198 replies to this topic

[clamchip]

Here's my dirty dozen observing box. 

The ones marked with a green dot are Celestron Ultima.

These are a Masuyama design and seem to work excellent in every telescope, short, fat

fast, slow, refractor, reflector, etc.

They were also sold by Orion as the 'Ultrascopic' and Parks 'Gold line' I have since updated

my kit to include a Meade Research Grade 16.8mm my all round favorite.

Robert

 

[oldmanastro]

My Sears telescopes came with a collection of .965" eyepieces that I used for years before I ever saw a 1.25" eyepiece. The 76.2mm f/16 refractor included the first group of eyepieces in the first image. The first two are clearly labelled circle T but the 9, 6 and 4mm have no labels as to the manufacturer. The Kellner was the best of the group but i would say that the 15 and 9mm Huygens provided nice views and even the 6mm Huygens  was pretty good. 

 

The second image shows the eyepieces of the Sears 4454 80mm f/15 refractor. All unlabelled. Maybe circle T or some other generic ones. Look at the 22mm K and compare with the upper image. It seems to me that when the 4454 arrived cost cutting measures were being used and this included the eyepieces. The sun and moon eyepiece filters are there. 

 

Guido

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[Terra Nova]

Very cool Guido. Here is my old Sears set. I sold it a couple of years ago to another CN’er.

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[Bomber Bob]

I think that as a fan of the 1970s/1980s Meade Research Grade Series I'm in good company.  Back when they were new, I could only afford to buy one at a time, and with an 80mm F15 frac as my main scope, I bought just the Orthoscopics.

 

So here I am, 40 years older, and I'm discovering the Wide Angle (Erfle) variety.  They do well in EVERY scope I own, but it's the painfully sharp micro-dot stars in my refractors that impress me most.  Am I gonna copy this set:  https://www.cloudyni...ces/#entry33832 ??   Maybe...

[JeniSkunk]

My favourite eyepiece with my RAO 50x500 frac is the stock 22mm Kellner. Whilst its magnification isn't a lot, it has good eye relief.

However, the stock HM 12mm and 6mm have so little eye relief, that with my short sightedness, my eyeball basically has to be touching those eyepieces. Not something I can regard as a pleasant viewing experience.

[Bob S]

Many years ago (in the mid to late '80s) Vernonscope had the set of 5 Brandons on sale with a wooden case. I bought them and eventually a Dakin barlow. I still have them, and still use them. The Brandons give crisp detail. Like the rest of us, I've bought lots of eyepieces, but somehow the Brandons are my favorites.

[oldmanastro]

Very cool Guido. Here is my old Sears set. I sold it a couple of years ago to another CN’er.

Nice set Terra. I like that yellow and red. They look quite cool. I used the sun filter many times with luck. It never cracked on me even while spending a long time making drawings of sunspots. The moon filter was good enough and I used to like the green color on the moon. Your former set looks more color coded than mine but then what use is a color code at night?

 

Guido

[KentTolley]

I have vintage 60's Ortho-Star eyepieces to use with two 60's Cave Newtonians.  Here, with chrome barrels, are the 26.6, 16, and 10mm Ortho-Stars well as well as a satin barrel Meade 20mm wide angle.  I continue to wait for a 6.6mm Ortho-Star to complete the set but a 7mm Meade RG ortho would be ok till I find the rarer one.

 

The 26.6 and the 10mm came with my 65 Cave 10" when I bought it and I just got the 16mm from Lew Chilton.  Thank you Lew.

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Edited by KentTolley, 23 March 2020 - 06:49 PM.

[KentTolley]

Though branded University Optics, the two in the middle are Gailland eyepieces.  

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[KentTolley]

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[bjkaras]

I love my Televue 24mm Wide Field. I use it more than any of my others.

[pbealo]

"The Magnificent Beast"!!

 

Vernonscope 2" 40mm Erfle

[Dan /schechter]

I love my Televue 24mm Wide Field. I use it more than any of my others.

Me too

[Rich Wood]

I have five Circle T Orthos in 0.965" barrel diameter and they seem to be reasonable quality units.  IMO nothing wrong with the older Orthos from the Japanese vendors.  Listings on Ebay from Japan include Orthos in this size from Vixen and Takahashi as well as some others.  If you have a classic Japanese scope why not use them?  To round out my collection I have ordered a 25mm FL Vixen Ortho from Japan.  I also note that Antares still lists Plossl eyepieces in this diameter in focal lengths from 7.5mm to 25mm and OPT stocks them.  Just avoid the H (Huygens) and SR (Ramsden) eyepieces as pretty poor stuff for anything faster than about a F15 refractor.  In the shorter focal lengths they also have minimal eye relief.

