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If you had a 4" refractor and could only have three eyepieces...

TonyD

By TonyD
in Discussions - Eyepieces

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TonyD

TonyD

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Thanks for all these replies and contributions so far. Fantastic answers and ideas.

I'm going to have to create some kind of spreadsheet to itemise and investigate the alternatives presented.

Tony

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TonyD

TonyD

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To be honest, Tony, it's a tricky call because I feel your own interests and sky conditions may dictate what you can use. For the record, the Tal's 25mm is a decent plossl you can play around with for quite a while but you will want to replace the 6mm at quite an early stage.

If I was starting out with 3, I would have to agree with Nightfisher on magnitude EPs used. A 7mm is also my most used planetary, Lunar EP. A 25mm is great for star-hopping, sweeping and finding although there are time I wish I had just a little wider field of view than 60º. I find myself hopping between the 12mm and 18mm, but if I had to stick with one, in my own case it would be the 18mm only because it is fantastic for viewing the Sun each morning. On average, I can get about 10 hours a week of stargazing under my belt and another 30 minutes or so each morning with the Sun and a 5mm just doesn't get enough use to justify it as a first-time round buy. However, the 6mm certainly does get a lot of work, especially when Saturn's out for the night.

So, to sum: 25mm, 18mm or 12mm and a 7mm.

Regarding makes, Televue will always be keepers. BSTs are highly recommended and at the price they go for, really do sound the business. I love my LX X-Cels. They have fantastic image quality and contrast, and are 100% sharp across the 60º field of view. However, as you may be aware, there have been a number of concerns raised by their build quality (black bits inside some folk's EP, rubber band coming off etc).

Good luck with the hunt :icon_salut:

Thanks Rob. I agree 100% with what you have said. It is interesting to get an overview of what EPs are special to individuals and why. It makes the world of EPs, manufacturers, price-ranges and capabilities as well as what suits what particular type of observation just a little less overwhelming - and a great debating point. Of course, what you attach to a particular type of OTA with certain focal ratio will make all the difference.

And I am sure there are individual eyepieces which, for whatever reason, hit a particular OTA's "sweet spot" - something that cannot be replicated by any combination of "identical" OTAs and EPs.

Tony

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John

John

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A good 13mm EP would cost you £98.It is a

Baader Hyperion.Worth every penny.68 deg

of view. You wont go far wrong with one of

these.

Steve.

They are good if your scope is F/7 or slower. Not so good in fast scopes.

The William Optics SPL 12.5mm gets good reviews at £69.

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John

John

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Thanks for all these replies and contributions so far. Fantastic answers and ideas.

I'm going to have to create some kind of spreadsheet to itemise and investigate the alternatives presented.

Tony

Have you any way to try some before you commit Tony ?

As you can see from the various eyepiece threads running on here, what works for one does not necessarily "do it" for another person.

At least with an F/10 scope you can get excellent performance without needing to break the bank - I used fairly ordinary plossls and orthos with my TAL 100 and the views were excellent :smiley:

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Mr Fiery Jack

Mr Fiery Jack

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In my ED100 the eye pieces I use are a 6mm and 14mm TelVue Radians' and a 32mm TeleVue Plossl. The 6mm for planets and doubles, the 14mm for globs, nebula and galaxies and the 32mm for galaxies and open clusters. I can get the whole of M44 and 45 in the field of view using the 32mm. I intend to replace the 32mm with a 26mm Nagler at some point in the summer and keep the Radians for refractor use,

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andrew63

andrew63

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They are good if your scope is F/7 or slower. Not so good in fast scopes.

The William Optics SPL 12.5mm gets good reviews at £69.

A very good point - my previous 4" was F9 - and i think most of the eyepiece mentioned here, which i have used were sharp to the edge - so no problem for your F10 tal Tony.

What surprised me a little when i changed my refractor to F7 - was things became a lot more critical - not even nagler t6 were sharp to the edge!

andrew

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John

John

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What surprised me a little when i changed my refractor to F7 - was things became a lot more critical - not even nagler t6 were sharp to the edge!

andrew

I'm really surprised at that too :smiley:

All the T6's I've used were sharp to the edge down to F/5 - to the extent where coma was clearly visible in the newtonians as apposed to astigmatism. Tele Vues are individually tested down to F/4 so F/7 should be a piece of cake for them.

