CN Reports: NEAF 2007 (Part 2)

As you know if you've read Part 1 (if you haven't, you'll find it here), the Big Story this year was Tele Vue's leap towards redefining the wide field with their introduction of the Ethos.   I've gotten so many e-mails with questions and comments on the Ethos, I figured I'd take a moment to summarize what we/I know about it  - this information is valid as of May 3, 2007 - but of course, subject to change.

At NEAF 2007, Tele Vue introduced the Ethos eyepiece, a revolutionary new step forward in wide field, highly corrected eyepieces.  The one on display was a 13 mm eyepiece with 15 mm of eye relief (for comparison, the Radians have 20 mm, the 12t4 has 17 mm, and the 13 t6 has 12 mm).  It's a fairly light weight 1.24 lbs, accepts the Dioptrx, and has a 1.25" barrel with a 2" sleeve.  The field stop is listed as "slightly larger than a 16 mm t5 which means the field size will most likely be slightly larger as well. (Posts from a rep in the TV group put the field stop of the prototype at 22.4mm.)

At the moment, only the 13 mm is slated for introduction.  David, Al and I talked about if they would go up or down from there for the next eyepiece in the line, but Tele Vue was still evaluating their options.

Although Al Nagler assisted a bit, Paul Dellechiaie was the lead Tele Vue designer for this project.

As of this writing, Tele Vue has set no price and any figures you see floating around on the internet are merely guesses by various dealers.  Additionally, the cosmetic design may change slightly.  The prototypes at the show were labeled X100 (until Tele Vue blacked them out to - most likely - help avoid confusion).  There are currently five in existence.  I know because I asked - ok, begged - for one.  They don't have any for the public yet.

Availability is scheduled for summer / fall 2007.

I had an opportunity to take a rather good look through the eyepiece in the interior of the field house.  Tele Vue had two targets set up - one a target designed to judge linear distortion, and the other to simulate a star field.

There was NO detectable linear distortion in the Ethos at all.  The tiny Saturn's they had on the target were in the same positions all the way out to the edge of the field.  They were also sharp clear to the edge.  From the Tele Vue literature:

"Al Nagler notes: For reference, the maximum angular magnification distortion of the new 13 mm Ethos is no more than 1% at any point in the 100¢ª field"

and that looked pretty correct to me.

The other thing that I noticed was the cool tone of the eyepiece.  Tele Vue is noted for using glass that gives warm views - not anymore.  For better or worse, that looks to be gone with the new Ethos.

And then, finally - Observatech with their modular panel solution.  They apparently offer hard panels now as well.



If you've been to NEAF, you probably know who Alan Traino is.  If you don't, you should.  Alan is the gent who "Makes it all Happen" when it comes to NEAF.  As he'd be the first to tell you, the Rockland Astronomy Club does the hard work, but he's the one who is in charge of making sure everything comes together.

I'm constantly amazed by the sheer amount of energy Alan has, and now that I see his secret mode of NEAF transportation, I understand.  The rest of us have to walk!! 

Although NEAF is thought of as an S&T show, the gents from Astronomy were there to meet and greet as well.  Astronomy is one of my favorite magazines.  If you haven't picked one up recently, you might want to give it some thought.  They've really improved under Dave Eichers leadership.

Fans of AP were quick to notice something new around Roland Christen's booth: a prototype 130 mm Traveler!  I talked with Roland for a minute, and he confirmed that the mechanics on that version were final - so, those of you on the old 130 list - take a peek, looks like you might wind up with one of these!  You'll find a few more shots below.

Roland Christen and his newest baby...

I noticed that AP owners were able to pick up a free cap if they took the time to fill out a survey form.  Looks like Roland has some more stuff in the works.  (Rumor mill says a total of 4 scopes will see introduction in the not too distant future.  Sign up early, sign up often!)

Ah, the brothers Yang.  On the left, we find David (yes Virginia, there really is a David), and on the OTHER left (which some refer to as the right), William.  If William looks a bit tired, well consider that he came in from Taiwan the night before, and is flying out to ATT in the next couple of days!  I'd be tired too.

He's holding his newest creation - the Ferrari telescope.

