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Eyepieces for your ASTROSCAN

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#1 Tank

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Posted 28 December 2016 - 10:46 AM

Ended up buying a nice Astro scan for my kids to take on camping trips

as its a 445mm F4.2 105mm aperture

https://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Astroscan

I know I don't need to many EPs want to keep it limited

 

I would say its max limit will be 200x mag

the eyepieces have to be not overly large since the focuser wont support them

also has a 1.25" limit for barrel size

 

for mag I'm thinking

1. - low power max FOV

2.- 50x

3.-100x

4.-150x

5.-200x

 

so have a few EPs already

1. 26mm Meade smoothie 17x and have a 32mm TV plossl coming14x

2. have a TV 8-24 zoom coming 56x-19x

3. 5.5 Meade UWA 81x

4. just 2x barlow 5.5 = 2.75mm 162x

5. do I really need

 

Wondering what EPs you guys tend to use for this scope

what I'm really thing is so selling most of this stuff and end up with

24 PAN 19x

24 PAN Barlowed 38x

5.5 UWA 81x

5.5 UWA Barlowed 162x

 

any comments ideas?

Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

 

 

 



#2 Augustus

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Posted 28 December 2016 - 11:30 AM

The Astroscan can't take over 75x thanks to the optical window. Just the 24mm Pan and 5.5 UWA and you're set.



#3 Tank

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Posted 28 December 2016 - 11:46 AM

I really didn't know that your talking about the plastic that holds the secondary

on the moon cant go over 75x?

 

anyone think of modifying and taking out the plastic and hang the secondary like a conventional NEWT?



#4 CharlesC

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Posted 28 December 2016 - 12:39 PM

You'll have a hard time pointing it with higher power.  Its really made for wide field low power. 

 

What you really need is a laser finder.  Its hard to use a normal red dot finder on these. 

Something like this or this.


Edited by CharlesC, 28 December 2016 - 01:47 PM.


#5 Will_S

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Posted 28 December 2016 - 12:56 PM

Astroscans vary somewhat in the quality of their optics and how well aligned they are, especially after years of abuse.  Mine provides reasonable views up to 100x or so but the strength of an Astroscan is low power, wide field viewing.  Once you get the zoom eyepiece you can get a sense of how well your particular unit handles high(ish) power.

 

My most used eyepiece by far is a 20mm Meade Research Grade Wide Angle which provides a ~3 degree field of view at 22x.  For a closer look I use 9mm (50x) or 6mm (75x) Gosky 66° "Ultrawide".  All three eyepieces are quite light so they work well with the Astroscan and stay well balanced even with a Rigel Quikfinder (which I also recommend to make pointing much easier) also attached.  75x is enough to see a wealth of detail on the moon, the bands of Jupiter, and maybe make out the Cassini division (or at least variation in brightness) in Saturn's rings.  The 6 and 9mm Ultrawides (but not the longer versions) have built-in Barlow-like elements that help the performance of a fast scope like the Astroscan.

 

I suspect a Panoptic plus barlow would be heavy enough to cause balance problems.



#6 Peter Besenbruch

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Posted 28 December 2016 - 01:23 PM

Ended up buying a nice Astro scan for my kids to take on camping trips

as its a 445mm F4.2 105mm aperture

https://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Astroscan

I know I don't need to many EPs want to keep it limited

 

I would say its max limit will be 200x mag

the eyepieces have to be not overly large since the focuser wont support them

also has a 1.25" limit for barrel size

 

for mag I'm thinking

1. - low power max FOV

2.- 50x

3.-100x

4.-150x

5.-200x

 

so have a few EPs already

1. 26mm Meade smoothie 17x and have a 32mm TV plossl coming14x

2. have a TV 8-24 zoom coming 56x-19x

3. 5.5 Meade UWA 81x

4. just 2x barlow 5.5 = 2.75mm 162x

5. do I really need

 

Wondering what EPs you guys tend to use for this scope

what I'm really thing is so selling most of this stuff and end up with

24 PAN 19x

24 PAN Barlowed 38x

5.5 UWA 81x

5.5 UWA Barlowed 162x

 

any comments ideas?

Thanks in advance!

