[astro744]

The 30 and 40mm I am suggesting are both 2”. The Superview have a larger apparent field than your current 1.25” Plossl eyepieces and as they are 2” will both give a larger true field than anything you currently have. E.g. the 30mm 2” in 68 eg apparent field will likely have a field stop diameter of around 33mm whereas the maximum a 32mm 1.25” will have us 27mm. It is the field stop diameter which is limited by barrel size that determines true field which is then also a function of telescope focal length.

True field of view (deg) = Field stop diameter (mm) x 57.3 / focal length of telescope (mm)

E.g. 27mm FSD, f.l.=1200mm
(Note 24mm/68 deg, 32mm/50 deg, 40mm/43 deg all have 27mm FSD giving same true field at different magnification all in 1.25”)

TFOV = 27x57.3/1200 = 1.3 deg.

E.g. 33mm FSD, f.l.=1200mm
(30mm/68 deg Superview in 2” only)

TFOV = 33x57.3/1200 = 1.6 deg.

E.g. 43mm FSD, f.l.=1200mm
(42mm/65 deg Superview in 2” only). (Note, the maximum FSD in 2” is 46mm. This is available from Tele Vue in 41mm/68 deg Panoptic and 55mm/50 deg Plossl, both 2”). The 42mm/65 deg Superview FSD is likely a little less at perhaps 43-44mm. Tele Vue state the FSD for all their eyepieces but many other manufacturers don’t). 43mm is an educated guess.

TFOV = 43x57.3/1200 = 2.1 deg.

Your telescope is f6 (1200/200) so exit pupil for a 42mm eyepiece is 42/6=7mm. This is your low power limit before you begin wasting light as typically your eye will open to 7mm. This is not a hard and fast rule and slightly greater exit pupil to gain true field under dark (or even suburban) skies can be beneficial. The magnification is 1200/42=28.

For a 30mm, exit pupil = 5mm, mag=40. Thus will give you a slightly darker background and less true field than the 42mm in 2” but more true field than the 32mm Plossl or 40mm Plossl or 24mm Panoptic in 1.25”.

I am suggesting one or both of the 42mm and/or 30mm Superview to complement your current eyepiece set. If you like what you see in the Superview then I am suggesting you add the 20mm and 15mm to your collection.you will then have all 65-68 deg eyepieces.

I do not recommend Barlowing anything over 30mm as eye relief is extended a little to far. (A Powermate corrects for this but a Barlow does not). I know a 2x 2” Barlow would give you the 20 (21)mm and 15mm as would separate 20mm and 15mm eyepieces and whilst you may get away with it with Barlowing the 30mm you will find it a problem with the 42mm.

If you feel your current eyepiece set could give better views then I suggest you slowly replace (as budget allows) each focal length with Tele Vue equivalent Plossls up to say 25mm and complement these with a 2x and 3x Barlow (1.25”) to give you some quality high powers. This will also complement any 2” eyepiece you buy in 30mm and over focal lengths. If you get one Superview first and like what you see in terms of apparent field of view and prefer that to a Plossl then don’t go down the Plossl path and simply get the 15mm and 20mm 1.25” Superview and a 2x and 3x Barlow. (Recommend Tele Vue Barlow but the GSO 2x and 3x are quite good; skip any ‘Shorty’ type Barlow). This will then give you effectively 5, 6.7, 7.5, 10, 15, 20mm in 1.25” all 65-68 deg apparent field and 30, 42mm in 2” also in 65-68 deg apparent field.

Best to try one Superview before you invest in all.

A third option which will give you a single but quality eyepiece that will perform well on any telescope you are ever likely to own is to get a used Tele Vue 24mm Panoptic. These are sometimes on sale for about $350 used on this forum. This will give you the same true field as a 32mm or 40mm Plossl but at higher power. At this stage in your hobby I would consider the Superview eyepieces but this is only a suggestion and not a recommendation based on your budget and the fact that I only have personal experience with the 15mm Superview on a short refractor.

Note any view you get will only be as good as the weakest link. Check collimation and observe when seeing is good and position your telescope so advise not to look over any local sources of heat. Mushy views are often seeing related or badly mis-collimator telescopes.