[henry link]

I saw a German review of one of the 100* Explore Scientific eyepieces which included x-ray images of its innards compared to a TeleVue Ethos. It was an obvious copy of the Ethos, so I think it's pretty likely that the Explore Scientific 82* eyepieces are knockoffs of Naglers. That would go along with Sancho reporting a lot of pincushion, for which the Naglers are famous.

[Sancho]

Originally Posted by John Russell

Sancho,

Glad to hear that the ES eyepiece works on the Swaro. How much focus overtravel do you have when focussed at infinity? If you wear glasses this would best be checked with them on.

John

Thanks John! The over-travel is generous, but I'll check more precisely tomorrow. One down-side is that the ER is minimal, and even with my little John Lennon glasses I can't get the whole FOV. It's actually more comfortable to take off my glasses and extend the (rather flimsy) rubber eyecup.

Originally Posted by FrankD

The only issue where the Celestron may be better is in the apparent brightness. I haven't looked at the lens configuration of the the Explorer Scientific model but I would expect a fairly complex combination of lens/elements in an eyepiece of that size. From what I remember the Celestron's is simpler...basically a glorified plossl. I will do a little digging and see what I can find.

Thanks Frank, I'll do likewise.

[steph.661]

Originally Posted by Sancho

If anyone is looking for a Swarovski Eyepiece Adapter to fit a 1.25'' inch astro eyepiece, it seems they've been unavailable for years. But here's a way to make one's own, if you have the tools and the know-how:
http://www.valeasy.fr/accueil/fiche_...2ad822ddf3ad60

It's beyond my scant capabilities, though.

Purchased two weeks ago. THX
Just tested with a brand new 6mm TV Delos. Works like a charm, sharp and clear. As good as the Swarovski zoom at 60x.

[John Russell]

Steph,

First off, a belated welcome to Bird Forum.
I'm sure that Delos gives you excellent and comfortable views but it's a rather heavy and expensive solution. Perhaps you have an astro scope in addition to the Swaro?

I was not entirely satisfied with the 6 mm Vixen NLV on the 65 mm scope as the 0,8 mm exit pupil is marginal for daytime use and the FOV only just takes in the moon or sun (with a filter made from Baader Astro Solar Film).

The manufacturers of Sancho's adapter recommend Takahashi LEs and so I decided to try a 7,5 mm Baader Eudiascopic, which would appear to be a similar design but at a fraction of the cost. The Eudiascopics are allegedly identical to Celestron Ultimas, Orion Ultrascopics and Antares Elite Plössls and are made in Japan.
The AFOV is around 50° and the eye relief probably under 10 mm so use with glasses is not on, but the supplied slip-on winged eyecup makes it easy to find the right viewing position.
Contrast is excellent, there is no apparent astigmatism, very little pincussion distortion and a slight loss of sharpness at the edges, which can be entirely corrected by refocussing. Whether this field curvature is down to eyepiece or scope, I cannot say.
This makes the combination of the 65 mm Swaro scope and the dedicated 30xW eyepiece all the more remarkable, as here I can detect no distortion, no astimatism, no field curvature and just a little lateral CA. In comparison the Eudiascopic uses up about a quarter of the available focus overtravel at infinity.

The Eudiascopic helped me to ID a Hobby at a distance probably around 2 km and gave me a pleasant view of Jupiter a couple of evenings ago.

John

[DRodrigues]

John,
On the Swaro 65 (that has the same focal length of the 80 model) is probably better to stay over 6.5mm eyepieces - your experience with the Baader 7.5mm seems to confirm it. I would suggest you a 7mm eye-piece with better eye-relief and wider AFOV - on the economic side I would recommend you a TS 7mm HR - if money and weight/size are not problems a better choice is the Pentax XW7. Regarding the Eudiascopics, with the C5 I got almost all Ultimas from 40 to 5mm and the only ones I used was the 40 and 30mm - the main reason was eye-relief - I use glasses.

Steph,
Nice to know that the Delos works well. From your photos it seems that the Ethos 6mm also would work - it has a strange/unpractical 1.25-2" adapter but your photos show that the eyepiece only enter a bit in the astro adapter. For those who don't need eye-glasses and money and weight/size are not problems, the Ethos 6mm is an extraordinary ep...

[DRodrigues]

For those that want more magnifications just saw http://www.televue.com/engine/TV3_pa...ab=EP_ETH-04.7 - the 3.7mm version might be a bit too much...

[steph.661]

Originally Posted by DRodrigues

For those that want more magnifications just saw http://www.televue.com/engine/TV3_pa...ab=EP_ETH-04.7 - the 3.7mm version might be a bit too much...

On daylight my ATS 80HD can easily manage 97x magnification with high quality eyepieces like the Ethos 4.7mm 110°.
I can see much more details than with the sandard 20-60x zoom. The view is large, clear and very sharp.

[SEOW]

Wow! Too bad the new Swaro ATX scopes will be stuck at 70x.

[DRodrigues]

Steph,
Nice to know that the Ethos 4.7 works well with your Swaro!
As it has too reduced eye-relief for me (I use eye-glasses), I opted for a Ethos 17 in my TMB92+Nikon_FSA-L2 - the Ethos 17 has real better eye-relief but unfortunately it doesn't reach focus on spotting scopes since is a 2" ep. With the combo I mentioned it result in a 30-104x zoom with 100º AFOV - did my first home tests yesterday but still have to do a "real field test" to confirm the performance...

SEOW,
Replace my TMB92 by the Swaro 95 lens module at http://www.pt-ducks.com/cr-telescopes.htm#Nikon_FSA-L2 and you might see things in a different perspective...

[jogiba]

Pentax XW's come in 3.5mm to 40mm and the 1.25" up to 20mm work great in my spotting scopes and the 40mm works great in my astro scopes for the widest FOV. I also have the 13mm,17mm and 21mm Ethos that works great in my EON 72 ED as a spotting scope with 45 deg correct image 2" prism diagonal or 102mm 920mm FL F9 APO.

[SEOW]

Drodrigues,

Thanks for the link- if you test the 95mm module with that setup, will be fascinated to see if it works well-

[DRodrigues]

Jogiba,
Can you please confirm that the 17mm is the version with better eye-relief of the Ethos you have?
I have the 17mm since few days and wish it had higher ER...

[DRodrigues]

SEOW,
I was writing my last reply when you post yours, so didn't saw it at that time.
Yes, the question is if the result will have good image quality since possible it is...
Swarovsky could help producing an adapter as I suggested at the post 110 on http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=235819&page=5 ...

[cousin_itt]

I finally got a secondhand astro adapter (great service from South West Optics) and have had a play with my limited eyepiece collection.
17mm Baader Hyperion - focuses only a couple of hundred yards or so and has a lot of barrel distortion. Real shame that.
13mm Baader Hyperion - focuses infinity and gives a very good, distortion free view.
Celestron Regal zoom - really rather good. Honestly gives the Swarovski 20-60 a run for its money. It also has a nice sharp field stop throughout the whole of its range, unlike the Swarovski.