My next eyepiece purchase - opinions please

[Wurzil]

Hi all,

Im going to buy a medium-high power EP as my next astro-purchase and would like some opinions please.

I want something about 8-9mm to use in both my 120mm achro and the 10" dob.

I want to improve my view of DSOs like M3 - i currently use a 10mm skywatcher super plossl and see this as a blob in the refractor; in the dob i can resolve stars, but only using averted vision. Im aiming to be able to look directly at M3 in the dob and maybe resolve a few stars with averted vision in the achro.

At the moment im thinking of an 8mm televue plossl (are they really better than other cheaper plossls?) or a 9mm abbe ortho. Am I on the right lines here, and will i be able to achieve what im trying to achieve? Any other opinions and suggestions are welcome.

I want to spend about £60. I dont wear glasses.

thanks guys

warren

[Wurzil]

sorry i forgot to mention that i already own a 5mm TS planetary HR, 6.4mm kellner, 10mm skywatcher SP, 25mm LET plossl, 32mm SWAN (i own no barlow) - if this makes any difference to what i should be choosing.

thanks again

w

[Wurzil]

cheeky bump!

[pvaz]

I have a 9mm baader ortho and it's excellent, but not very comfortable to use on the dob due to the small FoV. Orthos come up often 2nd hand at 50£ or less.

I never used a TV plossl but all I read about them was great so I suspect it's a good choice. TMB planetary also gets decent reviews and they have a wider FoV and longer ER. An interesting review I found sometime ago: 9mm Nagler vs 9mm BO/TMB Planetary - Review

[robhal9000]

Hi,

I just bought the 9mm TMB from TH end of line section, right at the bottom. They have a 6mm and a 8mm still available. You can phone them re availability of the 9mm. 65.99 ea. This was the only ones I could find in the UK. Anyone know if there is a UK stockist for the TMBs?

Telescope House End Of Line Products

[Wurzil]

Thanks

The TS planetary HR ones are supposed to be the same as the TMBs. theyre available from Modern astronomy for £54.

Having six elements, i was discounting one of those for faint objects like M3, as ive tried my 5mm one and it wasnt very good (although its great on mars/saturn) maybe its where the magnification is too high and not down to the eyepiece design???

hmmmm after reading that review (thanks paulo) maybe i should consider a 9mm planetary??

hmmmm

w

[pvaz]

I often find too much mag on faint DSOs is not good and end up seeing more at low mag, where it gets smaller but more defined.

I think only dark skies and aperture can help you there, but seeing you already have a 10" scope there's not much you can improve there, unless you go for a 14 or 16".

[robhal9000]

Thanks

The TS planetary HR ones are supposed to be the same as the TMBs. theyre available from Modern astronomy for £54.

Having six elements, i was discounting one of those for faint objects like M3, as ive tried my 5mm one and it wasnt very good (although its great on mars/saturn) maybe its where the magnification is too high and not down to the eyepiece design???

hmmmm after reading that review (thanks paulo) maybe i should consider a 9mm planetary??

hmmmm

w

Hi,

Thanks for the heads up. It's the only thing they stock that I couldn't have got cheaper elsewhere, looking at their Baader prices, they do offer price matching. Never heard of him/them before anyone have good/bad experiences. I would call them first to make sure they are actually in stock.

I agree re: mag on DSOs, I may use the TMB on bright DSOs, but I did buy it for planetary.

[david o]

Hi Warren,

Re the TV Plössls, I've found that they feel crisper/more contrasty than my Omni Plössls. They also seem to just "drop" into focus without effort, unlike the Omnis, and show truer colour transmission.

Assuming that the 10" Dob is f/5, with a fL of 1250mm, then M3 should just fit in the FOV of a 9mm Ortho, an 8mm TV Plössl would show a bit more. You'd get slightly more FOV in your XLT 120.

At f/5 I'd prefer an Ortho over a Plössl, even a TV one, for crispness to the edge of the field. At f/8.3 in the 'frac things should be a little more equal.

Second hand you can get an 8mm TV Plössl for about 40 - 50 quid. A 9mm Baader Ortho (same thing as the Circle T/UO HD Orthos?) would be £50 - £55. And a 9mm Circle T/UO volcano top Ortho should cost around 20 to 25 quid.

HTH

[Wurzil]

Hi,

Thanks for the heads up. It's the only thing they stock that I couldn't have got cheaper elsewhere, looking at their Baader prices, they do offer price matching. Never heard of him/them before anyone have good/bad experiences. I would call them first to make sure they are actually in stock.

I agree re: mag on DSOs, I may use the TMB on bright DSOs, but I did buy it for planetary.

I ordered my ts planetary from modern astronomy with no problems, its a good firm in my opinion - see the supplier reviews section. I bet they sell stacks of those EPs.

w

w

[Wurzil]

Hi Warren,

Re the TV Plössls, I've found that they feel crisper/more contrasty than my Omni Plössls. They also seem to just "drop" into focus without effort, unlike the Omnis, and show truer colour transmission.

Assuming that the 10" Dob is f/5, with a fL of 1250mm, then M3 should just fit in the FOV of a 9mm Ortho, an 8mm TV Plössl would show a bit more. You'd get slightly more FOV in your XLT 120.

At f/5 I'd prefer an Ortho over a Plössl, even a TV one, for crispness to the edge of the field. At f/8.3 in the 'frac things should be a little more equal.

Second hand you can get an 8mm TV Plössl for about 40 - 50 quid. A 9mm Baader Ortho (same thing as the Circle T/UO HD Orthos?) would be £50 - £55. And a 9mm Circle T/UO volcano top Ortho should cost around 20 to 25 quid.

HTH

thanks davido - is there much difference between the volcano tops and the baader orthos (except for price)?

w

[pvaz]

I did extensive reading on this before buying mine. The 2 diferences are:

- slightly better coatings (may increase contrast/sharpness a tiny bit, barely noticeable unless your really looking for it... or so I read)

- The baader orthos are parfocal (if you have a bunch of them you can switch them without adjusting focus)

I just went for them cause I have this bad habit of second guessing my purchases so going for the ones the experts said ware best guaranteed I would not be tempted to upgrade later and loose money in the process. I also didn't had the chance to try any of this out unless I bought them (only know a couple of astronomers and they mainly have plossls). If I could go to a star party to actually try some of this before buying I would take the chance!

[Wurzil]

9mm volcano top it is then!

[robhal9000]

I ordered my ts planetary from modern astronomy with no problems, its a good firm in my opinion - see the supplier reviews section. I bet they sell stacks of those EPs.

w

w

Hi,

Yep I checked with MA and they have them all in stock and Bernard doesn't know how the rumour about shortages started. I had never heard of MA before, but judging by the feedback in the forum they seem an excellent supplier. Bookmarked.