18 replies to this topic

[Matty S]

Shortly after I bought my first 8" dob I received a University Optics catalog.

After much debating, nailbiting and trepidation I made an order.

This is what I got.

And since I've only ever seen a gold barrel U.O. Plossl in my own hands, I thought I'd offer the internet a pic of the scarce beast.

Nothing special really, just wanted to share to see if anyone else has opinions.

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[Neptune]

What year was the gold barrel Plossl purchased?

[Matty S]

I've been contemplating the timeline. I figure my dob was bought in 1998 or 99 so I imagine I spent my coin on eyepieces in 2000 (had to save up for awhile back then). I bought them all at once to avoid shipping costs twice. I remember it boasted a 60 degree fov. It is quite nice, as far as plossls went at the time. It outperforms my 17mm Orion Sirus plossl easily with it's wider field. I scratched the pretty barrel with a setscrew with my cheap focuser but the optics are solid to this day.

[JIMZ7]

I'm not sure what year also but I purchased one from Jan at University Optics. It had a 60-degree fov and lightweight. The catalog mentioned the barrel & maybe the whole housing was made locally at a machine shop around Ann Arbor Michigan. It came in a plastic pill container as was the Celestron 26mm Plossl "silvertop". I believe the gold barrel was aluminum for being lightweight. I use to visit University Optics because it was less than 40 miles away and gas was cheap back then. That Plossl was nice to look at even when not in use.

Jim

[Jim45157]

i had one also sold it years ago it was really good it was made in usa  i think in michigan thats what i was told by uo optics 

[Matty S]

The 12mm does give a nice 60 degree view. And it IS light, 67 grams; my Sirius 17mm plossl weighs in at 93 grams. The U.O. has an obvious green tinge to the coatings whereas the Sirius is bluish. No eyecup on the U.O. while the Sirius has a rubber fold down,

[BillP]

WoW!  That is sooo cool.  Thanks so much for sharing that pic with us.  Never knew of or seen one of those! 

[Joe Eiers]

Wow, cool! The only ones I've ever seen with that color were crosshair eyepieces or oddball one offs...

   Joe

[JIMZ7]

The 12mm does give a nice 60 degree view. And it IS light, 67 grams; my Sirius 17mm plossl weighs in at 93 grams. The U.O. has an obvious green tinge to the coatings whereas the Sirius is bluish. No eyecup on the U.O. while the Sirius has a rubber fold down,

I have a Orion 17mm Sirius Plossl made in Japan from the 1980s. Are you talking about that one or a Taiwan or China version?

Jim

[Matty S]

I have a Orion 17mm Sirius Plossl made in Japan from the 1980s. Are you talking about that one or a Taiwan or China version?
Jim

My 17mm is one of the current offerings from Orion (or at least looks the same) so I assume it's Chinese manufacture.

Edited by Matty S, 11 September 2019 - 12:16 PM.

[JIMZ7]

But that University Optics 12mm Plossl would look nice in my eyepiece case again. Forgot it said on the black barrel Multi-coated USA. I think no one was buying that gold barreled Plossl so Jan at University Optics ditched it. Or the machine shop decided to stop production. It was a hit or miss endeavor.

Jim

[Matty S]

But that University Optics 12mm Plossl would look nice in my eyepiece case again. Forgot it said on the black barrel Multi-coated USA. I think no one was buying that gold barreled Plossl so Jan at University Optics ditched it. Or the machine shop decided to stop production. It was a hit or miss endeavor.
Jim

I like it for what it is, nice view, nothing spectacular, light, always an attention grabber with the gold. Not my favorite ep but useful. Dont remember for sure but I'm guessing it cost $60 or $70. I just thought it was interesting that I couldn't find any images of it anywhere. Like you say, guess it was a dud.

[Starman1]

Shortly after I bought my first 8" dob I received a University Optics catalog.

After much debating, nailbiting and trepidation I made an order.

This is what I got.

And since I've only ever seen a gold barrel U.O. Plossl in my own hands, I thought I'd offer the internet a pic of the scarce beast.

Nothing special really, just wanted to share to see if anyone else has opinions.

I owned one of those.

It appeared to be a normal 12mm Plössl with the field stop removed.

The eye relief was very very short (shorter than my eyelashes, and shorter than the normal 8.4mm ER of a 12mm Plössl), and the field sharpness deteriorated so badly

outside of about a 40° field that I found the eyepiece essentially unusable--and that was in both f/6.5 and f/10 scopes! 

I estimated the apparent field at over 80-90°, not 60°.  One of 3 eyepieces over the years I literally threw away instead of selling after having it in my case for a few years.

It sounds like yours had a field stop in it.  I wish mine had.

[JIMZ7]

I think it was in the $60 range if I recall from University Optics catalog. I remember buying it & using it on a 8" Celestron Star Hopper Dob in the mid to late 90s.

I wowed my friends with 100x on Saturn. Nothing special about the Plossl but looked nice.

Jim

[scotsman328i]

Shortly after I bought my first 8" dob I received a University Optics catalog.

After much debating, nailbiting and trepidation I made an order.

This is what I got.

And since I've only ever seen a gold barrel U.O. Plossl in my own hands, I thought I'd offer the internet a pic of the scarce beast.

Nothing special really, just wanted to share to see if anyone else has opinions.

University Optics made outstanding Orthoscopic and Köning eyepieces. Some of my first eyepieces were by UO. Albeit a tighter FOV, The views were super bright, razor sharp and clearer than any Plossl eyepieces I had at the time. Sure do miss them, would get a few high mag orthos by them if they were still making them.

[junomike]

Once upon a time I was an avid UO eyepiece collector and had one also.

Excellent from what I remember.

 

[Matty S]

Wish I'd known more about eyepieces back then. I would've snatched up a nice set of their Abbe orthos and a few more of the Konigs. I really like the 32mm Konig when I can get my eye in the right place! Gotta make some sorta eyecup for that.

[Starman1]

Wish I'd known more about eyepieces back then. I would've snatched up a nice set of their Abbe orthos and a few more of the Konigs. I really like the 32mm Konig when I can get my eye in the right place! Gotta make some sorta eyecup for that.

$5-$6 makes a hundred eyecups of any height you require:

https://www.cloudyni...cups/?p=4981064

[Matty S]

$5-$6 makes a hundred eyecups of any height you require:
https://www.cloudyni...cups/?p=4981064

Ah perfect, love this! Thanks!