eyepice recommends for meade lx90 acf 8inch

[alro]

Hello all,

thanks in advance for helping

just got my first scope, looking at getting some ep s, at the moment i am gunning toward bst starguider explorers.,thinking 8mm 12mm 15mm.

if anyone has this scope or similar or have used this or similar or has sound knowledge of this can you please give your opinions.

Al

[paul mc c]

Hi Al.i had a lx 10 which is the same fl as yours.i used a 12mm and an 8mm bst that where excellent,Saturn through the 8mm was among the est views i had.

[John]

Hi Al,

I think you are thinking along the right lines. You might want to consider something of a longer focal length as well for deep sky objects. Something like a 32mm plossl if you are staying with the 1.25" fitting ?

[alro]

Thanks Paul

thats good to hear,

i think i will get those 2 and 1 more,15 or 18 dependent on reviews

[alro]

Thanks john,

i was considering a 32 plossl, can you recommend any?

i was unsure of 32 or 40, i had been looking st vixrn npl

al

[John]

The Vixen 30mm NPL is a good quality eyepiece and good value. I've had one on loan for some time and it compares pretty well with the Tele Vue 32mm plossl, especially in slower F/10 scopes such as yours.

If you are staying with the 1.25" fitting the 40mm focal length does not really gain you anything in terms of bredth of view over the 32mm and the 32mm is less "tube like" to view through.

[ronin]

The 32mm plossl is nice but the actual field of view ends up about the same as a 25mm BST. So to an extent little gain. A 32mm plossl will give a little more view but you lose the parfocal aspect of the BST's and the eye relief alters.

I usually say 4 eyepieces, one either side of the f number, as yours will be f/10 then the 8mm for when you can use it, the 12mm for when conditions do not allow it.

Then a medium and a wide.

Since the LX90 is long then seperating medium and wide gets a bit of a problem (there is no 30mm BST ), 18mm and the 25mm would do within reason. I would half suspect that you will want a widish view before a medium. Will point out that it is said the 25mm is the weakest of the BST's. I say weakest as it is not bad, just the rest are very good in general.

Using M42 as an example it is will not fit in the view of your scope with a 25mm BST, it is bigger so an 18mm means less of it in the view. Same applies to the Pleiades, the group is too big for a 25mm BST in your scope. A 32mm plossl does not help either. So if you think scope ready, eyepieces at hand lets go look at the Orion Nebula you could get a bit of a surprise at not seeing all of it.

I think the choice could come down to a 2p coin. Heads = 25, tails = 18. :grin:

I just bought the lot, generally 2 at a time.

If you follow this "logic" you would have 4 of the usable 5 eyepieces in that set, the 5mm is going to be useless to you. If the BST's work well then maybe simply consider collecting the 5 that aere usable and stick with them.

[alan potts]

It is very difficult to recommend eyepieces without some idea of budget and your interests.

What I would say however from the start is your scope is F10 which is fairly kind to even the cheapest eyepieces. Whilst I would not recommend you buy them I also would not tell you to spend 250 pounds on each one. The other question is do you wish to go to the widest FOV, I know I did, for this you will require a 2 inch visual back and diagonal, Oh and slightly deeper pockets.

Alan.

[alro]

Alan, thanks for reply,

I was looking to spending ballpark 100 each.

i have read and been told that the bst are as good if not better than ep costing up to 3 x as much.

My main interest,

well i have only just got, i think moon, planets and ehatevet else i can.

so i think a variety of different sizes would be good.

al

[alan potts]

Well Alr,

Moon, Planets and general are well served with a 60 degree FOV offered by the BST. It is an eyepiece I have never tried myself but many members on site speak highly of the them and they don't break the bank. It is also true these eyepieces can be seen with different names at over twice the price so the outlet that everyone talks of is the one to go for, business run by another Alan.

You can always expand your collection at a later date, Meade Series 5000 eyepieces are very good to go for with your scope and the SWA range (Super Wide Angle) were my favourites though there are also some very good one in the Ultra Wide Angle range as well. These can also be aquired, again under different flags as Maxvision and Explore Sc, they are more expensive but compliment the Meade scope you have very well indeed. The secondhand market of Astro Buy and Sell is also a very good place to check on a regular basis, you will be able to buy most of the them for less than 100 pounds each.

One last thing, do not be tempted to over do the magnification, up to X250 is plenty.

Alan 

[alro]

Alan,

thanks for the advice,

i think i will give bst a go first as they seem a good price and seem to be highly recommended on here.

i will get a meade 5000 series 80 fov at a later date, when i find out what is best size to get. 8.8mm or 14mm i think.

Al

[Liquid360]

I had an LX90 10 ACF and I almost exclusively used a Q70 26mm. I'd've purchased an Ethos 13mm or 17mm had I the wherewithal at the time. The 100deg Meades are great as well. If you couldn't tell, I'm a big fan of wide views.

[alro]

Thanks, more ep to look at now!