Value or Crap?

[Jimmy]

Check these guys out. They are GSO dealers and sell the same eyepieces as Andrewscom in sydney but half price including shipping (approximately).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29954&item=3867382185&rd=1#ebayphotohosting

Also are these anygood for budget eyepieces?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29954&item=3868415057&rd=1

The quality of them what would it be like?

:astron:

[janoskiss]

Do you mean Andrews' GSO eyepieces at $59 a pop? Are these ebay ones really the same thing?

[Jimmy]

yeah! they are GSO eyepieces! exactly the same thing! at about 35 bucks a pop inc shipping!

[janoskiss]

What Lee Andrews told me was that his cheapest Ploessl EPs ("Andrews 500"s) are pretty much the same quality as the basic GSOs or Synta ploessls. If that's true, there is not much point in buying these, because the 500s are under $30 each.

[Jimmy]

i suppose it would be. for low range eyepieces like that i wouldn't go for anything less than something like one of these. im just curious about those meade eyepieces though......

[ballaratdragons]

The prices sound too good to be true, but also remember that you get 4 plossl's included with your GS680 dobber from Lee.

You get to pick most of the sizes and 4 plossl's is more than anyone needs.

Use the money on a barlow.

[Jimmy]

yes.... yes but what barlow? a 2x telenegative meade barlow? what do you think?

[ballaratdragons]

How much is the Meade?

Lee has 1.25" barlow (short or long) at 2X for $39 and 3X for $49

and a 2" at 2X for $69

[janoskiss]

I don't like the way the advert looks and reads.

Even so, it claims the product costs over $40 retail (of course you shouldn't pay attention to the "over"). But, even in the US, it would cost $25 with postage, so it's not worth it. Might as well buy a new one that has not seen any shirt sleeves.

[ballaratdragons]

And any problems with local eyepieces you can just send them back or take them in. Bit hard to send back and forth to U.S. (if they refund at all)

[ballaratdragons]

On closer examination of the photos, I don't believe they are actually GS eyepieces.

[Jimmy]

I dont know but this is tempting considering the andrews ones cost $69 dollars each.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29954&item=3868674193&rd=1

[Jimmy]

i beg to differ - they certainly are gso eyepieces

[janoskiss]

THere is not that much difference in price once you figure in postage.

[Jimmy]

postage is $7us therefore its 40us about 50au a saving of 20 bucks.

[ballaratdragons]

Andrews has the GS Superviews at $69. His GS Plossls are $59.

But if you feel the risk is worth it for the U.S. ebay ones, give it a go.

You may just strike it lucky.

Work out the currency conversion first.

[Jimmy]

its 52 bucks au

[Jimmy]

i might get the andrews stuff its a lil more but piece of mind rocks

[ballaratdragons]

Hey Jimmy,

what are you going to do with all these Plossl eyepieces? How many do you really want? (one for each day of the month) lol

THE BUG HAS GOT YOU, HASN'T IT :P

[janoskiss]

Did you ask them about postage? In the advert they only display the cost for within the US.

Anyway, Lee would probably give you a discount if you bought more than one EP. But as I said before and I'll say again, leave him alone until my scope gets here!

[Jimmy]

yes....the damn bug......... :)

I like the super wide 67o field of view great for use with the meade. it will do nicely on the dob as well.

[ballaratdragons]

So your gonna buy the ETX70 are you?

[Jimmy]

no i already have one i just need a good eyepiece and barlow for it........

[ballaratdragons]

Jeez, I get lost with who's got what and who's getting what in here.

[ballaratdragons]

I thought we were the only 3 people silly enough to be still up and in here.

There are still 5 members and 2 guests!!

[janoskiss]

Yes, silly enough ... and just got back from a quick scan of the sky from the back yard. The thin cloud cover still persists. Jupiter would be up by now too. Last night I actually got a hint of detail on Jupiter, so I was hoping to see it again tonight.

[ballaratdragons]

Its raining up here Janos, so you might get it soon too. Our weather usually heads straight for Melbourne.
:wink2:

[janoskiss]

Quick look at http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/vic/ tells me there is bugger all rain in the state (tiny patches) and even less cloud cover. So how come it's raining where you are, and I can't see anything past the cloud cover where I am?

[ballaratdragons]

Don't Know.

It's only light rain, maybe it doesn't show that up? :shrug:

[ballaratdragons]

Tip. If you put a URL in your message you will have to go to 'Preview Reply' below and select 'Automatically parse URL's' at the bottom of the page.

Saves us slow typers from having to work hard. :)

[iceman]

You can also put [ URL]http://....[ /URL] (remove the space) if you use the "quick reply" box.

Also guys, just try to keep the off-topic chat out of the equipment discussion threads. And Jimmy, try not to post several times in a row after yourself - edit your original thread.

Thanks guys.