How to be diplomatic? Hmm... You're dreaming.

 

My Astroscan would go all the way to 30x before starting to strain. The image was still kind of viewable at 50x. The same applied to the other club members' Astroscans. Tracking is a pain at higher power, as is using heavy eyepieces.

 

The 24mm Panoptic with a Barlow is fine. Even better, just use the Meade 26mm with the Barlow, as the extra weight of the Panoptic and Barlow will cause trouble, and the Panoptics don't Barlow all that well, anyway.



#7 Tank

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Posted 28 December 2016 - 03:07 PM

 

Ended up buying a nice Astro scan for my kids to take on camping trips

as its a 445mm F4.2 105mm aperture

https://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Astroscan

I know I don't need to many EPs want to keep it limited

 

I would say its max limit will be 200x mag

the eyepieces have to be not overly large since the focuser wont support them

also has a 1.25" limit for barrel size

 

for mag I'm thinking

1. - low power max FOV

2.- 50x

3.-100x

4.-150x

5.-200x

 

so have a few EPs already

1. 26mm Meade smoothie 17x and have a 32mm TV plossl coming14x

2. have a TV 8-24 zoom coming 56x-19x

3. 5.5 Meade UWA 81x

4. just 2x barlow 5.5 = 2.75mm 162x

5. do I really need

 

Wondering what EPs you guys tend to use for this scope

what I'm really thing is so selling most of this stuff and end up with

24 PAN 19x

24 PAN Barlowed 38x

5.5 UWA 81x

5.5 UWA Barlowed 162x

 

any comments ideas?

Thanks in advance!

How to be diplomatic? Hmm... You're dreaming.

 

My Astroscan would go all the way to 30x before starting to strain. The image was still kind of viewable at 50x. The same applied to the other club members' Astroscans. Tracking is a pain at higher power, as is using heavy eyepieces.

 

The 24mm Panoptic with a Barlow is fine. Even better, just use the Meade 26mm with the Barlow, as the extra weight of the Panoptic and Barlow will cause trouble, and the Panoptics don't Barlow all that well, anyway.

 

Interesting

I had mine at 81x and the image was fine and star tested great

hmmm  I did notice you have to make sure its cooled down!



#8 SteveG

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Posted 28 December 2016 - 03:12 PM

I agree with those saying forget high-power with your AstroScan.

 

When I had mine, I used a 26 plossl and a 13T6 Nagler. I stumbled across an excellent plossl that eliminated 50% of the coma as seen using any other plossl. Sadly these are no longer available, but it was the Bosch & Lomb 26 plossl as sold in the late 80's. Something about this design just worked, and I saw little coma.

 

I recollimated my Astroscan by adjusting and shimming the optical window. I also added a Synta shoe, so I could use my laser. It was a great, portable travel scope but replaced by the Ares 5.



#9 Will_S

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Posted 28 December 2016 - 03:34 PM

Sounds like the OP has one of the good Astroscans.  Still, before picking out higher power eyepieces specifically for the Astroscan (I missed all the other equipment the OP already has), I would see how well the kids can track at ~80x before going higher.

 

Similar to SteveG's report of particular eyepieces that just "work" with the Astroscan, I got much better performance from a 25mm Ultrascopic than from a few similar focal-length Plossls from other manufacturers, and the 20mm Meade Research Grade also seems like a good match to the Astroscan.  I was NOT impressed using 15 or 20 mm Expanse eyepieces but the shorter FL Gosky Ultrawides with the Smyth lenses (which are essentially the same line as the Expanses) work well.


Edited by Will_S, 28 December 2016 - 03:34 PM.


#10 T'Bay Caveman

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Posted 28 December 2016 - 09:24 PM

Tank

 

Be careful with your use of Panoptics as I have lent my Early model Astroscan to a club member and trying my new used 22 Panoptic I could not get it to focus. I could not get the EP to focus on the moon and probably needed a few more mm In focus, though I could get it to focus inside the room where we have are club meetings. 

