Looking for some opinions on the purchase of a new eye piece

[Lyinxz]

Hey guys, I am thinking about buying a good quality 20mm(or there abouts) eye piece.

Not too interested in a barlow at the moment , as the eye piece that came with my scope (114 EQ Celestron Newtonian Reflector) is good, but very, basic.

There is no eye relief and can get quite uncomfortable when looking through it over a couple of minutes.

I purchased a 5.2mm ED good quality eye piece for $135 the other day. Though I have not had good enough skies to really test it out.:(

So I am thinking about getting a good quality 20mm (or there abouts) eye piece, though would love some user advise / opinions on the one I am thinking about purchasing...

http://yorkoptical.com.au/ProductMenus/TeleAccessories/tabid/49/CategoryID/257/List/1/catpageindex/2/Level/a/ProductID/316/Default.aspx?SortField=UnitCost%2cP roductName

Thanks,
Ash :)


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update 3.3.08 looks like the link has gone dead...
below is the product.

http://www.yorkoptical.com.au/portals/0/stockimages/10412-006-I01.jpg

AFV (degrees) 55°
Barrel Diameter (mm) 31.7
Eye-relief (mm) 20
Focal length (mm) 18
Lens Type ED

file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/User/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpgfile:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/User/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg

[rmcpb]

That eyepiece will definitely give you plenty of eye relief but before you buy consider the Televue 20mm plossl (https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=5269) as an alternative.

Cheers

[Lyinxz]

thanks rmcpb :)

I might go down to the store today and have a look at their eye piece list. :D

[janoskiss]

Any decent 20mm plossl should serve you well. GSO is exceptionally good value, and the 20 and 25mm are the best of the range. Unless you need to wear glasses plossls at these FLs have plenty of eye relief.

[dannat]

frontier optics has a few ep's around that range, inclding UO ep's & tmb - I would look at their webiste - frontier.com.au

[Stephen65]

I haven't used one, never even seen one, but they get mixed reviews over on the EP forum at CN:

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/2224968/page/1/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/all/vc/1

The issue that would bother me is that in the US the X-Cel is a $60 EP and they are built down to that bargain price point. So paying almost two and a half times US retail for that EP would not be attractive to me if I had around A$145 to spend.

Fortunately you have a much better alternative available - a 20mm TV plossl for A$125 which is a really excellent eyepiece for less cost.

The plossl has slightly less FOV (55 v 50, but getting a 20 instead of an 18 will compensate for that) and tighter ER - about 14mm, but 14mm is comfortable unless you wear glasses in which case it would be marginal. In the US a plossl is a $100 EP so you are getting much better value for money too.

[Lyinxz]

thanks all for the advise!

I ended up getting a 18mm ED eye piece for $100 , pretty much exactly the same as the x-cel.

I think your right the x-cel is a bit too much $$!

Hopefully 2night will be clear, to test it out :P