GSO superview eyepieces

[mch62 (Mark)]

Yes order it from Lee Andrews .
I will only give a brief review next week as I want to give a through one when my refractor turns up as i feel it will give a better all round test .
Speaking of the refractor I will do one for it , as it is an unknown quantity both here and the States .

[iceman (Mike)]

Sounds great Mark, can't wait to read how it performs in a fast scope.. cause mines an f5 and I'd like a nice widefield for my scope but can't afford naglers and the like.

[mch62 (Mark)]

If Saturn%25 is OK with I will try it in his f5 also and see what the results are but at f5 the max eyepiece for a 7mm exit pupil is only 35mm so it is going to be wasting light and the central obstruction will most probably show up ,but what the hell Igive it a go.

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Originally posted by iceman
Did you order it from Andrews?

Can't wait to hear/read your report.. write a report, include some pics, and i'll chuck it up in the (upcoming) reviews section!

Yes ordered from Andrews.
I also rang Bintel to enquire about their price as I also wanted to obtain a lenspen which Andrews dont carry.
The lady from Bintel quoted me $109 and when I mentioned Andrews price she sounded quite annoyed and complained "We're in the city and pay $100,000 rent here".
Sorry lady thats not my problem !

If you want to see what they look like ......
http://hardinoptical.com/sv20.html

[mch62 (Mark)]

I have the 42mm superview and the barlow in my hand and will attempt to do an initial testing this week end. That is if the weather will behave .
Since I finished my scope nick named the Rainmaker I have had about 3or4 nights that have been suitable for viewing ,what with the bush fires and now the rain and clouds >>>bugger bugger.
Fingers crossed for a clear week end.

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Got my gso 20mm superview today and it brought the clouds with it

It appears to be well made and a little short on eye relief for one used to using pentax xl's. That is , one needs to jam ones eye right onto the rubber cup to take in the entire field of view.
My guess is that the eye relief is around 10mm.

One neat feature is that if you unscrew the barrel, the whole lens subassembly pops out for easy cleaning.

I'll do a more substantive review once ive had it out under the stars.

[Starkler (Geoff)]

I just gave my 20mm gso superview a very quick first light, comparing it to the 20mm plossl originally supplied with my GS 250mm dobsonian.

The night was cloudy and I was able to peer through a gap long enough to do a quick test viewing of the cluster M7 in Scorpio.

Now for what everyone wants to know, how good is it?

It has a wider field than a 20mm plossl. Im not able to quantify this without doing a star drift test, but as a guess its something like 60-65 degrees.
On axis it appears to perform well , focussing sharply, but the bad news is that the extra field over the plossl comes with a cost of distortion and astigmatism, manifesting itself as classic "seaguls" in the outer 20% or so of the view.

As a person used to using pentax xl's and teleview panoptics, I cant say that the GSO comes close in performance at f5, but at $69 one cant complain too much.
When the moon comes back I'll see how it goes for ghosting and internal reflections.

Strengths :

Well made, fully multicoated, lens subassembly comes out for easy cleaning, great price for the build quality.

Weaknesses:

Eye relief about the same as an equivalent focal length plossl, with "seaguls" present in the extra FOV you get over a plossl at f5.

Conclusion:

Great value for money in the budget price range and possibly wont be beaten by anything costing less than six times as much.

In slow scopes I would recommend this eyepiece without reservation, but at f5 if you want stars to look sharp right across the field, I'm sorry to say that there is no alternative to spending a lot of money for a premium eyepiece.

Geoff

[iceman (Mike)]

Good review Geoff.. it's a tough call for us with f5's.. I mean you get a wider field, but the extra FOV isn't really useable because of the seagulls flocking..

So is it worth it, or is it worth saving your money for a premium?

That the 1.25" you got isn't it?

Mark Hodson has done a review of the 2" 42mm, i'll hopefully be adding it to the reviews section today.

Geoff if you want to add some pics to your review, email me with them and i'll put your review up as well.