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Date: 27 Jul 2006 08:44:26
From: William C. Keel
Subject: Seeking advice: economical eyepieces for public/student use
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We're in the position of needing to replace eyepieces for a bunch of
telescopes used for classes and public programs. Over the years, too
many have apparenjtly grown legs and relocated, to th eextent that
it can be hard to find one set of low- and high-power eyepieces.
We need to get 7-8 sets, for C-8s and a couple of Meade 10"
Newtonians with usability for 16" RC and 20" Dob a nice plus.
Doing this for maybe $1200 would be good, especially if we can
throw in a couple of Barlows, so we're looking at maye $150/set.
(I'd really like a set for each telescope to be kept in a box with
it).
So what are people's recommendations? One wiseacre said we really have
to go with TeleVues. Very funny. This is a state university and we
are not part of the athletic department. I was sort of tempted to
flip thorug hthe Orion catalog, since I've quite enjoyed a 15mm
Expanse on my NexStar 5 at home. Which reminds me - for public use,
what's the generaly experience with rubber eyeguards? It strikes me,
contrary to my first thought, that they might be a good idea for
several reasons - keep eye makeup and scratchy things like metal
studs away from lenses, knock out tactical light pollution, and
help line up the eye's pupil with the optical axis. Again -
recommendations?
Thanks,
Bill Keel
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Date: 27 Jul 2006 09:30:11
From: Don't Be Evil
Subject: Re: Seeking advice: economical eyepieces for public/student use
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William C. Keel wrote:
> We're in the position of needing to replace eyepieces for a bunch of
> telescopes used for classes and public programs. Over the years, too
> many have apparenjtly grown legs and relocated, to th eextent that
> it can be hard to find one set of low- and high-power eyepieces.
> We need to get 7-8 sets, for C-8s and a couple of Meade 10"
> Newtonians with usability for 16" RC and 20" Dob a nice plus.
> Doing this for maybe $1200 would be good, especially if we can
> throw in a couple of Barlows, so we're looking at maye $150/set.
> (I'd really like a set for each telescope to be kept in a box with
> it).
>
> So what are people's recommendations? One wiseacre said we really have
> to go with TeleVues. Very funny. This is a state university and we
> are not part of the athletic department. I was sort of tempted to
> flip thorug hthe Orion catalog, since I've quite enjoyed a 15mm
> Expanse on my NexStar 5 at home. Which reminds me - for public use,
> what's the generaly experience with rubber eyeguards? It strikes me,
> contrary to my first thought, that they might be a good idea for
> several reasons - keep eye makeup and scratchy things like metal
> studs away from lenses, knock out tactical light pollution, and
> help line up the eye's pupil with the optical axis. Again -
> recommendations?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bill Keel
I'd look for long eye relief (so people don't have to take their
eyeglasses off and refocus) and wide afov (so bumping the telescope
doesn't move the target out of view). The Expanses have both.
However, the longest Expanse is 20mm. For longer, you might consider a
2" 32 or 40mm Celestron E-Lux. It also seems fairly unlikely that
identical sets would be ideal for all these different scopes.
Eyeguards are essential and are included with most eyepieces. One
reason to have them is to keep the eyepieces from scratching people's
eyeglasses.
Greg
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Date: 28 Jul 2006 00:40:41
From: John Nichols
Subject: Re: Seeking advice: economical eyepieces for public/student use
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"Don't Be Evil" <g626700-gg@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:1154017811.816055.272640@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
>
> William C. Keel wrote:
>> We're in the position of needing to replace eyepieces for a bunch of
>> telescopes used for classes and public programs. Over the years, too
>> many have apparenjtly grown legs and relocated, to th eextent that
>> it can be hard to find one set of low- and high-power eyepieces.
>> We need to get 7-8 sets, for C-8s and a couple of Meade 10"
>> Newtonians with usability for 16" RC and 20" Dob a nice plus.
>> Doing this for maybe $1200 would be good, especially if we can
>> throw in a couple of Barlows, so we're looking at maye $150/set.
>> (I'd really like a set for each telescope to be kept in a box with
>> it).
>>
>> So what are people's recommendations? One wiseacre said we really have
>> to go with TeleVues. Very funny. This is a state university and we
>> are not part of the athletic department. I was sort of tempted to
>> flip thorug hthe Orion catalog, since I've quite enjoyed a 15mm
>> Expanse on my NexStar 5 at home. Which reminds me - for public use,
>> what's the generaly experience with rubber eyeguards? It strikes me,
>> contrary to my first thought, that they might be a good idea for
>> several reasons - keep eye makeup and scratchy things like metal
>> studs away from lenses, knock out tactical light pollution, and
>> help line up the eye's pupil with the optical axis. Again -
>> recommendations?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Bill Keel
>
> I'd look for long eye relief (so people don't have to take their
> eyeglasses off and refocus) and wide afov (so bumping the telescope
> doesn't move the target out of view). The Expanses have both.