 

Just a a note of caution

 

Harvey



#11 Tank

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Posted 28 December 2016 - 09:59 PM

thanks for all the coments

seems like most people think the astro scan cant get too high mag

i think the 5.5 meade is a great fit since its WF 82 degree cheap and great very good in the comfort ER so want to keep that one also not to heavy for the balance and focuser

the point about a red dot finder is intresting i think i do need a pointer

i will try the higher mags first with barlow to see if i even need the barlow since you guys seem to think it wont be able to do much more power than 81x

i was thinking the 24 pan since suposed to be corrected great and has max fov in a 1.25"

was think 24 es posibly too but might suffer at f4.2



#12 Peter Besenbruch

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Posted 29 December 2016 - 02:12 AM

 

How to be diplomatic? Hmm... You're dreaming.

 

My Astroscan would go all the way to 30x before starting to strain. The image was still kind of viewable at 50x. The same applied to the other club members' Astroscans. Tracking is a pain at higher power, as is using heavy eyepieces.

 

The 24mm Panoptic with a Barlow is fine. Even better, just use the Meade 26mm with the Barlow, as the extra weight of the Panoptic and Barlow will cause trouble, and the Panoptics don't Barlow all that well, anyway.

Interesting

I had mine at 81x and the image was fine and star tested great

hmmm  I did notice you have to make sure its cooled down!

Eh, I live Hawaii, where it's freezing at 65°F, and no-one pupule enough go out when it gets that cold. ;)



#13 izar187

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Posted 29 December 2016 - 12:01 PM

My experience with them is a 3 degree lowest power fov, up to about 150x is tops.

As mentioned, if they've been knocking around for a few years, then less on the high magnification end.

 

Heavy weight ep's when combined with dew on the ball mount body, can shut you down fast, as scope can slowly slide off target.

Or rotate off target if the weight is from a long heavy barlow and ep combo.

Something any ball mounted scope may have an issue with.

 

Lighter weight ep's work much better, for a longer time out at night.

 

Dew on the window can shut you down too, so it's best to keep it capped when not actually peeking.

Or add a home rolled dew shield, and again, out of something very light weight, due to dew and the ball mount.

 

The 26mm plossl is a good low power option.

Any light weight, astigmatism corrected choice will work for middle and higher power.

Better than barlowing up for magnification, once again because of the weight in the focuser.

 

Obviously, astigmatism corrected, light in weight, and something a bit wider field to stay on target longer... all work better.

 

Coma is a non issue with these.

You are stuck with it.

The mount and focuser combination means that if you wish for a coma corrected 4" short tube newt...

Then pick a different ota, with a more traditional alt-az mount, or eq mount.

That will tolerate coma corrector weight, and mondo wide fov ep's. 

 

 

 



#14 Tank

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Posted 30 December 2016 - 10:20 PM

 

 

How to be diplomatic? Hmm... You're dreaming.

 

My Astroscan would go all the way to 30x before starting to strain. The image was still kind of viewable at 50x. The same applied to the other club members' Astroscans. Tracking is a pain at higher power, as is using heavy eyepieces.

 

The 24mm Panoptic with a Barlow is fine. Even better, just use the Meade 26mm with the Barlow, as the extra weight of the Panoptic and Barlow will cause trouble, and the Panoptics don't Barlow all that well, anyway.

Interesting

I had mine at 81x and the image was fine and star tested great

hmmm  I did notice you have to make sure its cooled down!

Eh, I live Hawaii, where it's freezing at 65°F, and no-one pupule enough go out when it gets that cold. ;)

 

was playing around with mine today and was looking at power lines in the day time about 3 kms away

the image were extremly sharp at 81x and that was looking THRU a glass window

you must have had a really bad sample or i have a really great sample?

i will report back as to how high i see mine going moon planetary and DSOs



#15 Tank

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Posted 30 December 2016 - 10:24 PM

izar

thanks for the tips

 

not worried too much about dew since its akids scope / travel scope say max 45min view sessions

have a hair dryer if required

 

i know coma will be present just how much is the question

i think if i get a good EP for WF it should be nice views with minimal coma

wondering how my 32 plossl TV will do?



#16 Tank

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Posted 30 December 2016 - 11:41 PM

so

some of my Eps came in for this scope

i think they are all great EPs in there own right

not sure if i need all

 

thinking of keeping the 5.5 because great EP cheap and 82 AFOV this helps alot since the scope is not tracking

 

the rest im not sure?

