15 replies to this topic

[Star1Fun]

Been pondering getting a few Televue Delites for the mid to higher powers in my 6SE. I already own 32mm plosl, 24mm 68Deg, and a 17 mm 68 degree, so I am thinking of buying 15mm /9mm delite eye pieces, and selling the 17mm 68 degree lens. What are your thoughts on this for mid to higher power use. I already own a Barlow lens as well . oh yea I in the past owned several radian eyepieces and I am told that the radians are as good as the delites. Thank you for your thoughts. 

[SeattleScott]

At F10 a lot of eyepieces work great. The Delite will be a little narrower than the 68s you are used to, but they are premium so you know you are getting the sharpest possible view. At F10 there probably won’t be a big difference between them and the 68s, but at least you don’t have to wonder if the eyepiece is the limiting factor.

For your scope, I would recommend maybe a 13-15mm as a main DSO workhorse eyepiece. So the 15 Delite is in the range. Although there are certainly other options.

The 9 would be starting to get into the lunar/planetary range, although I would certainly want the ability to use more magnification, either through a shorter focal length eyepiece or a barlow.

Honestly, 14-10-7 would be a nice run with good spacing below the 24mm. That would be ideal for me anyway. We all have different preferences for focal length spacing, and how much time we want to spend swapping eyepieces in and out to get the perfect view. Obviously my approach requires three eyepieces instead of two, but hey, it’s the Eyepiece forum after all. You could always get a 14, 10 and 2x barlow.

How I would see it:
32/24: low power finder, frame extended objects. Maybe use the 24 on open clusters and the 32 on nebulae, or just decide which you like best and roll with it.

14: ~110x DSO medium power workhorse eyepiece.
10: 150x high power DSO eyepiece for globs and planetary nebulae, low power lunar/planetary eyepiece when seeing is mediocre.
7: high power lunar/planetary, double star splitter when seeing is good.

Edited by SeattleScott, 18 March 2025 - 11:13 AM.

[SeattleScott]

The 15 Delite has a field stop of just 57% as wide as the 24 Hyperion, or a bit more than 57% compared to other 24mm SWA eyepieces (you don’t specify which one but I’m guessing the Hyperion given you also have the 17mm). This is fine for a “minimalist” who wants larger spacing and fewer eyepieces and doesn’t want to waste time futzing around trying to find the eyepiece that provides the perfect framing for a target. The downside is with few options and large gaps, there will be a lot of targets that you won’t have ideal framing for, and will need to view with the 24 or 32 because they don’t quite fit in the view of the 15 Delite. By comparison, a 14mm Nikon SW would go 63% as wide as the 24 Hyperion while providing a touch more magnification, or the 14 Morpheus would go 66% as wide with the additional magnification. Tighter FOV gaps means you can better frame targets. Basically, 24 to 15 is already a big magnification jump. Going to smaller AFOV makes it an even bigger FOV jump. Bumping up the AFOV allows you to make an even larger magnification jump, while shrinking the FOV gap. Of course you could take this a step further with ultrawides or hyperwides, but there goes your long eye relief.

[Wolfwatcher]

I only have the 18,2 Delite for use on my 6SE. I have toyed around with getting another mid-range piece, say the 13 (I have a Nagler 7mm Type 1; a Vixen 10), but find myself using the 18.2 most of the time as is, though once in a while on planets I will Barlow it 2x. But I certainly like the Delite series. Just fine eyepieces at a good value.

 

Jett

 

Correction: My 10mm is a Vixen LV, Japan model, not a Pentax.

Edited by Wolfwatcher, 18 March 2025 - 03:36 PM.

[SeattleScott]

I only have the 18,2 Delite for use on my 6SE. I have toyed around with getting another mid-range piece, say the 13 (I have a Nagler 7mm Type 1; a Vixen 10), but find myself using the 18.2 most of the time as is, though once in a while on planets I will Barlow it 2x. But I certainly like the Delite series. Just fine eyepieces at a good value.

Jett

Correction: My 10mm is a Vixen LV, Japan model, not a Pentax.

82x is a bit on the low side for a general purpose DSO eyepiece. Most people like to be more like 100-110x with a 6” scope. The 10 is 150x likely a bit much magnification for most DSO in a 6”, and the narrow AFOV makes it hard to squeeze many extended objects in there. The 7mm is really just lunar/planetary/double stars duty. I suspect the reason you primarily use the 18.2 is simply because you don’t have anything else suited for a general purpose DSO eyepiece for that scope. Your set does kind of cry out for a 13-14mm. I’m confident it would get used if you got it.

