TELESCOPE ACCESSORY REVIEWS

This is a zero power finder made by Televue Optics and cost around $170 (+/- P 6,800.00). The main features of this finder is that it has a clear 40mm glass but without any crosshairs and is made quite slim and elegant and has both x-y adjustments to align with your scope. It also has a brightness adjustment to suit one's taste. The only disadvantage that I found on this unit is the PRICE. At this price, you can get a Telrad finder which cost only $39 (+/- P 1,500.00) or Televue's Qwik Point, $40 (+/- P 1,600.00)

This is also another zero finder made by Televue Optics. It cost only $40 to get one. It also has a feature in which it can be use both in daytime and nighttime compared to its brother, the StarBeam. The only thing I don't like on this unit is that it has a very small glass (roughly around 15mm) and this makes it hard to look through if one place this too far from the scope tube's end. There is also another alternative to get this at a cheaper price. Daisy gunsight has almost the same feature as the Qwikpoint and cost less than half of the price to compared to the Qwik Point but lacks only the variable daytime/nighttime adjustments .

Another product from Televue, this is a 2" O.D. 2x barlow lens. Mostly used by me when I need to jack up the effective focal length of my TV-101 scope from 540mm f/5.4 to 1,780mm f/17.6 for close-up whole disk shot of the Moon and the Sun and also during occultations. If I were just to use this barlow for visual work, I would have preferred the 1.25" O.D. Televue barlow instead because of the difference in price ($168, +/-P 6,720.00 to $105, +/- P 4,200.00) but also it weighs less.

The "spacewalk" eyepiece. This is how people will "feel" after looking at this ultra-wide eyepieces because this type of eyepiece design have an apparent field of view of 82 degrees and is sharp to the edge and also very heavy!!! Aside from this feature, it also is the market's most expensive eyepieces which ranges from $ 175 (+/- P 7,000.00) for the 4.8mm to $395 (+/- P 15,800.00) for the giant 2" 20mm!!! There are two series for these wonderful eyepiece, namely the Nagler (7 elements) series which includes 4.8mm, 7mm, 9mm and the Nagler 2 (8 elements) series which includes 12mm, 16mm and the 20mm. The 4.8mm and the 7mm has 1.25" barrels while the 9mm, 12mm and the 16mm has hybrid 1.25"/2" barrel. Only the 20mm has a 2" barrel My friend, Christopher Go, once told me that viewing through them is highly "addictive" and you might want more and I swear he is right. After getting my 1st Nagler 12mm and a Panoptic 22mm, now I got an additional 3 more of them. Oh! My pocket hurts :) LOL

I own a set of Naglers which includes the 4.8mm, 7mm, and the 12mm. They are currently the eyepieces that I used during my observations aside from the Panoptics eyepieces which I will described later. One advantages of these eyepieces for the owners of the telescope that are mounted in the alta-zimuth or dobsonian is that it will have more time to view a certain objects especially planets before it will drift out of view because of its wide field compared to the Plossls (+/- 50 degrees) and the Orthos & Kellners (+/- 45 degrees). One time, I use the 12mm on my friend's C8 SCT on M42 , the view was 3 dimensional and it seems that the nebula is floating against the star background (wow!) and on Omega Centauri (fully resolve and pinpoint stars up to the edge!) Although one might need to consider if he/she is willing to shell out that amount of money for a few which on the other hand can get a complete set of Plossls, Orthos or Kellners. If you are in the budget side, the best eyepieces to invest that I can recommend are the Plossls.

Rumors has it that Televue owner and optician , Al Nagler, plans to make the Nagler 4 series which will later replace the 12mm Nagler 2 & also a new 22mm focal length (2") . I think the only difference will be that it will have a 20mm eye relief.

These type of eyepiece design has an apparent field of view of 68 degrees and is also humorously called "Nagler-lite". It is also cheaper in comparison with the Nagler but don't underestimate these "lites" one because they are also very sharp and contrasty as well as heavy . The Panoptic line includes 15mm, 19mm, 22mm, 27mm and the 35mm. The 15mm & 19mm have 1.25" barrels while the 22mm has a hybrid 1.25"/2" barrelwhile the 27mm and the 35mm has 2" barrels. I owned two of them, namely, the 22mm and the giant 35mm (this eyepiece gives me 15x and a wide field of 4.4 degrees!!! Great for comets such as Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp....... Hmmm....... wish there will be another one like it this coming years.......).

For me, Panoptics are best suited for wide field viewing while its brother is good in medium to high power observation. If you are to choose one of this, get the 22mm, which you can use also in telescopes which has 1.25" or 2" focusers. But do note that if you plan to use the Panoptics in conjunction with the 2x Big Barlow, one needs to use Barlow Interface, which is sold seperately by Televue, so that you will still get a flat field and tack sharpness up to the edge.