Speers-Waler WA series eyepieces

Aside from some well received comments from Joe O'Neil (a dealer who sells
these), I have heard absolutely zero regarding the quality and user
satisfaction level for the relatively new Speers-Waler WA series of
eyepieces (all having 80 degree AFOV's) from other owners and/or users,
despite the great price for this eyepiece series, and despite the fact
that they have been on the market for at least 6 months now. If you have
had the chance to view through any of the new WA's, please comment
regarding optical performance (sharpness on axis and on edge, contrast,
transmission, ghosting, clolr neutrality, color fringing...), build
quality, any unusually out of the ordinary in or out-focus travel
requirements, etc... Comparisons against known high quality ultra wide
field eyepieces such as Naglers or Meade UWA's would also be appreciated.

Lawrence Sayre

On Sun, 21 Sep 2003 10:44:00 GMT, Lawrence Sayre
wrote:

Aside from some well received comments from Joe O'Neil (a dealer who sells
these), I have heard absolutely zero regarding the quality and user
satisfaction level for the relatively new Speers-Waler WA series of
eyepieces (all having 80 degree AFOV's) from other owners and/or users,
despite the great price for this eyepiece series, and despite the fact
that they have been on the market for at least 6 months now. If you have
had the chance to view through any of the new WA's, please comment
regarding optical performance (sharpness on axis and on edge, contrast,
transmission, ghosting, clolr neutrality, color fringing...), build
quality, any unusually out of the ordinary in or out-focus travel
requirements, etc... Comparisons against known high quality ultra wide
field eyepieces such as Naglers or Meade UWA's would also be appreciated.

Lawrence Sayre

I have the 14mm WA. The only thing I can compare it to is the original
SW10 that I have used for years and I'd say the performance is
identical.

I've had the 14 for about a month now and am very pleased with it. The
specs on the box state an 82deg apparent field of view but I can't
verify the accuracy of this as I haven't had enough time with it to do
a star drift timing.

All in all, it behaves the same way as the sw10, being sharp to the
very edge with good contrast and no chromatic distortion that I can
see. I have no focusing problems with this EP and there are no dust
particles to be seen contrary to when I bought the 10mm.

They've improved the form factor as the EP is shorter and is a bit
lighter than the 10.

All in all, a very nice mid power eyepiece for me on my 8" f/6 Dob.


G../0

Lawrence Sayre wrote:

Aside from some well received comments from Joe O'Neil (a dealer who sells these), I have heard absolutely zero regarding the quality and user satisfaction level for the relatively new Speers-Waler WA series of eyepieces (all having 80 degree AFOV's) from other owners and/or users, despite the great price for this eyepiece series, and despite the fact that they have been on the market for at least 6 months now.

Well, the only thing I can say is to avoid the 24mm S.W. as it isn't that
great an eyepiece (bothered by astigmatism in outer third of the field). I do
love the 5-8mm variable focal length Speers-Waler, and I might just pick up
another one (see the review of it on the Cloudy Nights web page:
http://www.cloudynights.com). Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

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