Still, you saw what you saw so I can't blame you for not being impressed. Even a £100 eyepiece should be able to be pretty sharp to the edge at F/7.

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andrew63

andrew63

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I'm really surprised at that too :smiley:

All the T6's I've used were sharp to the edge down to F/5 - to the extent where coma was clearly visible in the newtonians as apposed to astigmatism. Tele Vues are individually tested down to F/4 so F/7 should be a piece of cake for them.

Still, you saw what you saw so I can't blame you for not being impressed. Even a £100 eyepiece should be able to be pretty sharp to the edge at F/7.

Yes it's strange John how some lens appear better matched than others - eg 68deg hyperions are poor but similar spec meade swa are pin sharp to the edge for me.
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Moonshane

Moonshane

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I have an Astro Tech 102mm APO f7 frac which I mainly use for white light solar observing (with binoviewers) and planetary, lunar and double star observing.

The 3 EPs that I would choose are ones that I already own and use with this frac. 26mm Nagler, 13mm Ethos and 3-6mm Nagler zoom.

Mark

+1 for this. took the words out of my mouth. same reasons too (although I don't own the frac).

if 1.25" is wanted then 24mm Panoptic, 10mm Radian and 6-3mm Nagler zoom

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TonyD

TonyD

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Have you any way to try some before you commit Tony ?

Hopefully, yes, John.

What is good and coming clear from this thread is a set of alternatives I can consider and commit to memory. Then, if I am with other stargazers at the local organisation, or come across some at a star party, I can be on the look out in particular for those recommended by other contributors here - at least I have some idea of what might be worth keeping a specific eye open for. Also, good for those occasions when something comes my way second hand at a good price - especially if it is one of the obsolete ones mentioned. I won't be cursing myself when it transpires later I should've grabbed it when I had the opportunity!

Tony

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cs1cjc

cs1cjc

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When flying with my 70mm F/6, weight is an issue and I generally carry:

24mm ES68 (heavy but I take no finder)

8.5mm Pentax XF

4mm TMB ® Planetary

But I do cheat by also carrying a 1.5X screw in GSO barlow element.

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Tony,

You asked whether any of the EPs I suggested would struggle with the TAL 100. i cant say for the older model. They all work find with my 100RS but bear in mind my own 100RS has slightly different dimensions to some others.

To date the ONLY eyepiece that wouldnt xome to focus was a Nagler 31mm, the TAL ran out of in focus by quite some for it. Obviosly that was with a 2" diagonal.

Graham,

if cost were an issue for EPs and you want a 4" frac to kick it I would sugget snapping up some Circle T orthos whixh are cheap enough. If I were going Ortho only I would have 6mm , 12.5mm and a 25mm all ortho. I could live with that but I would prefer if I we keeping the cost down to run with a good quality 32mm Plossl. You could buy all the for around £160 new or as low as £90 secondhand right now. i suspect the price of orthos will go skyward though going forward as production has pretty much stopped.

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Rossco72

Rossco72

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For my 4" televue scope I'd have 3-6mm zoom for high power. 12mm Nagler for medium power and it would be close between my 26mm Nagler or 41mm panoptic but I think the 26mm would shade it.

I've based this on what I own rather than just opting for the entire ethos range....

My Pentax 8-24mm isn't there and that's a shame but I was limited to just 3!!

Cheers

Stuart

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Brian Nordstrom

Brian Nordstrom

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Never get rid of em Brian. As you'll know, the old volcano tops are no more.

:laugh: Thanks Andy , I hear you and its taken me years to build up my set , all got second hand , I use these most in my Zeiss 63mm 840fl Telemantor , they excell in that scope , the best views of the first 1/4 moon I have ever seen , in any scope . Just so perfect .

Brian.

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Lyra only have what they have on the shelf, same for UO when they are gone, they are gone for good. kasai were supposed to be resurrecting some HD orthos but I gather thats gone pear shaped.

Sighs...all good things come to an end.

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