31 replies to this topic

[junomike]

Are these new or did I just miss a previous thread?

Also, any Idea as to the source?

[SeattleScott]

They are pretty new. Not much information or reviews on them yet, but they seem to be Antares attempt to compete with Naglers. They sound like they are excellent from what little I have heard, but I haven’t seen a detailed review on them.

Scott

[sg6]

Strange, Speers Waller have been around some time, bought one in Vancouver about 12-15 years ago.

Then they more or less disappeared, as did Antares eyepieces - have their W70's.

 

Last I read and best I recall they either were bought up by someone in the far east or they moved out to somewhere.

 

They were Canadian. And the information would say these are from Alberta.

My guess is that they moved to somewhere out East. Have a feeling the details were a bit vague. Maybe they split off the astronomy side of the business from whatever.

 

Reads that the astro aspect has returned and they (whoever they are) are using both Canada and Alberta and the Antares and Speer Waller name/products/designs.

 

The Speer Waller eyepieces were reckoned to be good, at least for the price.

Will be interesting to see what happens.

[SeattleScott]

Yes, historically they have been known as being generally good, albeit large. However they were not really considered top tier, or at least not consistently top tier. Now they have the cheaper Series 3 which appears more like their traditional designs, and their latest greatest Series 4 which is presumably better, and less bulky (and more expensive). Conceivably they could be a lower cost alternative to Naglers. Or a higher cost alternative to Meade/ES. We just don’t know right now.

Scott

[Starman1]

Strange, Speers Waller have been around some time, bought one in Vancouver about 12-15 years ago.

Then they more or less disappeared, as did Antares eyepieces - have their W70's.

 

Last I read and best I recall they either were bought up by someone in the far east or they moved out to somewhere.

 

They were Canadian. And the information would say these are from Alberta.

My guess is that they moved to somewhere out East. Have a feeling the details were a bit vague. Maybe they split off the astronomy side of the business from whatever.

 

Reads that the astro aspect has returned and they (whoever they are) are using both Canada and Alberta and the Antares and Speer Waller name/products/designs.

 

The Speer Waller eyepieces were reckoned to be good, at least for the price.

Will be interesting to see what happens.

Note the name is Speers-WALER, eyepieces designed by Glen Speers and WideAngleLongEyeRelief

[MitchAlsup]

Note the name is Speers-WALER, eyepieces designed by Glen Speers and WideAngleLongEyeRelief

I remember them from the mid-late 1990s.

Although the metal work looks like they have been redone in the past decade.

They produce a good spot diagram at:: https://www.telescop...ce_raytrace.htm

[SeattleScott]

The link looks a few years old. Thinking that’s not the Series 4.

[Miranda2525]

Note the name is Speers-WALER, eyepieces designed by Glen Speers and WideAngleLongEyeRelief

Unfortunately the eye relief is not L O N G

[Miranda2525]

The link looks a few years old. Thinking that’s not the Series 4.

https://www.all-star...n_description=0

 

Looks like the Series 4 to me...

[SeattleScott]

Well it has the right number of lenses, so you may be right. Bottom line is it suggests the design is theoretically capable of being very well corrected. So it just comes down to execution.

Scott

[Starman1]

Unfortunately the eye relief is not L O N G

Yeah. What they mean is "longer than some other ultra wide eyepieces", not long by today's standards.

[Miranda2525]

Yeah. What they mean is "longer than some other ultra wide eyepieces", not long by today's standards.

10mm is long compared to others that are 12mm or even 14mm?  

[Starman1]

The original Speers-WALER eyepieces had more eye relief.

And now you know what WALER stood for.

No, 10mm is not long--I think the acronym's original meaning has been lost.

[stevew]

The series 4's are new, and they are excellent performers for the money.

My buddy has a few.

 

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[RLK1]

I've got three of the older series, 7mm, 10mm and 14mm. Of these, the 10mm eyepiece is the best, with good correction across the field and reasonable eye relief. The 14 is decent enough but fares better with a paracor in fast scopes although it's not too bad without one and also has reasonable eye relief. the 7mm is a "newer" version of the old line and has a wider field of view that is well corrected but has NO eye relief...

