Thoughts about my 'new' Kowa 883 compared to my old 823 (2 Viewers)

[thomasbarker81]

I have just become the owner of an ex-demo Kowa 883 having used a Kowa 823 for the last 22 years.

I really, really like it does make me realise how good the 823 was, the 883 is a little bit brighter and a smidgeon better resolution but the step up is fairly small, perhaps my 823 was a cherry.

On another note, I can find reference to a 30x lens for this in the past but can't find any for sale new or old, I have the 25-60x zoom but would be interested in a fixed mag eyepiece as this is what i am to.

 

[Asterix09]

If you like fixed eyepieces, try the te-80xw (35x) for the 883, i have it and the wide fov and clarity is amazing, better than the zoom.

 

[DRodrigues]

...

On another note, I can find reference to a 30x lens for this in the past but can't find any for sale new or old, I have the 25-60x zoom but would be interested in a fixed mag eyepiece as this is what i am to.

You can purchase the Kowa adapter for using 1.25" astro eps and choose the magnification and AFOV you want - if you don't use eye-glasses, can go until 110º AFOV eps!... Choose the version of the adapter that doesn't use light path length is order you can use wider range of eps.

 

[Tringa45]

Thomas,

The discontinued 30x eyepiece for the 883 had an AFoV of about 65°. The 25-60x TE-11WZ zoom at 30x has an AFoV of 60°, so you're not losing much and still have the capability of using magnifications up to 60x.

Many astronomical eyepieces will not reach infinity focus in the 883 so beware of spending a large sum on an eyepiece that will not work.
With the short adapter you would need one for every eyepiece and eyepiece changes would be very slow. Apart from that, it would only be of advantage on a minority of eyepieces as anything with a barrel length of more than about 25 mm would bottom-out in the scope body, even with the longer adapter with the two thumb screws.
With the latter however, you only need one and it does enable rapid eyepiece changes.

John