[tempestwizz (Brian)]

I purchased this eyepiece new from Claude at AEC some 12 or so years ago, but it has very little use as a high end view piece. Most of its use time was as a fine tune centring eyepiece to synchronise the positions of stars for my ArgoNavis alignment, and focus was rarely sought, as the out of focus star circle allowed easy centring for the AN.
More recently, I have brought out the Tak lens to engage in some planetary viewing and I have to say I was not terribly impressed with the views. Initially I put it down to the terrible seeing conditions experienced in Laos where high cloud usually stymies any serious viewing.
My OTAs have been a Tak Toa130 and my 18” F3.5 dob.
However doing some cloudy night fiddling around I had a critical look at the Tak lens, and note that the top element is not clean. While there is the usual dust on the external surfaces, I see a fungus type growth on the underside of the top piece of glass. That should have been sealed at manufacture and be pristine on the inside; irregardless of the age of the lens.
The lower elements of the eyepiece are fine.
I guess the eyepiece is well out of warranty, but I feel it should not have ever happened.
Something for users considering a Tak lens purchase.
Hopefully the attached photos will display to others what I am seeing here.

First photo shows lens ID, 2nd shows top surface of top element, and final two show under surface of top element.

Cheers Brian Clements