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Equipment Discussions >> Eyepieces

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orion61
Vendor(Clear Edge Optical)

Reged: 10/20/07

Loc: NW Iowa BURRRR

Meade MA eyepieces What design?
#5610157 - 01/07/13 12:40 PM

I am wondering what format the meade MA eyepieces are?
Modified Acromat..
Are these 2 element, ramsden, Hygens or Kellner design?
or are they like an Edmund RKE?
I got a set in VG+ condition 5 with a locking foam lined case for $31.00 on the Bay. Figured they'd be good enough for public night.
Plus I'm starting an Astro Club this Spring in NW Iowa
and will donate my RV6 for checkout by members and use these to check out with it.
They dont seem to be terrible but it has been quite a while
since I looked through one, I got a 25 and 9 with a 2045 years ago.
how good or bad are they?

Post Extras:

uniondrone
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 12/05/09

Loc: Streetlight Archipelago

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: orion61]
#5610313 - 01/07/13 02:18 PM

I have always thought that the Meade MA eyepieces were on par with if not identical to Kellner eyepieces. At long EP focal lengths looking at the moon or planets, I thought that the view was acceptable at f/10. I doubt if I would want to use them on a fast scope or for higher magnification, however.

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Starman1
Vendor (EyepiecesEtc.com)

Reged: 06/24/03

Loc: Los Angeles

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: orion61]
#5610374 - 01/07/13 02:50 PM

I always thought they were achromatic Ramsdens (one singlet replaced with a doublet), but they could have been Kellner Type I's (doublet eye lens, singlet field lens). I haven't had one for several decades, so someone who still has one and can take it apart can report what the last ones were (I don't think they're still in production).

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orion61
Vendor(Clear Edge Optical)

Reged: 10/20/07

Loc: NW Iowa BURRRR

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Starman1]
#5610570 - 01/07/13 04:51 PM

I just did an artificial star test and they were better than the 25 and 9 Ploosls that came with my Celestron 127 SLT Mak. Sharper and brighter on axis, tapering off the last 1/4 of the field but they didn't show astigmatism
like the Celestrons, Threr was a slight bit of color fringing on the 6mm but not bad, the lower powers didn't really show any. Not Bad really, especially for $6.00 ea.

Post Extras:

Jon Isaacs
Postmaster

Reged: 06/16/04

Loc: San Diego and Boulevard, CA

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: orion61]
#5611020 - 01/07/13 10:16 PM

There have been several generations of the Meade MA's, the older ones were made in Japan and had brass barrels and solid bodies. Some of the modern ones are mostly plastic. I am not sure they have remained optically the same over the years. In a shorter period of time, the SuperPlossls went from being a 5 element to a 4 element with a variety of incarnations.

The old ones are pretty good.

Jon

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Jaimo!
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 10/11/07

Loc: Exit 135 / 40° North

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Jon Isaacs]
#5611112 - 01/07/13 10:57 PM

Modified Achromat - 40° AFOV, 3 element... Here's a nice review:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/common_eyepiece_designs.htm

The older ones, made in Japan, like those in the photo share a similar barrel and outer design to the Meade Series II Orthos. The are not nearly as good as the Orthos, but the 25mm seemed to work fine in my 60mm f/16.7 Carton refractor.

Jaimo!

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bremms
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 08/31/12

Loc: SC

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Jaimo!]
#5611121 - 01/07/13 11:02 PM

Kellners more or less. The older ones are pretty good in longer focus scopes. I had a couple, they were good in my 6" F8. The orthos and TV plossls were better so mine were given away with scopes. You can pick them up for about $15 each most of the time.

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bremms
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 08/31/12

Loc: SC

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: bremms]
#5611133 - 01/07/13 11:08 PM

Funny thing is, I have a couple of Victorian era Huygens EP's
that perform very well at F15. They have VERY good surface polish. Don't use them on a regular basis (one is about 55mm FL).

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Jaimo!
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 10/11/07

Loc: Exit 135 / 40° North

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: bremms]
#5611160 - 01/07/13 11:30 PM

Quote:

Funny thing is, I have a couple of Victorian era Huygens EP's
that perform very well at F15. They have VERY good surface polish. Don't use them on a regular basis (one is about 55mm FL).

I'd love to see a picture if possible... Please?

Jaimo!

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GlennLeDrew
Postmaster

Reged: 06/18/08

Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Jaimo!]
#5611317 - 01/08/13 02:30 AM

Bremms,
I'd be curious tomorrow how you ascertained those old Huygenuan eyepieces to have "VERY good" surface polish...

