eyepieces mewlon 180

[GrahamL]

Hi



asking a bit of a general on what most users of a long focal length scope prefer ,, I have spent a little bit of time outside with the above

i have a televue 55 plossl which i dont mind a 13 mm ethos which i like a lot and a 24 pan , i 'm thinking a little wider round this one , options ?

below i have an 8.8 explore 82 and a orion edge planetary 6mm which i havn't used much yet





thoughts and experiances most welcome:)

[Wavytone]

Hi Graham, the Mewlon focal ratio is f/12, close to my mak which is f/13.

For low power - a 2" eyepiece with the maximum possible field stop (or none at all).
There will be a "sweet spot" at X1 per mm of aperture, which in your scope = to 12mm focal length.
The upper limit in your scope is going to be somewhere around 1.5X = a 9mm or close.

The 6mm won't ever be much use, it will render the moon and planets too dim and soft. It might be useful on the rare night per year with excellent seeing if you want to chase the Trapezium stars E and F or split double stars closer than 2 arcsec.

In my scope my primary set is:

Lowest power: a budget ProStar 38mm 70 degree UWA, IMHO its nice and there is no point in using expensive hand grenades for low power, then

Medium/High/Highest: Vixen SSW 14/10/7mm. All have an 82 degree FoV and are par focal, very comfortable to use and their sharpness and contrast is excellent. These give 220, 310 and 440X respectively, though 440X is only suitable for close double stars.

I also have 9, 12 and 15 in other odd eyepieces - sometimes on the planets I find 10 or 14 aren't exactly ideal depending on the seeing and wide fields not required.

[Atmos]

I have the bigger Mewlon brother but it is also F/12. I’ve got a 35mm Panoptic which is great for “widefield” views.
For the planets I use binoviewers. I have a bit of astigmatism in both eyes but in basically opposite directions so looking with both eyes helps me considerably.

For the binoviewers I usually use a 1.7x GPC and 20mm TeleVue Plossls which is about 250x or that sweet spot of 1mm per aperture that’s already been mentioned.

[Wilso]

Hi Graham,

Since your looking for something wider around the 24mm mark I can suggest the 22mm t4 (my favourite eyepiece ):thumbsup:
Very immersive and comfortable eyepiece to use and would give you about 97x mag. About halfway between the 55 and 13mm you have already. Unsure about off axis performance in the mewlon though.
Another one would be the 21 ethos but from what I've read not as immersive as the nagler and extra $$$.
Plenty of others to choose from as well, I like going through different threads on researching the eyepieces.
Have fun