19mm panoptic or 17.3mm delos

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Hi guys

I am new to this hobby, and am getting a orion xt8i in 3 weeks for my birthday

My plan is having 3 really good quality ep's and using a shorty plus barlow, vs having lots of medium - high quality ep's.

So at the moment I am planning on getting a 10mm delos, 13mm nagler type 6. That would also give me a 5mm and 6.5mm with the barlow.

I'm starting with the 13mm nagler. Going to have to buy the pieces over months spaced.

I am looking for advise on a third piece. I'm thinking a 19mm panoptic or a 17.3mm delos. the delos would give me a 8.5mm barlow, while the panoptic will overlap with the 10mm delos. The thing is I want to also have a low power ep and I'm not sure if 69x is low power enough? (17.3mm)

On that note, since I'm new to this hobby, what kind of low power piece do I need, like is 69x a good number?

Thanks for all the input

Daniel

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The 17.3 Delos is supposed to be great, as is the 19mm Panoptic. The Delos is certainly better than the Panoptic in eye relief, and more comfortable to use. You might go for a Delos, and get a 24mm MaxVision 68 deg for even wider views. Very good EP going for peanuts at the moment. If you have a 2" focuser (think so) I would also consider the 24mm MaxVision 82 deg. I gather these are near-Nagler quality (I had a very similar 14mm Meade UWA, and can vouch for that one), for a fraction of the price. Essentially the 68 deg MaxVisions are Meade Series 5000 SWA EPs after rebadging, and they are being dumped. The 82 deg MVs are rebadged Meade Series 5000 UWAs.

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The 17.3 Delos is supposed to be great, as is the 19mm Panoptic. The Delos is certainly better than the Panoptic in eye relief, and more comfortable to use. You might go for a Delos, and get a 24mm MaxVision 68 deg for even wider views. Very good EP going for peanuts at the moment. If you have a 2" focuser (think so) I would also consider the 24mm MaxVision 82 deg. I gather these are near-Nagler quality (I had a very similar 14mm Meade UWA, and can vouch for that one), for a fraction of the price. Essentially the 68 deg MaxVisions are Meade Series 5000 SWA EPs after rebadging, and they are being dumped. The 82 deg MVs are rebadged Meade Series 5000 UWAs.

arg ye that might be wiser. just means another ep lol    Unfortunately here in South Africa don't have MaxVision brand. For a wide ep close to nagler I have only seen the 28mm WO UWAN 82 deg and heard great things about it. Sheesh spending money on ep's is gonna end up about double than scope lol. But I get the idea that rather get 3-4 quality ep's that don't need to be upgraded/replaced rather than keep buying better and better ep's. Will be a good investment for future.

Any further opinions on the Panoptic 19 vs Delos 17.3m would be great. The difference in low mag between the two is 69x vs 63x. Is that really any different? If not may as well get the Delos .... and it can at least be barlowed to a 8.5 and not conflict with the 10mm delos I wanted to get.

[Mark at Beaufort]

I spent years getting a collection of eyepieces that would be useful in my many telescopes. I now have a 21mm, 13mm, 8mm Ethos and the 10mm Delos and to be honest for DSO work I don't need any other EPs.

If I was starting out with a 8" f6 Orion Dob I would want a wide angle EP - the 28mm WO UWAN would be a good choice - mag 43x - exit pupil of 4.7 and a 1.9 degree FOV. I would then buy the 17.3mm Delos its a good medium EP with fantastic eye relief (although the Panoptic range of EPs are also very good I think that Televue has improved things with the Delos range). Finally I would buy the 10mm Delos which again will be very good on DSOs when you want that extra magnification.

You don't say what you main interests are in observing so I have assumed buying an 8" Dob it is deep sky objects, hence my recommendations.

[Naemeth]

I think I'd get these EPs:

24mm Panoptic

17.3mm Delos

10mm Delos

With a good quality barlow

HTH

[source]

I spent years getting a collection of eyepieces that would be useful in my many telescopes. I now have a 21mm, 13mm, 8mm Ethos and the 10mm Delos and to be honest for DSO work I don't need any other EPs.

If I was starting out with a 8" f6 Orion Dob I would want a wide angle EP - the 28mm WO UWAN would be a good choice - mag 43x - exit pupil of 4.7 and a 1.9 degree FOV. I would then buy the 17.3mm Delos its a good medium EP with fantastic eye relief (although the Panoptic range of EPs are also very good I think that Televue has improved things with the Delos range). Finally I would buy the 10mm Delos which again will be very good on DSOs when you want that extra magnification.

You don't say what you main interests are in observing so I have assumed buying an 8" Dob it is deep sky objects, hence my recommendations.

Thanks for the great reply! Your suggestion sound like the way forward. It is my first scope, but my main interests is actually a mix of both planetary/moon and dso viewing, though I can imagine I might veer more toward dsos in the future. I have a shorty plus barlow, so for plantary and moon viewing I was thinking the 10mm delos and 13mm nagler would translate into a 5mm and 6.5mm ep for high power viewing? Any thoughts appreciated. I'm trying to cut down on the amount of pieces I buy and instead get 4 really good quality ep's.

[source]

I think I'd get these EPs:

24mm Panoptic

17.3mm Delos

10mm Delos

With a good quality barlow

HTH

Thanks, sounds like the way forward. I've also got the 13mm nagler so that would give me 4 great pieces. I'll just decide between the 24mm Panoptic and 28mm WO UWAN still. But that's like the last ep I will get so a good time away.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The 28 UWAN will give a much bigger FOV, than the 24 Panoptic. Should be great in a scope like yours. If you want to stay all green and black, the Naglers 22T4 and 26T5 are VERY nice indeed. The 22T4 has bigger FOV than the 24 Pan, and the exit pupil is a touch smaller giving darker backgrounds. Neither are cheap, alas. You may find MaxVisions can be ordered from Explore Scientific in Germany, but you would probably be hit with large customs and postage charges.

