[rumples riot]

Well my folks finally returned from their two month trip to the USA with mixed feelings about the trip, the people that live there and most importantly my new Eyepieces. I got my mum to purchase two while in California and then they carted them back for me. It was cheaper and convenient, and my mum was happy to do it. She is also into astronomy and did not really want to give them to me.

What I got. Well I purchased a 24mm Televue panoptic 1.25" and a Meade 5000 6.7mm Ultra Wide Angle 1.25".

The Televue was as expected in great condition and now rounds off my collection for Deep space viewing. I have yet to test the optics but I know that they will be magnificent.

As for the Meade, well there are mixed perceptions at this stage. First, this is a big EP even for a 6.7mm. It is bigger than the 24mm panoptic. About the size of a Duck egg. The lenses in the EP are very large indeed. This means that I wont have to go looking for the sweet spot that I am familiar with in this type of EP. The size of the EP is also good as it will not be easily dropped when handling.

As for Build quality that is where this EP falls down. While it looks like a great EP, it is just the little things that let it down. The Metal O Ring at the top of the EP has the black paint coming off the inside lip (this lip is about 1/4 of a millimeter thick and has little impact on the actual EP). Also the EP has a slide mechanism that allows the internal barrel and guts to move up and down thereby creating a fancy eyeguard which can be personalised for each users eye relief. Personally I think that this is a bit of a toss, but have yet to try it to really evaluate its value. However, I did note that there was grease coming out of the slide and would easily be transferred onto other surfaces which don't respond well to grease. The grease obviously helps to make the slide move easily. Bad move I think, but time will tell.

Now if this rain would abate and then I can test both.
Until then, you will have to wait for the second half of this evaluation.