Eyepieces again

[jamie56]

Hi all

Just got myself a sw mak 180 pro, anyone got one of these and if so what's the eyepiece recommend,  currently using e.s. 68 degree for,  was thinking of 82 degrees, any thoughts welcome.

Jim

[bingevader]

You have some ES 82s in your sig, why not try them?

[Louis D]

I have a 127mm f/12 Mak, and mid to long focal length eyepieces are the rule.  Yours is 180mm f/15, even longer focal lengths would seem to be the rule for you.  I like powers between 60x and 150x for my Mak meaning eyepieces of 25mm down to 10mm focal length.  For your Mak, that would translate to 45mm to 18mm.  Given the extra aperture, you should be able to push 200x with ease given good equilibrium of the corrector and mirror.  That would translate to a 13mm eyepiece.

If you've got the money, I say get a 40mm ES-68/Maxview or a 41mm Panoptic for widest field at 68x.  Next would be a 27mm Panoptic for 100x followed by an 18mm to 20mm eyepiece for 135x.  The 20mm APM HDC XWA eyepiece is supposed to be very nice in this range.  If you need more eye relief, the 17mm ES-92 is very nice and would provide 158x.  The 12mm ES-92 is also very nice and would give you 225x.  In between, the 13mm Lunt HDC XWA would yield 207x.  You could also consider a 14mm Delos or Morpheus for 193x.

It really depends on what objects you like to observe most and what your budget is.

[Pete Presland]

I use to own a Mak180, with that focal its not called the "planet killer" for no reason. With it being F15 its kind to eyepieces and most will be ok in it. 

As has been said it depends on your budget and what you want to view. I certainly would not using anything less than 10-8mm FL which will yield around X270-330 mag, for planets....

My Televue Plossls worked vey well in my scope. Mine also had significant mirror slop, which was ok visual but I pain when imaging.

You will need a good cool down period before using this scope, plus a decent dew shield.