Eyepiece suggestions for turret

[printmongrel]

I've bought a svbony sv503 80mm f7 OTA. It will be used mostly for daytime viewing of wildlife (eagles, orcas, ships & boats) but we'd like to look at galaxies & planets too. I'm looking at buying a baader turret & four agena starguider dual ed eyepieces (moderately priced, good eye relief, 60* fov, moderate weight, & parfocal). I'm thinking that 25mm, 10mm, 5mm, & 3.2mm for 22x, 56x, 112x, & 175x would be good but what suggestions do you more experienced folks have?

[printmongrel]

As SeattleScott pointed out on another forum, the 10mm is non-existent, it 8 or 12! So many eyepieces/options!

Since I'm going from binoculars to a "spotting scope" I am trying to keep as much afov at 24*. Cheaper 8-24 zooms give 40* @ 24mm compared to the 60* using the turret. A Hyperion Mark IV 8-24mm Zoom gives 48* afov for $310 compared to 4 eyepieces (4 x $70) + baader turret ($63) = $343. Maybe the baader zoom + 2.25 barlow kit (3.6-10.7) for $410 might be the most convenient & flexible option & worth the extra money. It seems from my reading that I would notice the difference of 48* to 60* @ 24/25mm, but would I really? The Orion 8-24mm Pro Lanthanum Zoom ($210) appeals for its parfocal feature but that's going down to 40* @ 24mm.

On a separate note, is the 5mm @ 112x really enough for jupiter & saturn on good nights?

[Ratlet]

My advice would be not to go all in on eyepieces.  It's real tempting to try and get everything sorted in one go, but I'd suggest a bit of patience.  You'll notice the difference between 48 and 60 degrees in my opinion, whether it bothers you is a another question entirely.

My suggestion would be to pick up a cheap plossl and one of the paradigms to see how you feel about the view.  For me I'd go for a 26mm or 32mm plossl for and one of the paradigms (something like the 12 or 15mm).

FLO do astroessential super plossls which are really nice for the price.  I'd imagine that you'll be able to get equivalents over the pond:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astro-essentials-eyepieces/astro-essentials-super-plossl-eyepiece.html

  If you find you're okay with the narrow FOV of the plossl then you can go all in on the Baader.  You'll be able to easily sell the paradigm to get some of the money back and the plossl will do for a beater eyepiece at worst.

Personally I love the paradigms, even at F5.  60° is the sweet spot for me.

[bosun21]

If you are definitely buying the turret then go ahead and buy the Paradigms otherwise you won’t get the use of the turret. The Paradigm eyepieces are a good quality eyepiece and with the 60 degrees FOV won’t be as much a shock to you coming from binoculars. You won’t go wrong buying them. Good luck 👍 

[stormioV]

Hi,  amongst other eyepieces I have Starguiders in each of the 7 focal lengths. Doubled up from 8 through to 25 for Binoviewers. I think they are great and provide me with fantastic views in my SCT.  In case weight may be a concern 8mm, 15mm, 18mm, & 25mm are each about the same height and weight at 181gm. 3.2mm is tallest followed by 5mm both at 215gm. 12mm is 198gm. I haven't gotten round to getting Baader q turret yet. 

 

[Louis D]

Does anyone know the weight capacity of the Baader Turret?  It's made of good quality plastic, but it is plastic none the less.  Geoptik makes a near identical one in aluminum that would probably have a higher weight capacity.

I ask because the bundled Baader eyepieces if you buy the set weigh a combined 354 g or 12.5 oz.  The four Starguider/Paradigm eyepieces (assuming 12mm instead of 10mm) would weigh a combined 730 g or 25.8 oz which is more than twice as heavy.  Has anyone tried the Baader Turret with a full load of heavier eyepiece to check for flexure or other issues?  I know I wouldn't trust it with my Delos, XW, and Morpheus eyepieces.

[Louis D]

Personally, I would skip the 3.2mm Starguider.  The resulting exit pupil would be 0.46mm, which is extremely tiny.  The 0.71mm exit pupil with the 5mm is the smallest exit pupil I'm usually comfortable observing with in any telescope.

I would probably load up with the 25mm, 12mm, 8mm, and 5mm eyepieces.  That would give you 22x, 46x, 70x, and 112x.  Get the Baader Planetarium Q-Barlow if you really must have higher powers.

[stormioV]

Are Baader q turret sets with 6,10,18 BCO / 32mm Plossl & q Barlow still available? At least you know that will take payload. Slightly narrower FOV though.

[Franklin]

14 minutes ago, stormioV said:

Are Baader q turret sets with 6,10,18 BCO / 32mm Plossl & q Barlow still available? At least you know that will take payload. Slightly narrower FOV though.

Excellent starter set of very good quality eyepieces. Yes they have a more traditional 50deg fov and the 10mm and 6mm are not suitable if you wear glasses because of short eye relief but they offer superb optical quality and a very well thought out range of focal lengths. I had this set a number of years ago and the only part of it that I didn't use was the turret (bit plasticky and single set screws). If you're looking for high contrast, high power luna/planetary performance as opposed to wide field, low power deepsky viewing then these orthoscopics and the 32mm plossl are very good.

