Eypiece advice for f14 Mak

[burgo]

Gday
I am a total newbie who has just aquired a Meade ETX105 and am in need of some guidance on EPs. Starting pretty much from scratch as it come with one generic no-name 20mm Wide Angle EP (the previous owner snaffled the standard Meade 4000 26mm plossl).
Scope is 1470mm f14 so I am reckoning max useful mag would be around a 7 or 8mm and I understand optimum performance would be around 2xf14 = 28mm (?). Not looking to go cheapest but not premium either (up to ~$130 an EP). Also considering the Orion Shorty Plus barlow - will this work OK wth the scope/& what EPs? Also, some of the lower cost wide angle EPs get poor reviews in faster scopes but am I correct thinking they will perform OK at f14?

Cheers
Burgo
:screwy:

[renormalised]

Grab yourself some TV Ploosls, or if you like the Meade 4000 (I have a set of Meades myself....can't complain about them). Try Bintel (https://www.bintelshop.com.au/welcome.htm). Max useful mag for your scope is around x240, so with the 8mm EP at x183 you're getting near that. Haven't tried the shorty barlow myself, but so long as it didn't introduce any astigmatism or such using it with a long FL scope, you'll be OK with it. Seems Bintel thinks they're good with ETX's. With wide angle or UWA's, don't skimp on the EP....cheap of anything will perform badly, and with optics designed for extra wide FoV's you'll notice it more than with ordinary EP's. If you're going to get them, save up and get some better quality gear like Naglers or Ethos EP's. Not cheap, but they're a class or two above your average WA or UWA EP. Even the Meade 5000's look alright and I've heard good reviews on them.

[GrahamL]

Hi and welcome :)

Theres a few reviews around regarding the cheaper widefields in longer F/L scopes that are pretty positive.. aside the cheap widefields televue plossls are a great eyepiece for the price .. For a great quality low power offering consider phils older 26mm meade .. below... I can't coment on the later ones but agree this is one very nice piece of glass

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=40217

good luck and enjoy your stay