eye piece choice ....

[MahlerMoonMan]

Hi folks,

I've just received an early bird discount code from Telescope House and I fancy 'up-grading' my bog-standard 25mm Sirius plossl .... Any recommendations around that focal length?

Many thanks,

Donaldo

[John]

I guess it depends on how much you want to spend - there are a lot of 25mm options !

Are you wanting a wide or ultra wide angle eyepiece and would you want to to to 2" for this one or prefer to stay at 1.25" ?.

I notice you have a 10mm Pentax XW - is that the sort of quality you would like in a 25mm ? (ie: as good as it gets !)

[MahlerMoonMan]

Hi John,

I guess I would consider that kind of quality as I know it would be an EP for life, and I would be getting a bit of discount too But I would consider other relatively 'lesser' options also so long as they would still be a significant upgrade on my current plossl .....

My ED80 is f7.5, if that should be taken in to my EP consideration ....?

Regards

[John]

My suggestion would be to use the discount on a TeleVue 24mm Panoptic. It's another "lifetime" eye piece and considered about the best ever at that focal length.

F/7.5 is not too demanding on eyepieces but the 24mm Panoptic is a bit special in any scope

I'm sure others will have alternative suggestions though so see what comes in

[MahlerMoonMan]

Thanks John,

I must admit I do fancy adding a TV to my collection, I expect such an EP will provide such beautiful views

But I will see what else is suggested in due course ....

Many thanks

[bingevader]

There's a surprisingly small choice at Telescope House at that FL.

Besides the Panoptic and some other TVs at twice the price!

There's the not so humble but considerably cheaper TV plossl, the Baader Hyperion or the ES 82^o but that's 2" as far as I could see!

Have fun choosing!

Cheers

Ps. I left out the Meade 5000 as the Maxvision clone is about £100 cheaper (it's also 2").

[rory]

how do ya get an early bird discount ? just nosey ,sorry.

[MahlerMoonMan]

You need to be on their emailing list I think

[andrew63]

Well an alternative could be one of these Maxvision - unbranded meade 5000 SWA - they are causing quite a stir on here at the moment and the 24mm 68deg for £66 is quite astonishing - so will be the view in the 80ED compared with the sirius plossl ! They are not 'quite' pentax or televue but there is not much else to compete with them. Think of your BST with wider field, better correction and sharper...

Not what else can you use your telescope voucher for !

Maxvision

andrew

[Ben Ritchie]

Well an alternative could be one of these Maxvision - unbranded meade 5000 SWA - they are causing quite a stir on here at the moment and the 24mm 68deg for £66 is quite astonishing - so will be the view in the 80ED compared with the sirius plossl ! They are not 'quite' pentax or televue but there is not much else to compete with them.

If they are the same quality as the Meade 5000 SWA versions then they're terrific eyepieces for the price, I like my Meade 24mm one a lot - the Meade 20mm was a touch better still, but I couldn't really justify keeping both and 24mm made more sense to keep as a max-FOV 1.25" eyepiece

[MahlerMoonMan]

How good would a Tele Vue plossl be compared, say, to a Meade SWA 5000 EP option?

[great_bear]

I agree with the above.

You're not going to see a significant difference at F7.5 between the 24mm Panoptic and the Meade 24mm SWA.

I had both, and sold the Panoptic.

The Meade lives on as the Maxvision

[bingevader]

How good would a Tele Vue plossl be compared, say, to a Meade SWA 5000 EP option?

The TV plossls are lovely, but the Meads 5000/Maxvision are a completely different design.

So you're not really comparing like for like.

In another thread, the comparison was between the Meade 5000 and a Panoptic.

Ergonomically, they're a much bigger EP, eye relief should be better and the FOV is 68^o rather than 50^o.

Cheers

[MahlerMoonMan]

Well, I've just ordered a Maxvision 24mm .... Just have read so much good about them the past 2-3 days

And I still have my voucher to ponder over for a few days .... Possibly a barlow upgrade (Televue?) .... Or a solar filter ....?

When my Maxvision arrives I will have, I think, a decent range of EPs, low - moderate - high mag with use of good barlow .... All for general use: deep sky, star clusters, lunar, planetary, double stars, etc .... I know my maxvision and the pentax are the star performers, premium upgrades for the Sirius plossls that came with my ED80 .... My 35mm Orion 'DeepView' ...?? The BSTs 8 & 12mm EDs are highly regarded, and my 6mm edge-on planetary should be good too, i'd hope! Weather, work and home life have conspired against me so far this year to test-out my new EPs and to really appreciate my ED80, which has been very under-used since I bought it a few years ago .... Have I over-done my range of EPs? My mags are:

x17, x25, x50, x60, x75, and x100 .... I would intend 'barlowing' my x60, x75 and x100 if subject and conditions permit.

What do more experienced folks think?

Much appreciated

[alan potts]

I think that either of the Maxvisions, I am assuming they are the same as Meades once were would make a fine eyepiece at F7.5. I have had the 24mm SWA Meade and still have the UWA version, though the Panoptic is the better eyepiece for sure there is not that much in it. It may be nice to read what you think at a later date when you have had a chance to first light.

Alan.