Televue Nagler 31mm & 8mm ? or similar...

[cjpops (Craig)]

Hi All,

With our strong dollar holding up, does anybody know where i could grab these eyepiece's at a bargain price: a Televue Nagler 31mm & TeleVue 8mm Plossl ?

These eyepiece's have been getting positive reviews and i think these will work well with my Lightbridge 12"

I'm not sure if there are other brands that produce the same quality but any suggestion would be appreciated.

Thanks

[casstony]

Bintel is as good as any - there's no TV sales going on at the moment.

The 31mm Nagler might not get enough use in your scope to justify its cost though - a 17mm or 13mm (nagler or ethos) would get a lot more use as a primary observing eyepiece.

The 31mm Nagler does work well in a 1.6x Antares barlow if you don't mind that setup.

[cjpops (Craig)]

Thanks for your reply Tony, i will look into the 13/17mm.

This will be my first *real* eyepiece purchase so i am hoping to get a great details of the planets and the deep objects out of whichever i end up going for.

Perhaps I should attend a local astro club and try out other eyepieces before i buy..

[Suzy]

Hi Craig,

Perhaps consider also ...
replacing the 8mm plossl with a wider field eyepiece (65 deg plus). It makes it much easier to track things at high mag. with a dob (more field of view for the object to drift across).

For many, including myself, a high mag (say 10mm, med say 13/14mm, and low say 21/25mm are the most used focal lengths. The 14mm is my most used.
Tony always gives the greatest advice and he's right on the mark when he mentions about the 31mm having minimum use. It definitely has its place in the eyepiece box however. For me, it's mostly used to find an object that I can't get while I have my 21 or 14mm eyepiece in. Then I switch back over the eyepieces when I've found the object in my 30mm. So not really used as an "observing" eyepiece.

For expensive eyepieces I have used OPT in the States and find their prices worthy (they also sell Televue) Their efficiency and customer service are excellent. http://www.optcorp.com/
I have also used Bintel many times and rate their customer service quite high. http://www.bintelshop.com.au/welcome.htm

All the best with your choice,
Suzy.

P.S. To edit the title, after choosing edit post, look towards the bottom of the box and choose advanced editing options which will give you more choices to edit with including smileys.

[casstony]

Hi Craig, trying eyepieces before buying is always a good idea. You might find the 17mm ethos doesn't have enough eye relief for your preference, or you might find the 17mm nagler doesn't have good enough edge of field performance, etc; buying second hand is a good way to go if you can't try a particular eyepiece so you can sell at minimal loss if you don't like it.

Since this is your first fancy eyepiece purchase I'd recommend you target the shortest focal length which you can almost always use; that's likely to be the 17mm or 13mm depending on your local conditions, and that eyepiece will become your most used deep sky eyepiece.

Personally I have my eye on the Delos (high performance and comfort) range when they release the longer focal lengths, but by that time our dollar may have dived and prices may be much higher. The Delos would be well worth looking into for your shorter focal length eyepiece - they're getting favourable reports in comparison with Pentax XW's, with the 10mm and 7mm XW's being two of the best eyepieces money can buy.

[cjpops (Craig)]

Thanks for all your suggestions Tony and Suzy, I think i might go the 2nd hand route..

When I first saw the Orion Nebula via my Meade eyepiece that originally came with the Lightbridge - it was a bit faint but it was enough to put me into awe. Reading some reviews the better quality the eyepiece the brighter/better detail you get.. so I'm hoping to achieve better results with which ever eyepiece i go for.

*edit* i see the Delos are a new set from TeleVue..

I got my Lightbridge from Bintel, they are extremely helpful - i might drop an email regarding the eyepieces they have.

(Thank again for the editing tip Suzy, managed to fix it up now )

[casstony]

One other piece of gear that's well worth buying while our dollar is strong is the DGM Optics NPB filter - it's a filter which makes many nebulae easier to see and will work very well with 12" of light gathering power and low to medium magnifications. You can buy them from ebay and it's best to get the 2" version to take advantage of low power, wide field eyepieces. If using a 1.25" eyepiece the 2" filter can screw onto the 2"/1.25" adapter (taking care that the eyepiece barrel isn't long enough to hit the filter).

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NPB-2-0-D...item4841781f2e

[Rodstar (Rod)]

Hi Craig, just to add to other's thoughts, I have a 31 Nagler, and I love it.

However, some issues to be bear in mind:

*it is a very large eyepiece, so you may need to add a counter-weight to the bottom of your Lightbridge to use it.
*It provides a wonderfully immersive view of a large patch of sky, but at the same time, under suburban skies the sky can appear very light - that is, you won't get the jet black background to stars. I tend to use my 31 Nagler a lot more under dark skies, especially when seeing is a bit iffy, because seeing problems are less obvious under low-power, and you get the darker backgound sky.

I agree with others that you will tend to use an EP in the 13-20mm range a lot more than the 31T5. I am a huge fan of the 20mm Nagler (T5). It has slightly shorter eye relief, but it provides wonderful views. The 13 Ethos is also incredible, but at my focal length, the seeing needs to be slightly better than average to use it to its full potential. Others I know are very very happy with the 17 Ethos. This may be just about the perfect EP at your focal length. As others have said, borrow these EPs at an observing night, and see what you like.

Clear skies.