31 replies to this topic

[Tom T]

A BIG box of canadian glass showed up yesterday, and I thought you folks might be interested.

From left to right:

Rear row: Speers-Walers, 5-8 zoom, 7.5mm WA, 10mm WA, 14mm WA, 18mm WA

Front and middle rows: Antares WS70 Series, 5.7mm, 8.6mm, 14mm, 19mm, 25mm (in pairs for binoviewing)

On loan for review from Helix: http://www.helix-mfg.com/

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[Bill Grass]

That's some serious glass!

[erik]

wow, those look interesting, they're actually made in canada? i didn't even know their were any canadian ep manufacturers. looking forward to checking out the review!

[Jim Svetlikov]

Glen Speers and his facility are located about 30 minutes from my place in Richmond BC.

[Tom T]

Erik,

The speers are definately made in canada, but....

Jim,

What's the skinny on the WS 70's? Any idea? It says made in Canada on the box (and that seems to be the official story), but I've heard rumours to the contrary. Namely that the optics actually come from elsewhere....

T

[Craig L]

What's the skinny on the WS 70's? Any idea? It says made in Canada on the box (and that seems to be the official story), but I've heard rumours to the contrary. Namely that the optics actually come from elsewhere....

Tom,

As I understand it (told to me be a Canadian astro dealer), the lens manufacture is contracted overseas in Asia to Antares' design specifications, but the body and assembly of the EP's are done in Canada. There have been some copies of Antares designs released recently. This led Glenn Speers to muse that next time, he'll contract out different lenses in the same EP to different factories.

Cheers,

- Craig (in Nova Scotia)

[Jim Svetlikov]

I'll check with Glen the next time I see him.

[Tom T]

wow, those look interesting, they're actually made in canada? i didn't even know their were any canadian ep manufacturers. looking forward to checking out the review!

Eric, you might try a search on "speers" on CN.

Here's one to get you started: http://www.cloudynig...ces2/speers.htm

From my previous experiences, I can tell you the speers are pretty nice eyepieces, but have a few notable drawbacks.

1) the form factor - they are pretty dang tall.

2) they used to require a ton of infocus, but I understand Glenn Speers has addressed this with some more recent releases.

T

[Tom T]

Thanks Craig. That jibes with what I've heard elsewhere as well.

Jim, how much input would Glenn have into the WS's? Is he like the Canadian version of Al Nagler and Antares = TeleVue?

(Here I demonstrate my pitiful lack of knowledge about canadian astro companies...)

T

[erik]

thanks tom, i'll check out that link...

[erik]

wow, 6 inches tall? that's longer than my barlows!!

[Jim Svetlikov]

Tom

Glen is "the man." Heres his website:

www.antaresoptical.com

[Tom T]

Thanks Jim - I see that's mostly product information. Is there any information on Glenn Speers floating around anywhere? I'd be very interested in reading it...

T

[Jim Svetlikov]

Tom

Not that I'm aware. Perhaps we can put together a set of questions and I'll go over to his facility and interview him as a representative of CN.

[Tom T]

Jim,

Actually, I'd really be up for something like that.

There are all too few of these guys around. At least Al's had some documentary done.

Tom T.

[Rusty]

A club member and I compared his Antares WS70 18 with my Pentax XL and Radian 18, and there was only the slightest difference noticeable at the edges. The contrast lead went VERY marginally to the XL.

[David Knisely]

Soooo... I guess we won't be hearing from you for a while, eh Tom? :-). Seriously, I'm glad you got the 5-8mm Speers-Waler because its a very nice eyepiece (one of my favorites as people can tell from the review I wrote about it right here on Cloudynights). Its not perfect by any means, but its a lot of bang for the buck. One thing though, its *not* a "zoom" eyepiece. It is not designed to maintain focus while changing its focal length, so it is better called a "variable focal length" eyepiece. Clear skies to you.

[Jim Svetlikov]

Tom

It may be a good idea, but it's doubtful he'll give up time from his very busy schedule simply to do an interview that will be posted to a forum. We would need to sweeten the pot.

David

It was your review that partially helped me to decide on my purchase of a Speers zoom and I can say that after repeated use of this eyepiece, I find your review very agreeable. Thanks.

[Tom L]

Advertising isn't free, you know. Lots of potential money on this forum now and in the future.

[Jim Svetlikov]

Tom - I'll run it by Glen the next time I see him.

[Tom T]

Jim,

Forum?? I'm thinking about an article posted on the main website.... Not a bit in the forums.

Take pictures if he's up for it. A tour of Antares would be even cooler.

David,

Yah - I'll be busy, IF I can get some clear nights.... <sigh> Hey did you have mark I or mark II of the zoom - I know they quit making it for a couple of years... I DON'T know if there are any differences between the two...

Tom T.

[David Knisely]

Jim,

Forum?? I'm thinking about an article posted on the main website.... Not a bit in the forums.

Take pictures if he's up for it. A tour of Antares would be even cooler.

David,

Yah - I'll be busy, IF I can get some clear nights.... <sigh> Hey did you have mark I or mark II of the zoom - I know they quit making it for a couple of years... I DON'T know if there are any differences between the two...

Tom T.

AFAIK, there isn't much of a difference between the old and new 5-8mm models, although I may be incorrect on this. Clear skies to you.

[Jim Svetlikov]

Tom

The last time I talked with Glen, I mentioned I'd be coming down for a tour of his facility, so that might work well. Of course if Glen agrees,I'll take my digital camera and take as many pics as possilbe.

Give me a few more details that I can pass along to Glen as to how you want to handle this. As well, we'll need to come up with some good relevant questions to ask him. Do you have a standard format for questions or should we poll the CN group?

[Tom T]

Jim,

I'm thinking stuff like:

How did you get started in astronomy? Can you tell us about antares as a company? When did you start up? What were the first products you sold? What's your vision?


Something along these lines would be very nice to see, but's may be a bit more than you are interested in writing.

http://www.company7....evue/telal.html

It might give you some ideas tho.

Tom

[Craig L]

[/quote]

AFAIK, there isn't much of a difference between the old and new 5-8mm models, although I may be incorrect on this. Clear skies to you. [/quote]

As told to me (again) by the Canadian dealer that I bought mine from, the difference is newer coatings. Mechanics and lens design remain unchanged.

Cheers,

- Craig