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Edited by Tank, 30 December 2016 - 11:44 PM.


#17 izar187

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Posted 31 December 2016 - 12:36 AM

izar

thanks for the tips

 

not worried too much about dew since its akids scope / travel scope say max 45min view sessions

have a hair dryer if required

 

i know coma will be present just how much is the question

i think if i get a good EP for WF it should be nice views with minimal coma

wondering how my 32 plossl TV will do?

32mm plossl will work fine, though the exit pupil is just a bit large due to the f/4

Compare it to the 26 and see which looks best.

 

A 32mm plus barlow, which is nice corrected field, is pretty heavy for these scopes.



#18 Tank

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Posted 31 December 2016 - 08:15 AM

I noticed with the barlow the Astroscan starts to drift/slide down at a certain angle but say over a 30 degree angle i should be fine but if i add a red dot finder it might be trouble with the barlow

 

im going to play around with

32mm 3.4 degree FOV

26mm 2.7 degree FOV

24mm zoom setting 2.1 degree FOV

see what i like best



#19 junomike

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Posted 31 December 2016 - 10:30 AM

Tony, We can also test it with the 15/19/24 Pans and see If they do any better.

 

Mike



#20 junomike

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Posted 31 December 2016 - 10:32 AM

 

Ended up buying a nice Astro scan for my kids to take on camping trips

as its a 445mm F4.2 105mm aperture

https://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Astroscan

I know I don't need to many EPs want to keep it limited

 

I would say its max limit will be 200x mag

the eyepieces have to be not overly large since the focuser wont support them

also has a 1.25" limit for barrel size

 

for mag I'm thinking

1. - low power max FOV

2.- 50x

3.-100x

4.-150x

5.-200x

 

so have a few EPs already

1. 26mm Meade smoothie 17x and have a 32mm TV plossl coming14x

2. have a TV 8-24 zoom coming 56x-19x

3. 5.5 Meade UWA 81x

4. just 2x barlow 5.5 = 2.75mm 162x

5. do I really need

 

Wondering what EPs you guys tend to use for this scope

what I'm really thing is so selling most of this stuff and end up with

24 PAN 19x

24 PAN Barlowed 38x

5.5 UWA 81x

5.5 UWA Barlowed 162x

 

any comments ideas?

Thanks in advance!

How to be diplomatic? Hmm... You're dreaming.

 

My Astroscan would go all the way to 30x before starting to strain. The image was still kind of viewable at 50x. The same applied to the other club members' Astroscans. Tracking is a pain at higher power, as is using heavy eyepieces.

 

The 24mm Panoptic with a Barlow is fine. Even better, just use the Meade 26mm with the Barlow, as the extra weight of the Panoptic and Barlow will cause trouble, and the Panoptics don't Barlow all that well, anyway.

 

This (as well as all the other Posts) is highly valuable to me as I was also considering one of these for my Kids.

Now I'm reluctant and will most likely just go with a small Refractor (ED).

 

Mike



#21 junomike

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Posted 31 December 2016 - 10:34 AM

so

some of my Eps came in for this scope

i think they are all great EPs in there own right

not sure if i need all

 

thinking of keeping the 5.5 because great EP cheap and 82 AFOV this helps alot since the scope is not tracking

 

the rest im not sure?

I'd go with the 5.5mm and TV Zoom (to cover more magnification).

 

Mike



#22 Binojunky

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Posted 31 December 2016 - 11:35 AM

Over the years I owned four scans, one USA made , one Japanese and two China versions, as the prices dropped (China made) so did the optical quality, the best of the bunch (Japan) was good for around x80 , the worst x50, TD.

