EP's for SW 120mm ed pro/12"bintel dob

[rustem]

hi all,

waiting on sw120 ed to arrive and in the meantime looking at some ep's for it.

was looking at a kit set for ease and im a uniform kind of guy

was interested in these

Meade Series 5000 UWA Set with Case

https://www.bintelshop.com.au/welcome.htm

mainly for observing neb's and planets

also would they be suited to a gso GS-980 12" ASDX

http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm

any thoughts recommenations very welcome

cheers

rob

[Wavytone]

You'll want at least 3:

25-30mm
12-16mm
6-8mm

What sort depends on how deep your pockets are.

[rustem]

guess i should have been more specific on which ep's i was interestd in post updated.

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Shameless plug.

Im currently selling a 5mm UO HD orthoscopic which I used to use with a 115mm refractor that I no longer own. With such a scope on a driven mount it makes an ideal planetary observing eyepiece for "the purist" who wants the sharpest and cleanest view.

If interested check in Icetrade eyepieces.

[DJ N]

Hi there Rob,

I recieved my SW ED120 earlier this year. I find my eyepieces work very well with it. They are as follows,

Panoptic 24mm (37.5x and 1.8 degree fov)
Nagler type VI 13mm (69x and 1.2 degree fov)

and for high power viewing I specifically purchashed a 4mm Burgess Optical TMB Planetary (225x and 16' fov)

In addition I also have a 2.5x powermate which I use with the 24mm and 13mm.

I am quite happy with these. I cannot comment about the Meade stuff as I have never used them, but for a similar price you can purchase the Televue stuff.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Daniel

[dannat (Daniel)]

the meade UWA's are well regarded, most people don't use a full kit worth though - if you bought them individually 3 i reckon gets most people by for 90% of the time

[rustem]

thanks for the feed back guys

just wish this was easier to many to choose from all with pros and cons

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

I will give a variation of the same boring advice I always give...

Before you buy any eyepieces (I am assuming that some came with your scope), get outside and use what you have for a while and also get out to a viewing night and try some different eyepieces out. My experience is that Astronomy enthusiast tend to be generous in letting people look through their gear.

Different people have different preferences and needs when it comes to eyepieces and there will never be a single perfect "blanket" recommendation.

Budget, viewing preferences (objects), glasses or not, tracking telescope or not, etc. etc. will all frame the response.

I think it best for you to get out under the stars and see what you like/don't like and then (and only then) should you buy some eyepieces...and when you do buy get the best (for your preferences) that you can afford.

Good Luck!

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by dannat

the meade UWA's are well regarded

Not by everyone they aren't. Whilst I haven't used all the focal lengths I can tell you that the 14mm S5000 Meade UWA is pretty average when used in a fast newtonian. In fact I don't rate it as good an eyepiece as the 13mm Orion Stratus/Baader Hyperion, both of which cost a lot less.

Read Mike Salway and my review of it here.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/42-245-0-0-1-0.html

Cheers,
John B

Hello Stargazers,

Whilst I haven't used all the focal lengths I can tell you that the 14mm S5000 Meade UWA is pretty average when used in a fast newtonian. In fact I don't rate it as good an eyepiece as the 13mm Orion Stratus/Baader Hyperion, both of which cost a lot less.

Having compared the 14mm UWA sereis 5000 eyepiece to some other wideangles
(13mm Nagler, LVW, Hyperion, 14mm Pentax XW, 15mm Panoptik) using my f/6 Newt
I fully agree to what John B said.

And I second what Geoff wrote. A 5mm U.O. HD Ortho will give crisp and clear views
with a good f/7,5 ED refractor.

First of all I recommend to go outside with your new scope and try your eyepieces.
After this you mught know what lacks.

Greetings, Karsten

[rustem]

Ok, I've settled on, but yet to purchase,
Tv 27mm panoptic, tv 14mm radian and a tv 2" 2x powermate
For the 120 ed and 12" bintel dob
This should give me good mag variation for nebs/ planetry viewing?
This a reasonable combo?

