TeleVue Radian 6mm

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TeleVue Radian 6mm
I tried the 3mm and 10mm Radians before I got this one. It was worth the wait. Have used it with an 80mm F8 Fluorite refractor and got the best images of Jupiter and Saturn ever. Excellent contrast, sharpness, and very bright considering the amount of glass inside. Extremely comfortable to use. Has already become my favorite eyepiece, causing the 10mm Radian to move to the #2 position. The 8mm Radian is next on my list.

Clear, steady skies!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43628

TeleVue Radian 6mm
Susceptible to both eye reflections and lens to lens reflection. A bright object (Jupiter in my case) had a reflection 180 degrees from the main image and was distracting enough that I returned the Radian for refund.

Overall Rating: 6
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43629

TeleVue Radian 6mm
contrasto eccellente, correzione cromatica ottima, definizione entusiasmante.
Grande comodità d'uso, assenza di riflessi interni...meglio di Pentax SMCXL

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43630

TeleVue Radian 6mm
The Radian 6 has become my new favorite high power eyepiece, replacing my old stand-in, the Nagler 7. Contrast, light throughput, and sharpness are all excellent. I have not detected any ghosting or reflection of any kind with this eyepiece. I'm now thinking about picking up the Radian 5 as well. One thing to note; this is a relatively heavy eyepiece, close in weight to the Nagler 9.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43631

TeleVue Radian 6mm
Excellent sharpness. Use it at 200 power on globulars every chance I get! Have noticed some rare instances of reflection, but still love it. Heavy but makes it easier to balance with other Televue EPs.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43632

TeleVue Radian 6mm
I found the TV 6mm to be excellent. Views were very clear and bright. I encountered no ghosting, shadows, or reflection. I love to observe the moon, and the views thru this eyepiece were excellent. Adjusting the stops was not an annoyance at all. I am very pleased with this eyepiece.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43633

TeleVue Radian 6mm
Have owned this eyepiece for about 1 year and really like it. It has excellent eye relief, sharpness, and contrast. I do notice it is somewhat darker than a 6 mm U.O Ortho and I have also noticed it shows a reflection on bright objects like the moon and Jupiter (appears to be eye reflection not lens to lens). It shows some false color on the limb of the moon at the eyepiece field stop.
I also noticed the orthos are better at splitting close doubles. This is really where I was able to distinguish a performance difference between the ortho and the Radian.

However, if your a planetary observer the Radian is excellent because it allows a large field of view with high magnification (180X on my scope).

Overall a very good eyepiece. You get a very slightly darker view and a little color (at the field stop) compared to simpler designs, like orthos. But you get a much bigger field of view, longer eye relief, and sharpness/contrast that is barely distinguishable from an ortho. Which you prefer (ortho or Radian) will depend on which of these things bother you most.

But you really can't go wrong with this one.

Scope: 10" newt f4.5

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43634

TeleVue Radian 6mm
A wonderful eyepiece! I found the large eye relief to be very comfortable - something that is definitely important to high power viewing. This was the pushing the limit for my C11 at 467x magnification, but it held up well in spite of moderate seeing on doubles and lunar views. Will have to wait a few months to test it on Mars and Jupiter. Detail and ease of sharp focus are most impressive. Complete sharpness edge to edge, and a nice wide field of view. My Nagler 7, LV 9, and Barlow will likely now collect dust on the shelf.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43635

TeleVue Radian 6mm
Too many bells and whistles. It requires assembly right out of the box, the distance click stop adjusment may be a good idea, but mine was way too sensetive. Spent more time moving that darn thing up and down, than I was viewing. Replaced it with a Meade 8.8 Ultra-wide. Noone can tell me that the Radian is better in any way to that Meade Ultra-wide. Nothing against Televue, they make great optics, I just hate those Radians.

Overall Rating: 3
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43636

TeleVue Radian 6mm
I've only recently bought this eyepiece, and it has given me simply the best view of Saturn that I've ever seen (333x with 140mm Mak Cass). The background sky was as black as I've seen it, the image was sharper than ever and detail was much more prominent. Cassini was crystal clear and the divisions obvious and all this on a night of below average seeing.
There was minimal light scatter around the planet as expected (more obvious with averted vision), but no worse than a 6mm ortho that I compared it to. No ghost images or reflections were seen. I can't wait to try it out on my other scopes.
At last I've found a high power eyepiece that I am completely happy with, this one will stay in my accessory case for a long long time along with the other Radians in the set that I've just ordered.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43637

TeleVue Radian 6mm
I had previously posted a review of the 6mm Radian. I just got rid of the eypiece due to very prominent reflections on bright objects - it was the worst on Jupiter (problematic on the moon as well). I am not writing this to contradict the post immeadiately preceeding (I don't want to get one of those angry back and forth things going). But in my 10" f4.5 and my 5" f/10 the reflections became so annoying that I found I wasn't using the eyepiece anymore. Since it rendered too much power for most deep-sky use at 180X (except planetary nebulae) I decided to get rid of it. I have found that I am fond of having a little more field of view for deep sky objects than plossols or orthos allow so I traded the 6mm in on the 8mm Radian. I have noticed none of the reflections experienced with the 6mm with the 8mm. Perhaps I got a bad 6mm? However, I noted others have discussed this problem and thought for those reading and contemplating a purchase it would be something to at least consider.

Overall Rating: No Vote
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TeleVue Radian 6mm
I have just returned a TeleVue 6mm Radian because of the presence of internal reflections when viewing bright objects. Observing Jupiter at 206x was like seeing a moth flying around in the eyepiece. I also have the 10mm and 14mm Radians and the 32mm TeleVue Plossl with no such problems. They are all great.