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, stormioV said:

Are Baader q turret sets with 6,10,18 BCO / 32mm Plossl & q Barlow still available? At least you know that will take payload. Slightly narrower FOV though.

You're right, I'm only seeing the bare turret available around the US and Europe.

[bosun21]

1 hour ago, Louis D said:

You're right, I'm only seeing the bare turret available around the US and Europe.

Full set available from FLO 👇

[stormioV]

In stock in UK here https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/baader-classic-q-eyepiece-set.html#SID=484

[printmongrel]

Thanks for all the input so far - its been quite educational.

After looking at the so many options & postings, I'm really impressed by the ease of use & quality of the Morpheus eyepieces! As Ratlet suggested, I think I'll buy only one eyepiece to start & that will be the 17.5mm. With its 1.25" barrel it can be used with the turret if I decide I need that in the future. I know it's 4x the price, but it looks like an eyepiece that would provided a lot of enjoyment & I'm only looking at buying one eyepiece now.

25585 on Cloudy Nights suggested 17.5, 12.5, 6.5 and 4.5. With my 80mm F7 ota, does 32x, 45x, 86x, & 125x with possibly a 2.25x barlow for 23x, 45x, 72x, 86x,101x, 125x, 200x, 281x if I become addicted (usability of the last two magnifications would be suspect) sound like a good plan? If I won't be buying a set for the moment, I'd like to at least know I'm on a reasonable path...

As far as loading the turret up with eyepieces, Battlestamps on Cloudy Nights says he uses a Baader turret with ES eyepieces - 82's - 8.8mm, 11mm, 14mm and the 24mm 68. This weighs in at 39.3 oz. and the above set comes in at 46 oz., so I have a reply in over there to see what he thinks of the additional weight.

[cajen2]

1 hour ago, printmongrel said:

Thanks for all the input so far - its been quite educational.

After looking at the so many options & postings, I'm really impressed by the ease of use & quality of the Morpheus eyepieces! As Ratlet suggested, I think I'll buy only one eyepiece to start & that will be the 17.5mm. With its 1.25" barrel it can be used with the turret if I decide I need that in the future. I know it's 4x the price, but it looks like an eyepiece that would provided a lot of enjoyment & I'm only looking at buying one eyepiece now.

25585 on Cloudy Nights suggested 17.5, 12.5, 6.5 and 4.5. With my 80mm F7 ota, does 32x, 45x, 86x, & 125x with possibly a 2.25x barlow for 23x, 45x, 72x, 86x,101x, 125x, 200x, 281x if I become addicted (usability of the last two magnifications would be suspect) sound like a good plan? If I won't be buying a set for the moment, I'd like to at least know I'm on a reasonable path...

As far as loading the turret up with eyepieces, Battlestamps on Cloudy Nights says he uses a Baader turret with ES eyepieces - 82's - 8.8mm, 11mm, 14mm and the 24mm 68. This weighs in at 39.3 oz. and the above set comes in at 46 oz., so I have a reply in over there to see what he thinks of the additional weight.

The Morpheus 17.5 is a real gem - you wouldn't be disappointed. Personally, I'd go for Starguiders (Paradigms) if you can handle the smaller FOV for other focal lengths. They're cheap and very good quality for the price.

[bosun21]

I personally wouldn't trust 4 x Morpheus in the Baader Q turret. It's only got one screw without a compression ring and was designed primarily for the BCO eyepieces.

[John]

1 hour ago, bosun21 said:

I personally wouldn't trust 4 x Morpheus in the Baader Q turret. It's only got one screw without a compression ring and was designed primarily for the BCO eyepieces.

I agree. I believe the Baader Q-Turret is largely plastic with alloy eyepiece sleeves. Fine for the lightweight Baader Classic's but Morpheus are much longer and heavier eyepieces.

 

[bosun21]

Exactly, the 17.5mm is 395g alone and with four of them that’s going to be over 1.5kg of eyepiece weight alone. Add the weight of the turret and you have one heavy rear end for an 80mm frac. If I placed four of my Morpheus eyepieces in the turret those single screws would induce nightmares I’m afraid 😱.

[Zermelo]

If you decided against the turret then the Morpheus are excellent, but I agree with the concerns about weight.

If you were going with a turret and did want a 10mm, you could try one of the UFF variants. They have a 60 degree AFOV like the Starguiders, they give sharp, contrasty views, and are light and compact. The Svbony SV190 is possibly the cheapest of these, currently £60 on the big river.

[stormioV]

Baader Zoom fov 

8mm 68 degrees
12mm 63 degrees
16mm 58 degrees
20mm 53 degrees
24mm 48 degrees

 

[John]

49 minutes ago, stormioV said:

Baader Zoom fov 

8mm 68 degrees
12mm 63 degrees
16mm 58 degrees
20mm 53 degrees
24mm 48 degrees

 

I think it is closer to 44 degrees at the 24mm setting.

 

[stormioV]

Have you considered Antares Speers  Waler Series 3. They are a little less expensive.

https://antares.space/products/eyepieces/eyepiece-125-speers-waler-series3-17mm