rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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With the exception of 1 Televue Radian, my eyepiece collection is fairly inexpensive. While the Radian does have a slight edge on my less expensive glass, I'm still amazed at how well some of them perform with the ETX. When I'm using the Radian, I feel like I have to handle it with two hands and I'm extra careful not to drop it. To me, it almost seems more relaxing to use cheaper EP's. One of my all time favorite EP's is my Edmund RKE 28mm that I got years ago with my Astroscan. M42 is nicely framed with this EP and for a simple design the RKE is hard to beat. I also like my Celestron Nexstar 40mm Plossl for finding objects. The one that really impressed me tonight was a 25mm Ortho that I took in on a trade a few months ago. I haven't used it much until tonight, but it really provided some razor sharp views. Kind of makes me want to try an 18mm Ortho. Anyway, I was just wondering how many people like using cheap glass over the designer stuff?
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
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rmollise
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/06/07
Posts: 4561
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Quote:
Anyway, I was just wondering how many people like using cheap glass over the designer stuff?
I do that all the time. I reckon I've got some pretty expensive glass on hand here, but what I usually grab when I want to use the 125 is an old plastic Orion eyepiece box containing a set of Orion/Adorama (Synta) Expanse eyepieces; an 11-mm 80 degree job, a "Birdseye," I got from Herb York; and some old Celestron circle T Plossls. Not only do all work outstandingly well with the 125, they seem more in keeping with the scope's casual, grab 'n go role for me than my Ethoses would. 
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Uncle Rod
Rod's New Book:
Choosing and Using a New CAT
Available now!
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Mak2007
sage
Reged: 06/24/07
Posts: 356
Loc: MD
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Randly, I totally agree with you. While I have both Pentax XF (similar to your radians):12, and 8.5mm. They are awesome, but like you, I prefer to use my cheaper UO Konigs (16 and 24mm). I have also a 24mm Hyperion, but the 24mm Konig is better for me: it is lighter, smaller, easier to handle, and perhaps I may be wrong but I am convinced that has better contrast than the Hyperion. I have been thinking also in the orthos that you mention (25, 18 and 12). Also, the 25mm ortho with a 2.8 Klee barlow sounds as another interesting possibility.
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10x50 Nikon Action Ex
ETX-125PE
L. Henzl Konig 24mm, 16mm Brandon, 12/9/7/5mm TMB Supermonocentrics
For my wife: 24mm Hyperion, 12/8.5 Pentax XF
My workhorses: 32/24/16/12(Zebra) U.O. Konig II
Barlows 2x TV, 2.8x Klee
"Don't worry about what telescope you own, or its quality. Just get out under the night sky, and enjoy God's wondrous universe." Thomas M. Back
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Mak2007
sage
Reged: 06/24/07
Posts: 356
Loc: MD
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Quote:
The one that really impressed me tonight was a 25mm Ortho that I took in on a trade a few months ago. I haven't used it much until tonight, but it really provided some razor sharp views.
Hi,
I have a question: how compares the 25mm ortho (UO?) with the 26mm Meade Super Plossl that came with the scope? Is the ortho better?
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10x50 Nikon Action Ex
ETX-125PE
L. Henzl Konig 24mm, 16mm Brandon, 12/9/7/5mm TMB Supermonocentrics
For my wife: 24mm Hyperion, 12/8.5 Pentax XF
My workhorses: 32/24/16/12(Zebra) U.O. Konig II
Barlows 2x TV, 2.8x Klee
"Don't worry about what telescope you own, or its quality. Just get out under the night sky, and enjoy God's wondrous universe." Thomas M. Back
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rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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Quote:
Hi,
I have a question: how compares the 25mm ortho (UO?) with the 26mm Meade Super Plossl that came with the scope? Is the ortho better?
