Telescope Reviews: Orion EON 72

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Equipment Discussions >> Refractors

Pages: 1

ranger
sage

Reged: 04/30/08

Orion EON 72
#2548841 - 07/29/08 05:34 PM

Very little has been written about the Orion EON 72 so I thought I would share my recent experience using it. I was able to borrow a friends EON 72 the other night so I brought along my TV85 for comparison. I was primarily looking at Jupiter for an extended time but also looked at Neptune and a few other things. I kept switching the same Nagler Zoom 2-4 eyepiece between the two scopes as well as jumping between the 3mm, 3.5mm and 4mm setting on both scopes to dial in the best and sharpest view in each. In short, the performance of the Orion was very impressive. I could see the same amount of detail on Jupiter in both scopes -- in fact Jupiter had a bit less glare in the 72 because of its smaller aperture. The 72 was cooler looking in color to the 85. Both scopes showed color on the edges of Jupiter at first (atmospheric?) but as the night wore on the color disappeared completely in the 85 and very, very, very nearly so in the 72. The neat thing about the 72 and the other EON scopes is their dual focuser. When I would bring Jupiter to focus in the 85 it snapped to focus and showed very little color where the 72 had more color when focusing using the macro focusing knobs but then you could dial it in tight -- showing almost no color with the fine focus -- very nice to use. I found Neptune in both scopes and again the views were very similar.

The only glaring issue I found with the Orion 72 was using it with my 16mm Radian which provided an unpleasant color shifted view of Jupiter. I could not get the eyepiece to work at all on the 72. I am wondering if the magnification was too low for a 430mm focal length? I didn't get a chance to look at the Moon as it was not up but I suspect the 72 would not do well with the 16mm on that either.

I would say the fit and finish of the Orion was really nice. It felt sturdy and was half the length of my 85 but afforded a very similar view of the two planets. The focuser on the 72 rotates so that you can mount the dovetail sideways or right side up, etc. I was really impressed with its performance at high magnification.

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David E
Post Laureate

Reged: 05/25/06

Loc: North Carolina

Re: Orion EON 72 new

new

[Re: ranger]
#2548906 - 07/29/08 06:13 PM

Ranger, nice report, thanks for posting. I'm getting more excited now about the SV70 that I have on order. I'm also a little stumped about the glare with the 16mm Radian. Maybe it was just some moisture or dust in the atmosphere so I'd give it some more tries. Remember that with Jupiter so low on your horizon you're looking through about 5 times more atmosphere than when viewing overhead. The power you get with that 16mm though, is awfully low for lunar/planetary work. Are you in the Central time zone? This Wednesday night Io will be transiting Jupiter, you should be able to catch most if not all of the show. Good luck!

David E

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scout72
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 05/12/08

Loc: SF Bay Area

Re: Orion EON 72 new

new

[Re: David E]
#2548965 - 07/29/08 06:46 PM

I have an EON72 and love this little scope- I regularly use mine for low power scanning with no problems- and that is with a qx70 26mm - but the scope does have some back focus issues- particularly when using a 1.25" diagonal and usually only on short focal eyepieces-.

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Chris Schroeder
Postmaster

Reged: 12/11/04

Loc: N.E. WI Sky Glow

Re: Orion EON 72 new

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[Re: scout72]
#2549032 - 07/29/08 07:26 PM

Thanks for first light report, well done!
How about a photo or two?

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ranger
sage

Reged: 04/30/08

Re: Orion EON 72 new

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[Re: Chris Schroeder]
#2549253 - 07/29/08 09:32 PM

I am not sure what was causing the color shift with the 16mm -- it certainly warrants another test. I am really impressed with how well it performed. The scope is just so small that you think that it couldn't possibly keep up with the TV85 but it did. I think it would make a great travel scope because of its size and its relative low cost.