[source]

The 28 UWAN will give a much bigger FOV, than the 24 Panoptic. Should be great in a scope like yours. If you want to stay all green and black, the Naglers 22T4 and 26T5 are VERY nice indeed. The 22T4 has bigger FOV than the 24 Pan, and the exit pupil is a touch smaller giving darker backgrounds. Neither are cheap, alas. You may find MaxVisions can be ordered from Explore Scientific in Germany, but you would probably be hit with large customs and postage charges.

Thanks

I don't need to stay all green and black haha Actually I have one WO piece already, an SPL 6mm. I hope it doesn't become redundant with the 10, 13, and 17 TV's. At least I can barlow it to a 3mm on exceptionally clear evenings. I think I should be good to go with the 10,13,17 and 28 and that is like already more than double the cost of my scope Tell me, for an 8 inch xt8i is 5mm about the highest I can go magnification wise for planetary and lunar work?

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Thanks

I don't need to stay all green and black haha Actually I have one WO piece already, an SPL 6mm. I hope it doesn't become redundant with the 10, 13, and 17 TV's. At least I can barlow it to a 3mm on exceptionally clear evenings. I think I should be good to go with the 10,13,17 and 28 and that is like already more than double the cost of my scope Tell me, for an 8 inch xt8i is 5mm about the highest I can go magnification wise for planetary and lunar work?

In my 8" scope I generally first insert a Pentax XW 10mm (no green and black purist either) for planetary work. My scope is F/10 so that corresponds to using your SPL 6mm in your F/6. I quite frequently push the magnification higher, to the XF8.5mm (239x) or the Delos 8 (254x). Under really good skies I push all the way to the 7mm XW (290x). In your scope these focal lengths equate to 5.1mm, 4.8mm and 4.2mm respectively. A 5mm would certainly see use, a 4.5 or 4mm less frequently, 3mm would be over the top, I would say. Much depends on the target, and seeing conditions. Mars requires more magnification, the moon takes a lot too. Many feel that Jupiter requires less, and Saturn a bit more, but I don't see it that way.

[Mark at Beaufort]

It is difficult to give an answer about the maximum magnification because I guess that the skies in South Africa will be better than the UK. I usually say that for the Moon and Planets about 30x per inch is not far out - that means a max of about 250x. I did not appreciate you had a 6mm WO SPL so that is 200x and is a great planetary EP. I use the 12.5mm SPL with binoviewers on my 180mm Mak Cass and they are fantastic. The 10mm Delos with the barlow is 240x which is a good magnification to work with. Yes on an excellent night you can push it to 300x but that does not occur that often and you need a 4mm EP. from somewhere.

I still prefer the original suggestion of 10mm, 17.3mm and 28mm but if you can get the 13mm as well - go for it.

[source]

In my 8" scope I generally first insert a Pentax XW 10mm (no green and black purist either) for planetary work. My scope is F/10 so that corresponds to using your SPL 6mm in your F/6. I quite frequently push the magnification higher, to the XF8.5mm (239x) or the Delos 8 (254x). Under really good skies I push all the way to the 7mm XW (290x). In your scope these focal lengths equate to 5.1mm, 4.8mm and 4.2mm respectively. A 5mm would certainly see use, a 4.5 or 4mm less frequently, 3mm would be over the top, I would say. Much depends on the target, and seeing conditions. Mars requires more magnification, the moon takes a lot too. Many feel that Jupiter requires less, and Saturn a bit more, but I don't see it that way.

Awesome, that's great. Thanks for the advise. Great to hear from someone with experience The Delos barlowed will equate to a 5mm, and if I really want to go to 4mm, instead of getting another crazy expensive ep, I can just get a TV 3x Barlow and use it on the 13mm Nagler Type 6 to get to 4.3mm.  

[source]

It is difficult to give an answer about the maximum magnification because I guess that the skies in South Africa will be better than the UK. I usually say that for the Moon and Planets about 30x per inch is not far out - that means a max of about 250x. I did not appreciate you had a 6mm WO SPL so that is 200x and is a great planetary EP. I use the 12.5mm SPL with binoviewers on my 180mm Mak Cass and they are fantastic. The 10mm Delos with the barlow is 240x which is a good magnification to work with. Yes on an excellent night you can push it to 300x but that does not occur that often and you need a 4mm EP. from somewhere.

I still prefer the original suggestion of 10mm, 17.3mm and 28mm but if you can get the 13mm as well - go for it.

Thanks

Clears things up more. (pun intended ) ye I think I will go to for the 10mm, 13, 17.3 and 28 over the next *good few* months. Then I hope I'll be done with spending!

[Naemeth]

Thanks

...Then I hope I'll be done with spending!

I wish I could say that. You think "No more" and then you find something else.

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I wish I could say that. You think "No more" and then you find something else.

lol I was about to end my comment with (I'm sure everyone is shaking there head like 'that's not gonna happen')

I had no idea I would be spending so much on ep's :/ But I get the idea that if you already buy a good scope, then try invest in good ep's. Plus they last a lifetime.

But really thanks for all the great advise on this forum.

[Blazar]

Sometimes 'Less is more' on the power / magnification front...just my pennies worth of course ;-) good luck with your scope and purchases...agreed they will not be your last...