#23 CharlesC

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Posted 31 December 2016 - 11:39 AM

 

 

Ended up buying a nice Astro scan for my kids to take on camping trips

as its a 445mm F4.2 105mm aperture

https://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Astroscan

I know I don't need to many EPs want to keep it limited

 

I would say its max limit will be 200x mag

the eyepieces have to be not overly large since the focuser wont support them

also has a 1.25" limit for barrel size

 

for mag I'm thinking

1. - low power max FOV

2.- 50x

3.-100x

4.-150x

5.-200x

 

so have a few EPs already

1. 26mm Meade smoothie 17x and have a 32mm TV plossl coming14x

2. have a TV 8-24 zoom coming 56x-19x

3. 5.5 Meade UWA 81x

4. just 2x barlow 5.5 = 2.75mm 162x

5. do I really need

 

Wondering what EPs you guys tend to use for this scope

what I'm really thing is so selling most of this stuff and end up with

24 PAN 19x

24 PAN Barlowed 38x

5.5 UWA 81x

5.5 UWA Barlowed 162x

 

any comments ideas?

Thanks in advance!

How to be diplomatic? Hmm... You're dreaming.

 

My Astroscan would go all the way to 30x before starting to strain. The image was still kind of viewable at 50x. The same applied to the other club members' Astroscans. Tracking is a pain at higher power, as is using heavy eyepieces.

 

The 24mm Panoptic with a Barlow is fine. Even better, just use the Meade 26mm with the Barlow, as the extra weight of the Panoptic and Barlow will cause trouble, and the Panoptics don't Barlow all that well, anyway.

 

This (as well as all the other Posts) is highly valuable to me as I was also considering one of these for my Kids.

Now I'm reluctant and will most likely just go with a small Refractor (ED).

 

Mike

 

High magnification isn't what Astroscan was designed to do.  It was designed for wide field, low magnification, which it does very well.  Its great for kids, or adults want a quick grab-n-go wide field scope. 



#24 Tank

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Posted 31 December 2016 - 01:25 PM

 

 

Ended up buying a nice Astro scan for my kids to take on camping trips

as its a 445mm F4.2 105mm aperture

https://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Astroscan

I know I don't need to many EPs want to keep it limited

 

I would say its max limit will be 200x mag

the eyepieces have to be not overly large since the focuser wont support them

also has a 1.25" limit for barrel size

 

for mag I'm thinking

1. - low power max FOV

2.- 50x

3.-100x

4.-150x

5.-200x

 

so have a few EPs already

1. 26mm Meade smoothie 17x and have a 32mm TV plossl coming14x

2. have a TV 8-24 zoom coming 56x-19x

3. 5.5 Meade UWA 81x

4. just 2x barlow 5.5 = 2.75mm 162x

5. do I really need

 

Wondering what EPs you guys tend to use for this scope

what I'm really thing is so selling most of this stuff and end up with

24 PAN 19x

24 PAN Barlowed 38x

5.5 UWA 81x

5.5 UWA Barlowed 162x

 

any comments ideas?

Thanks in advance!

How to be diplomatic? Hmm... You're dreaming.

 

My Astroscan would go all the way to 30x before starting to strain. The image was still kind of viewable at 50x. The same applied to the other club members' Astroscans. Tracking is a pain at higher power, as is using heavy eyepieces.

 

The 24mm Panoptic with a Barlow is fine. Even better, just use the Meade 26mm with the Barlow, as the extra weight of the Panoptic and Barlow will cause trouble, and the Panoptics don't Barlow all that well, anyway.

 

This (as well as all the other Posts) is highly valuable to me as I was also considering one of these for my Kids.

Now I'm reluctant and will most likely just go with a small Refractor (ED).

 

Mike

 

Mike

you can see how it is i will bring it out here and there

small EDs of about same size WAY more money and much harder for kids to setup

the Eng concept of these are briliant 

you can use this on a

hood of a car

picnic table

A Rock

etc

to be honest i could thow the zoom in my pocket

pick up the scope with the carry strap over the sholder

go for a hike

setup is about 10 seconds and view

pack up time is 10 sec and go

ive owned alot of scope and these are alot of fun

i think its about getting a good sample mine seems to be nice :)

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Edited by Tank, 31 December 2016 - 01:30 PM.


#25 izar187

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Posted 31 December 2016 - 02:40 PM

They used to come with a zero power peep sight.

Due to the 3 degree lowest power field of view the scope has, back in the day that was all you really needed.

With a little practice it was possible to bulls eye planets in it, at significantly higher then lowest power.

 

Not sure what they come with these days, but if they still offer the simple peep sight, then it's honestly all that's needed.




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