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Anonymous
Unregistered

Re: Orion EON 72 new

new

[Re: ranger]
#2549318 - 07/29/08 09:59 PM

Nice report, but I don't think the Eon would keep up with the TV85 on a night to night basis. I'm basing this on comparisons over 7 years between my Ranger and my TV85 and also with a friend's Vixen 70mm Fluorite. Some nights, the Ranger or the Vixen were quite close, especially on the moon and Saturn. Other nights, it wasn't so close, especially on Jupiter. The night means a lot.

Clyde

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ranger
sage

Reged: 04/30/08

Re: Orion EON 72 new

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[Re: ]
#2550815 - 07/30/08 04:45 PM

Quote:

Some nights, the Ranger or the Vixen were quite close, especially on the moon and Saturn. Other nights, it wasn't so close, especially on Jupiter. The night means a lot.

Clyde

I agree with you about the long term comparison between the two in that the TeleVue would no doubt win out. It is interesting however to note that the lesser expensive Orion could keep up with the bigger and more expensive TeleVue on any night at all and it did on the few objects I looked at.

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Anonymous
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Re: Orion EON 72 new

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[Re: ranger]
#2550847 - 07/30/08 05:00 PM

Hey, where are you in Chicagoland? I went to Northwestern for grad school and lived in Evanston for a bit, then down around Wrigley Field. *BLEEP*, I miss Chicago! Great town.

Clyde

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Anonymous
Unregistered

Re: Orion EON 72 new

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[Re: ]
#2550856 - 07/30/08 05:03 PM

Whoops! Got bleeped for something with the same amount of letters as "dang" and equally innocuous. Wonder if [snip, spaceydee] will make it through?? If it does, banned four letter words on this site really need to be looking into! Ha!

Clyde

Edited by spaceydee (07/30/08 07:15 PM)

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ranger
sage

Reged: 04/30/08

Re: Orion EON 72 new

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[Re: ]
#2550929 - 07/30/08 05:38 PM

I live on the north shore and have an office in Evanston but I went to U of M (Go Blue!).

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Anonymous
Unregistered

Re: Orion EON 72 new

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[Re: ranger]
#2550948 - 07/30/08 05:51 PM

Neat. My wife went to U of M and grew up in Detroit.

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David E
Post Laureate

Reged: 05/25/06

Loc: North Carolina

Re: Orion EON 72 new

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[Re: ranger]
#2551026 - 07/30/08 06:28 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Some nights, the Ranger or the Vixen were quite close, especially on the moon and Saturn. Other nights, it wasn't so close, especially on Jupiter. The night means a lot.

Clyde

I agree with you about the long term comparison between the two in that the TeleVue would no doubt win out. It is interesting however to note that the lesser expensive Orion could keep up with the bigger and more expensive TeleVue on any night at all and it did on the few objects I looked at.

With a few years of observing I can say that occassionally my 3" achromat will give me a better image than my larger apos viewing Jupiter. Put your two scopes on the Moon with high power and I'm sure there will be no doubt which is superior.

David E

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Anonymous
Unregistered

Re: Orion EON 72 new

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[Re: David E]
#2551096 - 07/30/08 07:02 PM

David,

Yep, I agree. I have a buddy with several Tak scopes. Though I've most often observed with him when he has his Tak 78 and I have my TV85, there have been plenty of nights over the last 5 years when I've had my 85 beside his Tak 102. Every now and then, my 85 will keep up quite well on Jupiter. But only every now and then! He says ditto for his 78 when he's had it side by side with his 102 over the years.

Clyde

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scout72
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 05/12/08

Loc: SF Bay Area

Re: Orion EON 72 new

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[Re: ]
#2551702 - 07/31/08 01:16 AM

Hurry Hurry- Orion Deal of the Day- EON 72mm at $424!

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Clive Gibbons
Mostly Harmless

Reged: 05/26/05

Loc: Oort Cloud

Re: Orion EON 72 new

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[Re: ranger]
#2552078 - 07/31/08 09:23 AM

Thanks for the comparison report!
The EON 72 is another scope which might benefit in terms of color correction, from using a prism diagonal rather than a mirror.
Wolfgang Rohr's test of the WO 72mm doublet showed a definite improvement in correction by doing so.

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