budget high power ep for ED80

[nightfisher]

I think i may have to invest at some stage in a high power ep for the ED80, this will be for planetary mainly and would be used when the ED80 is on the driven EQ5, so not very often, as this would not get a lot of use i dont really want to spend more than about £40, i think it would need to be about 4 or 5mm focal length and have fair eye relief for my aging eyeballs, what to go for, as the planet viewing is not really good at present i might be happy to wait a while and see if i can up the budget a little

[rockystar]

what about the much quotes BST starguiders? Slightly above budget at £49 each, but they always get rave reviews on here.

[Tommohawk]

Agreed - I have an 8mm Starguider and it seems excellent

[Singlin]

The ED 8mm is an excellent eyepiece and even in my F4 10" Newtonian it performs brilliantly.

 

[parallaxerr]

Slightly above budget again @ £55 but I bought the 5,6 & 9mm version of these:

http://www.altairastro.com/altair-lightwave-5mm-ler-1.25-planetary-eyepiece.html

Excellent performance in my ED80. Sold under a few different guises I believe, but all get good reviews.

[nightfisher]

I might consider a BST maybe the 3.2mm as a "rare night" ep

[nightfisher]

My highest power at present is a superb Antares HD ortho 9mm

[Tommohawk]

Silly question perhaps, but for planetary do you prefer the ED80 over the Skymax 150?

[Mak the Night]

How about the Sky-Watcher UWA's?

I don't know what they're like in a fast scope but I will soon be trying them in an 80mm f/5 scope myself.

[nightfisher]

4 minutes ago, Tommohawk said:

Silly question perhaps, but for planetary do you prefer the ED80 over the Skymax 150?

Yes if i am doing a planetary session so to speak then the ED80 wont get a look in and i am nicely set up ep wise for the Mak

[Moonshane]

Why not just Barlow what you have?

[Knighty2112]

I have a William Optics 6mm SPL EP I use very regularly for planetary and lunar work. I do use it more than the 5mm BST EP I have, which is good, but the WO 6mm has the edge on the BST. Also, with the large glass lens at the top of the EP it barlows pretty well too.  

[nightfisher]

13 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

Why not just Barlow what you have?

That might well be a good option but i dont feel my barlow is as good as it could be  (revelation x 2.5)

[Moonshane]

Give it a go and see. If it's only occasionally used it's a cheap option for sure.

[Uplooker]

Jules,

I would wholeheartedly agree with what same is saying. The Revelation barlow is towards the budget end but by no means poor

[Moonshane]

52 minutes ago, nightfisher said:

My highest power at present is a superb Antares HD ortho 9mm

9/2.5 =3.6mm

[Charic]

1 hour ago, nightfisher said:

I might consider a BST maybe the 3.2mm as a "rare night" ep

Is your ED80 around the f/7 mark?

The 3.2mm may be too much, I have one, but it only gets used on the Moon, on my f/6 scope,  its too small a focal length for much else. The BST 8mm is very good, that would be my choice, you could Barlow this as a 4mm. The  5mm  may work too, but wasted if you try to Barlow it on your ED80.

Its often my suggestion to choose a high powered eyepiece that simply matches the focal ratio of the telescope in use, with sufficient field of view and eye-relief, so finding one of about 7mm, or between 5-7mm should be fine, You will only know by fitting one and looking through it.

The WO SPL6mm was mentioned above, cracking eyepiece for my needs, was highly recommended by many folk here, Its my eyepiece that matches the focal ratio,  due to the fact that there is no 6mm Starguider ? 
The BST's  are £49 unless you source second hand.

[spaceboy]

What happened to your VT's Jules?? Nothing better for planetary than an ortho. £ for £ an astro hutech, Fujiyama, BGO or BCO are hard to beat. Sure eye relief is short but on a driven mount this shouldn't become too much an issue and you could always barlow a longer FL ortho and end up with 2 for 1. You have the revelation x2.5 don't you ? I found my fujiyamas barlow great with the revelation barlow.

[Mak the Night]

The SW UWA's give orthoscopic-like views, but with 58° FOV.

So do these.

