

I can only speak about their performance on my SCT, but I would say they are all fine with or without glasses, I think the 30mm is slightly superior to the 15mm and 20mm. The 30mm is about $90 and the other about $70: very good value for money.

[frogman]

tah boss oh sorry i mean Rod.... :D ummm what fov are they ? after seeing through a umm i think it was a 70' fov EP... i wouldnt bother buying anything " " small.

I might have to go on a " hey guys can i try your......" spree next visit ! :D

[atalas]

Hey frogman ,you want me to mail It to you?


Louie:)

[Thiink]

I was eyeing off the 1rpd that Gary had for sale in the 'sale forum', but it looks like it may be gone. When it comes time to get a wide field 30mm I might look into one anyway.

And it looks like I might need to reconsider the glasses thing, there just isn't that many cheaper long eye-relief eyepieces around. I went out and did some observing tonight (with bad seeing and the moon up!) and the view wasn't too bad with the glasses off, was just annoying putting them back on to do everything (change eyepieces, align with the finder).

What are the UO's like for faster scopes compared to the Antares Elites on the helix page John (ps. thanks for the post!), they are similarly priced. Are these similar to the UO's everyone else has?

ps. sorry for the hijack frogman!

[ausastronomer]

Anthony,

If you can observe without your glasses on then the Antares Elite Plossls will be your best option. They have a 52 deg AFOV compared to 65 deg AFOV for the GSO superviews but in terms of sharpness, contrast and light transmission they are clearly superior to the GSO superviews IMO, particularly in an F5 scope. The GSO superviews do ok considering their price but in slower scopes like Rod's F10 SCT. I think you should wait until the next observing gathering and try Rods GSO superviews and also try my 12mm and 9mm UO HD orthos which perform similarly to the Antares Elite Plossls "IN YOUR SCOPE" and see which you prefer between the 2. You can also try Louies 5mm Celestron Ultima which is the same as the Antares Elite Plossl.

CS-John B

[ausastronomer]

Simon,

The othos do very well in fast scopes. They provide exceptional image quality, the downside to them is the short eye-relief which makes them difficult to use with glasses on and their narrow FOV. The image quality in the UO orthos is as good as any premium eyepiece like a Pentax or Nagler. If you wanted to buy the orthos you can also buy them in Australia

www.frontieroptics.com

CS-John B

[ausastronomer]

Mike,

I owned the 5mm version of this eyepiece for quite a while (over a year) and was pretty impressed with it for the price, I have seen a lot more expensive eyepieces than this that didn't perform near as well. Unfortunately this situation probably reflects the typical QC of Synta where there is a lot of variation in quality with identical product lines. I am pretty confident in saying "you got a bad one" but of course that doesn't do the next person that "gets a bad one" any good either.

Cs-John B

[atalas]

Yeah I bought an Andrew ED eyepiece the 5.2mm I think It was ,in one word to describe It crap!

Louie :mad2:

[iceman]

I had the 14mm for a few weeks, and I just didn't find it comfortable to use. There was severe kidney beaning and blackouts and I just couldn't consistently get my eye in the right spot.

There was also a lot of internal reflections on bright stars, like little moths flying around. The edge sharpness was only marginally better (had to really look for it) than the 15mm GSO plossl I compared it too, and FOV was comparable also.

In the end, I couldn't find any reason why it would be a better purhcase than my 15mm GSO plossl, and the plossl is probably half the price.

Maybe the 14mm isn't the best focal length for them, maybe they're better in the shorter focal lengths, but I certainly wouldn't recommend them without trying them first, or at least have the option to take it back if you don't like it.

[ausastronomer]

Mike / Louie and everyone else I have given a BUM STEER,

My apologies.

I have just realised the eyepiece I am thinking about is not the same eyepiece as the one you guys are bagging. I should have gelled when I said the one I had was black and the Orion Epics were silver, also the one I had was 5mm not 5.2mm focal length. So I am not talking about Andrews ED eyepieces I am talking about Andrews LER eyepieces duhhhhh !!!

Here is a link to the eyepiece I am talking about on sale in the UK. It is sold under the Skywatcher label which is the Synta Brand Name.

http://www.obm.co.uk/products/db/578.htm

AFOV is narrow at 45 deg but they do provide 20mm of eye-relief in all focal lengths, they work well at F5 and image quality is very good considering the price, <$80 from Andrews, if he still sells them. They are not in the class of good orthos, plossls or premium eyepieces but they are pretty good considering the price if you need Long Eye Relief on a budget.

CS-John B

[atalas]

No bum steer here Jonh, the 5.2mm ED are crap! and I didn't think the Andrews LE were that bad for half the money of the ED's .
The ED at 139.00 and LE's at 69.00 probably cheaper than that now.
How do the cheaper Andrews plossles compare to those John B at half the money again ?

Louie :confused:

[Starkler]

Let me be the first to bag the Andrews generic plossl :P

A clue as to their quality. They come as freebies with the GS dob and have absolutely no trade in value .

[atalas]

Yeah Geoff , but compared o the Andrews LE what rates higher !

Louie:P

[Starkler]

I agree , especially when it comes to those eyepieces you rate as 9/10 or higher. The individual ratings will vary according to who you ask. Many rate the pentax xl's ahead of the tv radians.

[ausastronomer]

Geoff,

Sorry figured it better to move that to a new thread.

CS-John B

[Starkler]

OMG John you scared the hell out of me thinking that I had deleted your post ! Must have moved it while I was quoting you.

Phew !

[iceman]

:lol2:
2 times in 2 days Geoff, now that'd be scary :D