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Old 22-07-2006, 10:27 AM
ausastronomer (John Bambury)
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Shoalhaven Heads, NSW
Posts: 2,620
Leon,

FWIW I don't like the 30mm 1rpd. If your on a budget and own a slow F-Ratio scope its "fair" at best. If money isn't a serious concern you can do a lot better than it regardless of your scopes.

The Baader Hyperions/Orion Stratus that Doug has recommneded are very good value for money. I like them, a Pentax XW they are not !!!

Forget about all the Nagler hype.

This comes about because of the US market and Televue's advertising in the US. They are fine eyepieces BTW, doesn't mean they are the best in all focal lengths. In the longer focal lengths the Naglers and Panoptics are the eyepiece of choice, in the shorter focal lengths the Pentax XW's are a clearly superior product for less money IMO. Most televue eyepieces add a "coffee" tint to all images and are less suitable for daytime use than some others, like the Pentax which give very cool neutral colour reproduction (read whites are white as opposed to cream or coffee coloured) . This is not a major issue for night time astronomical viewing, but personally I prefer the cooler images on moon and planets. In the shorter focal lengths, 10mm and 7mm the Pentax XW's are better eyepieces than the short FL Nagler's. The only people who will argue that, are loyal Televue supporters or patriotic Americans. That having been said, the shorter focal length Naglers are great eyepieces, the differences are fairly small in most cases, the Pentax's are currently as good as it gets at any price.

Sticking with 3 eyepieces only (I think you need 4) :

31mm Nagler T5
10mm Pentax XW
7mm Pentax XW

That may sound like a big gap between the 31mm Nagler and the 10mm Pentax XW. IMO its a gap you don't need to visit all that often. I have a 20mm and 14mm Pentax XW and rarely use them. I go straight from my 27mm TV Panoptic to the 10mm Pentax XW. Ideally, I would also get a 14mm Pentax XW, which offers the coveted 2mm exit pupil (or very close to it) in both your scopes.

The Pentax XW's are currently on special at Star Optics. The price is $410 on the website but they are $399 until the 31st July. I just bought a 5mm which cost me $410 including overnight shipping.

http://www.staroptics.com.au/index.php?a=accessories

CS-John B
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