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Hi,

I think you have this a little wrong.

While each of those two on their own are good eyepieces there is no point buying a 2" 2X Powermate which is itself an excellent barlow.

The 27mm Panoptic in a 2X barlow gives 13.5mm which is almost the same as your 14mm Radian, so "something" just became superfluos.

When going with a high quality barlow the idea is to buy eyepiece focal lengths so there is no doubling up.

If you wish to stick with Televue products, I would go with the 2" X Powermate which barlowed gives you 13.5mm. A 10mm Radian which barlowed gives you a 5mm eyepiece. I am sure you would be much happier with those focal lengths.

Note!! For a bit more money the 10mm Pentax XW is a better eyepiece in just about every respect than the 10mm Radian, which is itself an excellent eyepiece.

Cheers,
John B

[rustem]

point taken!!

will check out that pentax

any suggestions on an equal to the 27mm panoptic?

cheers rob

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Hi,

The 30mm Pentax XW is a better eyepiece than the 27mm Panoptic (which I own). It is quite a bit more expensive and at this longer focal length I don't think the extra cost is necessarily justified. I think the extra cost is justified at the shorter focal length.

If I was doing the buying I would go with the 27mm Televue Panoptic, 10mm Pentax XW and the 2" 2X TV Powermate.

Cheers,
John B

[rustem]

Thanks john,

Lucky we have this forum to save some of
Us running out buying all the wrong/inappropriate gear
Im a Bit like the mrs let loose with the credit card at the moment!!

That last combo sounds like the way to go

Thanks again for the advice

Rob

[GrahamL]

I have been swapping around eyepieces in my 12" for a little while now
I think all of these do ok in a longerf/l refractor
So far its been
27 panoptic
28 pretoria
16 nagler
14 xw
13 nagler
7 nagler smoothie
8.5 xf

27 pano is a great eyepiece very crisp across most of the field and very comfortable to use.. I bought the 28 pretoria which i
cant sell So i let the pano move on ..
16 nagler is a much underated eyepiece imo in my 12 " it was great
comfortable eye relief has become a major issue for me off late so this one went .
13 nagler great eyepiece again eye relief made it a little uncomfortable over time so regretably it went away .
14 xw replaced the above .. eye relief.. wow of a view .. but I sure notice the narrower fov
yes I know about that other one...( ethos free zone)
7 mm nagler .. very nice views E/R though tight still seems comfortable to use with this one for me
the killer was when my 12" got done the magn was a little to much to often.
8.5 pentax xf .. great eyepiece.. gobs of E/R and a little kinder focal length for a 12" scope imo
though seeing round my way is rarely supportive of this magnification so for the price having this one around isn't a big
ask if it dosn't do much most of the time.

But you have a nice refractor on the way ?... So if imaging is path you might travel dont buy stuff
As For visual observing the above are at the top end dollar wise of what you can throw into the optical train.
If your unsure about where you want to go wait a little while ...the eyepieces you get with these scopes
will serve you well and maybe save you a few dollars.

[rustem]

great little review of your ep's thanks

nice to hear some sort of experience rather than this good that bad, not that i dont appriciate all the advice i've recieved, many thanks to all its saved me wasted time dust collecting ep's and money considering what i was looking at to start with, not saying they're no good just not for me.

best thing i did was have a chance to look through some ep's with a local astro and have a look at ep's close up. S#$T those meade 5000 uwa are huge, 32mm was a coke can then some!!!

imaging is not my thing so all ep's etc will be for visual, the 120ed was a gift from work for 15 yrs service....lucky all i spoke about at work was getting myself a scope so the boss asked once if i wated one what would it be and i said the 120ed as thats what i was looking at as a ultra protable grab and go and to my suprise he got me onebeats a watch!!!!! thanks boss

getting that was a bonus so i figured mights as well spash out the money i'd saved on a dob and some good quality ep's to set up at my van in deniliquin.

cheers

rob