Matt, whats the 3,5mm lv vixen like

[davidpretorius]

Hi, Matt

not sure if i had missed it, but what is this ep like. Do you get to use it much on jupiter. It would be a rippa for having a go at antares splitting

[Miaplacidus]

Hi David,

I know my name's not Matt, but I have a 5 mm LVW. I'm still comparing it, but so far I give it the nod over a 5 mm Radian. (It's main problem seems to be eyeball reflections.)

[matt]

Nah. You haven't missed it Dave.

As you'd expect the 3.5mm is one for the night's of very good seeing which are in very scant supply here in Canberra:(

But I knew that when I bought it.

I just wanted a top quality 65 degree FOV high mag (285x) ep in my kit for those few nights when the door's wide open for planet gazing "up close".

To be honest, I've used it once since it arrived a month ago. That's testament to the awful seeing we've had on the east coast for weeks. On that occasion the seeing was no better than 5/10, so I've not had a real chance to push all its buttons. I do, however, love the 20mm eye relief of the LVW range.

Rest assured the moment the conditions allow an opportunity for a fair appraisal I'll post a report:thumbsup:

Although I'm still uncertain an 8" is up to the rigours of splitting Antares in anything but the best conditions, compared to your 10"?

Maybe Ving can comment here, being one of our many double lovers working with a scope of the same aperture:)

[iceman]

Problem is, it's an eyepiece you'll only get to use in your newt. The mag would be way too high in the 925.

[matt]

That's right Mike.

I bought it specifically for the shorter focal length newt.

I just couldn't help myself. I had to have a top-end ep for planets for the poor little SkyWatcher. It was feeling left out:lol:

Especially after the 9.25 gets to smooch up to the Pentax 10mm

[davidpretorius]

thanks guys, i have asi's 5mm and love it, along with the odd fairy or internal reflection.

interesting it has some wood on the tv radian???

must get to hobart soon!

[matt]

Hey DP!

Just wanted to make sure you were clear that I'm commenting on the Vixen LVW range of eyepieces and not the LV range.

I see the title to your initial inquiry was headed 3.5 LV and you also refer to how much you enjoy the 5mm LV.

They are different to the LVW range in FOV... and $$$

I have the 3.5mm and 5mm LVW, as well as the 6mm LV.

Just to make sure.:)

[Starkler]

Im fairly certain that I glimpsed Antares pup with my 130mm newt.
What counts most for this is the seeing conditions.

[matt]

a 130mm newt?

like I said Geoff.... seeing conditions will dictate... as always:)

[stringscope]

Hi Matt,

I reasonable seeing both my 8" Dobs comfortably split Antares using medium magnification numbers. 120-150X ish is OK, no need to exceed 200X. However, turn the mirror fans off and more often than not (particularly with the solid tube dob), the companion star merges into the primary "mush".

Cheers,

[JohnG]

Am going to have another go at Antares with the FS-102, I thought, I had it last year, could see something but wasn't 100% sure, I will be using around 7 - 5mm although I have a 3mm Radian.

JohnG

[davidpretorius]

matt, didn't read your siggie properly, LVW it is, bugga.

Apart from FOV and $$$, are there other performance benefits of the LVW's against the LV's

[matt]

DP...

the only comparison I can make is between the 6mmLV and the 5mmLVW.

To my eye, the LVW appears to let a little more light through, stars look a little more crisp and it appears to offer sharper images towards the edge of the FOV.

But I'd really need to give myself a bit of time to carry out a more comprehensive side-by-side.

I've never actually switched from one ep to the other on any given night to compare on, say, Jupiter... a few doubles, a nice DSO etc

But you certainly notice the difference when you've got them in hand. The LVWs are huge compared to the LVs. Big bits o' glass.

The eye lens is very comfortably sized on the LVWs. Not that the LV has any problems in this regard. The LVW is just more of a "luxury" ep.:)

[davidpretorius]

thanks for your mini review matt

[matt]

Here ya go DP.

A couple of pics to give you a comparison.

I've included the 10mm XW so there's an ep in there that maybe a few more people are familiar with.

And the 3.5mm LVW is slightly larger than the 5mm:)

[ving]

antares with a 8"? why the hellnot! :)
seeing is everything of course :)

[matt]

So, you have done it Ving?

[davidpretorius]

ving has done all the chicky stars doubles, he's a close separation stud!!!

goes to all the star parties, doubles come up to him all the time!

all with an 8"!!

"its not the size that counts, its what you can do with it!!!"

[ving]

to tell ya the truth matt....

ignore dave cause he is rambling.
i havent tried... :ashamed: but i have done sirius! :)

[davidpretorius]

thanks for the pics matt,

are the 22mm etc of simliar size, or are they up with the 31mm nagler "grenade" size???

gee that pentax looks nice.

Pentax is really starting to capture that "X" factor now. They have had the die hards over the last 12 months, but performance is really coming thru and rightly so.

[davidpretorius]

well worth it ving, lovely little blue companion, seen it twice now.

am trying to image it like asi did!

[ving]

saw it visually dave or with your toucam?

