Les - the takahashi’s come in very short f/l for their wide angles so would not be great for DSOs
Wayne - thanks for your insight into the 17mm ethos in yr 12inc SCT... goes to show you would have to have pristine skies to use shorter focal lengths.. I’ve realised through the years that short f/l eyepieces are better suited for refractors.. so I’d probably stick to 20mm or more for the expensive wide angles and resort to cheaper eyepieces for anything less than 20mm (as we will not be using them much).. having said that I still think I have a bit of collimation error in my scope and working to improve it before mars, Jupiter and Saturn gets back on the scene...
Greg - you’re right.. I did’t get the Nagler 31mm due to its weight and also cost.. and I knew that at f10 with my scope, it should be able to somewhat handle edge issues so I settled for the 32mm masuyama instead - it was great that a fellow IIS member put his up for sale.. must have read my mind as I was researching the masuyama the day before he placed the ad..
Paul- no I do not have any of those apps.. the only app I have is sky safari pro and it works magic with the Meade Stella... I might try those apps.. I started off with astronomy when I was 13.. that was 25 years ago! So you can now figure my age
. I forced my parents to get me a Meade 4500 (a 4.5 inch Newtonian).. it was on an equatorial mount but the drive was rubbish.. it came with a kellner eyepiece and so again I forced my parents to get me a better eyepiece.. this time a vixen Plossl 17mm (silver casing)... I thought it was the best eyepiece ever! I think it cost around 130USD back then (was living in south east Asia then)... never really wanted to burden my parents after that.. I think they thought I had a very weird interest.. and didn’t want them to classify me as an absolute weirdo.. I have come a long way since and have settled for a Meade 12inch lx90.. just the right price, weight and suited for my visual needs.. anything bigger would have broken my back.. and anything more complex would have torn my wallet.. I must say, despite all the negative comments about the 12inch lx90 being under-mounted, I have not had any issues with tracking or shakes..
I am happy with my current eyepiece line up but I really want to see what a 100 deg eyepiece looks like.. though TV eyepieces are great, I think they are just overpriced.. when you have a 2 inch Televue barrel extender selling for 49AUD, something must be really wrong.. I am convinced that I will be paying for a brand and not the optics, though the optics/coatings may be good, I do not believe there aren’t others that would rival them..
So I have decided, I will be ordering the 20mm APM hdc 100deg as a Xmas gift to myself! Hurray!