Funny you should ask. I had already brought my scope in last night when I got to wondering the same thing!  I've only used the Meade Plossl once or twice when I first got my scope, but it seems like at the time I thought my 28mm RKE was doing a better job in that range. I'm convinced that the Ortho is better than the RKE so I'll have to give the Meade a try tonight or tomorrow to confirm my thoughts...weather permitting. I'm not sure where the 25mm Ortho came from. It doesn't have "University" stamped on it like my 5mm Ortho. It does have the same "T-Japan" markings on it and looks to be tooled the same way, so I imagine it at least came from the same shop.
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
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Mak2007
sage
Reged: 06/24/07
Posts: 356
Loc: MD
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Quote:
Quote:
Hi,
I have a question: how compares the 25mm ortho (UO?) with the 26mm Meade Super Plossl that came with the scope? Is the ortho better?
Funny you should ask. I had already brought my scope in last night when I got to wondering the same thing! I've only used the Meade Plossl once or twice when I first got my scope, but it seems like at the time I thought my 28mm RKE was doing a better job in that range. I'm convinced that the Ortho is better than the RKE so I'll have to give the Meade a try tonight or tomorrow to confirm my thoughts...weather permitting. I'm not sure where the 25mm Ortho came from. It doesn't have "University" stamped on it like my 5mm Ortho. It does have the same "T-Japan" markings on it and looks to be tooled the same way, so I imagine it at least came from the same shop.
Please, let us know your thoughts; I am very interested to know your opinion on how compares the ortho with the Meade Plossl.
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10x50 Nikon Action Ex
ETX-125PE
L. Henzl Konig 24mm, 16mm Brandon, 12/9/7/5mm TMB Supermonocentrics
For my wife: 24mm Hyperion, 12/8.5 Pentax XF
My workhorses: 32/24/16/12(Zebra) U.O. Konig II
Barlows 2x TV, 2.8x Klee
"Don't worry about what telescope you own, or its quality. Just get out under the night sky, and enjoy God's wondrous universe." Thomas M. Back
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rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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Okay, I got a chance to go out for awhile tonight. It was windy and seeing was not that great, but I took the Meade 26mm Plossl, the 25mm Ortho and the 28mm RKE for comparison. I wear eyeglasses so eye relief is a factor for me. I've not seen the specs on the Meade 26mm, but it was definitely not comfortable to use while wearing glasses. Eye relief seemed longer on the RKE and the Ortho. Aside from that,(in my opinion) the Ortho had the sharpest views and showed me more detail. The RKE was close second and the Meade Plossl came in 3rd. I used Saturn and M42 for the comparison. Saturn was low in the sky, so it was hard to get much detail, but with the rings edge on I could get a good idea of which EP was coming to the sharpest focus. It was the same story on M42. Core stars resolved better and the nebula seemed more wispy with better overall contrast while using the ortho.
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
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Mak2007
sage
Reged: 06/24/07
Posts: 356
Loc: MD
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Excellent! Thank you. I was expecting to hear that. I don't have personal experience; however is not surprising for me to know that orthos are sharper than Plossls, and this explain why orthos remain in today's market (even in new versions, like Baader Planetarium), while other designs are disappearing from the market (like Konigs and Erfles). Thanks again for the comparison.
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10x50 Nikon Action Ex
ETX-125PE
L. Henzl Konig 24mm, 16mm Brandon, 12/9/7/5mm TMB Supermonocentrics
For my wife: 24mm Hyperion, 12/8.5 Pentax XF
My workhorses: 32/24/16/12(Zebra) U.O. Konig II
Barlows 2x TV, 2.8x Klee
"Don't worry about what telescope you own, or its quality. Just get out under the night sky, and enjoy God's wondrous universe." Thomas M. Back
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rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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Hopefully someone with an 18mm Ortho will reply with an opinion. Seems like it would go good with the 125 (106X or 212X with a 2x barlow).
