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20-12-2024, 06:34 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Nov 2024
Location: Wauchope Australia
Posts: 14
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Tele vue recommendations
Hi all. I have recently bought a 10" bintel dob off Gumtree for a great price and am putting my saved funds toward some decent eye pieces.
I've done a huge amount of research on YouTube and the like and have come across ED Tings recommendations of tele vue eye pieces. For the viewing I intend to do I think he has a good point of buying once. My folks live in bortle 1 in the New England tablelands so DSOs are on the list of targets.
I'm leaning towards a Panoptic 24mm as I already have a tele vue Barlow that I could use with the 1.25 inch barrel it has. The 27mm has a 2 inch. I have a 30mm gso eyepiece that came with the scope and am leaning towards the 24mm that has a bit higher magnification.
Do many of you use Panoptics regularly that can give some feedback? I think the fov is ideal for my liking.
Thanks in advance, Tim.
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20-12-2024, 10:06 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Sydney and South Coast NSW
Posts: 6,493
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Hi Tim,
I started Astro with a Bintel 10” Dob back in late 2016 and after using the supplied Bintel eye pieces ( 10mm and 30mm ) for 6 months , I wanted better views. Don Whiteman ( Bintel ) recommended I try a Televue eye piece , so I bought a Delos 17.3mm and I was hooked.
I bought 2 to 3 Televue eye pieces each year and now have the following eye pieces -
Paracorr Type 2 Coma Corrector
Delos 17.3mm
Delos 10mm
Delos 6mm
Delos 4.5mm
Ethos 21mm
Ethos 13mm
Ethos 8mm
Ethos 4.7mm
Panoptic 24mm
Panoptic 27mm
Apollo 11mm Limited Edition
In 2019 I sold my Bintel 10” Dob and bought a Skywatcher 12” Goto Dob
My skies are Bortle 3 on the south coast of NSW
These days I’m more of an imager but still enjoy visual astronomy when seeing and transparency is good. On a few occasions I’ve had my imaging rig taking exposures of an object from my Backyard Dome and in the front yard I’m observing the same object with my 12” Goto Dob and Televue eye pieces.
Since your observing site is Bortle 1 , then you’re able to observe and resolve many targets and not just restricted to DSO’s.
The Moon our closest neighbour provides unbelievable views at 50% phase cycle using my Televue Ethos 4.7mm , definitely a spacewalk feel.
Like wise using Delos 6mm and 4.5mm on Saturn and Jupiter with appropriate filters.
The Panoptic 24mm in my opinion is the best all round Televue eye piece that I own. However the Ethos 21mm ( hand grenade) is my favourite. I viewed M42 last year and could resolve the 4 trap stars easily with my 12” . Such a beautiful Nebula and vast through an eye pieces.
The Panoptic 27mm is a great eye piece too but the 24mm is my favourite.
Most Televue eye pieces have good eye relief 15 to 20mm which is important
I have owned 2 Delite eye pieces but sold them as there AFOV was not much better than standard 50deg eye pieces.
I could keep waffling on but as I said I’m a part time visual observer and my Televue eye pieces are keepers for life.
You really can’t go wrong with Televue , they are premium high end eye pieces,
I hope other more serious and experienced observers chime in to offer more advice
Cheers for now
Martin
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21-12-2024, 11:47 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Nov 2024
Location: Wauchope Australia
Posts: 14
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Thank you for your feedback Martin. You've really confirmed what I have this far researched.
I guess a good thing about the community here of like minded people if I was to pick up a decent 2nd hand one and used it for a while and decided it wasn't for me then I could pass it on without losing anything.
If you know anyone that would be willing to part with a 24mm Panoptic please let me know.
At the same time I guess ones who do have them hang onto them too.
Thanks again Martin. I appreciate your time and input.
Tim.
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21-12-2024, 08:49 PM
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Epick Crom
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Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Perth
Posts: 469
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TimHarbour
Hi all. I have recently bought a 10" bintel dob off Gumtree for a great price and am putting my saved funds toward some decent eye pieces.
I've done a huge amount of research on YouTube and the like and have come across ED Tings recommendations of tele vue eye pieces. For the viewing I intend to do I think he has a good point of buying once. My folks live in bortle 1 in the New England tablelands so DSOs are on the list of targets.
I'm leaning towards a Panoptic 24mm as I already have a tele vue Barlow that I could use with the 1.25 inch barrel it has. The 27mm has a 2 inch. I have a 30mm gso eyepiece that came with the scope and am leaning towards the 24mm that has a bit higher magnification.
Do many of you use Panoptics regularly that can give some feedback? I think the fov is ideal for my liking.
Thanks in advance, Tim.
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Hi Tim. I have the 24mm Panoptic, bought it in 2022 as my first ever Televue eyepiece. My scope is a Saxon 10 inch f4.7 dob. You will definitely love it, 68° AFOV with great contrast and image sharpness! It is among my most used eyepieces.
I have acquired a taste for Televue and APM Skyrover 100° eyepieces, absolutely incredible and not just because of the wide field of view. The contrast and sharpness is next level! Televue eyepieces are the top of the heap and you can't go wrong with them.
Clear Skies
Joe
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22-12-2024, 08:44 AM
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Visual Observer
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Join Date: Feb 2023
Location: French Island VIC
Posts: 77
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Hey Tim,
Are Televue eyepieces great? Absolutely!
Is each single Televue eyepiece the best option out there for you specifically? Most likely not...
