Eyepieces for Tak FS-60CB?

[Jannerland]

So Santa was very kind and delivered a lovely 2nd hand FS-60CB to allow me to have a permanently set up portable observing rig to be able to quickly snatch a few minutes here and there when the cloud disappears or while imaging runs are in progress.

However eyepieces are needed (there's a limit to Santa's generosity) so I'm looking for suggestions of perhaps 2 different eyepieces to get me started. Something for a bit of lunar viewing, something for larger galactic targets and maybe another for wider fields.

I've no objection to looking at zooms v's single eyepieces.

Budget is open to negotiation 🙂

 

Appreciate any recommendations / guidance..

Cheers Rob

[Louis D]

With a 355mm focal length, you're going to get wide true fields of view with most eyepieces.  Assuming you're going to use a 1.25" diagonal with it, a 32mm Plossl would get you to 11x and a TFOV of about 4.5°.  To nicely frame the 0.5° wide moon, you'd need something like a 5mm BST Starguider for 71x and a 0.85° TFOV.  To explore the moon in detail, I'd probably get a quality 2x or 3x Barlow because quality eyepieces below 5mm start to get expensive fast.

For DSOs, you might want to add something like the 8mm BST Starguider for 44x and a 1.35° TFOV.  Combining these three eyepieces with a 2x Barlow would yield 22x, 88x, and 142x as well.  That last power might only be useful for splitting doubles or for teasing out lunar details.  Remember, 60mm isn't going to pull in a lot of light on dim DSOs or provide a lot of detail on small objects.

[Stu]

Snap @Jannerland, I’ve just got one myself 👍.

I would perhaps try a 24mm 68 degree of some description. I’ve got a 24mm Panoptic but there are other lower budget but still good eyepieces around. Even a 25mm BST would be worth considering.

You could also consider one of the 7.2mm to 21.5mm zooms such as Opticstar with a Baader x2.25 barlow for those higher powers.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ovl-eyepieces/hyperflex-72mm-215mm-eyepiece.html

 

[mikeDnight]

I might be tempted to go for a 28mm Tak Erfle and an 18mm Tak orthoscopic and 5mm Tak LE. But a barlow would be needed for lunar. 

[Oldfort]

If you could find a used Televue 3-6mm Nagler zoom in your budget, that would be a great combo.

[jock1958]

Bought my FS-60C / Q second hand as a handy lightweight grab & go and am very pleased with it.

@Oldfort beat me to it, I was going suggest that a 3-6mm NZ would be ideal and and worth every penny IMO....however until Santa arrives next year what about a second hand 5mm Vixen SLV it’s got good optics, generous 20mm eye relief, comfortable to use with a nice adjustable eye cup! 

[MalcolmM]

Hi @Jannerland,

Firstly let me congratulate you on getting what I think (in my very limited experience) is a wonderful little telescope!

Secondly I don't feel able to give you advice as I'm only in this game recently but I can tell you what I have bought and that I have absolutely no regrets, though it will leave a big dent in your wallet!

My philosophy was the 60CB is such a fabulous scope it deserves fantastic eyepieces! For wide field I use a Tak 28mm Erfle; it's very wide field! For high magnification I use a Tak TOE 2.5 when seeing permits (when it doesn't I have the TOE 3.3 and 4). I find these high power eyepieces brilliant and much preferable to the Vixen SLV and Nagler zoom (more on it later!). I can not compare them to anything else, not having owned anything else!

The Nagler zoom is very good in itself, particularly if travelling with the scope and space is at a premium being four eyepieces in one. It also allows you to easily adjust your magnification to the seeing conditions. But I do prefer using the TOEs.

For mid range I use a Tak LE10.

And if you want to improve even further the high power performance of the scope you can buy the 1.7x CQ extender which turns it into an f10 scope allowing higher magnification and more forgiving focusing.

As you can probably tell, I am a bit obsessed with all things Tak and therefore my opinions are somewhat biassed but so far, no regrets

Malcolm

 

[NGC 1502]

For a premium scope like a Tak, if budget allows I’d personally like premium eyepieces.
 

If you don’t need long eye relief a premium set could be a 24mm Panoptic, 13mm Nagler, 3-6 Nagler zoom. Yes I know that’s expensive but what a delightful and lightweight outfit for a lifetime’s ultra portable observing😊😊

[Jannerland]

Thank you all for the considered replies! I picked the FS60 at least in part for the love shown for it on this forum and your replies confirm that enthusiasm..

Plenty of food for thought there and some consistent themes which will help. Let's see how far the piggy bank will stretch 🙂

[Andrew_B]

A cheaper alternative to the 24mm Panoptic would be the 24mm APM Ultra Flat Field eyepiece or one its clones sold under various other brand names. I've got one on order after reading a lot of positive reports about it on here and CN forums, and after being very impressed by the 10mm model in that range (which I got a pair of for an absolute steal). Orthoscopics are worth considering and can give incredibly good views without breaking the bank, although the FOV is relatively narrow and eye relieve can be an issue at shorter focal lengths.