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
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faz
member
Reged: 01/23/08
Posts: 21
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My favourite eypiece is my only Ortho - 18mm! Easily out performs the supplied 26mm Meade Plossel. Gives great views. Works well with a cheapy x2 Barlow. I would say that this combination is slightly better than the 9mm Plossel that I picked up recently. I've got four cheap Kellners. These also seem to work well with the f/15 ETX125. Not so good on my homebuild 9 inch f/7 dob, which sadly doesn't see a lot of use these days.
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John (Alicante, Spain)
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rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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That sounds good. How's the eye relief on the 18mm?
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
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Joe Lalumia
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/24/07
Posts: 3600
Loc: Rockwall, Texas, USA
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Have not heard anyone mention the GSO Superviews for this scope-- the ones I have are excellent. FOV from 60-68 degrees
http://www.agenaastro.com/GSO-SuperView-Eyepiece-s/58.htm
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LX90 8" LNT, SV Nighthawk & TelePOD, SV 80/9D & M4 mount, ETX 90, Orion XT10i, 20x80 binoculars, SV-BV3s-- www.texasastro.org
"Great minds discuss ideas;Average minds discuss events;Small minds discuss people." Unknown
Edited by Joe Lalumia (02/21/09 05:12 PM)
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Jaimo!
super member
Reged: 10/11/07
Posts: 117
Loc: New Jersey / 40° North
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Joe,
I use a Synta made 15 & 20mm Wide Field from Zhumell, I picked up for ~$25/eyepiece on clearance. I also just picked up similar 10mm marketed by Desert Scopes off of eBay for the same price. I use these eyepieces EVERY time I take out the ETX, they work great in both the 90 & 125. I hope the TV plossl's are not considered "designer"; as I use plossls for planetary work and have found the TV to be much crisper than the Chinese made house brand plossls I had before.
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• Celestron Ultima 8, f/10
• Meade ETX-125/AT, f/15
• WO ZenithStar 66 SD APO, f/5.9
• Zeiss 50/540 ATM Refractor, f/10.8
• Bunch of Plossls, a few Orthos, some SWA & UWA...
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faz
member
Reged: 01/23/08
Posts: 21
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Randy,
My 18mm Ortho has a comfortable eye relief. I don't know the exact figure but I would guess 15mm. I don't usually wear glasses when viewing but have noticed the er is not so hot with specs on. The single marking on the barrel is "Japan T".
John
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Meade ETX125AT
9inch Homebrew Dob
Philips SPC 900NC(SC Mod)
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2091
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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With the long focal length of a Maksutov-Cassegrain, eyepieces have an easy job. Super wide angle EPs are not worth the extra money in long focal lengths because the field will be limited by the baffle tube.
I must confess to a love of the ordinary orthoscopic eyepiece, which I find much more pleasant than the common Plossl because the lack of ghosting increases the image contrast. Eye relief is not going to be a problem because you won't be able to use EPs much shorter than about 12mm anyway.
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Mak2007
sage
Reged: 06/24/07
Posts: 356
Loc: MD
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Quote:
With the long focal length of a Maksutov-Cassegrain, eyepieces have an easy job. Super wide angle EPs are not worth the extra money in long focal lengths because the field will be limited by the baffle tube.
I must confess to a love of the ordinary orthoscopic eyepiece, which I find much more pleasant than the common Plossl because the lack of ghosting increases the image contrast. Eye relief is not going to be a problem because you won't be able to use EPs much shorter than about 12mm anyway.
Totally agree with you. Very rarely I can actually use an eyepiece with FL lower than 12mm, except in the moon in which I can use 9, 8 and 7mm sometimes. It has been said in this forum that they can easily reach 300x in the ETX125 (which means using a 6.3mm eyepiece): that is not my case, and I agree with you. My most used high power ep in my ETX is actually a 12mm (158x).
