Which Eyepieces gets the most use in your set and why?

StarGazing (Alex) · #1 15-10-2009, 04:55 PM

Hi all,
Just wandering which ep get used the most by astronomers and why?
For me it's my 17mm t4 Nagler 70% of the time for DSO's, 20% my meade 26mm for searching the heavens and 10% a 10mm Plossil for Planetry obsreving.
Alex.

dpastern (Dave Pastern) · #2 15-10-2009, 05:21 PM

My Andrews 30mm UWA. Love this eyepiece.

Dave

kustard (Simon) · #3 15-10-2009, 05:25 PM

When I had my C8 my favourite EP was my Meade 24.5mm SuperWideAngle. I'd often use it with the f6.3 reducer/corrector for getting great contrast wide fields.

DavidU (Dave) · #4 15-10-2009, 05:39 PM

I'm with Dave ! my 30mm UWA 2" Andrews gets a flogging. Most wide sweeps are done for quite some time then for a closer look a 10mm to 25mm goes in and if the seeing is good a 5.5mm and barlow(APO) goes in.
Most of the time it's the 30mm UWA.

mithrandir (Andrew) · #5 15-10-2009, 05:51 PM

The answer somewhat depends on what sort of scope you have.

Most of the time I'm trying to learn how to do astrophotography, so none of them except for an illuminated reticle. I've got a brand new LP LER 5mm that hasn't even got out of the box in the three months since I bought it.

That is about the magnification limit for my SCT.

For SWMBO's school nights, mostly a 40mm (51x), 25mm (81x) and a bit of 10mm (203x). And then I watch the laptop - to use the guide camera to put objects back in view as the children bump things, and to set up new targets in CDC or Stellarium.

MLyons (Martin) · #6 15-10-2009, 05:54 PM

Most definitely the Baader Hyperion 8-24 zoom.
Superb image quality with the convenience of variable magnification.
For wider fields, I use the Baader 36mm Aspheric.

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #7 15-10-2009, 06:23 PM

I have 2 eye pieces that I use regularly, mainly to just align my finder and do alignment on the scope. Though I have been known to actually look through the scope for pure visual pleasure.
I have a GSO 15mm superview and the 28mm 2" grenade that was bundled with my new scope.
I also have a 2x TV Big Barlow, a 2.5x GSO and a 5x barlow.
All my other eyepieces are stored in a box somewhere in the garage.

barx1963 (Malcolm) · #8 15-10-2009, 06:32 PM

The TV 13mm T6, the GSO 32mm 2" Plossl, and the GSO 25mm 1.25" Plossl. All these get used regularly. The 32mm is used as an intermediary between the finder and the 13mm. The 25mm get used on any objects to big to see well with the 13mm. It still produces good images. I will pull out shorter EPs for planetary looking, but they are generally unpleasant to use.
Value for money the GSO 32mm is the pick, came with the scope and is the first EP out of the box each night!

dpastern (Dave Pastern) · #9 15-10-2009, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidU

I'm with Dave ! my 30mm UWA 2" Andrews gets a flogging. Most wide sweeps are done for quite some time then for a closer look a 10mm to 25mm goes in and if the seeing is good a 5.5mm and barlow(APO) goes in.
Most of the time it's the 30mm UWA.

That sounds a wee bit like me - I tend to sue the 30mm UWA, and then the 15mm GSO plossl, and then the 4mm Andrews plossl. The 4mm is crud imho, the 15mm GSO plossl seems OK to my eyes. I also have the GSO 40mm wide angle too, it's not too bad either. I've recently bought the TV 32mm plossl, but haven't had a chance to use it yet. I'll obviously post my feelings on it after I've used it. I've viewed through a TV Nagler type 5 31mm (thanks Andrew!) and it's awesome. Love the views through it and it's a MUST get eyepiece, at least for me.

I've given it a lot of thought in the past few weeks, and decided on a list of eyepieces that I will eventually get:

Quote:

TV Nagler V 31mm - $749
TV Nagler V 16mm - $399 - check this one 2" or 17mm? (or both)
TV Nagler 9mm - $349
TV Nagler 7mm - $349
TV Nagler - $349
TV Radian 3mm - $279
TV Radian 5mm - $279
TV Plossl 55mm - $279
TV Panoptic 19mm - $289
TV powermate 2x - $359 (2")
TV barlow 2x - $139 (1.25")

prices from Bintel, correct as of today. I based my decisions on a fair bit of reading of reviews and opinions, and the fact that I like the wider view of the Naglers (not everyone's cuppa tea I admit). I don't need/want the ultra wide Ethos views. Radians seem to have better eye relief than plossls, hence going with them.

Like anything, the better brands usually do perform (optically) better in most cases. You pays for what you gets. I'm not saying TV is the best brand out there, but it is a respectable brand that seems to make a lot of users quite happy, most of the time. They can't all be wrong!

Dave

Waxing_Gibbous (Peter) · #10 15-10-2009, 07:16 PM

On my 102 APO, its the 13mm Nagler T6 / 19 Panoptic
On my new Bintel Dob its the 24 Pan. (or the 19 depending on seeing)
and on both its the surprisingly-not-rubbish, 32mm GSO Super Wide View
Looking to plug that gap tho' with either a 28mm UWAN or a 27 Pan.
Dave, (someone jump in if I'm wrong), the 16mm Nagler has the same FOV as the 19 Pan but 1/3 more magnification, so if you prefer the Nagler view you might save a $ or two.
PJH

dpastern (Dave Pastern) · #11 15-10-2009, 07:33 PM

I realised that Peter - the 19mm pan/16mm nagler were deliberately chosen by myself to be a bit overlapping. I think the 19mm pan has better performance at the edges too from memory.

Dave

Sarge (Rod) · #12 15-10-2009, 09:28 PM

Can't go past my 27 mm TV Panoptic. This eyepiece certainly has the WOW factor built in.

Rod

JethroB76 (Jeff) · #13 15-10-2009, 09:31 PM

13mm Ethos; wonderful EP

rmcconachy · #14 15-10-2009, 11:10 PM

Depends on the scope. With my 10" F/5 Dob the most used would be a 10mm XW followed by a 17mm Nagler. The third most used would be my finder eyepiece, a 40mm XL (not an optimal choice for an F/5 scope but I still like it better than the also nice 32mm TV plossl I own).

andrew2008 · #15 15-10-2009, 11:28 PM

My 10" dob really only sees a couple. TV 32mm plossl for widefield and finder, and the TV nagler 11T6 for DSO work. I use 11T6 barlowed for planetary veiwing. Occasionally i'll use the 17mm stratus as a mid point.

rmcpb (Rob) · #16 16-10-2009, 01:12 PM

19mm Pan would get most use out of my set.

Gallifreyboy · #17 16-10-2009, 01:51 PM

The pentax xw14 is my favourite, lovely eyepiece, the skywatcher 12.5 illuminated reticle spends the most time in the scope though, I probably spend too long polar aligning, a permanent setup one day maybe

pgc hunter · #18 16-10-2009, 06:58 PM

8mm LVW - good all round workhorse, enough mag for many globulars and faint galaxies, but still enough FOV for most showpiece objects.

wavelandscott (Scott) · #19 16-10-2009, 11:30 PM

While it depends on the scope, I'll say that generally it is my 24 Panoptic as the "most" used...

JimmyH155 · #20 17-10-2009, 01:32 PM

Definitely my Baader Hyperion 8 - 24 click zoom - its the best. Next favourite is the EP which came with my 12" LB - the Meade super wide angle QX 26 mm I call it my Cluster Buster. Try it on Carina.....WOW