[Megawatt]

I had one from the first or second edition and it would not come to focus in my Dob. A local dealer has assured me that this issue has been addressed in the series 3 and 4. I **** near bought the 9mm but I ended up with a Morpheus instead. Thinking of the 14mm but that seems to be the dud in every wide-angle lineup.

[SeattleScott]

Thinking of the 14mm but that seems to be the dud in every wide-angle lineup.

Which is precisely why I am interested in the 14! Not a lot of other great options. It would be nice to have a lower cost alternative to Naglers around this FL but might end up with a 13T6 or 16T6 instead, since there is virtually no information out there on these. I suppose part of the problem is the pricing is dangerously close to used Naglers, and people feel it is less risky getting a used Nagler than taking a chance on a mysterious eyepiece. Or people just don’t know about SW4, or think about them when buying eyepieces.

Scott

[Astro-Master]

Which is precisely why I am interested in the 14! Not a lot of other great options. It would be nice to have a lower cost alternative to Naglers around this FL but might end up with a 13T6 or 16T6 instead, since there is virtually no information out there on these. I suppose part of the problem is the pricing is dangerously close to used Naglers, and people feel it is less risky getting a used Nagler than taking a chance on a mysterious eyepiece. Or people just don’t know about SW4, or think about them when buying eyepieces.

Scott

I believe you meant 16T5 not 16T6.

[RLK1]

I've got three of the older series, 7mm, 10mm and 14mm. Of these, the 10mm eyepiece is the best, with good correction across the field and reasonable eye relief. The 14 is decent enough but fares better with a paracor in fast scopes although it's not too bad without one and also has reasonable eye relief. the 7mm is a "newer" version of the old line and has a wider field of view that is well corrected but has NO eye relief...

I should probably qualify the above and note that the 7mm is a gen2 while the 10 and 14 are gen1s. Todd Goss is an ex-TV weatherman from Boston and an avid amateur astronomer. He had a good discussion of the gen1 SW line on his website along with other eyepieces but his website is no longer up.

[RLK1]

I've got three of the older series, 7mm, 10mm and 14mm. Of these, the 10mm eyepiece is the best, with good correction across the field and reasonable eye relief. The 14 is decent enough but fares better with a paracor in fast scopes although it's not too bad without one and also has reasonable eye relief. the 7mm is a "newer" version of the old line and has a wider field of view that is well corrected but has NO eye relief...

The 7mm is actually 7.5mm with an 82 degree AFOV. It's 6 inches long and has an eye relief that's probably tighter than a 4mm UO ortho. The next time I see Pensack at Pinos, I'll let him play with it and I can guarantee you his cornea will have the most intimate relationship its ever had with an eye lens...

[SeattleScott]

I believe you meant 16T5 not 16T6.

Oh my bad, the 16 is type 5 instead of 6? Good to know.

Scott

[Miranda2525]

Oh my bad, the 16 is type 5 instead of 6? Good to know.

Scott

Always has been.

[Starman1]

The 7mm is actually 7.5mm with an 82 degree AFOV. It's 6 inches long and has an eye relief that's probably tighter than a 4mm UO ortho. The next time I see Pensack at Pinos, I'll let him play with it and I can guarantee you his cornea will have the most intimate relationship its ever had with an eye lens...

Been there, done that.

 

I've owned too many eyepieces with Level C eye relief:

 

level A: Long eye relief, for glasses

level B: normal eye relief range

level C: Corneal implant required.

[Megawatt]

If I may resurrect this thread: is anyone here qualified to interpret the technical parameters of these eyepieces? Starman1? I'm wondering if it is possible to gauge the performance of these oculars with respect to edge correction, transmission/scatter, etc. based on the advanced specs provided. 

[dmgriff]

I have 13.4mm, 4.9mm Speers Waler Series II (82 degree I think). I had no idea that there are Series III and Series IV now available.

 

The original Speers Waler series was in competition to Naglers. 90%+ of the performance at less price from old reviews.

 

Good viewing,

 

Dave