Andrews 80° UltraWide Eyepieces - Page 2

erick (Eric) · #21 07-10-2008, 12:46 PM

OK, I've just caught up with this article on Cloudy Nights. Uncle Rod gives a useful and accessible discussion of eyepiece choice leading to his conclusion that having an Ethos, if one can spend that kind of money, is a good idea.

I ain't got that kind of money, yet! But it's a useful article for all those "What eyepiece should I buy now" threads we get here.

However, I have to tell you that we were looking at NGC 253 last Saturday night in very good sky conditions. It was all a rush of scopes, imaging, looking after a visitor, so though it was first light in my 35mm Panoptic, I wasn't getting time to properly test, appreciate, compare to other eyepieces - another night when I'm alone. However, I knew our visitor had a 13mm Ethos in his bag and invited him to pop it into the focusser of the 12". First look - Wow!, look at that. Galaxy from edge to edge of field - Beautiful! Then I focussed sharply - Double Wow! The detail in NGC 253! It sort of looked like I was looking at the Milky Way naked eye - horizon to horizon!

Yes, I had glanced through a 13mm Ethos before and could not capture the entire FOV in one view, having to move my head around in a circle to see the edge of field. Same last Saturday night, but as Rod suggests in his article, the 100 deg AFOV is just one of the characteristics of the eyepiece and it might not be the one that is #1 for you.

Gerald Sargent · #22 10-10-2008, 01:44 PM

I suggest you speak to Don Whiteman at BINTEL, I recently
tried a few eye pieces and as I am an imager and not a visual
observer I really needed a wide field , ie 50mm eyepiec e for
centering images and a 15mm for detailed inspection and found
that the Bintel eye[pieces were excellent, but Don's advice on
the opening of the human eye dependant on age was most
informative, regards Gerald.

Max Vondel (Peter) · #23 13-10-2008, 10:34 PM

Great for the price, Hey at $69- who cares. BUT BUT BUT the overwhelming consensis is to use with long F ratio's only.

janoskiss (Steve H) · #24 14-10-2008, 02:03 PM

You can use it in fast scopes if you stick it in a long 2" barlow (GSO or similar won't do!). I use it in this barlow (also sold as Orion Deluxe). The combo gives me a very nice 12-13mm ultrawide that is sharp to the edge (yes to the edge of field!) in the f/4.7 10" Dob.

Caveat is that you get excessively long eye relief - but not too hard to get used to. When bothersome (i.e. for non-astro folk) I stick a 2" Televue Panoptic barlow interface between the barlow and the eyepiece (don't know if you can still get these though). It's a lot of glass but it works well.

Chippy (Nick) · #25 15-10-2008, 12:11 AM

I have one and really like it. Easily my best bang for buck eyepiece. Unless you want to spend a fair bit more you probably won't find better. Not bad in fast scopes either IMO. Edge of field is still reasonable to my eyes. I got the 20mm - same as the 30mm plus a removable barlow lense.

GazzMeister · #26 15-10-2008, 08:02 PM

I've got one of the 30mm eyepieces and for the outlay it's awesome. I think someone a while ago pointed out that it's the same as an eyepiece from moonfish. On the Moonfish website there is a copy of a group test of wide angle eyepieces under 500 pounds. http://moonfishgroup.com/catalog/ima...Y_06_98-98.pdf
http://moonfishgroup.com/catalog/ima...Y_06_96-96.pdf
Interesting reading, it's what finally made me get one. If the 20mm and the 15mm are the same as the 30mm then go for it.

Gareth

NQLD_Newby · #27 22-10-2008, 02:17 PM

So Craig, did you get this eyepiece and what are your thoughts on it? I would like to know because the 32mm GSO that came with my scope makes me feel sick everytime i try to use it. I was saving for a panoptic 28mm or similar, but the falling dollar kind of put and end to that wish for a while.

qld · #28 22-10-2008, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NQLD_Newby

So Craig, did you get this eyepiece and what are your thoughts on it? I would like to know because the 32mm GSO that came with my scope makes me feel sick everytime i try to use it. I was saving for a panoptic 28mm or similar, but the falling dollar kind of put and end to that wish for a while.

i think they are junk even a paracor or an mpcc(i have both)cannot correct the defects on this ep......better to pay a little bit more and get an ep that will perform to the edge and provide good contrast.....allmost anything will surpass this ep including the bottom end of a coke bottle

Craig.a.c (Craig) · #29 21-11-2008, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NQLD_Newby

So Craig, did you get this eyepiece and what are your thoughts on it? I would like to know because the 32mm GSO that came with my scope makes me feel sick everytime i try to use it. I was saving for a panoptic 28mm or similar, but the falling dollar kind of put and end to that wish for a while.

Haven't got them yet, soon hopefuly.
What do you mean by the 32mm eyepiece making you sick when using it? I will admit that I have never used an expansive eyepiece or seen one in the flesh (only magazines etc), but I thought that the 32mm gave me nice views.

Paddy (Patrick) · #30 21-11-2008, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NQLD_Newby

So Craig, did you get this eyepiece and what are your thoughts on it? I would like to know because the 32mm GSO that came with my scope makes me feel sick everytime i try to use it. I was saving for a panoptic 28mm or similar, but the falling dollar kind of put and end to that wish for a while.

Hi Rex,

If your 32mm ep is the 3 element cheapie, I know exactly what you mean! Like looking into a warped goldfish bowl. I bought a 24mm pan for my 12" GSO and never use the 32mm and I haven't felt the need for a wider field ep than the 24 pan. I recently bought a 28mm UWAN with 82 degree FOV for an anticipated scope upgrade and although it's a great ep, I still use the 24mm Pan a lot more. I reckon keep saving for a really good ep - you'll have it for life and never regret it.

Quark (Trevor) · #31 21-11-2008, 03:18 PM

Just a bit of info to add regarding the TFOV, True Field Of View for any eyepiece in various different telescopes. Many on IIS would already be aware of this formula but here it is anyway.

Eyepiece TFOV = (AFOV / magnification) x 60

The answer is in arcminutes

The magnification is what the particular eyepiece will provide in your scope.

Hope this is of interest

Regards
Trevor

allan gould · #32 24-11-2008, 10:44 AM

Ive got both the 15mm and 30mm (Moonfish type) versions of this eyepiece. In an 8" F10 scope they are sharp to 90% of the field of view - the 15mm is especially good. Great eyepieces and better value for money. Everyone thats looked through them said they wanted one. Now putting them in a fast F4-5 scope is nuts, they arn't designed for that and thats what all the literature says. Its pointless bagging them because you do the wrong thing. Its like putting socks on a cat - just stupid.
My two cents