That said everyone is different, and some people just like lower magnification. The 18.2 Delite barlowed gives what, 164x? I would argue that’s just getting your scope warmed up on the Moon and planets. The 7T1 goes over 200x and would be a very suitable high power eyepiece, and it is very sharp. But there is a certain simplicity to just using a single eyepiece, or single eyepiece and a barlow. Sometimes it is more about convenience and simplicity than getting the best possible view.

[Wolfwatcher]

82x is a bit on the low side for a general purpose DSO eyepiece. Most people like to be more like 100-110x with a 6” scope. The 10 is 150x likely a bit much magnification for most DSO in a 6”, and the narrow AFOV makes it hard to squeeze many extended objects in there. The 7mm is really just lunar/planetary/double stars duty. I suspect the reason you primarily use the 18.2 is simply because you don’t have anything else suited for a general purpose DSO eyepiece for that scope. Your set does kind of cry out for a 13-14mm. I’m confident it would get used if you got it.

That said everyone is different, and some people just like lower magnification. The 18.2 Delite barlowed gives what, 164x? I would argue that’s just getting your scope warmed up on the Moon and planets. The 7T1 goes over 200x and would be a very suitable high power eyepiece, and it is very sharp. But there is a certain simplicity to just using a single eyepiece, or single eyepiece and a barlow. Sometimes it is more about convenience and simplicity than getting the best possible view.

Thanks for the response and observations. Can't argue with the points you make, other than to say that with my aging eyes I'm more prone these days to stick to lower power viewing for just about everything. At around 80 to 100x, I see pretty much all I want to view from my light polluted backyard (M42 for example), and the 18.2 is just pleasing with the 6SE for me. I actually like the views of Jupiter with this combination, even though it leaves out plenty of surface detail. I can still spot shadow transits at fairly low power when the seeing is good. The moon, of course, is spectacular with this combo. 

 

But I certainly understand that a 13-14 might be a welcome addition. So as I said, I'm still toying around with that. I do have a TV 15 Plossl, but hardly use it anymore...just too tiny a peep hole anymore! So, a Delite 13 may be in order.

 

And for that 10mm...hey, I can do the math so easily with whatever scope I put it on!

 

Jett

[vtornado]

17 mm 68 degree, so I am thinking of buying 15mm /9mm delite eye pieces, and selling the 17mm 68 degree lens. What are your thoughts on this for mid to higher power use.

 

Eyepieces are very personal so in the end only you can judge.  Since your scope is f/10 most will work fine.

 

I wouldn't trade a 17/68 for a 15/60.  I feel like I would be loosing field for just a wee bit of extra magnification.    

Edited by vtornado, 18 March 2025 - 05:48 PM.

[SeattleScott]

17 mm 68 degree, so I am thinking of buying 15mm /9mm delite eye pieces, and selling the 17mm 68 degree lens. What are your thoughts on this for mid to higher power use.

Eyepieces are very personal so in the end only you can judge. Since your scope is f/10 most will work fine.

I wouldn't trade a 17/68 for a 15/60. I feel like I would be loosing field for just a wee bit of extra magnification.

Looking at the actual field stop sizes per Buyer’s Guide, the 17 Hyperion has a 30% wider field stop than the 15 Delite. That is quite a bit of field to give up.

[carver2011]

I use a Delite 18.2 with my Celestron 8" SCT, and it's a great eyepiece. In your Nextstar 6SE, it will give you 83 X, and a very pleasant view. With a 2X Barlow you'll get 165 X, which is good in a 6".  You won't go wrong with the Delite series of eyepieces. Some don't like the fact they are only 62 degree FOV, but I was never a fan of wide fields. I want to see the object I'm looking at, not background. Wide field eyepieces require more glass elements. Less light getting to your eye. A big factor for some, Delites don't break the bank.

  JMHO

    Ed

[Starman1]

I use a Delite 18.2 with my Celestron 8" SCT, and it's a great eyepiece. In your Nextstar 6SE, it will give you 83 X, and a very pleasant view. With a 2X Barlow you'll get 165 X, which is good in a 6".  You won't go wrong with the Delite series of eyepieces. Some don't like the fact they are only 62 degree FOV, but I was never a fan of wide fields. I want to see the object I'm looking at, not background. Wide field eyepieces require more glass elements. Less light getting to your eye. A big factor for some, Delites don't break the bank.

