[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hi Everyone,

I have been reviewing some threads discussing the pros and cons of certain eyepieces and was wondering;

1) Why do most high power eyepieces only come in 1.25" barrels? Is it the weight of the extra lenses? Is 2" better than 1.25"?

2) I have one 80 deg 30mm WA 2" eyepiece (Andrews) and enjoy the view and the larger barrel, so I would like to select another eyepiece of the 2" variety to complement my scope's power. What would you suggest and furthermore, does it need to be 2" barrel?

3) The theoretical limit to my scope on exceptional nights (the 12" dob that is) is probably around 300x to 400x which means I need about a 5mm eyepiece considering my FL is 1500mm. Is this possible or just too difficult to see with such a small exit pupil and a dobsonian platform.

4) Considering I enjoy the Wide FOV of the 68 deg 2" at 50x magnification, perhaps it is better to buy a nice Vixen LVW 13 or 17mm EP and use this and the other favourite 12.5mm and the 2" 30mm and be done with it all?

5) Am I better off using a quality ED type small-FL high power EP than barlowing a crappy one and introducing too much glass in the way?

5) I have listed my current eyepieces and their standard non barlowed magnifications below;

Barlows: 2.5x ED Achro and 3x APO GSO.

10mm standard SW Plossl = 150x (good general EP)
12.5mm ED Andrews = 120x (best one I have for quality and FOV clarity) - use this one when the 2" doesnt get close enough.
15mm WA = 100x (not very good quality and views are horrid most of the time)
20mm Standard SW Plossl = 75x (good general EP)
30mm 80 deg WA Andrews 2" = 50x (nice wide FOV but suffers from bad coma at the edge) - one I use most at the moment coz the view is immersive compared to the others.

Any suggestions you have would be most welcome to complement this motley crew of EP's, no doubt some of these will never get used if I get a scorching EP so I have no qualms about selling or giving them away to make room in the EP case.

Thanks in advance

Cheers

Chris