> However, the longest Expanse is 20mm. For longer, you might consider a
> 2" 32 or 40mm Celestron E-Lux. It also seems fairly unlikely that
> identical sets would be ideal for all these different scopes.
>
> Eyeguards are essential and are included with most eyepieces. One
> reason to have them is to keep the eyepieces from scratching people's
> eyeglasses.
>
> Greg
>
I own a 40mm E-Lux. I really like it for its wide FOV.
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Date: 27 Jul 2006 07:26:29
From:
Subject: Re: Seeking advice: economical eyepieces for public/student use
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I have a set of the Orion Expanses for publc use. They work pretty well
in giving people a chance to experience a wide apparent FOV without
costing a whole bunch. They're small and light - minimal balance issues
for your OTA. Not very good for fast systems. The biggest complaint
users have about the Expanses is that the 6mm has internal reflections
when looking at bright objects (like the moon or bright planets). They
aren't Televues by any stretch - but they are OK for star party
situations.
I also have a 30mm GSO SuperView eyepiece which is a good widefield
eyepiece for public use in not-so-fast systems. It has a 70 degree AFOV
or so, 22mm eye relief, very comfortable to use, but it's a 2" format,
fairly large piece of glass. But they are pretty cheap - $45-60 (I
bought mine on Astromart for $40 or so):
http://www.agenaastro.com/Pages/Products_OpticalAccessories/products_Eyepieces_GSO_SuperView.htm
comments on it at
http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/entry.php?sectionid=22&entryid=624&PHPSESSID=5ac3119c52f72ba2866708e6f8668
Rubber eye guards seem OK in use during public sessions. They seem like
a good way of keeping eyelash oils off of eyepieces.
Cloudy nights has several reveiws of them at
http://www.cloudynights.com/category.php?category_id=125&pr=2x7
There are reviews of what look to be Orion Expanse clones here )they
might come from the same chinese factories):
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=42,286,0,0,1,0
The 6mm has comments about it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000XMXXO/104-9306823-3307916?v=glance&n=502394
Other USENET comments about them at
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.astro.amateur/browse_frm/thread/3666daa078d4150b/ba24f118cb73c27d?lnk=st&q=&rnum=1&hl=en#ba24f118cb73c27d
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.astro.amateur/browse_frm/thread/a17d358223ca0f6c/7b9abc638981866d?lnk=st&q=&rnum=2&hl=en#7b9abc638981866d
KMM
William C. Keel wrote:
> We're in the position of needing to replace eyepieces for a bunch of
> telescopes used for classes and public programs. Over the years, too
> many have apparenjtly grown legs and relocated, to th eextent that
> it can be hard to find one set of low- and high-power eyepieces.
> We need to get 7-8 sets, for C-8s and a couple of Meade 10"
> Newtonians with usability for 16" RC and 20" Dob a nice plus.
> Doing this for maybe $1200 would be good, especially if we can
> throw in a couple of Barlows, so we're looking at maye $150/set.
> (I'd really like a set for each telescope to be kept in a box with
> it).
>
> So what are people's recommendations? One wiseacre said we really have
> to go with TeleVues. Very funny. This is a state university and we
> are not part of the athletic department. I was sort of tempted to
> flip thorug hthe Orion catalog, since I've quite enjoyed a 15mm
> Expanse on my NexStar 5 at home. Which reminds me - for public use,
> what's the generaly experience with rubber eyeguards? It strikes me,
> contrary to my first thought, that they might be a good idea for
> several reasons - keep eye makeup and scratchy things like metal
> studs away from lenses, knock out tactical light pollution, and
> help line up the eye's pupil with the optical axis. Again -
> recommendations?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bill Keel
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Date: 27 Jul 2006 14:17:20
From: Sam Wormley
Subject: Re: Seeking advice: economical eyepieces for public/student use
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William C. Keel wrote:
> We're in the position of needing to replace eyepieces for a bunch of
> telescopes used for classes and public programs. Over the years, too
> many have apparenjtly grown legs and relocated, to th eextent that
> it can be hard to find one set of low- and high-power eyepieces.
> We need to get 7-8 sets, for C-8s and a couple of Meade 10"
> Newtonians with usability for 16" RC and 20" Dob a nice plus.
> Doing this for maybe $1200 would be good, especially if we can
> throw in a couple of Barlows, so we're looking at maye $150/set.
> (I'd really like a set for each telescope to be kept in a box with
> it).
