Eyepieces For ST80

[ccdscopeman]

I want to buy one mid range and one high powered eyepieces and a decent Barlow for mt StarTravel 80, can anyone recommend anything that would suit this fast short tube refractor? I have a limited budget so nothing too expensive please.

Andy

[RikM]

I have just bought an ST80 (as a guide scope) but I must say I am impressed with the views through it. Being only 80mm it doesn't give a bright enough image to show too much colour. Being f/5, the better eyepieces you can use will be a benefit. My favourite eyepiece for this is a 14mm Pentax XW, but a £250 EP in a scope that I bought for £45 is bit bonkers. It works okay with a 15mm Revelation plossl, but the 20mm Rev Plossl is gives a better field of view. These are not scopes for high power use really, their strong suit is the wide field of view.

[ccdscopeman]

Hi Rik,

I bought mine for the same purpose and have decided to use it also as my grab and go scope. I have Pentax XL's that I use on my Tak FS128. I love these ep's but there is no way I can balance the short tube due to their weight.

So maybe I should be asking, how do you balance your ST80 with the Pentax's?

[ccdscopeman]

Hi Rik,

Also, is there any advantage to using a prism diagonal instead of a mirror diagonal?

[RikM]

I use a Celestron mirror diagonal so can't comment on a prism, sorry.

I don't really balance my scope in the normal way. I have one tube ring on the OTA mounted as far back as possible with a Manfrotto quick release plate instead of a dovetail. I just put this on my MT294A3 tripod with a pan tilt head. I've mounted the QR plate the wrong way round, otherwise I am limited to about 40° alt. I just use the alt knob as a handle and lossen, move, retighten as needed. With the low mag and wide field You get loads of time between 'moves'.

[ccdscopeman]

Ok thanks Rik. I think I have a solution, velcro banded ankle/wrist weights from Argos, should fit nicely around the dew shield ;o)

Andy