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Jon Isaacs
Postmaster

Reged: 06/16/04

Loc: San Diego and Boulevard, CA

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Jaimo!]
#5611436 - 01/08/13 07:17 AM

Quote:

Modified Achromat - 40° AFOV, 3 element... Here's a nice review:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/common_eyepiece_designs.htm

The older ones, made in Japan, like those in the photo share a similar barrel and outer design to the Meade Series II Orthos. The are not nearly as good as the Orthos, but the 25mm seemed to work fine in my 60mm f/16.7 Carton refractor.

Jaimo!

I have a set of the Series II Orthos which I find to be good performers. I also have a Meade MA 40mm EWF which is of similar vintage and color scheme, the Extra Wide Field is only about 40 degrees AFoV with a field stop of about 25mm but it does provide nice views that seem enjoyably wide in a slow scope. These are all Circle Ts.

There is also another older Meade MA 25mm that seemed to be the standard eyepiece with many scopes in the 80s. It is quite nice, a brass barrel with an elaborate brass field stop. There are no markings other than Meade MA 25mm with a Japan sticker. These are also quite good in a slower scope.

Jon

Post Extras:

Jaimo!
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 10/11/07

Loc: Exit 135 / 40° North

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Jon Isaacs]
#5611454 - 01/08/13 07:46 AM

Jon, I don't know what it is about the E.W.F., but I find it very appealing, it has been on my radar for some time.

Jaimo!

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orion61
Vendor(Clear Edge Optical)

Reged: 10/20/07

Loc: NW Iowa BURRRR

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Jaimo!]
#5611504 - 01/08/13 08:33 AM

The ones i have are not that old, have rubber eyecups.
They came in a pretty heavy blue hinged case.
The eyepieces are pretty heavy built, no plastic.
Seems funny tho how lenses made today are junk but in 20 years are great!

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Jon Isaacs
Postmaster

Reged: 06/16/04

Loc: San Diego and Boulevard, CA

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: orion61]
#5611527 - 01/08/13 08:48 AM

Quote:

The ones i have are not that old, have rubber eyecups.
They came in a pretty heavy blue hinged case.
The eyepieces are pretty heavy built, no plastic.
Seems funny tho how lenses made today are junk but in 20 years are great!

The Meade MAs from 20-30 years ago were good eyepieces then, good eyepieces now. The Widefield eyepieces were just becoming available, scopes were typically smaller and slower. Decent eyepieces back then, good eyepieces today.

There are likely several versions of the more modern MAs just as there are several verisions of the Super Plossls, some with more plastic than others. I have owned several MAs of recent vintage that were essentially plastic with glass lenses. Not bad eyepieces when the entire scope costs $50 but so-so compared to the older versions.

So-so today, so-so in 20-30 years.

Jon

Post Extras:

Jon Isaacs
Postmaster

Reged: 06/16/04

Loc: San Diego and Boulevard, CA

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Jaimo!]
#5611533 - 01/08/13 08:51 AM

Quote:

Jon, I don't know what it is about the E.W.F., but I find it very appealing, it has been on my radar for some time.

Jaimo!

Do you own one? It is an interesting eyepiece, I don't use it a lot but I use it more than my 40mm Celestron Plossl. In a side by side comparison, the Celestron Plossl wins on every point but when the time comes to choose an eyepiece, I always choose the EWF...

Go figure

Jon

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Ernest_SPB
sage

Reged: 11/13/10

Loc: St.-Petersburg, Russia

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Jon Isaacs]
#5611562 - 01/08/13 09:15 AM

"Meade MA eyepieces What design?" - I have thought it is variant of Reversed Kelner: in order of light pass glued doublet + single lens.

But today I have disassembled my 12 mm MA from Meade and found that is classic Kelner: single field lens + doublet as eye lens.

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orion61
Vendor(Clear Edge Optical)

Reged: 10/20/07

Loc: NW Iowa BURRRR

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Ernest_SPB]
#5611585 - 01/08/13 09:33 AM

perhaps thats why i have always kept one or 2 around, Old school as it is I have always liked Kellners, I don't waer my glasses viewing because I don't have astigmatism so the low relief in higher powers isn't an issue for me.
BUT for under $40.00 for the whole set of 5 and a nice heavy case It is a great bargain....to me

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Dave Ittner
sage

Reged: 05/29/12

Loc: SF Bay Area, California

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: orion61]
#5611630 - 01/08/13 10:08 AM

Quote:

perhaps thats why i have always kept one or 2 around, Old school as it is I have always liked Kellners, I don't waer my glasses viewing because I don't have astigmatism so the low relief in higher powers isn't an issue for me.
BUT for under $40.00 for the whole set of 5 and a nice heavy case It is a great bargain....to me

$40? Not bad. Where do you find those deals?

Post Extras:

RobFriedman
member

Reged: 12/25/05

Loc: Long Island, NY

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Dave Ittner]
#5612057 - 01/08/13 02:22 PM

how are the older Meade 4000's???? I'm looking to pick a set (minus the 12.?) for $100? is that a good deal?