>
> So what are people's recommendations? One wiseacre said we really have
> to go with TeleVues. Very funny. This is a state university and we
> are not part of the athletic department. I was sort of tempted to
> flip thorug hthe Orion catalog, since I've quite enjoyed a 15mm
> Expanse on my NexStar 5 at home. Which reminds me - for public use,
> what's the generaly experience with rubber eyeguards? It strikes me,
> contrary to my first thought, that they might be a good idea for
> several reasons - keep eye makeup and scratchy things like metal
> studs away from lenses, knock out tactical light pollution, and
> help line up the eye's pupil with the optical axis. Again -
> recommendations?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bill Keel
How about 28mm and 15mm RKE (eye guards are available for both
from Edmund) about $120/set.
http://www.edmundoptics.com/onlinecatalog/displayproduct.cfm?productID=2075&search=1
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Date: 27 Jul 2006 12:50:14
From: Don't Be Evil
Subject: Re: Seeking advice: economical eyepieces for public/student use
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William C. Keel wrote:
> We're in the position of needing to replace eyepieces for a bunch of
> telescopes used for classes and public programs. Over the years, too
> many have apparenjtly grown legs and relocated, to th eextent that
> it can be hard to find one set of low- and high-power eyepieces.
> We need to get 7-8 sets, for C-8s and a couple of Meade 10"
> Newtonians with usability for 16" RC and 20" Dob a nice plus.
> Doing this for maybe $1200 would be good, especially if we can
> throw in a couple of Barlows, so we're looking at maye $150/set.
> (I'd really like a set for each telescope to be kept in a box with
> it).
>
> So what are people's recommendations? One wiseacre said we really have
> to go with TeleVues. Very funny. This is a state university and we
> are not part of the athletic department. I was sort of tempted to
> flip thorug hthe Orion catalog, since I've quite enjoyed a 15mm
> Expanse on my NexStar 5 at home. Which reminds me - for public use,
> what's the generaly experience with rubber eyeguards? It strikes me,
> contrary to my first thought, that they might be a good idea for
> several reasons - keep eye makeup and scratchy things like metal
> studs away from lenses, knock out tactical light pollution, and
> help line up the eye's pupil with the optical axis. Again -
> recommendations?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bill Keel
Here's an interesting item:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B13Q72/sr=8-2/qid=1154029352/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-2459818-4640613?ie=UTF8
It gives you some useful items:
case, 32mm, barlow, LED flashlight
and some less useful:
12.5mm, color filters
For $50, it's a steal. Add a couple Expanses in shorter lengths and
you'd be in good shape. I've used their 32mm Plossl, and it's very
good.
Greg
I've used the 32mm and it's very good.
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Date: 27 Jul 2006 15:26:29
From: Mark S. Holden
Subject: Re: Seeking advice: economical eyepieces for public/student use
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They're a little out of your target price range, but the BO/TMB
Planetary eyepieces are worth considering for your shorter choices.
16mm of eye relief, and a huge eye lens so they're very easy for
beginners to use. And the optics are very nice too.
They're currently on sale - buy two and get one free. On that basis,
you're looking at about $67 per eyepiece.
Otherwise, the Meade MA 25 I checked out for a friend wasn't bad, and it
was pretty inexpensive.
You might also find a deal on some generic GSO plossls on ebay.
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Date: 27 Jul 2006 12:51:55
From: Willie R. Meghar
Subject: Re: Seeking advice: economical eyepieces for public/student use
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Deciding which eyepieces to purchase when on a budget is rarely an
easy decision ;-)
The top contenders in my opinion would be:
The Edmund RKEs, Orion (or similar) Plossls, and Orion (or similar)
Expanses.
I don't own an RKE; but years ago I used one with an AstroScan and
found it to be quite 'nice'. In addition to Sam Wormley's
recommendation, the RKE also gained a favorable recommendation in
Daniel Mounsey's Cloudy Nights article "Planetary Eyepieces" -- an
article I would recommend reading.
I have a new set of Orion Highlight Plossls; but haven't had a good
night-time opportunity to check them out. Eye relief in the 10mm and
shorter focal lengths is in my opinion too short for public use. The
coatings in this line appear to be excellent. The 26mm and 17mm
Plossls would make a reasonable set for your purposes, particularly
when a 2x barlow is tossed into the mix. The field edges of these
eyepieces are a little fuzzy, but not objectionable. The Orion Sirius
Plossls would probably be a reasonable, lower cost alternative.
I have first hand experience with the Orion Expanses. Their major
advantage is eye relief. The wider apparent fields of the Expanse
line is nice; but edge of field performance can be quite poor --
particularly with the 20mm Expanse (at least as used with my f/5 to
f/6 telescopes).
For public use on a tight budget I think the Expanses would be a good
choice (good eye relief); but for university level student use I would
lean more towards the RKE or Plossls (less glass, better on-axis
performance). Expect some vignetting when most of these (longer focal
length) eyepieces are used with a barlow.
