Experienced Opinions Needed

gpb (Chris) · #1 09-02-2011, 09:57 AM

It's been just over 2 weeks since I purchased my 12" Dob (my first ever telescope) and I have learnt so many names of stars, constellations, nebs and terminology, its been been fantastic and satisfying, love it.

I have been experimenting with the 3 EP's supplied - the 9mm & 15 mm plossi & the 32 mm wide angle. The views from these EP's are amazing and breathtaking. Now, obviously I don't know anything better and haven't compared any good quality eye piece to tell the difference but having noticed that the Televue range of Ep's are on sale here in Australia, can anyone tell me what I'm missing out from a viewing perspective.

I understand that from a quality point of view the TV EP's are superior - OK I can understand that because that is why they are so expensive, but what difference will I be able to notice if I compared the Bintel 9mm & 15mm plossi to the Televue 9mm & 15 mm plossi (or anything close enough to those spec?).

As an inexperienced amatuer will I be able to tell the difference?

Screwdriverone (Chris) · #2 09-02-2011, 11:31 AM

Hi Chris,

BEFORE you contemplate buying a $75-$100 Plossl or even a $500-$600 eyepiece, I suggest you take the 12" along to an observing night and see if you can ask nicely and borrow a high end EP to use in your scope.

You WILL notice the difference, but, trust me, it is better to weigh up the performance/cost relationship first hand on your own scope before shelling out on such an expensive bit of glass.

That said, the TV eyepieces are superb, however, the performance "jump" is not as pronounced as the money indicates.

Certainly, rating the difference in views between my standard Skywatcher plossls and my noname ED $60 eyepiece as well as my Baader Hyperion and my Pentax XF ($35, $60, $200, $235 in order) is something like (with a Televue Panoptic being say 10/10...... 6/10 for the plossl, 7/10 for the ED, 8/10 Hyperion and 9/10 for the Pentax.

Now, a Televue may give you 10/10, BUT the cost jump is about $300-$500 for that extra 1/10 rating. Obviously the Televue Plossl isn't going to be as impressive as the Radian, Panoptic, Nagler and the Ethos, but the higher up the scale you go, the better the performance and features such as clarity, edge definition, field of view and therefore the cost escalates alarmingly.

I haven't personally looked through a TV plossl, but the design would indicate that it would be a similar view to what you have, albeit nicer and better quality....not much difference in my opinion (unless you are an optical connoisseur who demands the last 1% improvement)

That's what you have to weigh up. Are you willing to pay a premium to get the absolute best view that you can, or can you live with say, 8 or 9 out of 10 and therefore be able to buy 2 or 3 good to excellent eyepieces for the same price as 1?

So, try before you buy if you can by going to a club meeting near you and asking nicely, you will be surprised at the range the locals will have available....the best choice is a balance of cost and performance because you will end up using that EP the most (just like my Hyperion which cost me $120 second hand and is the primary EP that I use all the time)

Sorry for the waffle....

Cheers

Chris

casstony · #3 09-02-2011, 01:32 PM

An observing night is highly recommended Chris, but if you can't make it to one I'd advise you to figure out what your most used magnification is and buy a widefield eyepiece to suit. You'll be able to reach higher magnifications on more stable nights but there will be a low to middle magnification which you can use almost all of the time (perhaps between 80x to 120x, or a 19mm to 13mm eyepiece).

One well liked option is the 17mm Nagler in which you would instantly notice a wider field of view, and it would have sharper stars further out from the centre of the eyepiece. There's also a half dozen other good candidates to choose from depending on your preferences for cost, apparent field of view and eye relief in particular.

Louwai (Bryan) · #4 09-02-2011, 01:36 PM

Of my 6 EP's the one I use the most is my 17mm Ethos.

As others have said, attned an observing night & try a few EP's. My suggestion would be to save a bit longer & buy the best EP you can of the particular size you like.

ZeroID (Brent) · #5 09-02-2011, 03:38 PM

Try some widefeilds. I use my 20 and 15 mm GSO Super Views 90% of the time and for the price they are excellent. I've wondered about more expensive EP's myself but so far have been unable to justify the incredible price differences. But I have yet to test one.

barx1963 (Malcolm) · #6 09-02-2011, 07:01 PM

In my GSO 12" I had a 32mm 2" Plossl, and 25, 15, 12, 9 and 6mm 1.25". Only ever used the 32 and 25 and very rarely the 15mm. For the money (eg free with the scope!) they are surprisingly good EPs.
I now use a 34mm meade 68 deg. a 24mm Panoptic and 13mm Nagler and have a 2x TV Barlow.
IMHO there is a big difference between the 25mm Plossl and a 24mm Pan. It gives stunning views with lovely contrast and is well worth the money. I was severely tempted when I saw the TV sale being advertised as I am a complete TV convert. All that being said, getting slong and trying is the way to go. I was able to try a 12mm Nag before splashing out on the 13mm and it made the decision so much easier!

gpb (Chris) · #7 10-02-2011, 03:03 PM

Thanks for all your experienced advice people. Like I have said earlier on another thread I do not have the opportunity to look through someone elese's scope and test ep's and things are a little hard to attend a star party - at the moment, but it doesn't mean the information you all supply isn't going astray.

I have contacted my local telescope shop and has explained to me what Radian, Ethos, Plossl, Panoptic, Nagler & what eye relief means.

I think I am leaning towards Panoptic & Nagler.