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TeleVue Radian 6mm
Good eyepiece over the center 2/3rds of the field. With my 12.5" f/5 reflector, there is a lot of color abberation on planets and bright stars around the perimeter. Why pay for the wide field when it shows so much abberation? I've found the Lanthanums, which have narrower field f.o.v., to be a tad sharper with the same eye relief, and a lot less expensive.

Overall Rating: 6
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43640

TeleVue Radian 6mm
I have my 6mm TV Radian for 6 months now. There's not much for
to add. After my fateful encountered with the Vixen 5mm LV (45d
FOV version) that I quickly returned, I'm happy as a clam. It's
sharp to the edge, bright, and contrasty. There's slight chromatic
aberrations near the edge of the FOV, but I don't usually concentrate
my view there. It's wide 60d AFOV makes you feel like part of the
scene; it's 20mm eye relief allow me to view the planets very comfortably
for a long period of time. The entire 4 Jupiter moons fit in the FOV.
This is by far my most-often use planetary eyepiece (the other
being the 5mm Tak LE) in my TV-102 AP0. This is also my favorite
eyepiece for high-power viewing globular clusters such as M13 and
M22. M57 without nebula filter remains bright with the eyepiece.
It also works great with other DSO as well. The moon is great too,
but can't beat the 4mm TV Radian when it comes to giving the feel
of a lunar lander flying by.

Oh, did I say I love the Insta-adjust eyecup ;-), seriously!

Highest rating!
Ron B[ee]

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 6 (Veritable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43641

TeleVue Radian 6mm
I'm a bit conflicted on this EP. I should like it but I'm having
problems. First of all mine is really dim. My UO 12.5 mm ortho and
2.8X Klee are brighter. The feature of the sliding ring with stop sounds
neat but I think it just gets in the way. Lastly I have reflections, I mean
lots of them! Nasty. I see why the stop is included now. The first time
I used te EP I thought my partner was shining a flashlight at me as a joke.
I was looking at Vega by the way. I think I will return this thing.

Overall Rating: 6
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43642

TeleVue Radian 6mm
The lunar view alone justifies owning this eyepiece.

The 60* wide field is clear to the edge with ortho sharp images. Brightness is incredible. When a 7 element ocular can rival simple 4 element orthos it is clear that great design, materials, and coatings are at work.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43643

TeleVue Radian 6mm
About those reflections.

The Radian 6mm is one of my favorite high power eyepieces. My others are orthos or Plossls that deliver the economical sharp performance that these types are known for. This Radian provides ortho-type images with a much wider field of view and generous eye relief.

The Instadjust and 20mm eye relief combine to make the Radian my favorite eyepiece for showing views to others. When I set or retract the eyecup by touch I can configure viewing for eyeglass wearers or novice observers. Dob owners and others with non-powered mounts will appreciate the 60-degree field when observing planets and other targets that need magnification.

I have noticed some reflections at times but few really bothered me. Certain eyepieces will show reflections off of the eyeball when viewing bright objects. I now subconsciously make slight changes in target position or viewing angle to remove those reflections.

A more disturbing type of artifact turned out to be external in nature. I noticed that brilliant targets like the Sun or Moon seemed to cause a general loss of contrast in the view through my Radian 6. The orthos and Plossls seemed less affected by this problem. After reading about success with these targets and talking to other Radian 6 users I tried a different OTA. Case Solved! Issues with baffling or other design problems were bouncing light around inside the telescope and flooding the image with contrast robbing noise. The short tube f5 telescope that did okay with high magnification of dimmer targets broke down when pointed at those “beacons” especially with a wide field ocular installed.

Now like Ron B[ee] I enjoy frequent visits to the moon. It is a refreshing change to not duck our monthly light pollution anymore. When I start a friend or family member with a low-power eyepiece for a quick trip to the Moon and swap them up to the Radian 6mm they ALWAYS make noises. Ooh, Ahh, and then finally Wow!

How sharp is the view? After a recent barlowed moon trip my 14-year-old asked, “If there were people up there could we SEE them?” because it seemed REALLY possible at the time.

Overall Rating: No Vote
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TeleVue Radian 6mm
I find the 8 & 3 Rad to perform better than the 6,, the 6 will not obtain as sharp as focus on the same night back to back comparing my other TV eps,,

Overall Rating: 7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43645

TeleVue Radian 6mm
I have an 8mm, 6mm, 4mm and 3mm TV Radian (and hopefully
a 5mm TV Radian soon). I was just out looking at Saturn
last night at 2am (high near the zenith). The view through
the 6mm, 5mm Tak LE were virtually equal in sharpness short
of the difference in magnification (as with the 8mm). Able
to see subtle variable in the bands on the planets! 4mm was
ok, but seeing was not able to support it for sharpness tonight.
I'd say that the 6mm and 5mm are my most often used high
power eyepiece for my TV-102.

Ron B[ee]
PS I'm not discounting anybody comments, but only wish to
add observation.

Overall Rating: No Vote
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TeleVue Radian 6mm
One of the best high power eyepieces I've used. Used last night with Saturn and Jupiter. With a Meade 10" LX50 and a f6.3 focal reducer, I clearly was able to see the divisions in the rings (Cassini's division) and some striping on the planet. Very sharp with excellent contrast. WOW! I've used it on the moon as well with wonderful results. The large eye relief makes it easier to use then other 6mm EPs. The weight is a little on the heavy side in comparison but not so much that I've ever had a problem with it. I haven't really experienced any reflections using it in the SCT as well.
Great eyepiece. Highly recommended.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43647

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