As you narrow down your choices you might want to ask more specific
questions to the group. Good Luck!
Willie R. Meghar
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Date: 27 Jul 2006 11:35:57
From: Shawn Curry
Subject: Re: Seeking advice: economical eyepieces for public/student use
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William C. Keel wrote:
> We're in the position of needing to replace eyepieces for a bunch of
> telescopes used for classes and public programs. Over the years, too
> many have apparenjtly grown legs and relocated, to th eextent that
> it can be hard to find one set of low- and high-power eyepieces.
> We need to get 7-8 sets, for C-8s and a couple of Meade 10"
> Newtonians with usability for 16" RC and 20" Dob a nice plus.
> Doing this for maybe $1200 would be good, especially if we can
> throw in a couple of Barlows, so we're looking at maye $150/set.
> (I'd really like a set for each telescope to be kept in a box with
> it).
>
> So what are people's recommendations? One wiseacre said we really have
> to go with TeleVues. Very funny. This is a state university and we
> are not part of the athletic department. I was sort of tempted to
> flip thorug hthe Orion catalog, since I've quite enjoyed a 15mm
> Expanse on my NexStar 5 at home. Which reminds me - for public use,
> what's the generaly experience with rubber eyeguards? It strikes me,
> contrary to my first thought, that they might be a good idea for
> several reasons - keep eye makeup and scratchy things like metal
> studs away from lenses, knock out tactical light pollution, and
> help line up the eye's pupil with the optical axis. Again -
> recommendations?
I would piece together a collection from Astromart. If you don't care
that everything matches, you can probably find most of what you need
right away.
Shawn
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Date: 27 Jul 2006 14:56:57
From: bob
Subject: Re: Seeking advice: economical eyepieces for public/student use
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There are a lot of good bargain-brand eyepieces out there that, while maybe
not satisfying the most discriminating observers, will give you a lot of
bang for the buck. University Optics comes to mind, as does the 1rpd from
Astrobuffet. Antares makes some eyepieces that perform very well for a good
price, and apparently the new WA series from William Optics are pretty
decent, though getting up there in price.
--
Bob
Travel and Astronomy Photos
http://www3.sympatico.ca/bomo
"Shawn Curry" <scurryfifenynteam@comcastdotnet > wrote in message
news:aPSdnSvssdcdZFXZnZ2dnUVZ_sWdnZ2d@comcast.com...
> William C. Keel wrote:
> > We're in the position of needing to replace eyepieces for a bunch of
> > telescopes used for classes and public programs. Over the years, too
> > many have apparenjtly grown legs and relocated, to th eextent that
> > it can be hard to find one set of low- and high-power eyepieces.
> > We need to get 7-8 sets, for C-8s and a couple of Meade 10"
> > Newtonians with usability for 16" RC and 20" Dob a nice plus.
> > Doing this for maybe $1200 would be good, especially if we can
> > throw in a couple of Barlows, so we're looking at maye $150/set.
> > (I'd really like a set for each telescope to be kept in a box with
> > it).
> >
> > So what are people's recommendations? One wiseacre said we really have
> > to go with TeleVues. Very funny. This is a state university and we
> > are not part of the athletic department. I was sort of tempted to
> > flip thorug hthe Orion catalog, since I've quite enjoyed a 15mm
> > Expanse on my NexStar 5 at home. Which reminds me - for public use,
> > what's the generaly experience with rubber eyeguards? It strikes me,
> > contrary to my first thought, that they might be a good idea for
> > several reasons - keep eye makeup and scratchy things like metal
> > studs away from lenses, knock out tactical light pollution, and
> > help line up the eye's pupil with the optical axis. Again -
> > recommendations?
>
> I would piece together a collection from Astromart. If you don't care
> that everything matches, you can probably find most of what you need
> right away.
>
> Shawn
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Date: 04 Aug 2006 09:15:52
From: William C. Keel
Subject: Re: Seeking advice: economical eyepieces for public/student use
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William C. Keel <keel@bildad.astr.ua.edu > wrote:
> We're in the position of needing to replace eyepieces for a bunch of
> telescopes used for classes and public programs. Over the years, too
> many have apparenjtly grown legs and relocated, to th eextent that
> it can be hard to find one set of low- and high-power eyepieces.
> We need to get 7-8 sets, for C-8s and a couple of Meade 10"
> Newtonians with usability for 16" RC and 20" Dob a nice plus.
> Doing this for maybe $1200 would be good, especially if we can
> throw in a couple of Barlows, so we're looking at maye $150/set.
> (I'd really like a set for each telescope to be kept in a box with
> it).
As poor form as it is to follow up my own postings - I'd just like to
post for the record that as a result of this posting, William
Optics donated one of their UWAN wide-angle eyepieces to our
department. We thank them, and look forward to trying it out
shortly.
Bill Keel
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