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10x50 Nikon Action Ex
ETX-125PE
L. Henzl Konig 24mm, 16mm Brandon, 12/9/7/5mm TMB Supermonocentrics
For my wife: 24mm Hyperion, 12/8.5 Pentax XF
My workhorses: 32/24/16/12(Zebra) U.O. Konig II
Barlows 2x TV, 2.8x Klee
"Don't worry about what telescope you own, or its quality. Just get out under the night sky, and enjoy God's wondrous universe." Thomas M. Back
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Jaimo!
super member
Reged: 10/11/07
Posts: 117
Loc: New Jersey / 40° North
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Quote:
Totally agree with you. Very rarely I can actually use an eyepiece with FL lower than 12mm, except in the moon in which I can use 9, 8 and 7mm sometimes. It has been said in this forum that they can easily reach 300x in the ETX125 (which means using a 6.3mm eyepiece): that is not my case, and I agree with you. My most used high power ep in my ETX is actually a 12mm (158x).
I have recently used a 9mm Nagler (211x) in my ETX-125 to look at the Orion Nebula, in my light polluted skies, the view was one of the best I have had from my side yard.  With the wide angle I was able to fill the entire field of view with the nebula & was able to identify Trapezium A-D.
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• Celestron Ultima 8, f/10
• Meade ETX-125/AT, f/15
• WO ZenithStar 66 SD APO, f/5.9
• Zeiss 50/540 ATM Refractor, f/10.8
• Bunch of Plossls, a few Orthos, some SWA & UWA...
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Mak2007
sage
Reged: 06/24/07
Posts: 356
Loc: MD
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Quote:
Quote:
Totally agree with you. Very rarely I can actually use an eyepiece with FL lower than 12mm, except in the moon in which I can use 9, 8 and 7mm sometimes. It has been said in this forum that they can easily reach 300x in the ETX125 (which means using a 6.3mm eyepiece): that is not my case, and I agree with you. My most used high power ep in my ETX is actually a 12mm (158x).
I have recently used a 9mm Nagler (211x) in my ETX-125 to look at the Orion Nebula, in my light polluted skies, the view was one of the best I have had from my side yard. With the wide angle I was able to fill the entire field of view with the nebula & was able to identify Trapezium A-D.
So you say that you use regularly the 9mm Nagler in your ETX? I am truly interested, because if so, it means that something is wrong with me, the scope, etc (no the eyepiece: I have a 8.5 Pentax XF and 8mm TV Plossl)
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10x50 Nikon Action Ex
ETX-125PE
L. Henzl Konig 24mm, 16mm Brandon, 12/9/7/5mm TMB Supermonocentrics
For my wife: 24mm Hyperion, 12/8.5 Pentax XF
My workhorses: 32/24/16/12(Zebra) U.O. Konig II
Barlows 2x TV, 2.8x Klee
"Don't worry about what telescope you own, or its quality. Just get out under the night sky, and enjoy God's wondrous universe." Thomas M. Back
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Jaimo!
super member
Reged: 10/11/07
Posts: 117
Loc: New Jersey / 40° North
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Nothing is wrong with you Mak or your stuff... I just had some very nice seeing that night, crystal clear at 17°F. I'm not saying I regularly use it, as it is a relatively new eyepiece to me. I just saying depending on the seeing conditions & target, you should have no problem going down a little from 12mm...
Jaimo!
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2091
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Quote:
I just saying depending on the seeing conditions & target, you should have no problem going down a little from 12mm...
Eyes differ, and so do people's personal preferences, but if you push the magnification too far you start to lose low contrast detail, partly by pushing the contrasting patches further away from each other and partly by reducing the overall brightness (the eye's ability to detect contrast declines at low light levels). With large scopes, there's more light around but you tend to get more interference from seeing disturbances. If you're pushing the magnification up until hard edges (e.g. the shadow of Saturn's ring on the globe, or vice versa) are beginning to blur noticeably, you're going too far.
The highest power I ever use on a 200mm LX90 is x222. With the sole exception of using an insanely high power (x444) for examining the diffraction pattern when collimating.
