10-12mm suggestions

[Ben Ritchie]

Thanks to some fortuitous timing my SCT decision has been made and I'm off to pick up a C9.25. It's mostly going to be used for video and medium-power observing, but i'm going to want to do some planetary viewing too when seeing is good so i'm looking for a 200x (give or take) eyepiece, which at 2350mm focal length means something in the 10-12mm range. Must have decent eye relief (which rules out Plossls and Orthos, and the Tak LE), ideally 15-20mm.

Budget is ideally under £100, certainly under £120, and i'll go for used in preference to new any day. It would be nice to have 70+ AFOV for medium-power use in refractors, but that's probably the first area for compromise; i'm not after the ultimate in planetary performance, but don't want wide fields if on-axis is poor.

Looking around there seem to be fewer options than i'd expect. I was going to import an ES 82-degree 11mm, but they're out of stock everywhere in the USA and UK prices are too high new. A used 10mm or 12mm Radian would be nice, but hard to find. Likewise the 12mm Pentax XF. WO SPLs aren't my favourites, and 12.5mm is slightly lower power than i'd like. I'm underwhelmed by Vixen NLVs. Pentax XWs and Televue Delos would be lovely, but way outside the budget. Ditto the 11T6.

I feel like I must be missing something obvious, so ... ideas?

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The 12XF should be good if it is anywhere near as good as the 8.5. Marc Biesmans has a 12 Radian for sale here:

http://www.te-les-ko...e.php?key=13609

The site is in Dutch, but you can click on the name of the "adverteerder" at the bottom of the page (that is a mail link).

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

There is a Celestron X-Cel LX 12mm on ABS-UK: 6 element design, 16mm eye relief, 60 deg FOV: sounds like a rebranded TMB Planetary to me. I do not know these, and 16mm eye relief is borderline comfortable for me.

[Stargazer_00]

11mm es from optical system are still in stock I believe

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

11mm es from optical system are still in stock I believe

I think that has 14mm eye relief, which I find too short (for glass-wearers like me). This is why I got a Nagler 12T4: very good, but probably beyond the budget.

[andrew63]

I think there is a XF 12mm on ABS.

andrew

[Mr Spock]

I would go for the Vixen NLV. I have the 10mm which I have compared to the Radian 10mm and there's nothing between them. I also have the 12mm; it doesn't get used much as a feel x235 with the 10mm is more suitable for planetary observation.

[Moonshane]

other than the 12.5mm Ortho, my main experience in this area is with Radians. they really are excellent and pretty much as you say you want. about £100 used when they come up.

[alan potts]

I think I am going to put my pin in Stargazer 00 suggestion of an 11mm ExSc UWA, I don't have one but so many on site can't be wrong, can there?

On a re-read I see eye-relief is a problem, then it has got to be S/H Radians, absolutely fabulous eyepieces.

Alan.

[twotter]

Isn't the C9.25 F10? You could consider a 10mm Hyperion, or a 13mm with fine tuning rings. They turn up secondhand from around £65.

[faulksy]

i would highly reccomend an ortho or the pentax x-f, but due to you not wanting an ortho i would reccomend the ts h-rs from modern astronomy, very good in the 9.25 and lovely eye relief, 45 quid a pop.based on the original tmb,s

[Ben Ritchie]

Thanks everybody, lots of food for thought there.

To pick up on a couple of things, the TS planetary HR's (which are the B/TMB clones, I think?) and Hyperions don't cover the range i'm looking at, do they? All I can see is 8mm and 13mm Hyperions, or 9mm and 15mm TS-HRs. Am I missing something? Saying that, the 9mm TS HR is not a bad idea anyway, as it would get used under very good seeing, and doesn't break the bank.

Has anyone compared the (real, usable) eye relief on the 11mm ES 82 with the 11T6? I'm quite familiar with the T6s are a reference point.

Thinking about it, i'm most likely to do planetary with the C9.25 under good seeing - i.e. if it looks mushy i'll do something else at low power. So as Mr. Spock says, 10mm/235x power might well make the most sense for planetary work.

This is why I got a Nagler 12T4: very good, but probably beyond the budget.

One of my favourite eyepieces; I love all of the T4s. Sadly too expensive though.

[faulksy]

With my 9.25 yours as well you can manage 300x quite often as long as your scopes cooled

Sent from my LT30p using Tapatalk 2

[Ben Ritchie]

I very rarely get the seeing for 300x where I am, think it's the combination of prevailing wind and orographic lift from the isle of wight and south downs. Spectacular when I do, the 130EDT really comes into its own in those conditions

[nightfisher]

12mm BST....60% field good in a long focal length......job done

[Ben Ritchie]

BSTs look to have 13mm quoted eye relief? is that right?

[twotter]

...and Hyperions don't cover the range i'm looking at, do they? All I can see is 8mm and 13mm Hyperions...

There is a 10mm in the range http://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/Baader_Hyperion_10mm_Eyepiece_1.25__2_.html

The 13mm with fine tuning rings gives a range of focal lengths: 10.8, 9.2 & 8.1. Though you may not need those.

[Dunkster]

I'd also go with the ES82 11mm... it's a great little eyepiece

[Tris]

When I was using an 8" Meade SCT, I found the Televue Radian 12mm a very comfortable eyepiece to use. Very little eyestrain and a lot of clarity. They're about £190, but often show up secondhand on the usual sites

[Mark in Macc]

I would go for a decent 12 mm with your 9.25. I had a 10 mm Radian until recently, but used it rarely. Usage will depend on your seeing. I suspect a 12ish will get more use though.

[Ben Ritchie]

Well i've managed to pick up an 8.8mm ES82, which is too high power for the C9.25 really unless the seeing is great, but didn't break the bank and will be nice in the TV76 too. Will now watch and wait for something 11mm or 12mm to turn up, the Radian is probably my top pick (i've owned the 4mm, 6mm, and 8mm and still have the 5mm, so know what i'll get) but there are some other good options here, thanks!

[great_bear]

There is a Celestron X-Cel LX 12mm on ABS-UK: 6 element design, 16mm eye relief, 60 deg FOV: sounds like a rebranded TMB Planetary to me. I do not know these, and 16mm eye relief is borderline comfortable for me.

The X-Cel LX eyepieces are unrelated to the TMB Planetaries