Zoom eyepiece (or other) for terrestrial use

[koputai]

Hi Folks,

A mate of mine fell in love with my ED80 and now I've managed to snag one for him. He want to use it on his farm, for keeping an eye on his cows!

What I'm after now is a diagonal and eyepieces.

I'll get him the 45^ erect image diagonal, but am wondering what eyepiece/s to get. I missed out on the TV 8-24mm zoom on IIS the other day, which would have been perfect. As this model isn't available any more, which other manufacturers could you recommend for a zoom for such a use?

The other option I'm thinking about is a set of three Widescan's, 10mm, 15mm, and 20mm.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Jason.

[astro744]

Get something with good eye relief. I'd still go the zoom and I think the Vixen 8-24 is the same zoom or perhaps try the Baader 8-24 zoom.

[bojan]

Diagonal for cows?
What I think he needs is good terrestrial eyepiece (the one that will erect the image, like this one: http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-035A).. or perhaps erecting prism assembly, like one used in binoculars (Porro prism) . Important thing is the viewing direction is the same as the optical axis of the telescope, so it is easier to find the target (cow)..

[koputai]

Thanks guys, the Vixen looks pretty good.

Bojan, yes a diagonal, 45 degree, with erector built in. You then use any astro eyepiece you like for a fully correct image in both vertical and horizontal movement.

Cheers,
Jason.