  JMHO

    Ed

Mistaken impression.  Delites, Hyperions, Morpheus, all have the same number of elements.

Type 6 Nagler 82 deg. eyepieces have one less, and the 31mm Nagler has even one less than that.

So it's a mistaken impression that element count goes up with apparent field.

In some cases yes--100 deg. eyepieces--but in some cases no--Tele Vue Nagler 82 deg.

 

For a 6" f/10, 1500mm FL, a reasonable starter set would be:

40x. 80x, 120x, 160x, 200x.

Or, eyepieces of 38mm, 18-19mm, 12-13mm, 9mm, 7-8mm

Staying with smaller 1.25" eyepieces,

32mm 50° Plössl

18.2mm Delite (long eye relief) or 19mm Panoptic (short eye relief)

13mm Delite (long eye relief) or 13mm Type 6 Nagler (short eye relief)

9mm Delite (long eye relief) or 9mm Type 6 Nagler (short eye relief)

7mm Delite (long eye relief) or 7mm Type 6 Nagler (short eye relief)

 

Personally, what I'd do:

Baader Morpheus 6.5mm, 9mm, 12.5mm to add to the 32mm, 24mm, and 17mm the OP already has.

But the 13mm, 9mm, 7mm Delite trio would be ok, too.

Edited by Starman1, 19 March 2025 - 09:30 AM.

[SeattleScott]

There are certain rules of thumb in life, like you can calculate your retirement age by starting with 55 and adding five years for each kid or divorce.

With eyepiece elements, I feel like you can roughly determine the number of elements by starting with 4, adding two for long ER, and one element for every ten degrees of AFOV above 50.

[Starman1]

There are certain rules of thumb in life, like you can calculate your retirement age by starting with 55 and adding five years for each kid or divorce.

With eyepiece elements, I feel like you can roughly determine the number of elements by starting with 4, adding two for long ER, and one element for every ten degrees of AFOV above 50.

Except for Tele Vue:

50° 4 elements, long and short eye relief

62° 6-8 elements, long eye relief (if similar to Radians)

68° 6 elements, long and short eye relief

72° 8 elements, long eye relief

82° 6-7 elements, long and short eye relief.

100/110° 8-10 elements, short eye relief

 

Or Masuyama:

42° 4 elements short eye relief

53° 5 elements, long and short eye relief

85° 5 elements short eye relief.

 

And, element count varies in lines.  Pentax XWs, for instance, vary from 6 to 8 elements, yet all have long eye relief.

 

One thing can be said to be true: 40-50° eyepieces typically have fewer elements than 100° eyepieces.

Long focal length eyepieces in a line of eyepieces often have fewer elements than the shorter focal lengths.

Beyond that, it's difficult to generalize.

Edited by Starman1, 19 March 2025 - 10:38 AM.

[SeattleScott]

I view the two elements for long ER as being specific to adding ER for eyepieces that don’t already have long ER due to how the design scales. For something like a 30mm Plossl or a 38mm SWA that inherently has long ER, there is no reason for the two element “penalty.”

So it works for a number of things, like Vixen SLV, Naglers, Ethos, Delos, some XWs, Q70’s, etc. It is in the ballpark with Morpheus. But yeah it won’t pencil out for everything. Like a six element Paradigm or Xcel LX. That’s four plus one to bump up to 60 AFOV, plus one for semi-long ER?

[23foos]

In my 6 SE I use the 24 Pan as my widest field EP, and then have the 18.2, 13, 9, 7 and 5 DeLites. All are great with that scope, but the 13mm gets the most use.

[JimB1]

A little late to the thread but I just got a 6se OTA and two Delites 18.2 and 15 at NEAF. Primarily I got this setup for planetary viewing for use on an AZ-GTe so I wanted light but good quality eyepieces since the 6se is nearing the stated limits for this mount already.

 

I have televue 2x and 3x barrows already so with these two eyepieces and those barlows I should be able to get:

18.2 = 81x    162x.   243x

15 = 100x.     200x.  300x

 

Which will get me to the theoretic max magnification for the scope though I am guessing between 200-250x is probably more likely in reality.

 

I may pick up a 13 or 11 to get more options without barlowing (is that a word?) So that’s my reasoning on this one.

 

Unfortunately it’s been rainy the last 2 evenings so just waiting for a decent night to try everything. I’ll let you know how it goes. 
-Jim

[SeattleScott]

Understand that I might be difficult to use the long TV barlows in a 1.25” prism. They should be fine in a 2” mirror diagonal.