ED80 - smallest practical EP?

[yagon]

Last night I picked up my new Saxon ED80 from AOE.

I've only looked at a few nearby terrestrial objects thus far, and I've been impressed with the quality of the image. I can't wait to get some clear skys!

I've found that the 9mm EP is difficult/uncomfortable to use (my other EPs are 42mm and 20mm wideviews). In addition, the image is dark when used with my 3x barlow (for 200x mag).

Would I be better off with a 12mm EP (giving mag of 150x with the 3x barlow)?

[yagon]

PS. My wife freaked out because the scope was 'so big'. I then showed her this:

http://www.globaldialog.com/~obsessiontscp/30page.html

... which helped her calm down a bit.

[acropolite (Phil)]

14mm works a treat with my ED80, HRH Liz would like to claim the 14mm permanently for terrestrial use. I seem to remember reading that the maximum workable magnification is 40x the diameter in inches which on an ED80 amounts to about 120x. Barlowed 3x a 14mm would give 130x but I haven't tried it yet, but I would imagine this would be about the highest practical mag for the ED80.

[Starkler (Geoff)]

I recall viewing with a borrowed 4mm radian in daylight and the image was still good. A lot will depend on the quality of the eyepieces and what you are trying to view.

The image gets dark because 80mm isnt a lot of aperture, or more precisely, the exit pupil gets small at relatively low magnifications.

[johnno]

I use my GSO 9mm,(Thanks Darren),and a 7mm UO orthoscopic,very often in my ED80,with NO problems at all.

BUT,these shorter focal lengths may cause brightness loss during DAYTIME.
I really dont know,as I leave daytime viewing to Binoculars.

I use these at night,mainly on planets,Saturn,for eg,is stunning,even with the 7mm Barlowed,giving about 170x Magnification.

Best Regards.
John

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Geoff, I'm pretty sure that was a 3mm Radian we were looking through last year at the SV camp, giving 200x.