Advice please

[MahlerMoonMan]

Hi folks

I'm hoping for some help and advice please ....  I have a number of eye pieces for use with my ED80 f7.5 ....  The ones that I am happy with are my Maxvision 24mm, my BSTs 12mm and 8mm, and my Pentax 10mm.  I also have an Orion Shorty-plus Barlow that I'm fairly happy with too. 

A couple of eye pieces that I've got and I have been thinking for a while now of up-grading are an Orion deep view 35mm and an Orion edge-on planetary 6mm. 

For a low power upgrade I'm thinking about the TeleVue 40mm plossl ...  But for higher powers I'm really just not sure what to do.  The convenience of the nagler 3-6mm zoom is very tempting but I'm just not sure about a zoom???  What are my best high power options?  I gaze longingly at various TeleVues, Pentax, Vixens, Baaders, etc, but just don't know what's best to do!  Any advice?  I just want a good range of life-long good quality eye pieces that will give me wonderful views of stars and planets and our wonderful moon!   

Or do I just make do with what I've already got and buy a new scope?!!   

Many thanks in advance

Donaldo

[John]

While the Tele Vue Nagler Zoom 3-6mm zoom is a marvelous eyepiece, for it's cost you could buy an 8" dobsonian which would work well with the eyepieces and barlow you already have and provide views that are really substantially better than your ED80 (nice scope though it is) can achieve across a whole range of deep sky and solar system objects. 

Thats what I'd recommend.

[Pig]

The Vixen SLV's work very well indeed with my 80mm frac   you could almost buy 3 of them for the cost of a new Nagler Zoom.

I replaced my Nagler zoom with them and the views are slightly better. The eye relief is also 20mm on the SLV's 

[Moonshane]

I agree with John that more aperture would provide far greater improvements on the whole than any eyepiece.

The 40mm TV plossl as good as it is, only has the same true field as the 32mm TV plossl so if buying one or the other I'd get the 32mm.

Personally, I stick with TV eyepieces and love the Nagler zoom. Buying used is a good way to try out and sell on if you don't get on with the eyepiece for the risk of just a few quid in postage generally. you need patience and speed of typing in equal numbers!