My personal opinion is that the highest power which is actually useful for observing is that which gives an exit pupil of 0.8 mm i.e. an eyepiece with a focal length of 0.8 times the focal ratio of the scope. With good optics and good seeing you may get reasonably sharp images at a higher power than that but you can't actually see any more detail.
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ones
super member
Reged: 05/27/08
Posts: 135
Loc: IL
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I use a 9mm once in a while.
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Kev
ETX 125PE
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Mak2007
sage
Reged: 06/24/07
Posts: 356
Loc: MD
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Quote:
Quote:
I just saying depending on the seeing conditions & target, you should have no problem going down a little from 12mm...
Eyes differ, and so do people's personal preferences, but if you push the magnification too far you start to lose low contrast detail, partly by pushing the contrasting patches further away from each other and partly by reducing the overall brightness (the eye's ability to detect contrast declines at low light levels). With large scopes, there's more light around but you tend to get more interference from seeing disturbances. If you're pushing the magnification up until hard edges (e.g. the shadow of Saturn's ring on the globe, or vice versa) are beginning to blur noticeably, you're going too far.
The highest power I ever use on a 200mm LX90 is x222. With the sole exception of using an insanely high power (x444) for examining the diffraction pattern when collimating.
My personal opinion is that the highest power which is actually useful for observing is that which gives an exit pupil of 0.8 mm i.e. an eyepiece with a focal length of 0.8 times the focal ratio of the scope. With good optics and good seeing you may get reasonably sharp images at a higher power than that but you can't actually see any more detail.
I agree. I must recognize that I am not an experienced observer, but for the high power that works better in my ETX, under my skies, is 12mm (a Pentax XF, awesome eyepiece and no field curvature in the ETX).
Like Ones, only rarely I can use (and distinguish more details) with a 9-8mm; and I noted that just on the moon I can actually see fine details using 9 to 7 mm eyepieces. When looking planets, for me is not clear that I can distinguish better details using something below 12mm.
Thank you guys.
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10x50 Nikon Action Ex
ETX-125PE
L. Henzl Konig 24mm, 16mm Brandon, 12/9/7/5mm TMB Supermonocentrics
For my wife: 24mm Hyperion, 12/8.5 Pentax XF
My workhorses: 32/24/16/12(Zebra) U.O. Konig II
Barlows 2x TV, 2.8x Klee
"Don't worry about what telescope you own, or its quality. Just get out under the night sky, and enjoy God's wondrous universe." Thomas M. Back
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Jaimo!
super member
Reged: 10/11/07
Posts: 117
Loc: New Jersey / 40° North
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Mak,
I went out to check out Saturn this evening, the first clear night in a week. The best high power views I could get was with my 11mm TV plossl (173x). My views broke down with the 9mm Nagler (x211) & the 10mm Synta wide field (x190).
Jaimo!
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• Celestron Ultima 8, f/10
• Meade ETX-125/AT, f/15
• WO ZenithStar 66 SD APO, f/5.9
• Zeiss 50/540 ATM Refractor, f/10.8
• Bunch of Plossls, a few Orthos, some SWA & UWA...
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rmollise
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/06/07
Posts: 4561
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Quote:
I use a 9mm once in a while.
Much depends on the seeing. Down here on the Gulf Coast, I will often push the 125 to 300x and above with amazing results.
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Uncle Rod
Rod's New Book:
Choosing and Using a New CAT
Available now!
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Dr Morbius
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 02/06/07
Posts: 1720
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I got a 16mm and 22mm Rini on ebay for around $21 - $22 a piece. In my estimation they work astoundingly well [although I've heard a bit of hit or miss in regards to quality control] in my ETX 125. I love checking out bargain lenses and thrilled when I find a Goodie!!! 
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Meade ETX-125
NightFire 6" f/8 Refractor with Moonlite focuser
Meade 14" LX200 S/C
D&G 10" f/15 Refractor with Parallax Mount
Little Giant 11x70mm Binos
I'm afraid of dying, but I've learned to live with it. ......Steve Perry
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