56 replies to this topic

[ErnieM]

Unfortunatly we have a couple of forest fires about 60 miles north of here and I have a smoke filled sky and no wind.I did take out my little ETX instead of the Dob to test the 7mm since Jupiter is the only object I can see through the smoke.Did I get a surprise.For the first time ever through that little ETX I saw the bands on Jupiter and without the barlow!Old hat on my 8" dob but never on the ETX even while using Meade pl 4mm,6mm and 9mm(barely visible with Meade SPL 15mm). Put barlow on but sky conditions could not support the higher magnification.Hope we get sw winds tomorrow to blow all this smoke out and I can take my Dob out.If I saw what this UO 7mm can do for an ETX60 I can only imagine what it will do with an 8" dob under better conditions.

[lighttrap]

I think you've really hit on the area where UO orthos shine. To me, they excel at short focal lengths when compared to popular plossls by TV, Meade, Orion, Celestron, etc. A lot of those short focal length plossls just really aren't very good. But, the UO orhos in shorter lengths can indeed bring out details previously unseen by anything in their price range.

[Bill Mitchell]

Just received a 6mm Antares Ortho yesterday and had a chance to compare it to a 7mm Pentax XL last night on Jupiter.Although being a little less comforable to look through I seen more detail with the Ortho.I'll be completing my eyepeice collection with 4mm and 9mm Ortho's soon. Just have to decide on the regular,HD, or the new coated ones.

[Tim2723]

What is the difference between the Antares and U.O. orthos?

I've increased my ortho collection to 25, 18, 12.5, 9, 7 and 6mm. The 18mm, BTW, is an absolutely outstanding value, IMHO.

[Jim]

Different manufactureres I guess, but it is still the Ortho design. Where they were made, I don't know

[Bill Mitchell]

They are made in Japan aparently in the same factory that makes them for UO.

[Tom L]

Then there should be a circle T emblem on them.