Here's a little better shot of the Ferrari.  It's a 70 mm doublet objective (apochromatic), in a carbon fiber tube with Ferrari trim.  This is a VERY pretty little telescope.

WO had an assortment of their other gear there as well.  Note the Patriot scope...

Their new planetary eyepieces.

This nice optic is the 132.  I rather thought it would be bigger.

I ran into a couple of old friends just outside the WO both - on the left, noted author Phil Harrington.  Phil is a great guy, and an excellent writer.  On the right, Clyde Crewy.  It was a pleasure finally meeting you in person Clyde!

My friend Bill Burgess and his lovely wife Tammy were at the show, selling their Planetary Eyepieces for 40% off - these are a good deal at $99 - for $59?  A steal!

Bill's newest telescope - this 91 mm apochromatic triplet, showed absolutely no false color when I took the opportunity to point it at a reflection we were using as an artificial star.  It wasn't exactly the best environment for star testing an optic, but from what I could tell, the diffraction patterns looked very good.  The best part about this little guy?  Bill was selling him for under $1000.

Another shot of the triplet...

Bill's latest binoviewer - a 2" er, and done entirely with mirrors.  This thing is unbelievably light.  Bill expects to sell these, coupled with two Paragon 30's for around $600.

And here's the new 30 mm Paragon prototype.  I came home with it's 40 mm big brother, and from what I've seen so far, it's a very nice offering at it's price point, certainly capable of playing with the big boys.  Keep an eye on the site for a review of the 40.

Peter Cervaolo was at the show with his new astrograph.  He looks a lot younger than I expected.

Moonlight focusers - any color you want, and exceptional performance!

HuTech and Borg were there.  I didn't see any of the Borg 45 scopes for sale.  Probably a good thing or I would have gone even deeper into debt.  I understand they are coming out with a new Borg 125 this summer.

The solar star party - a staple at NEAF - wasn't exactly a rousing success this year.  The weather just didn't cooperate.

I'll give this to them though - they certainly are die hards, and I hand it to them for their ability to resist the lure of the toys inside and stay at their scopes waiting for those few magic moments of clear skies.

Here's hoping for better skies next year guys (and gals). 

Meade had a pretty good showing this year.  The products I found to be the most interest were: The mySKY,  their 16" Lightbridge and the 20" RCX on the MaxMount.

Here Gary poses with the 20".  This may give you some sense of scale, but trust me - it does NOT do the scope or mount justice.  This thing is simply huge.  If it fell over on him, he'd be done.  Never mind the damage to the scope, they'd have to s****e Gary off the floor with a spatula!  The price?  a cool 50K.  (Not including hospitalization or ambulance costs....)

Get a load of the counterweight bar retaining bolt!

The mySKY - Meade's answer to the Celestron SkyScout.  Ok, tell me the truth.  Does this thing look like a 50's ray gun or what??

Gary thinks so.

A couple things that I think (seriously) they should consider adding to the product: 1) an optional holster for field use and 2) a green laser in the body, that you can "shoot" when you pull the trigger.  Seriously, that would be a hoot.  I was really impressed on how comfortable this was to hold.  I talked to the Meade rep about getting a sample for review, and was told to ring him up after the show.

Many folks on the forums have been waiting for these - and they are finally shipping.  The 16" LightBridge is a lot of scope for a relatively small amount of money.  Unfortunately this picture (like so many others) simply does not give you a sense of scale - but trust me, it's big.

And as promised, the Rogues Gallery from last year returned, and they dragged down yet another victim!   (But what a way to go!!)

I'd like to take a minute and thank all the members of the Rockland club who volunteered their time, the vendors for coming and everybody who had to put up with Gary and I.

NEAF is an awesome show, and this one was the best yet.  Alan wrote to tell me that the final figures on attendance were in excess of 4000 - not including the vendors.  This makes it the largest astronomy gathering in the world. 

And I can attest it did a VERY good job at sucking the money out of my wallet.

For Gary and I, this wasn't the end of the weekend.  We'd been invited to tour the Tele Vue facility on Monday and - well - that's another article, so stay tuned.   But I'll say this - I was very impressed.