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Ethos First User Reports: 2007
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In the year of introduction, the 13mm Ethos was shown at NEAF, TSP, RTMC, and EPOCH 2007. We thought you'd enjoy sharing in the experience by reading some of the volunteered comments written in our "comment" notebook. The following display was created for daytime observation using the Ethos in an NP127is at NEAF and TSP, and an NP101 at RTMC.

image...

The left chart has circles representing field diameters of 50°, 60°, 68°, 82° and 100° with the telescope distance set so that the 100° circle matched the view of the Ethos field-stop. The "crosshairs" are actually small Saturn drawings in 5° increments to illustrate the linear angular-magnification correction. Illustrations of Saturn were placed at the center and edge of the field so contrast and detail (including newsprint dot patterns) could be evaluated.

The chart to the right is an artificial very-rich "star field" made (and conceived) by Rick Scheck in our scope production dept. The bright "star" reflections made a more realistic contrast simulation than simply viewing astronomical pictures and helped to give a "night sky" impression that nicely represented a dense Milky Way star field.

Real night-sky viewing was done two nights at the dark Prude Ranch location of the Texas Star Party using telescopes ranging from our NP127is to the prize winning 12" f/5.5 Newtonian of our own Scott Ewart. Ethos also made its way into various large Dobsonians including those of Barbara Wilson and Larry Mitchell.

At the Riverside Telescope Makers Convention in California, we had two clear, though very bright moonlit nights for evaluation. Using an NP101 and NP127is Ethos treated us to clusters such as M44 and M24.

At EPOCH 2007 in western Indiana, we were pleased to have one very clear evening to demonstrate Ethos with our NP127is and Chris Brownewell's 25" Obsession. Good Luck, Chris, on this new star party venture, and a big Thanx for being a great host.

While all of us at Tele Vue are proud and excited by the response, it's much more interesting for you to note the recorded comments. On a personal note, I was especially moved by just showing a random star field to a little 10-year-old girl in a group visiting RTMC from Anaheim. Her only words: "Oh my god, it's beautiful." It doesn't get any better than that.

— Al Nagler

Kudos to our Paul Dellechiaie, the principal designer of Ethos.

Note: after reviewing all the following responses introducing the 13mm Ethos at events across the country, I felt a need to develop a technical explanation for the "wow" reaction. The following essay is my attempt at explaining "wow". I call it The Majesty Factor.
RTMC 2007 Comments
  • WOW you did it again. I like it. - D.D.
  • WOW! Tele Vue Visionary at its best! - T.P.
  • Wow dizzy. - P.B.
  • Wow it's so wide it's hard to find the edge. - C.E.
  • Aghaaa 100° a galactic experience. - E.M.
  • Can't believe the view. - M.C.
  • That's incredible! - E.E.
  • Impressive!! - F.J.E.
  • Very nice to edge. - T.C.S.
  • The most perfect wide-field optics EVER! Wow! - G.C.
  • Oh my goodness! - K.K.
  • Once again Amazing! I want one! - G.
  • Love at 1st light. Very nice. Keep it up. - G.S.
  • Wow! That's amazing!
  • Killer!!! I Need one! - R.L.
  • What a view! - L.K.
  • Rather amazing! - J.M.
  • That's a great view, sharp all the way across!
  • Incredible. - R.G.
  • Goodness Gracious. - T.D.
  • Very good, very good, I love it. - M.
  • Great! - J.S.
  • Fantastic wide field. I almost have to imagine the field stop! And can't wait to try one in both my TV-140's.! - E.S.
  • When you look thru this piece be careful not to fall onto the view?! Breathtaking. - S.S.
  • It's amazing. - J.L.
  • It's like a porthole to space. - G.N.
  • After reading reviews waiting to get a close-up look I was blown away with the eyepiece. Sign me up I want one!! I was inside the telescope reaching out to touch the stars. Amazing!!! - G.W.
  • 100° WOW I love it! - S.A.
EPOCH 2007 Comments
  • Large Field! Wow! Great to have the magnification and the wide field. Best of both worlds. Eyegasm! - Chip (16" Lightbridge)
  • Be prepared to look around! The Ethos was lighter than I thought it might be and there was no coma at all in my 20" f/5 Obsession. M-27 was fantastic as was M-13. Viewing the double-cluster thru a TEC 6" I felt like I needed someone to hold onto the back of my shirt so I wouldn't fall in! It's on my list to get! Thanks for the views Al. -- M.M.
  • Fantastic - wow - a real winner! Very undistorted. Thanks Al. -- F.H.
  • Spectacular! Beautiful eyepiece, very comfortable to look through. Thank you for bringing Tele Vue to Indiana. -- A.M.
  • Super Wide Field - Excellent. -- anon.
  • 13mm Ethos - Awesome F.O.V.! Almost too much to take in at once. Can't wait to get one! -- D.H.
  • Wow! Wow! -- J.M.
  • Sweet! Great View. -- R.M.
  • Once again - as usual - we can offer perfection to our discriminating customers -- thanks to Al Nagler for making it fun to be a telescope dealer. -- W.M.
  • Just didn't think a "31" could be one-upped. I was wrong!! Incredible!! -- anon.
  • Super Wide Field Ethos eyepiece: Lagoon nebula had clarity of stars edge-to-edge in view. All stars "tack" sharp. M13 was as if I'd never seen it before. Outstanding. -- J.M.
  • Super wide field - unbelievably exceptional / outstanding view; crisp, clear -- wow!! Don't think I've seen anything that great until now. -- S.
  • The field-of-view is so extensive that I had to almost crawl inside to look at it all. -- C.D.
  • Looking through Ethos 13mm gave me the same exciting feeling I got looking through a Nagler the first time. Same WOW factor. Can't wait for high power Ethos. -- B.C.
Stellafane 2007 Comments courtesy Dave Mitsky
  • The two most memorable sights of the night for me were both through Tele Vue's incredible 100 degree AFOV 13mm Ethos ocular. M27 through John Vogt's 32" ATM Dob and the Ethos was truly unbelievable and I've never before seen M31 as mind-blowingly extended as I did through Al Nagler's 127mm Tele Vue apochromat and the Ethos. This yet-to-be released new eyepiece is simply amazing. -- Dave Mitsky, A Brief Report from Stellafane 2007, bautforum.com
Starfest (Canada) 2007 Comments courtesy Tom Trusock
  • [B]lew me out of the water. We used it on the NP101 and a 20" f5 obsession - to spectacular results with both. This eyepiece takes the Nagler philosophy to the next level - The same true field at higher magnification means that you'll see blacker skies and more detail. So, although it's extremely impressive, the massive sense of immersion could almost be considered a secondary effect.
    But what a secondary effect.
    For me, the most striking view this weekend was of M31/32/110 in the NP101 - simply amazing. On this scope, the eyepiece generates about 40x, and nearly a 2 and 1/2 degree field! It was really funny to see a line of up to 20 people in front of this little 4" telescope, and the huge 20" f5 right next to it sitting totally empty. This was definitely one night where aperture didn't win.
    The Ethos is truly the next revolution in visual astronomy.

    -- Tom Trusock, First Light - Ethos, cloudynights.com - eyepiece forum


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