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200P Dob - two eyepieces for £250?


ash73

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Hi everyone,

I've been using a Skywatcher 200P Dob for a couple of years with a Celestron range of plossl eyepieces, and would like to replace them with a couple of higher quality eyepieces. I look at everything from the moon and Jupiter to the seven sisters and occasional DSOs, I tend to only pop out for 30-45mins at a time, and I use the 13, 17 and 32mm from my current set because I found the higher mags hard to focus and the narrow field of view requires constant nudging.

Budget is £250-300, current thinking is...

1. Baader Hyperion Aspheric 2"x31mm
2. Baader Hyperion 68 degree 13mm (or 17mm?) with adjustment rings, which gives me 13-8mm (or 17-9mm) albeit with lots of faffing, 20mm eye relief and 68 FoV. I'm hoping this would be more usable at higher mags than my plossls?

or:

1. Skywatcher Panaview 2"x32mm (or similar)

2. Baader Hyperion 24-8mm zoom lens, which gives me a broader range and a lot more convenience, but less eye relief and FoV; and I might have to rig something up to counter-balance the mass?

or:

Blow the budget on a 14mm Televue Delos eyepiece, to use with my existing 32mm Plossl.

Questions:

- Which combo would people recommend?

- Any other recommendations?

- Any suggestions for counter balances (if required)?

TIA :)

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The Hyperions and Aspherics really don't do that well at F/6 I my opinion, considering their cost.

The Hyperion Zoom however (different optical design) does quite well and might be the best use of your money along with the Panaview 32mm, so your second option.

The Delos would be a step up again though but maybe wait until you can get more than one because they will make the others seem a little "ordinary" :smiley:

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Thanks John that's very helpful, I was expecting the zoom lens to be a compromise for the extra convenience but you're saying it would actually be better, which makes it an easy choice. But would it be a good step up from my Celestron plossls?

Vixen SLV is another option. By coincidence I found your review from earlier this year where you seem to rate them highly. If I added another option of 2x SLVs (say 10/12mm? and 15mm) plus the 2"x32mm Panaview, how would that compare for my f6 scope?

Cheers.

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You may find these eyepieces of interest. http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-eyepieces/skywatcher-nirvana-uwa-82-degree-fov.html

I currently use them in an F5 scope and they are a joy to use so should theoretically be better still in an F6 scope. 82* fov and good eye relief. The 16mm and 7mm would be towards the top end of your budget but they would be a big step up from your plossl eyepieces.

Just another option to look at.

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Thanks oldfruit, this thread has already been a great help. I've been plugging the numbers into Stellarium and I like the idea of a larger field of view to reduce nudging. The Vixen is only 50 deg so maybe not ideal, and the Nirvana gets very positive reviews. I was originally put off <10mm eyepieces because my 6/8 plossls are so poor, but maybe I need to reset my expectations. Would a Nirvana 4mm be pushing things too far? Are there any drawbacks with a 82 FoV?

New shortlist:

Baader Hyperion zoom plus Skywatcher Panaview 2"

or...

Skywatcher Nirvana 7&16mm (with my existing 32mm plossl for the time being)

The key thing for me is to get a significant step...

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I personally cannot think of any drawbacks with the field of view as it would (as you quite rightly say) mean a little less nudging. For me the 4mm would be pushing things a little too much as the nights that would enable you to use such high magnification effectively would be very few and far between. Better to use eyepieces that you would use often than ones that are sitting looking pretty in your case. :grin:

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Got some helpful advice from FLO... they said "the Panaview 32mm is a must, stunning in your 200 Dob, like space walking! The zoom is a great eyepiece but may be a little soft at the edges in fast telescopes, still nice though, and the Nirvana will be very good with the 200 Dob".

Only slight snag is I use a PH047 bracket to mount a compact camera to my 1.25" eyepieces, which would be ideal with the zoom lens (as it doesn't expand as it zooms) but it doesn't sound as good optically, and the bracket won't fit the 2" panaview. I could still use my camera with the Nirvana eyepieces though.

Leaning towards the Nirvana, and might blow the budget with a Panaview too. Typical! :)

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The key thing for me is to get a significant step......

This is the challenge. In the central part of the field of view the vast majority of eyepieces do very well, even the low cost ones. So your "significant step" may well be the wider apparent field of view than you current eyepieces rather than a significant increase in pure optical performance.

A Panaview / Nirvana mix would be very nice in terms of pushing out the edges of the field of view and the views will seem more immersive.

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One or two have said, second hand with this budget you can buy some real quality, look for  ExSc 82 degree FOV,  Meade 5000 UWA & SWA , Williams Optic UWAN, and even Televue Radians and older Naglers

New you can go for Ex Sc from TS in Germany, the 6.7mm and 4.7mm starting at 119 Euros, 8.8mm just 10 Eu more, there is a good choice on offer for this amount.

Alan. 

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I have the 16mm Nirvana and use it at f/5 and f/10. It's a great performer! Eye relief is good and with the eye guard set to the proper height, the eyepiece is very easy to use. No strain in finding or holding the exit pupil.

You have already made your choice, but if you also want a low power eyepiece, please consider the Maxvision 34mm 68°. Super value at its price of €119. Quality wise it comes as close to the Panoptics as the Nirvana comes to the Naglers.

Enjoy your Nirvanas!

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Oops, I only half read your post. You're also getting a 32mm Panaview.

People who have it like it well, I know that. I've never seen one though, or looked through one. I'm curious as to how it compares to the Nirvanas.

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Yes I thought I might as well get the Panaview as well, as it wasn't too expensive and I always wanted to try a 2" eyepiece, it seemed a bit of a waste not using that feature of the scope.

tbh I think if I was starting again I'd get a Skymax 127 (goto bells and whistles, more portable, etc), and when I added up the cost of the eyepieces I was almost tempted... but hopefully these wide field eyepieces will extract some benefit from the 200P.

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I stumbled across the 68ᵒ Maxvision eyepieces advertised on the Explore Scientific website yesterday. The blurb says they are available at these prices because of a huge failed order. I haven't tried them but they look like seriously good EPs for the money! You could buy four EPs from that range with your budget.

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