Low power, wide TFOV Ep's for 12" F5 Dob

[Dobman (Simon)]

Hi everyone, Im after some advice on a low power wide TFOV EP for my scope. I currently have a bintel 2" 32mm 58deg Afov which gives me 47x & 1.2deg TFOV. I love the wide bright views it gives but hate the flock of seagulls flying around the outer 2/3's of the view.!!
I recently tried out the andrews 84deg afov 30mm 2" but wasnt that impressed even though its had some good reviews.
I've just got a 1.25 "neb filter so I've now decided to stick with 1.25' Ep's. Im considering the 24mm Meade s5000 SW or the TV 24mm pan. Both give me 62x & 1.1deg TFOV
Does anyone have any views on these 2 ep's? I'm leaning toward the meade just on price but will pay more if i need to. I hear a lot on this site about the Pentax Ep's Is there a pentax that would give me what i need?
Any comments &/or reccommendations would be appreciated

Simon

[Starkler (Geoff)]

I have an f5 dob and a 24mm panoptic and the views are A1 if the eye relief is a little shorter than I would like (my other ep's are Pentax).

The 27mm panoptic IMO is made for f5 dobs. Its one of the nicest and most comfortable eyepieces to view through, and much better eye relief than the 24mm. It is however a 2 inch eyepiece but it needs to be in order fit in the greater true fov.

As for any cheaper options like the Meade, I strongly recommend you try before you buy if you cant tolerate 'seaguls'.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Sounds like you've got money to burn! You cannot go wrong with Panoptics and the long focal length Meade SWAs have also been highly spoken of. But like Geoff says, try before buy.

I myself am still looking for the best widest FOV EP that will not cost the earth. 32mm Meade 5000 Plossl with 60 degree FOV (so it's not a plossl at all) was what I was going to get, but I've been waiting for Bintel Melbourne to get one in (continually pestering them about it too) but still nothing, so I donno. I'll probably get something else eventually. Williams Optics 28mm UWA with 82 deg FOV sounds good if I could afford it (still cheap compared with a Nagler). wait'n see...

[JohnG (John)]

Hi

I would have to agree about the 27mm Panoptic, it is probably one of my most used, it gives tremendous views out to the edge on my f/8 refractor, with the reducer in place I am down to f/5.6 with no edge deteriation.
For your scope it would give you a power of 56x and a true field of 73 arc minutes. Expensive, yes, definately worth the price IMO.

JohnG

[astronut (John)]

Hi Simon, I have a Widescan 111 16mm, that I have used in a F15 refractor for the last year, great views, as you would expect in a slow scope. I'm about to buy a lightbridge so I tried it in a friends G.S.O. 12" F5 and NO SEAGULLS AND STILL GREAT VIEWS. So going on this experience I can highly recommend these eyepieces.
They come in 1 1/4", 13mm, 16mm, 20mm, + 2", 30mm. They are available through Sirius Optics in Queensland.www.sirius-optics.com.au
BTW They are all 84D A.F.O.V.!!!. Cheers, John.

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Peoples eyes do differ and where one person reports no seaguls, others will say bad seaguls. Try before you buy wherever possible.

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

I have and am a big fan of the TV 24 mm Pan...it is my most used eyepiece...

[square_peg114GT]

Originally Posted by Dobman

Hi everyone, Im after some advice on a low power wide TFOV EP for my scope.

Simon

Simon, sadly there is no low-cost low-power eyepiece that performs well at f/5. The Pans are probably your best bet. The WO 28mm UWAN is also a possibility, it's been reported to be good at f/5 but I've never seen any reports for faster scopes than that. It's priced just a little higher than the 35 Pan.

I'll second the suggestion for the 27 Pan. The 35mm Pan could be good if you normally observe at a truly dark site (mag 6+), but in semi-light-polluted skies the 27 will provide a more appropriate exit pupil in an f/5 scope, IMO.