Edited by Rich Wood, 12 January 2022 - 06:26 PM.

[barbie]

My set of Carl Zeiss Jena Orthoscopics!! They are fantastic in my long focus achromat refractors and are classics that will be with me for the remainder of my observing years!!

[Bomber Bob]

+1 for the CZJs.  In testing tonight, I saw about as much detail with a CZJ OR 16mm as an excellent Vixen OR 12 (.965" barrels).

[deSitter]

Very cool Guido. Here is my old Sears set. I sold it a couple of years ago to another CN’er.

This is my favorite ever equipment photo. My first eyepieces, came with the Sears 6344 76/1200mm SYW refractor. I was awestruck by them! The green "Gumby" Kellner is still a favorite! Man I want the yellow one! I now have 2 complete sets of the others, one with my 6344 and one with my 6345.

 

-drl

[deSitter]

My set of Carl Zeiss Jena Orthoscopics!! They are fantastic in my long focus achromat refractors and are classics that will be with me for the remainder of my observing years!!

That is the gold standard for excellence. The eye position with Orthos is ideal. Like looking in a window.

 

-drl

[Bomber Bob]

This is my favorite ever equipment photo. My first eyepieces, came with the Sears 6344 76/1200mm SYW refractor. I was awestruck by them! The green "Gumby" Kellner is still a favorite! Man I want the yellow one! I now have 2 complete sets of the others, one with my 6344 and one with my 6345.

 

-drl

I had to part with my colorful .965" EPs when I sold the Sears 6336.  But, since the yellow KE20 wasn't part of that original kit, it stayed at The Swamp.  I might could be persuaded to part with it, since I have 4 other .965" 20mm Kellners...  Oh!  And I had a black version of the KE22 from another AO frac, so I have that FL covered, too...

 

[deSitter]

I love all .965 classic eyepieces, because they were my first. I took them apart and examined the construction. I learned a huge amount about eyepieces because of them. I have all my set, a couple of Celestrons and some excellent Meades and a few from classic Japanese refractors, in a box for a Meade DSI camera. My "real" eyepieces are in four hard tote cases. Something to be said for small size! The 6mm Celestron Ortho is a superb eyepiece. The 25mm Meade "Modified Achromat" (a Kellner really) is also outstanding. The field stops of all of them are jet black lines. They are all excellent in their natural roles with long refractors.

 

-drl

[barbie]

When I first started in this hobby years ago, classic eyepieces and long focal ratio instruments were my "gold standard". Over those intervening years, my needs evolved to shorter, faster optics and now I've come back to long focal length, classic refractors and eyepieces so I've come full circle!!

[deSitter]

My usual stable - 5 Kellners and an Ortho - all excellent! Plus, a .965 Japan-made 2x Barlow - very sweet device! I should make a box.

 

-drl

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[deSitter]

BTW - "In praise of the Kellner" - it is a VERY bright eyepiece, which is really important for seeing detail on planets and the Moon! At f/15 it performs perfectly across the field. The ones I have are super-sharp with crisp, colorless field stops. The "modified" in Meade's hype could very well be real - the bane of the Kellner is dust on the field lens, which is usually close to the eyepiece's focal plane, so the dust is visible a bit out of focus - not these. The MA25mm above is one of the best eyepieces I've ever used. It completely disappears in use and has wonderful eye relief. That is the eyepiece with which I am going to see the Horsehead Nebula one of these days, in my 10" Newtonian!

 

-drl

Edited by deSitter, 14 January 2022 - 12:12 AM.

[Terra Nova]

I always thought Unitron was a cut above most all the other imported Japanese telescopes back in the day by offering a nice selection of Kellner, Symmetrical (Plossl), and Orthoscopic eyepieces in their 0.965” line. Their only ‘simple lens’ eyepiece in the lineup was the 25mm Huygens which in itself is a good eyepiece; much better than the 25mm Ramsden that they had instead in some kits. I don’t know why the Ramsden ever crept in there? I think the Huygens design is far better.