[Robert_T]

under average to good seeing conditions I found I could split Antares fairly comfortably with the Takahashi 210 (8.25in) and I have done it on one occasion under excellent seeing with the Mewlon 180 (7 inch).

cheers,

[ving]

what magnification did you use robert? :)

[davidpretorius]

visually, twice late last month during that patch of great seeing i got.

I have been using antares to star test prior to imaging with the 5mm lv vixen. Upon focussing, i noticed the little blue guy and remember asi having mentioned it last year.

The next night i tried to image along with that quartet of yours in the area and then the next night i was able to view again.

I do like what i saw thru the two three taks at snake valley.

Once thing on my hit list is to spend a whole night just looking thru one

[Robert_T]

needed to be >200x to get it comfortably Vingo:)

[ving]

thanks robert-o :P


might give a shot soon then dave. got other observing plans for tonight tho ;)

[matt]

DP. The LVW range gets progressively smaller as the focal length increases.

So, the 3.5mm is the largest of them all, and the 22mm is the smallest. There is also a 42mm in the range, but I'm unsure of dimensions.

It's all to do with how they achieve those 65 degree fields of view.

I seem to recall the same things happens with the XWs??? I think Mike's 7mm would be larger than my 10mm, but I could be wrong on this.

I'm sure someone will confirm or correct:)

[Starkler]

Yep, this (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=9484) one.

[matt]

I can happily report I managed the Antares split this morn!!! (3-30am)

Seeing was only average so it was a little "mushy" with the 5mm LVW in my 8" newt at 200x...

But there it was .... the little blue pup right beside it's larger orange mumma:D

You're right. It's very do-able in the 8". I think it's gonna look very nice in steadier seeing.

Thanks for encouraging me to have a go at it.

[davidpretorius]

well done, it is a nice colour eh!

[matt]

Yeah. I like it Davo.

I'm actaully starting to warm to the idea of chasing doubles. Especially when you get such a dramatic contrast in colours.

38Gem also has a similar red-blue pairing.

They do make for a very nice view, especially when so many other objects really don't feature much colour at the eyepiece. Cheers:thumbsup:

[davidpretorius]

there is another one i am chasing and i noticed it is now in the morning sky

gamma 2 delphini

orange / blue.

I really want to image this couple

[ausastronomer]

Geoff,

Your absolutely right here.

I have split Antares many times in scopes down to a 4" refractor. When the seeing is very steady its not all that difficult in a 5" newt. The seeing is the thing :)

CS-John B

[ausastronomer]

John,

I have split Antares several times in a TAK FS-102. Also split it the other night pretty easily in Rocket Boy's TAK TOA-130. In the smaller Apertures like 4" and 5" your going to need around 150X to 200X and good seeing. The other important factor is to wait until it has good elevation. There is no point even wasting your time while its down low.

CS-John B

[ausastronomer]

David/Matt

Not sure if you guys were here when we had the "Monthly Observing Challenge". The files are still available and I have posted a link to them. I selected the double stars and did the write ups for them. If you haven't observed these doubles before they are all really nice. Several have a lovely colour contrast. If your interested in Double/Multiple stars, these are worth observing now and in the coming months and suited to smaller/medium apertures. Here they all are with a link to the page contining the write ups:-

May 2005 - X Velorum (Dunlop 95) in Vela (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=69,198,0,0,1,0)

June 2005 - 24 Comae in Coma Berenices (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=69,207,0,0,1,0)

July 2005 - HN40 at the heart of the Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=69,217,0,0,1,0)

August 2005 - Gamma Delphinus (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=69,224,0,0,1,0)

September 2005 - h5003 in Sagittarius (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=69,226,0,0,1,0)

October 2005 - Rho Ophiuchus in Ophiuchus (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=69,241,0,0,1,0)
BTW Mike is the one who spells "Ophiuchus" incorrectly in the Challenge notes, com'on Mike learn to speeellll thats an easy one :)

November 2005 - Theta Eridanus (Acamar) in Eridanus (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=69,251,0,0,1,0)

December 2005 - Sigma Orionis in Orion (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=69,258,0,0,1,0)

Another very nice double worth taking a look at which is currently nicely placed early evening is h3945 in Canis Major. This is a really nice bright yellow/blue double and not too dissimilar visually to X Velorum only it's not quite as bright being about Mag 4.5. It is about 2 degrees south of a nice open cluster in NGC 2362.

There are also 4 or 5 nice orange/blue doubles within about 3 degrees of X Velorum. Not as bright but still nice and easily separated at about 60X to 80 X with medium aperture. Not sure of their names (I think 1 is Dunlop 89) but they are easy to find by just panning in a line between Eta Carina and the Gem Cluster

CS-John B

[JohnG]

Thanks for that John.

I thought I had it last year but wasn't sure, if the seeing here on the coast ever settles, I will definately try it after midnight, hopeless at the moment, thanks for the tip.

Cheers

JohnG

[matt]

Thanks John

That little lot should keep me busy for a while:thumbsup:

Very kind of you, as always.

[ving]

congrats on the split matt :)