
®
for Meade RCX-400,
LX200R, LX200GPS,
LX-90GPS, LX90 & LX200 Classic 
An
EyeOpener enhances the
performance of long focal length 2" eyepieces on
Meade 10”, 12" and 14” Schmidt-Cassegrain and Ritchey-Chrétien
telescopes by increasing the eyepiece optical
path size as much as 65%. 2" eyepieces are "where it's at". Get all of
the eyepiece aperture that you paid for while enjoying the full benefit of
2" eyepieces.
As Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes
(SCTs) evolved from 8-inch models to
larger-aperture scopes, and as eyepieces evolved from 1¼" to 2", the "Schmidt-thread" couplings used for
securing 1¼- inch diagonals and eyepieces to telescope backplates remained unchanged. This "Schmidt visual back"
supplied with your RCX or LX200 scope has an internal diameter of 1½",
and it functions as a 1½ inch-diameter field
stop. This field stop effectively limits the performance of your costly
2" optics to the equivalent of 1½" optics. When using the 1½"
visual back with Meade's 2" 56mm Plossel (an eyepiece with a full 2" of glass in
the nose) you loose 65% of the light to your eye!
Do you think that the large diameter front lens (the "field lens") on your long focal
length 2" eyepiece is there for decorative purposes? That's about what
happens when you restrict the size of the optical path to that lens with a 1½
inch-diameter field stop. Without the EyeOpener®
you're getting the equivalent of 1½" optics. You might as well
take a piece of 1/4" wide masking tape and cover up the outside 1/4"
of glass on the nose of your eyepiece.
How does it mount? The
EyeOpener threads
onto a 3-1/4" male thread found on the backplate of 10",
12" and 14" Meade SCT & RC scopes, providing a full 2" unrestricted optical path. The
microfocuser attaches directly to the EyeOpener. Unscrew your 1-1/2"visual back and check it out for yourself.
To
use the EyeOpener on RCX400 or LX90GPS scopes and on the older "Classic" Meade SCTs, or to
shorten the optical path by eliminating the Microfocuser you will need the EyeOpener
2" Tube Adapter. As an alternative, the EyeOpener will also allow
LX90 and LX200 Classic SCT owners to retrofit a Meade #1209 Zero Image-Shift
Microfocuser or JMI's NGF-S electric focuser.
Microfocuser
mounting thumbscrews now included. Do
you recall the old proverb about the added straw that broke the camel's
back? Meade's RCX
and LX200 scopes are heavy enough to transport without the added
1-1/4 pound weight of the Microfocuser. Replace the 3 mounting set screws
in your Microfocuser with these special thumbscrews, and your Microfocuser is
readily detachable for scope transport or storage. A plug-type dust seal
is also included with the EyeOpener.
Note that the EyeOpener will not
improve your viewing with 1-1/4" eyepieces or with the smaller 2"
eyepieces. But it is hugely beneficial when used with the larger 2"
eyepieces that give you your widest actual field of view. To see how various eyepieces will
perform on an SCT click here
For a technical explanation of
vignetting and how the EyeOpener prevents vignetting, click
here
For information on how to use the
EyeOpener with an f/3.3 focal reducer for ccd imaging
click here
You ain't seen nothin 'till
you've looked thru the EYEOPENER
Customer comments:
From Florida: " I don't know if you remember speaking to me last week
but I order the EZ Counter Weight from you and we discussed the Eye Opener and I
also purchased one of them. The weight worked great.... The reason for my E-Mail
is that Eye Opener. I installed it (Easy as Pie) and used it for the first time
tonight. I emailed two of my friends tonight talking about how unusually great
the viewing was tonight. The weather here in Florida is cold and clear skies. But
I've viewed nights just as clear. I told both of them ... how the Orion Nebula
took up my entire field of view in that 31mm Nagler with all kinds of nice wisps
I had never seen before even with my expensive filters. Tonight no filters and
view was awesome. Same with other targets too. The Double Cluster was
particularly great tonight. Little fuzzy's weren't so fuzzy:) Then right in the
middle of my email to ..... I stopped and said. "Holy Cow" I did not
even think of this. Is this because of the Eye Opener:):) ...... What do you
think? I'll tell you what, if this is the case than that Eye Opener is the
greatest single invention to help these scopes that can possibly be made. I then
came back to your web site and read more. That part about the 65% increase in
light that gets to your eye and the part about it's like adding 2 inches of
aperture to your scope has pretty much got me convinced it's the Eye Opener who
should get the credit for tonight's great viewing. I can't believe Meade makes a
2" eyepiece holder and backs it up to a 1 1/2 hole. That's like putting a
potato in the exhaust pipe of your car:) Any way, let me know what you think.
12 inch GPS Nagler Powered with the Eye Opener Power Port"
From MAPUG "I own a 40mm SWA (Meade) and
noticed that on the standard VB on my 12" LX200, the vignetting was so bad,
I almost took the eyepiece back. It seemed that almost 10% of the outer edge of
the FOV was blurred. When I put this eyepiece in the EyeOpener, the difference
was drastically different. Stars were crisp, even at the very edge. Now, I
haven't sat down a measured anything, but I have tested it with the eyepiece and
it does make a huge difference (at least with this eyepiece)."
From California:
"Thanks for a great product. My 2in EP views are noticeably brighter.
Another benefit realized with the Eyeopener is that it decreases the
distance that the EP is located relative to the telescope back
13/16 of an inch by eliminating the AP SCT diagonal adapter.
This gets me a closer to the 100mm distance that the optics are
optimized for (spherical correction). My inside focus diffraction
pattern is crisper. I calculated that the original AP diagonal combo
lengthened the FL to
3000mm instead of the advertised 2800mm on my C11. I should be closer
to 2800mm now."
From MAPUG: "I own a 40mm SWA (Meade) and
noticed that on the standard VB on my 12" LX200, the vignetting was so bad,
I almost took the eyepiece back. It seemed that almost 10% of the outer edge of
the FOV was blurred. When I put this eyepiece in the eyeopener, the difference
was drastically different. Stars were crisp, even at the very edge. Now, I
haven't sat down a measured anything, but I have tested it with the eyepiece and
it does make a huge difference (at least with this eyepiece).