Eyepieces for Equinox 120/900mm NEED HELP

[Kenza]

Hi everyone! I have recently acquired an Equinox 120/900mm Refractor on a HEQ5 mount and would like to buy a set of three quality eyepieces. I was thinking of getting a TeleVue Nagler 5 16mm for my Primary eyepiece, a Baader Hyperion 24mm for DSO, and a Baader Hyperion 10mm for Planetary.

Also my idea for planetary is to buy a TeleVue 2.5x Powermate Barlow.

Almost forgot, my idea is to do astrophotography. I have heard that the Equinox is actually quite good for that.

I would appreciate if anyone could give me a better suggestion and also recommend any other accessories for the Equinox. Thanks!

[John]

I have a Skywatcher ED120 (same optics as the Equinox 120) and I have eyepieces in the following focal lengths:

31mm (2")

20mm (2")

13mm

8mm

6mm

5mm

4mm

3.5mm

I find all of these are used often, even the 3.5mm as the optical quality of the scope seems quite capable of handling 257x when the seeing conditions allow and the object demands it.

The Hyperion's should work well enough at the F/7.5 focal ratio. The Powermate 2.5x is a good solution to the higher powers.

I like to have lots of choice at the higher power range to that I can "fine tune" the magnification to the optimum for the conditions and object.

[DirkSteele]

The Televue Powermates are excellent, owning the 2x Powermate myself. I have found they exceed the performance of all other Barlows I have come across. Though you do pay for that performance with your wallet.

I was recently speaking to a representative of a pretty well known premium telescope manufacturer who has a new Barlow in the works that they believe will outperform anything else on the market. Not going to be cheap, but watch this space I guess...

[Kenza]

I read recently in a backyard astronomers guide that to figure out which eyepiece is the standard for your scope you need to multiply your scopes focal ratio (f/7.5 for Equinox) X2 = 15mm.

So according to them the standard eyepiece for my scope would be 15mm. That's why I am thinking of getting the TeleVue Nagler 15mm as my primary piece. What do you think?

[John]

I don't find that I use one eyepiece over all others with my ED120. I have a 13mm Ethos which is a fantastic eyepiece but it's not used in that scope any more than any other eyepiece to be honest.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Instead of the Hyperion 24, you might want to consider a 30 or 40mm Aero. These have the same design as the Paragon I used to have (didn't use it much since the arrival of the Nagler 31). They provide outstanding wide-field views. In your Equinox they would give 2.27 and 3.0 deg FOV at 30x and 22.5x magnification, respectively. Really useful

[Kenza]

Instead of the Hyperion 24, you might want to consider a 30 or 40mm Aero. These have the same design as the Paragon I used to have (didn't use it much since the arrival of the Nagler 31). They provide outstanding wide-field views. In your Equinox they would give 2.27 and 3.0 deg FOV at 30x and 22.5x magnification, respectively. Really useful

Thanks michael, I'll check into it. I thought the 30 and 40mm were too big and heavy for the Equinox

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The paragon design (an the Aero) is quite lightweight (the 40mm weighs in at 500g, which is quite light for a 2" wide-field EP). It sat happily in the focuser of my 80mm F/6 refractor (as does the 31mm Nagler at 1kg).

[John]

Thanks michael, I'll check into it. I thought the 30 and 40mm were too big and heavy for the Equinox

I use a Nagler 31mm with my ED120 - they don't get much heavier than that !.