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Basically Both Barsta?

Discussion in 'Eyepieces, Barlows, and Filters' started by Mak the Night, Sep 22, 2017.

Basically Both Barsta?

Started by Mak the Night on Sep 22, 2017 at 8:53 AM

6 Replies 2313 Views 1 Likes

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  1. Mak the Night

    Mak the Night Well-Known Member

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    Mak the Night, Sep 22, 2017
    #1
    I’ve been thinking of setting my 102mm Sky-Watcher SkyMax up with my William Optics bino for lunar viewing. On the Vixen mount it gives me a portability I don’t really have with the EQ5. A 17mm eyepiece will give about 76x un-amplified and 122x, 153x and 199x respectively with the three GPC’s I have. Luckily I’ve owned a 17mm Celestron Plossl (below) for several years. Although the silk screen writing has now worn off.

    17mm Celestron.jpg

    It’s had a few different drawtubes and even eyeguards over the years. In scopes of f/6 and over it’s as good as anything. Moreover it has a nice sized eye lens, decent field stop, good eye relief and would almost certainly be conducive to image combining in the WO bino.

    Barsta 17mm (3).jpg

    Unfortunately it seems it’s difficult to obtain a 17mm Celestron Plossl on its own. But for £20 I can buy a 17mm ‘Sky-Watcher’ Plossl or even a 17mm ‘Orion Sirius’ Plossl for £36.58. I’m pretty certain these are all made by Barsta and are identical. So I pulled the trigger on the Sky-Watcher (on the right above). I changed the aluminium undercut drawtubes for the original WO SWAN’s included with the bino which were tapered. The taper is gentle enough to use in the dioptre compression rings.

    Barsta 17mm (2).jpg

    As far as I can ascertain these 17mm Plossls are identical. Interestingly, the 'Sky-Watcher' Plossl doesn't actually have a brand name. I’m pretty sure the 17mm Orion Sirius is the same and they’re all Barsta. As far as I can measure the field stops on both Plossls are 17.4mm, which is the claimed field stop of the Orion Sirius.

    Barsta 17mm (1).jpg

    So, I reckon 20 quid well spent!
     
    Orion25 likes this.
  2. Dave In Vermont

    Dave In Vermont Well-Known Member

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    Dave In Vermont, Sep 23, 2017
    #2
    Looks remarkably similar to the Orion Sirius Plössl I had & sold.

    Have fun -

    Dave
     
  3. Mak the Night

    Mak the Night Well-Known Member

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    Mak the Night, Sep 23, 2017
    #3
    I'm convinced the Sirius Plossl series are the same as the Sky-Watcher, only the Sky-Watcher are half the price here! SW drawtubes have the dreaded undercut defect though lol.

    I've set the Rigel up on the Mak, it's easier to align than I expected.

    All I need now are no clouds.
     
  4. Orion25

    Orion25 Well-Known Member

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    Orion25, Sep 25, 2017
    #4
    Both Sky-Watcher and Orion have their products manufactured by Synta Technology in Taiwan and Barsta is the company's supplier (or at least one of them) so no doubt the Sirius and Sky-Watcher plossls are identical except for the branding. Lower price point? I'm going to start getting Sky-Watcher EPs!
     
  5. Mak the Night

    Mak the Night Well-Known Member

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    Mak the Night, Sep 25, 2017
    #5
    I think the 'Sky-Watcher' label is Synta's own brand name for products it has made on the Chinese mainland. They are a Taiwanese company though. They probably do make some eyepieces, but they do market a lot of Barsta (BST) gear.

    http://www.barsta.com/show_hdr.php?xname=MDA8V11&dname=2EFOR71&xpos=2

    This eyepiece kit below is virtually identical to the Celestron Eyeopener Kit
    MaxthonSnap20170925223405.jpg

    And these Plossls look familiar lol!

    MaxthonSnap20170925223425.jpg
     
  6. Eduardo Costa

    Eduardo Costa Active Member

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    Eduardo Costa, Dec 25, 2017
    #6
    There is an unmistakable feature for the Barsta eyepieces: the rubber of the eye. Many Plossl 17mm sure comes from this factory. In another conversation, I do not remember in which community, here was the comment that Barsta is a company of the group Synta. I do not know if it's true. It is noteworthy that many Europe Skywatcher and America Celestron products are present in the Barsta catalog. It seems to be common for Chinese holding companies to have brands for sales and brands for production. Garrett/Oberwerk/Yunnan; Celestron/Sky-watcher/Synta; Meade/ES/ JOC, unless like join ventures.
     
  7. Mak the Night

    Mak the Night Well-Known Member

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    Mak the Night, Dec 25, 2017
    #7
    I think Barsta products are marketed by Synta, but I don't know if there is any other connection between them.
     

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