8" lightbridge eyepieces

[Brian W (Brian)]

Hi all, Did a search of the Televeu site and they recommend 7, 13 and 26mm Nagler 6 eyepieces for 8 and 10" dob mounted reflectors. My observing agenda is to work my way through the Herschel 400 from my backyard which has dark enough skies to allow me to do the Messier 110 in a 4.5 reflector. Any and all suggestions greatly appreciated.

Brian

[tnott]

Yep. That would be an excellent selection - not cheap though.

It is probably good to have something low power, something around 200X (the usual maximum for most nights) and something in the middle. Plus maybe a good barlow for those rare nights of good seeing.

On my 16" I use 36 Seibert (50X) 24.5 Meade SWA(80X) 13mm(150X) and 9mm (220X) Naglers. I am soon to replace the first two with a 26 mm Nagler as it is much sharper at the edges in the F4.9 scope.

If your scope is F6 (I think) then maybe the William Optics 28mm, 16mm and 7mm UWANs might be a cheaper alternative. Also maybe replace the 26 Nagler with a 24 Panoptic if you want to save money, don't want to rebalance your scope (it is much lighter) or only have a 1&1/4" focuser.

[taminga16 (Greg)]

Brian,
Have a look at the Vixen EP's, both LV's and LVW's, I have found them to perform well in my 10" GSO. Well priced Japanese quality.

Regards,
Greg.

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

Sounds like you have had a bit of observing experience...good on you!

What eyepieces do you have now (for use with the 4.5 inch)?

What did you like about them?

What did you not like about them?

Do you wear glasses?

How much are you willing to spend?

Understanding what you already have and/or like don't like will go a long way toward making a better recommendation.


I wish my backyard was that dark!
Congrats on the new scope and clear skies to you!

[Brian W (Brian)]

Hi to save bandwidth one reply for all your answers.

The 8 comes with a 2" focuser. And you are right the TeleVeu solution is nice but expensive. We would like to keep the cost in the $150-250 US per ep range. We do have the Meade 26 QX Wide Angle that came with the LB and the 7 and 15 mm 1 1/4 ep's that came with the Orion 4.5.

Once we looked through the 26 we realized just how much coma we had grown accustomed to and how much we enjoy the wider FOV. Admittedly the 8 is F/6 while the 4.5 is F/3.9 so there is naturally less coma but there is a definite qualitative difference between the Orion ep's and the Meade. Then again there is a major price difference as well.

We will keep the 26 so we are looking for the 7 and 13.

Beginners question, what would be the difference in the viewing experience between equal quality 1 1/4 and 2" ep's? Regrettably we are the only amateurs on our island so there is no chance to visually compare.

And finally, Scott you are right our dark back yard does make it all work really nicely.
Brian

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by Brian W

The 8 comes with a 2" focuser. And you are right the TeleVeu solution is nice but expensive. We would like to keep the cost in the $150-250 US per ep range.

Please dont be fooled into thinking that just because an eyepiece is from Televue that it is automatically the best solution for everyone. The nagler type 6 eyepieces are tight on eye relief and I personally much prefer the comfort of longer eye relief.

In your stated price range I would recommend the Vixen LVW range which are an excellent 65 degree field eyepiece. You can get them relatively cheaply here.

http://www.kkohki.com/English/kkohkiparts.html

Beginners question, what would be the difference in the viewing experience between equal quality 1 1/4 and 2" ep's?

None! The 2" format is only required by necessity when a 1.25" barrel isn't big enough to allow the required field of view. If you google up a picture of a Pentax XW you will see a premium eyepiece with a big fat comfortable eye lens available in both 2 and 1.25" formats. The size of the barrel has nothing to do with the 'viewing experience'.

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

I agree that on a budget the Vixens LVW are nice...

For high power budget, I'd suggest you consider the BO/TMP Planetary eyepieces...they were going for around USD$59 (not sure at the moment)...they have nice eye relief, decent field of view and for the money are hard to beat. No they are not quite in the same performance league as the Pentax or Televue but they are not in the same price category...

For wider field I have not had a lot of non Pentax/Televue experience...I've read that many people like the Baader Hyperions and Orion Stratus but I have not used them in my scope and so can't directly compare.

Something to consider is assuming that you are in the hobby for life is to save up a bit and splash out on the top end...even if it is second hand. They will last a lifetime and if you use them regularly you will appreciate the difference in quality over what you already have.

Although they are more than your stated budget, I have a 13 mm T6 Nagler which I adore and with the 13 Ethos now available there have been some folks trading up and making them more available second hand at reasonable prices. At the higher magnification I prefer the Pentax XW and have the 7 and 10 both of which I think are outstanding and again the recent 8 Ethos has some people doing some reshuffling of gear to accomodate it.

Enjoy your new scope and dark skies!

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Brian, best bang for buck comprehensive premium set of EPs for that scope IME is 24mm Panoptic, 8.5 and 12mm Pentax XF. Add to that the fab Orion Deluxe 1.25" baffled barlow and you'll also have high power planetary bliss...

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

The only thing I would do different to what Steve has recommended is change the 24mm Panoptic to the 2" 27mm Panoptic. IMO it is a more submersive eyepiece with much better eye relief and gives a larger TFOV.

27mm Pano = 44X, 4.5mm exit pupil, TFOV of 1.55°

24mm Pano = 50X, 4mm exit pupil, TFOV of 1.36°

Cheers,
John B