Full Circle

[sirmetin]

Having pontificated for about 6 weeks I had an epiphony last night and came to a decision on a first scope, out went the CPC9.25 or GEM and APO. Tomorrow I will be ordering an Orion optics VX10 (the standard 1200mm F4.8 1/10PV) which I will be using with (CGEM or EQ6 or Meade LX80 yup the mount still needs deciding - will pop it on a Dob for a while if I decide to wait on the LX80 cost around the same for both and I gain flexibility).

This throws in the air the EPs I had been considering Baader Hyperions as the Newt is much faster and I am thinking I will buy a couple of televue, either Naglers or Radians/Panoptics to start. I am thinking of the radians because both myself and wife wear glasses (she also uses contacts) I am short sighted but my accommodation now probably means I need varifocals. So the additional eye relief may well be more important than the extra FOV.

Which should I go for and what mags should I start with. I also am looking at the televue visual paracorr any other suggestions what would an equivalent be for imaging?

[John]

I have a 10" Orion Optics F/4.8 newtonian and my eyepiece focal lengths are:

31mm

20mm

13mm

8mm

6mm

I also have a 1.6x barlow lens which gives me a 5mm when used with the 8mm eyepiece. That's about the max magnification I find can be used.

My eyepieces are all Tele Vues which are designed and tested to be sharp down to F/4.

[foundaplanet]

Good decision on the scope. I have the same.

I use tele plossls (when the clouds permit)

32, 20, 15, 11, 8 and x2 barlow. Covers all for me.

I have just got a Baarder coma corrector which I have yet to try out with the dslr but I'm sure it will be plenty good enough for my imaging efforts.

A Paracorr..! I have never used one so I can't comment on that but I would try the scope out first.

There are other things I would have first like a 13mm Ethos or a holiday at Les Granges which is actually the next astro extra on my list..

[sirmetin]

At what length should I move to 2" and what lengths may it be worth getting the 82 of the Nagler as opposed to the better eyerelief of the radians and panoptics ?

If I get a barlow should it be a 2" ? seems I would only want to use it on the lower 2 or 3 EP sizes?

[John]

It all depends on the field of view you want - if you are happy with around 70 degrees then you may not need 2" eyepieces at all. For me, as a fan of ultra-wide views, my 20mm and 31mm eyepieces are in the 2" fitting (Naglers). The 6mm, 8mm and 13mm are 1.25" fitting but have hybrid barrels (1.25" / 2") and I used them in 2" mode to save messing with a 1.25" adapter.

[sirmetin]

Decision made gonna get a 6mm Delos, 14mm Radian and a 24mm Panoptic = all televue but as you can see no one range fits !!!

[cathalferris]

Varifocals will not be a good match with eyepieces. If you have single vision lenses (without a gradual change in the 'strength' up and down the glasses lens) they will work fine if you have the right eye relief.

Varifocals have different correction for distance at different heights on the glasses lens. When you use these with an eyepiece, there will be a distortion in the view that won't be there when using ordinary glasses.

[Mr Flibble]

Just wanted to resurrect this thread to see what the views on the VX10 are?

I'm considering increasing aperture from my 6 inch and I'm looking at a 10 inch newt to sit on my current CG5 mount (visual only). The VX10 is about double the price of the skywatcher 10 inch newt OTA and I'm wondering if the optics are worth the extra money. I also note the VX10 has a cooling fan; I assume this is at the base of the primary? Thanks.

[Mr Flibble]

Just re-posted in the scopes section.