Eyepiece Recommendation

[Charlie 2436]

now

Hi All 

I have just bought the Altair Astro Starwave 152 V3 achro refractor and I am looking for some recommendations on which make and type of eyepieces would work best with this telescope, to give me the best wide field views , DSO and if I wanted to push it on the planets.

Also I am new to this and don’t think I would be able to use ultra wide angle eyepieces . I wouldn’t like to just dive in and buy the wrong eyepiece because I’ve read the literature and it seems like what I am looking for . Your experience would be greatly appreciated. Also would I be better going to 2”eyepieces.

thanks Robert 

[Louis D]

Since you're operating at ~f/6, you'll need eyepieces that do well in moderately fast telescopes.  If your budget is tight, I would start with the 12mm, 8mm, and 5mm BST Starguiders.  If you only have a 1.25" diagonal, get a 32mm Plossl for lowest power viewing.  If you have a 2" diagonal, I'd recommend the 35mm Aero ED SWA for widest field viewing.  You might want to add something around 17mm to 22mm in the future, but I tend to skip past that power in scopes near this focal length (900mm).

If violet fringing bugs you, you might want to look into a minus violet filter of some sort.  The Baader Contrast Booster seems to be well regarded in this capacity.  Here's a comparison of the effect various filters have on the view through an achromat:

Edited August 29, 2020 by Louis D

[Charlie 2436]

Thanks for your advice Louis D 

If I could stretch my budget a bit on the 2” eyepiece to £150/£200, would you still  recommend the Aero or is there any others you would recommend. I already have the 8mm and 25 mm bst .

thanks Robert 

[Louis D]

9 hours ago, Charlie 2436 said:

Thanks for your advice Louis D 

If I could stretch my budget a bit on the 2” eyepiece to £150/£200, would you still  recommend the Aero or is there any others you would recommend. I already have the 8mm and 25 mm bst .

thanks Robert 

The 30mm APM Ultra Flat Field (UFF) would be my pick for a very well corrected, yet moderately priced, 2" wide field eyepiece.

[Ships and Stars]

I have an f4 and an f4.9 dob, the APMs are excellent choices in my experience. I've the 9, 13 and 20mm XWAs but if you don't want to go that route, there are plenty of other APM offerings with a narrower FOV that are less expensive to boot. Was thinking about the 30mm, but it's effectively the same overall fov as my 20mm. Baader Morpheus have good reviews, I've the 17.5mm and really happy with it. The Baader 10mm classic ortho is very sharp too and very reasonably priced. For budget, the Starguiders are popular though I've not tried them. I had a few Televue Ethos EPs for awhile, certainly no complaints in the optical quality department, but gradually sold them off as I was afraid I'd drop one and damage it or lose it at my dark sky spot! The APMs give very similar views for a fraction of the price. There are also the Explore Scientific EPs in an array of different field of views, generally well regarded overall, but no personal experience there. For wide field, I'd perhaps look for the lowest power ep that still gives an exit pupil around the 7mm mark. 

Edited August 30, 2020 by Ships and Stars

[Louis D]

At f/6, the Maxvision 68° or Meade 5000 SWA 40mm work really well to max out your true field of view and your exit pupil without breaking the bank while providing a very well corrected field.  They can be found in the astro classifieds at times.  You can always put in a "Wanted" to see if someone has one to sell.

[Charlie 2436]

Thanks for all your advice. I think I have narrowed it down to the ES 24mm 82 degree or the APM 30mm ultra flat field , I like the idea of the APM 20mm XWA but the eye relief seems too tight for someone who wears glasses, in fact most of the 100 degree eyepieces have quite short eye relief, even the ES 24mm only has 17.5mm  of eye relief . 
Does anyone know if the Altair Astro 30mm Ultra Flat is the same eyepiece as the APM 30mm ultra flat field , except that it’s Green . 

 

[Louis D]

17 hours ago, Charlie 2436 said:

Does anyone know if the Altair Astro 30mm Ultra Flat is the same eyepiece as the APM 30mm ultra flat field , except that it’s Green . 

I've read it's optically the same, but heavier due to a stainless steel instead of aluminum barrel.