Planetary TMB EP's

I posted this on the Equipment forum but there was no response or interest so I though i would put it out here although I know it might be slightly off topic. I know Ron B. said he has used these EP's so Ron, what do you think? And everyone else that has tried these:

< That was surely a night to remember. >>

Hello there Vince,

Here's the link to the couple of observations I did.
http://members.cox.net/ronby/Solar-System/Mars-081003-TV102.htm
http://members.cox.net/ronby/Solar-System/Mars-081703-TV102.htm

I was out looking for Olympus Mons (or Nix Olympus) on Sun. morning with my 4" TV-102. I used to reach for my Radian automatically but found to my surprise I would reach for the TMBs EP. When I got it, I wasn't sure if I'd like the teeny AFOV and short ER. But surprisingly, the 4mm ER is still quite workable so long as I don't look at the entire FOV. The 30d AFOV is eminently serviceable on planets. I plan to get the 6mm TMB as well and this should complete my planetary eyepieces.

So you think you'd see my 6mm, 5mm and 4mm Radian on Astromart ;-)? Not a chance! While the TMB SuperMonos works great on the Moon (I could see a slightly whiter color, slightly more contrast and brightness), I finally figure out why I don't like the SuperMonos so much on the Moon. I lost the "space walk", "from orbit" feeling the Radians impart! The area of the moon that can be seen with a 4mm Radian for example is just whoppingly much more than can be seen in the SuperMonos.

Oh, I had my 8-inch Discovery Dob out as well. I wanted to see how well it works on the Dob. After almost constantly nudging for about 5 minutes, I gave it. It was toooooooo *painful* with the SuperMono. I really think these superb TMB eyepieces really need a driven mount in order for an observer to stay focused and deliver that "last mile" of details. Otherwise, I found it way too distracting and actually not seeing any more than I should :-(. Oh, BTW, forget about sketching while nudging the 30d AFOV :-(.

Alas, I found that I really need both ;-). Lastly, you should join the TMB eGroup; there are many more reports there.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tmboptical/


Ron B[ee]
PS - Nope, I failed to see Olympus Mon :-(.