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bremms
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 08/31/12

Loc: SC

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: GlennLeDrew]
#5612087 - 01/08/13 02:40 PM

They are not coated obviously. The long FL ones lenses look very good and it has good contrast. I decised to shine a laser through the lenses to look a scattering. They have very little scattering. Can't find the shorter FL eyepiece.
Old eyepieces were mostly pitch lap polished and tend to have very good surface finish. I did have a thread with pictures of my long FL eyepiece. Seems like it came from a Victorian microscope, although I did get it with a box of old telescope stuff. I want to mount it in on a 2" barrel and try it out on my 4" F15.

Edited by bremms (01/08/13 02:43 PM)

Post Extras:

Jaimo!
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 10/11/07

Loc: Exit 135 / 40° North

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Jon Isaacs]
#5612292 - 01/08/13 04:45 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Jon, I don't know what it is about the E.W.F., but I find it very appealing, it has been on my radar for some time.

Jaimo!

Do you own one? It is an interesting eyepiece, I don't use it a lot but I use it more than my 40mm Celestron Plossl. In a side by side comparison, the Celestron Plossl wins on every point but when the time comes to choose an eyepiece, I always choose the EWF...

Go figure

Jon

I do not own one, but one day one will become available to me... I hope. I can't describe it, and I certainly don't NEED it, but there's just something about it that catches my attention.

Jaimo!

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orion61
Vendor(Clear Edge Optical)

Reged: 10/20/07

Loc: NW Iowa BURRRR

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Dave Ittner]
#5612506 - 01/08/13 06:50 PM

Quote:

Quote:

perhaps thats why i have always kept one or 2 around, Old school as it is I have always liked Kellners, I don't waer my glasses viewing because I don't have astigmatism so the low relief in higher powers isn't an issue for me.
BUT for under $40.00 for the whole set of 5 and a nice heavy case It is a great bargain....to me

$40? Not bad. Where do you find those deals?

Trolling EbAy at 3:30 AM one morning last week when I couldn't sleep. It was just listed BIN for $32.00 plus..
Couldn't pass it up. they are like brand new, only one actually looks like it had been used, I thought about breaking them up and selling them and useing the 5 eyepiece hard case for my RKE set. But I hadn;t seen the 17 and 6mm
in the MA, usually see the 25 and 9mm which I like. this doesn't have the 9 but has a 12.

Post Extras:

Jon Isaacs
Postmaster

Reged: 06/16/04

Loc: San Diego and Boulevard, CA

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: orion61]
#5613193 - 01/09/13 06:41 AM

Quote:

But I hadn;t seen the 17 and 6mm
in the MA, usually see the 25 and 9mm which I like.

Curious, is that a 17mm or a 17.5mm? I had one of these scopes once:

Meade 60 AZ-T

Jon

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Andy Howie
super member

Reged: 09/10/05

Loc: Paisley, Scotland

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: orion61]
#5613241 - 01/09/13 08:02 AM

I have an old Meade 25mm MA. Made in Japan, circle T sticker. Here's a pic of the internals....

Doublet eyelens on the right.
singlet - just noticable in the pic is very slight convex curvature on it's right hand surface.
doublet - a very, very slight convex curvature on it's right hand surface.

Andy.

Edited by Andy Howie (01/09/13 08:14 AM)

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Andy Howie
super member

Reged: 09/10/05

Loc: Paisley, Scotland

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Andy Howie]
#5613242 - 01/09/13 08:03 AM

And the housing..........

Whilst the lens housing can screw directly to the barrel, the two threaded spacers are needed to get the field stop(in the barrel) nice and crisp.

Andy.

Edited by Andy Howie (01/09/13 08:18 AM)

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Starman1
Vendor (EyepiecesEtc.com)

Reged: 06/24/03

Loc: Los Angeles

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Andy Howie]
#5613495 - 01/09/13 10:57 AM

Quote:

I have an old Meade 25mm MA. Made in Japan, circle T sticker. Here's a pic of the internals....

Doublet eyelens on the right.
singlet - just noticable in the pic is very slight convex curvature on it's right hand surface.
doublet - a very, very slight convex curvature on it's right hand surface.

Andy.

Well, it's not a Kellner exactly, though the curves are close. A standard Kellner has the lens groups spaced farther apart and a stronger curve on the bottom lens.
Hence the designation "Modified Achromat", I guess.

Post Extras:

Jaimo!
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 10/11/07

Loc: Exit 135 / 40° North

Re: Meade MA eyepieces What design? new

[Re: Starman1]
#5614205 - 01/09/13 06:16 PM

Nice Andy, good work!

Jaimo!

Edited by Jaimo! (01/09/13 06:17 PM)

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