Telescope Reviews: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36mm's?

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Equipment Discussions >> Eyepieces

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mark8888
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 09/24/10

Re: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36 new

[Re: ibase]
#5618414 - 01/12/13 03:21 AM

Quote:

Encouraged by seeing BillP above with the digital microscope together with his RKE28mm on hand, I've ordered and have received one:

What you think of it? Does it work well? I'd be interested in hearing about how it works on non-astro targets, like things lying around the room, specimens from nature, whatever.

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ibase
Vendor Affilliate

Reged: 03/20/08

Loc: Manila, Philippines 121*E 14*N

Re: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36 new

[Re: mark8888]
#5619935 - 01/12/13 10:28 PM

Celestron Digital Microscope freshly unpacked

With an AA battery (not needed) for scale; connected to laptop's USB port

Very sleek, am liking it! And exactly the things I had in mind too for use of this digi micro scope as you've mentioned, so upon reading your post, have opened up the sealed pack, chucked in its USB plug connector to my laptop port and it powered-up, six bright white leds lighted up, it's working! (Always anxious if ordered-from-the-US accessories work right off the box, because it's hard & expensive to ship back defective unit halfway around the globe). Next comes the installer disk, into the tray it goes, a very long read, and.. Houston we have a problem! The laptop can't read the disk!

Hopefully, will straighten this out and report back, thanks.

Best,

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ibase
Vendor Affilliate

Reged: 03/20/08

Loc: Manila, Philippines 121*E 14*N

Re: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36 new

[Re: ibase]
#5620312 - 01/13/13 08:58 AM

Using another video software - xwAstroCapture, I was able to make the microscope work, using a dollar bill as sample. Took a pic of the emblem on the obverse side of the bill:

One Dollar greenbuck

Then used the Celestron microscope to zoom in on one of the stars:

1st light image of dollar star using the Celestron digital microscope

This is just a 1st try, the focusing mechanism and operation requires some getting used to. Overall, I'm impressed with this Celestron digital microscope, considering its relatively low cost (< $50).

Best,

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mark8888
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 09/24/10

Re: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36 new

[Re: ibase]
#5620385 - 01/13/13 09:49 AM

Awesome!! Looks like a good amount of minute detail is visible. Ya for around $50 it seems like a great toy...

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ibase
Vendor Affilliate

Reged: 03/20/08

Loc: Manila, Philippines 121*E 14*N

Re: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36 new

[Re: mark8888]
#5620713 - 01/13/13 12:42 PM

Indeed, a great optical toy, and enjoying it! The above star was captured using 1280x960 setting. Below, image is sharper at 640x480.

Celestron Microscope Manual (& an AA battery for scale):

Letter "S" in "ENGLISH" above, under the Celestron microscope at 800x600:

Best,

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ibase
Vendor Affilliate

Reged: 03/20/08

Loc: Manila, Philippines 121*E 14*N

Re: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36 new

[Re: ibase]
#5621848 - 01/13/13 10:33 PM

Business end/lens of the handy Celestron Digital Microscope w/its 6 LED bulbs:

Grass blade at 800x600:

In a way, this fun Celestron "microscope" can be thought of as a powerful magnifying glass.

Best,

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Dave Ittner
sage

Reged: 05/29/12

Loc: SF Bay Area, California

Re: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36 new

[Re: ibase]
#5621913 - 01/13/13 11:22 PM

Finally acquired a RKE 2.5X barlow. Dang that thing is long.

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ibase
Vendor Affilliate

Reged: 03/20/08

Loc: Manila, Philippines 121*E 14*N

Re: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36 new

[Re: Dave Ittner]
#5622104 - 01/14/13 04:45 AM

Congrats, let us know how it performs. Yes, standard barlows can be cumbersome to use because of its length, and if you're interested in a more manageable and compact barlow, check out the Baader 2.25x barlow which screws on to the EP's standard 1-1/4" filter thread like shown below with an RKE28mm:

Best,

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Dave Ittner
sage

Reged: 05/29/12

Loc: SF Bay Area, California

Re: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36 new

[Re: ibase]
#5622136 - 01/14/13 05:12 AM

interesting, but the 1-1/4 adapter looks to have a larger diameter than the eyepiece barrel. Is this an optical illusion or does it cause issues from time to time?

I know if it is even a smidgen wider than the barrel of a RKE eyepiece it will not fit in an AstroScan.

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ibase
Vendor Affilliate

Reged: 03/20/08

Loc: Manila, Philippines 121*E 14*N

Re: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36 new

[Re: Dave Ittner]
#5622423 - 01/14/13 10:28 AM

Not at all, I haven't encountered any issues with the Baader 2.25x barlow not fitting into standard 1-1/4" diagonals or 2"-to-1.25" adapters - have tried it with diagonals from William Optics, Celestron, OPT, Orion or even the Antares twist-lock adapter shown below:

The fit is good with no problems.

Best,

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Dave Ittner
sage

Reged: 05/29/12

Loc: SF Bay Area, California

Re: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36 new

[Re: ibase]
#5622547 - 01/14/13 11:56 AM

Okay, I see now. The barlow is the only thing that will fit down into the adapter or the focuser. To me this pushes the eyepiece further out and thus requires more in focus travel.

I have used the Scopetronix MaxPower barlow lens, which provides 1.6x, but that is the same size as the eyepiece barrel so it slips down into the focuser just fine. Suppose another plus is it costs around $20 used.

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ibase
Vendor Affilliate

Reged: 03/20/08

Loc: Manila, Philippines 121*E 14*N

Re: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36 new

[Re: Dave Ittner]
#5623312 - 01/14/13 07:53 PM

Any notes on the Scopetronix 1.6x barlow? The 1.6x I have is the Antares 2". Very good performance. As for 2 to 3x power barlows, there's the TV 2x & 3x; if I wanted a 2.5x, will just swap parts with the 2-3x's; but opted also for a 2.5x Powermate.

L-R: Televue Powermate 2.5x, 2x, 3x barlows

How to make a TV 2.5x barlow

Meade 5K SWA 28mm & Antares 2" 1.6x barlow

Best,

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Scanning4Comets
Markus

Reged: 12/26/04

Loc: Deep Space!

Re: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36 new

[Re: ibase]
#5623330 - 01/14/13 08:09 PM

Nice pics of the microscope and the images from it Hernando! The only thing I found detrimental to barlowing the 28mm with the Antares was serious vignetting of the field stop.

Cheers,

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ibase
Vendor Affilliate

Reged: 03/20/08

Loc: Manila, Philippines 121*E 14*N

Re: RKE 28mm on the way! What to expect vs. 27-36 new

[Re: Scanning4Comets]
#5623340 - 01/14/13 08:16 PM

Thanks Mark, glad you liked the microscope pics!

Didn't have a separate pic of the Antares 1.6x so that one's with the M5K SWA28; that particular barlow/EP combo actually wouldn't come to focus with the small finicky WO66 refractor it was on in the pic.

The Powermate is more of vignette-free.

Best,

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