Assuming this is your first telescope, I would suggest you buy second hand Televue eyepieces as they have great resell value. I'd be cautious with "Buy once, cry once" as for it to work, you need to be familiar with what eye relief, exit pupil and fov suit not only your telescope but especially your eyes.
That is before getting into what your observing preferences are and your sky conditions (e.g. darkness, seeing, transparency).
As an example, I feel that with my 16" dob, 12-13mm eyepieces give me great outcomes on galaxies. This shouldn't be the sweet spot as people recommend a 2 exit pupil which would be my 9mm Nagler. Yet, my sky conditions and eyes combination means that 2.6 exit pupil works better for me than 2.
I bet that the outcome would be different if I observed with my left eye instead.
All I'm trying to say is make sure you allow for mistakes because they're likely to happen. Ed Ting loves his 24-27mm panoptics but a huge amount of equally as experienced observers prefer a 31mm Nagler, 30mm APM UFF or other.
What I've learnt over the last couple of years is that eyepieces are a very personal thing.
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22-12-2024, 02:21 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Wollongong
Posts: 3,803
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I suppose the issue is: what apparent fov do you want? I think that with the Pan you won't see the field stop so long as you look pretty much straight ahead. But in practise the natural movement of your eye as you study different parts of the object means that you will see the field stop. This doesn't happen with Naglers. I need to move my head to the side to be able to find the field stop, so in normal use you get the vaunted 'space walk' effect. If you are going to buy once then I'd recommend Naglers, or the equivalent from Explore Scientific (I haven't looked through one but I've never heard a bad report).
I used a 10" dobs for years (just upgraded to a 16"). My ep set is: William Optics UWAN 28mm, 20mm Nagler T2 - these two used with a Parracorr, 13mm & 9mm Naglers T6. For small objects I'd sometimes also use a 9mm or 7mm UO ortho. Magnification increases by about 1.5 as you step through the eps. Maybe a slightly smaller steps would be nice but of course you have to pay for it. I've been happy with this set.
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30-12-2024, 07:13 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Nov 2024
Location: Wauchope Australia
Posts: 14
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Some great info here thank you everyone.
Lots to take on and consider.
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01-01-2025, 05:53 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 527
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A 10" f/5 with a 1250-1270mm focal length?
A set of eyepieces could be (to cover nearly all the bases you'll have in the next couple years:
50x, for low power views of large objects and for the largest nebulae with a nebula filter.
100x for most deep sky objects and the moon at low power.
150x for smaller DSOs and the Moon, and for planets at low power.
200x for small DSOs like planetary nebulae, the planets, the Moon, double stars.
250x for the same objects as 200x only in better Seeing.
By math, that means focal lengths of: 24-25mm, 12-13mm, 8-9mm, 6-6.5mm, 4.7-5mm
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04-01-2025, 04:01 PM
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Takaholic
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Join Date: Aug 2024
Location: Dunkeld
Posts: 6
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Recommendation
I have a few televue eyepieces, Delos 14mm and panoptic 24mm are my goto’s in that range. The rendition of colour of the panoptic is amazing.
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05-01-2025, 07:20 AM
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Awe and Wonder
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: SE QLD
Posts: 592
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Hello Tim, I don’t know what has already been said but my eye pieces suited my first Telescope which I built which was a 10 inch F5 ATM Newtonian. Over the years slowly built up my IP set. The 35 mil pan optic was the fav for that scope . . I’ve graduated to a 20 mm Nagler 12 mil type five Nagler, 9mm T6 & 6mm Radian . These were my work horses.I now also have the 31mm pineapple which is used the most in “Zamar” SDM pimped F5 Newtonian . I don’t appreciate the restricted relief with the Ethos series so I’ve just stuck with Naglers and I love them. Lastly is and holy hand grenade 31 mil Nagler . Which gives stunning views in the 20”. That’s my two cents worth for what it’s worth. Hope it helps. Cheers.
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12-01-2025, 11:12 PM
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A Friendly Nyctophiliac
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Toongabbie, NSW
Posts: 1,595
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The F Ratio * 2 and the 2mm exit pupil rule is a pretty good guideline to go for visual, as your main deep sky work-horse eyepiece.
In your scope that equals to a 10mm eyepiece and 125x magnification. This is a great magnification due to a number of reasons. First, its magnification is very useful on the lion-share of deep sky objects. Second, 125x will be usable on nights of even sub-average to bad atmospheric stability. 2mm of exit pupil is a great spot between object surface brightness and contrast of a darker sky back ground.
2 options with that concept. 10mm Ethos or Delos.
Now how deep is your wallet?
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13-01-2025, 07:33 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Nov 2024
Location: Wauchope Australia
Posts: 14
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Thank you for all the input here everyone.
I ended up getting my hands on 2 Delos eyepieces.
A 17.3mm and 12mm. I also acquired 2 Tele Vue barrows, a 3 x and 2 x.
They were all used but in as new condition without the new price tag.
Being my first quality eyepieces I’ve ever looked through I couldn’t be happier. Seeing close up images in the eyepiece glide from one end of the fov to the other is simply mesmerising. Crystal crisp colour and love the adjustable eye cup.
I can see a nice Pentax xw10 maybe finishing off the set for the higher mag end and maybe a 27mm panoptic for the lower end.
I’ve already started building an eq platform for it.
Tim.
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13-01-2025, 09:14 AM
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Visual Observer
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Join Date: Feb 2023
Location: French Island VIC
Posts: 77
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That's great! There's really nothing like getting new gear that clearly improves views.
Also great to hear you went second hand as it will save you a lot as you build your eyepiece collection around your preferences.
Enjoy and clear skies!
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