RE: ATM Optics for a good mirror

["William E. Hemple" <hemple@erols.com>]

At 10:01 AM 7/13/99 -0600, Bertapelle, Ken wrote:
>
>Others will probably give a much more sophisticated answer to this, but
>FWIW, here's my 2 cents.  I'm pretty new to amateur astronomy.  I have 
>three eyepieces, all by Televue: a pair of Plossls - 25 mm and 11 mm; and
>a 19 mm Panoptics.  All are very nice, but the Panoptics is certainly my 
>favorite.  The wider view is part of the difference, maybe the
>only significant difference.  I've never tried to perform a careful 
>comparison test of the quality of the views provided by all three.  All
>I know for sure is that I use the 19 mm most of the time.  Very
>scientific, I know, but there you have it.  ;>)
>
>- KenB
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: lifedata@vol.com [mailto:lifedata@vol.com]
>> 
>> While looking around at eyepieces I noticed that Tele Vue Plossls
>> cost much less than Tele Vue Panoptics ($100 vs $250).
>> 
>> The Panoptics have a much wider apparent field of view.  Is this all
>> you get for the more than double price or are there other advantages.
>> 
>> Jim L
>> 1 John 5:13

There are some evaluations and comparisons of Panoptic eyepieces by two
amateur astronomers on their web sites.  The reviews of the 19mm Panoptic
are very good indeed, enough to make me consider buying one when my ship
comes in.   Ken's opinion looks on target.
                                                         Bill

14) TeleVue 19 mm Panoptic http://www.scopereviews.com/index.html  Ed Ting

If you have never bought any "premium" eyepieces, this is a great one to
start with.
Sporting a wider true FOV than your run-of-the-mill 25 mm Kellner, the 19
mm Panoptic
(about $250-$260 street) is one of the sharpest eyepieces I have ever used.
 It has 
also quickly become one of my favorite eyepieces, of any design.

The 19 mm is also small (although a bit stout), and relatively light, which
encourages
frequent use (smaller eyepieces are like smaller telescopes - they get used
more
often.)  This eyepiece turns out to be just right in both the Ranger and
the FS102
for deep sky galaxy-hunting. 

Drawbacks?  Eye relief is still on the short side, but better than the 15
mm Panoptic.
Leave your glasses off.  Also, there is a bit more of that pin-cushion
distortion, but
it's not intrusive.  And the concave, dished eye lens looks as if it can't
wait to 
collect dust.

The advantages of the Panoptic 19 FAR outweigh its disadvantages, I should
point out.
If you have been contemplating the purchase of this eyepiece, I urge you to
do so at
once.


http://www.weatherman.com/nagler2.htm  Todd Gross

The 19mm Panoptic: This is one of the best eyepieces you will find period.
It is a relatively small,lightweight, 1.25" eyepiece that came out in the
Fall of 1996. It can be used in binoviewers easily. Views were sharp to the
edge of some scopes, and almost to the edge in others, with more coma noted
on very fast scopes hurting edge performance. The Televue's Parracorr
cleans that up in a snap. The price is high for this focal length, but I
would recommend this eyepiece highly, as THE eyepiece you should have. It
works well with a regular 1.25" barlow too,with no vignetting noted. The
size makes this eyepiece superior to the 22mm Panoptic for many users. Eye
relief on the 19mm is good, with maybe 50% of all glasses wearers
comfortable with it.