Dear Clayton,
I am a fan of buying locally from Bintel as well. When making such a substantial purchase, it is good to have peace on mind over the warranty issue. The question I would be asking myself if whether the difference in price is so great as to warrant taking the risk. Taking a risk over the warranty to save myself $50 is not the sort of thing I would usually do.
I also think it is good to keep the local retailers ticking over their sales, so they are still in business next time when I want the luxury of going into their shop to have a nat with them about my next astronomical purchase, and actually touch and feel and sight the alternatives before I buy!
In relation to what Ep to get, I suspect you will want to observe mostly at a magnification level which gives you a FOV of about 40 arc minutes. Assuming 1200mm focal length, an 11 T6 would give you about 110x magnification , and a FOV of about 45 arc minutes. This would nicely frame 75% of objects you will be observing. It also means you are not doubling up on the 9mm Plossl you already have.
The 16T5 is a ripper of an ep, but has quite tight eye relief....some non-eyeglass wearers complain about it even, so make sure you try before you buy, if that is where you are headed!
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