[nightfisher]

8 hours ago, spaceboy said:

What happened to your VT's Jules?? Nothing better for planetary than an ortho. £ for £ an astro hutech, Fujiyama, BGO or BCO are hard to beat. Sure eye relief is short but on a driven mount this shouldn't become too much an issue and you could always barlow a longer FL ortho and end up with 2 for 1. You have the revelation x2.5 don't you ? I found my fujiyamas barlow great with the revelation barlow.

The VT`s went to live with a new keeper a fair while back, there was a good few that never got used and it would have been a shame to split them up.

In all fairness i probably dont NEED a higher power ep, just trying to cover all bases, might just stick with barlow on the Antares HD 9mm

[spaceboy]

I found the Revelation x2.5 to be so good that I soon parted with both my x2 & x3 Televue barlows. Granted as I have said before regards budget kit there is always the chance you end up with a lemon. This chance is often increased when buying used.

I personally think that (if you get a good one) for the price of the x2.5 barlow new there is no better piece of kit on the market. I really could not find any difference (other than magnification) in the views between the Revelation and the TV barlows. Although as I suggested in my other thread

my view on this may change with experience as my eye is drawn more to flaws in optical performance ??  Although I should just stop reading threads that highlight aberrations and short comings with members kit

If you think you have a dud x2.5 you could always hang out for another 10% off weekend at TH. It would be in your £40 budget, barlow nicely with your HD 9mm and any other ep's or webcams you have. If your not totally convinced the performance is better than the one you have then I'm sure TH would have it back if it is returned in the same new condition you received it in.

[Stu]

12 hours ago, Charic said:

Is your ED80 around the f/7 mark?

The 3.2mm may be too much, I have one, but it only gets used on the Moon, on my f/6 scope,  its too small a focal length for much else. The BST 8mm is very good, that would be my choice, you could Barlow this as a 4mm. The  5mm  may work too, but wasted if you try to Barlow it on your ED80.

Its often my suggestion to choose a high powered eyepiece that simply matches the focal ratio of the telescope in use, with sufficient field of view and eye-relief, so finding one of about 7mm, or between 5-7mm should be fine, You will only know by fitting one and looking through it.

The WO SPL6mm was mentioned above, cracking eyepiece for my needs, was highly recommended by many folk here, Its my eyepiece that matches the focal ratio,  due to the fact that there is no 6mm Starguider ? 
The BST's  are £49 unless you source second hand.

I think the 1mm exit pupil rule (which is effectively what matching the eyepiece focal length with the scope focal ratio gives you) works well for newts and SCT/Maks ie larger apertures.

In my experience, if you use this with decent quality fracs (and by that I mean both apos and well figured achros) you miss a lot of their capability at high powers. These scopes will sustain exit pupils down to 0.5mm giving you very respectable planetary views; you should be able to get x160 out of an ED80 on a steady night. Sticking to 1mm EP will leave you at x80 and a very small image scale for planets.

[alan potts]

I personally feel that it is difficult to beat an ortho for quality views on a budget, just so long as you don't mind the FOV and you can use them. I have a selection of BGO's and Hutechs.

Alan

[nightfisher]

Just remembered i have a pretty decent Barlow lens that screws into ep giving 1.5 times, this may work better than the 2.5 times full barlow, with luck i will try this tonight

Just looked at this barlow and its 1.6 not 1.5 so even better

[Charic]

12 hours ago, Stu said:

I think the 1mm exit pupil rule (which is effectively what matching the eyepiece focal length with the scope focal ratio gives you) works well for newts and SCT/Maks ie larger apertures.

In my experience, if you use this with decent quality fracs (and by that I mean both apos and well figured achros) you miss a lot of their capability at high powers. These scopes will sustain exit pupils down to 0.5mm giving you very respectable planetary views; you should be able to get x160 out of an ED80 on a steady night. Sticking to 1mm EP will leave you at x80 and a very small image scale for planets.

I can accept that ( I don't own a Refractor ) although  matching the focal ratio/Eye piece  of any scope, is as  good a starting point as any, when it comes to initially choosing the high powered eyepiece, but I'll bare this in mind when talking Frac's next time, but as you say, from your experience, you were/are able to see a little more when pushed. I  have  learnt a little more from your experience tonight.
I also  know some folk still  have perfect vision, I once had  this ability! but with age, we can often reach our own limits well before the telescope/eyepiece reaches its limit, its finding your limit and  choosing the eyepiece that comfortably addresses the limit? Only the end user will know!