[ving]

the meade looks ok but if one of the gso/owl ones came with a scratch on it the hassle of returning it and waiting for a new one to be shiped wouldnt be worth it... andrews (or any local shop) is much easier in this case.
lee does offer a package deal if you buy 4 of hos EPs btw.


and someone here said "who really needs more than 4 EPs?"
*cough*ken*cough*

i started with 4 and a brlow and now i have 2 extra and I am considering buying at least 2 more... :P

[MintSauce]

I would just go with andrews com to be honest, phone him and talk to him - you'll be getting brand new eye pieces with support should you require. The eye pieces look the same but the saving does not seem all that much to warrant trying to import them from the US,

And that plossl is just a standard plossl - which andrews has for cheap.

G.

[MiG]

I disagree about this. The finish of the GSOs is far superior (inspect the threaded area on the 500s) and most importantly, the GSOs have soft foldable rubber around the eyepiece. This is important because with the higher power (15 mm, 6.5 and 4 in my case) series 500s the eye relief is small and you need to push the rubber out of the way to get a proper view. It is really hard to push your eye into the stiff rubber while holding the scope still.
Edit: In fact, my right eye socket is sore at the moment from using the series 500s.

Tonight is the first night of viewing with all this new stuff so I haven't yet compared the optics of my 9 and 25 mm GSOs to the four series 500s.

[janoskiss]

You're right MiG, but even the best EPs in the world will not help with the haze over Melburne at the moment...

On the other hand, Lee is right to say that there is not enough diff in quality between the his cheapest ploessls and the GSO ploessls to justify the price diff. GSO SV's may be a good buy?? I don't care about EPs anymore; more concerned with clouds that parked themselves right above us...

[MiG]

I know, it's awful. I got my scope on Friday and didn't get a half decent look until Sunday night. I've been cursing and cussing at the clouds all week (I thought I'd get the scope on Tuesday, but banks are slow).

Edit: The 30 mm SV is a pleasure to observe through and it looks cool. I see where the hand grenade comments come from :)

[ving]

actually its interesting how people are saying the andrews 500 series plossls whit thier hard eyecups are anoying and yet say the the GOS SVs are the bees knees considering the poor eyerelief and that they too have hard eyecups... ;)

sorry just being the devils advocate :P

the SV are super :)
I own 2 500s too in 6mm and 15mm and they are fine :)

[MiG]

The 30 mm SV has short eye relief? I think not. I can use it with my glasses on and see the whole FOV. On the other hand, I have difficulty using the Andrew's 500s (4 mm and 6.5 mm) even without glasses. I have to get a good grip on the focuser and jam the eyecup against my eyesocket. Very uncomfortable. It's hard enough guiding the crappy roller bearing azimuth axis as it is.

Edit: Devil's advocates are always fun on forums. :)

[ving]

what sorta scope you got there mig?
I have to jam my eye against the eyecup with the SV. :confused:

but not with the 6.5 500 series... (which i use on doubles and planets atm

[MiG]

10" GS Dobsonian. I don't think eye relief for a given eyepiece changes between scopes?

[RAJAH235]

MiG, Did I imagine it or did I read somewhere that a mod was avail. for your DOB, re; the fitting of 3 FELT PADS on the base,(opposite the teflon pads), to help with the friction question? eg, add more grip!
Is this your prob.? Sorry to go off topic people.

[ving]

oh ok, 'scuse my noobieness :)

still myns ER is er.. small

[Starkler]

I personally think the Andrews plossls are pretty poor.
If i was buying a new GS dob from Andrews I would say keep the Andrews plossls and gimme a discount.
Best cheap plossls i have seen are the "silver top" ones that I got with a Saxon dob.

[MiG]

RAJAH235: My problem is that the motion is rough. There are regular highspots and lowspots and obviously the scope wants to sit in the lowspots.

Starkler: You can't get a discount for not getting the EPs. I tried to do that since I already have 9 and 25 mm Plossls but Lee said that there's no redeemable value in the included eyepieces. The GS scopes come with the EPs from the factory (according to Bintel), so if people started asking for money instead of EPs, Lee would be left with a whole bunch of EPs which aren't in high demand and less money.

[Starkler]

The GS ones (9 and25mm) are better than the Andrews branded ones arent they? I was talking about the Andrews ones

[MiG]

I'm talking about the Andrew's 500s not being redeemable for cash too.
The GSO 9 and 25 mm (which I bought off ebay a while ago) are better built at least and easier to use (the eyecup). Optical quality is more difficult to judge, especially since I don't have the 9 and 25 Andrews eyepieces.

[janoskiss]

I had to pull one post in light of the following guidelines from the IIS Terms of Service (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=7856): So feel free to share your experiences but please refrain from general statements like e.g. "dealer X is crap".

[janoskiss]

yes, they are quite good. I got the 10 and 25mm with my dob too, and have been using them with the Mak - good low-stress-factor pair.