Eyepieces?

[stktos]

Recently found a place around me that sells a good variety of eyepieces, filters and the like.
I have been saving some money for one and need some advice about them.

Dose anyone have a good site that details the different types, the pros and cons?

Would like to get a Tele Vue Ethos, but priced at about a third of my college tuition, I don't think I'll go that route.

Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

[redshifter]

What type of scope are you using, and what is its focal length?

What type of observing do you like to do?

What magnifications are you looking for (high power, low power, ect.)?

[RickJ]

You might want to look at this link.
http://www.quadibloc.com/science/opt04.htm

Rick

[stktos]

redshifter,
Scope is the Orion SkyQuest XT10.
Focal length is 1200mm.
Observing, mostly deep sky. Nebula, clusters, etc.
Magnification, nothing huge. mostly low to mid range.

Rick,
Thank you very much!!
That site is exactly what I am looking for. Thanks!

[redshifter]

I also have an Orion XT10, the eyepieces I use most are:

1) Orion Stratus 30mm for low power wide field observing-though apparantly the 30mm is no longer available: http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=eyepieces/~pcategory=accessories/~product_id=E0011

2) Vixen Lanthanum Wide 17mm for low-medium power. In my scope this eyepiece yields approx. 70 power and 1 degree FOV. It works very well for deep sky objects in my scope: http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=30-718-76-813-6811

3) Orion ED-2 9.5 mm for higher power DSO observing and planetary observing: http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=eyepieces/~pcategory=eyepieces/~product_id=E0010

4) Orion Lanthanum 7.5mm for a little higher power. Orion doesn't carry this line any more, but I believe it's closest to this line of eyepieces: http://www.optcorp.com/productList.aspx?uid=30-718-76-1245&mid=82&pg=0

I also have an Orion Ultrascopic barlow.

[stktos]

redshifter. I will definitely check out those suggestions.
good to know someone has the same scope.
Thanks:)

[redshifter]

I'm not sure which focuser your XT10 has; mine had the old sloppy rack and pinion focuser, which I upgraded to this: http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=focusers/~pcategory=accessories/~product_id=13039. It's MUCH smoother, but the 17mm Lanthanum eyepeice will only come into focus for me if I use the 1.25" portion of the barrel. If I use the 2" portion of that eyepeice, it won't come into focus for me. Just FYI. It's still my favorite eyepeice in my collection.

IIRC the XT10 now ships with the focuser I bought to upgrade my old one.

Hmmm...I see from the link I posted that there is a 2" adapter now available for that focuser: http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=photo_accessories/~product_id=05122

I also see they have a nifty dual-speed focuser as well: http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=focusers/~product_id=08881

My birthday is in a couple months...

[stktos]

Funny that you posted about the focuser redshifter. I just got back from observing Saturn with a friend. He has the dual-speed one.
After checking it out, I'm definitely going to order one soon.

And yea, right now I have the nasty rack and pinion too. However I do have the Orion AccuFocus Electronic Telescope Focuser (http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=focusers/~pcategory=accessories/~product_id=07395), which makes it a little better. (I think anyway)
I will not use the AccuFocus with the dual-speed. Its so smooth you don't need it, as you wont be wiggling the scope as you focus.

[HypothesisTesting]

Recently found a place around me that sells a good variety of eyepieces, filters and the like.
I have been saving some money for one and need some advice about them.

Dose anyone have a good site that details the different types, the pros and cons?

Would like to get a Tele Vue Ethos, but priced at about a third of my college tuition, I don't think I'll go that route.

Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!


For general viewing, I find that the following 2 are most useful:

(a) 25-28 mm ; low power for moon, nebula, star clusters,

(b) 12.5 mm ; medium power for planets, particularly Jupiter,, Saturn.

Have those 2 in your arsenal for sure.

Then of course there are higher power 8-9 mm , etc.,

all assume a normal focal length / aperature: 6-10 inch; f/6-8